It's Getting Medieval Up in Here!

Oh la la il faisait tellement froid hier (Oh la la it was so cold yesterday)!!  I do enjoy the cold and winter in general, but I do not like cold with the wind.  C'est horrible.  So yesterday morning, I holed myself up in my room and actually did some work translating syllabi to approve my courses.  Ce n'etait pas difficile, mais seulment barbant (It wasn't difficult, only stupid/boring) as I told my host mom.  Everyday I'm surprised at my level of French.  I understand the vast majority of what people say unless they're mumbling or talking too fast, and I am able to respond competently as well.  I'm sure I'm making plenty of mistakes, but so far none that are terribly awful.  My host family corrects me when they feel they need to which I appreciate.  I do not appreciate however, snooty sales clerks who answer me in English when they hear my accent/when I mess up. 

But they are few and far between, I've found that most sales people, waiters, and Parisians in general will allow me to speak their language.  After a Sweet Briar friend's birthday party last week, I thanked the bartender for being so nice to the big group of (slightly) rowdy Americans en francais, and he said, "Non non, c'est mon plaisir mademoiselle!"  and said he'd be glad to have us back one night.  We then bisous-ed (three kisses on the cheek) and I left with my friends.  Yay! I was so happy to have made a new friend who conviently is also a bartender.  Although maybe he just wants to make sure the American students come back and spend their hard earned cash at his bar and not another.  But I prefer to think I made a French friend. 
And now back to the point of the post, CASTLES!  Yesterday was our visit to the Chateau de Vincennes, just east of Paris proper.  Thankfully the metro goes directly there no problem! It was a beautiful day, mais mon dieu was it cold and windy. 

 Front tower of Vincennes

 Crossing the moat!

Today the chateau is a museum, but also home to the head of the military (if my Frenglish notes serve me right).  The first chateau was built in 1150, and was renovated in 1250.  French kings added on or rebuilt it as they liked.  380 sculptors and 200 masons worked on the royal residence.  It has the typical middle ages castle layout; an outer moat, an inner courtyard and a chapel (very similar in style to the Sainte Chapelle near Notre Dame) and then another moat surrounding the keep where the king lived.  Charles V ruled from there. 

Gargoyles!

Inside the chapel...similar design as in Sainte Chapelle

Initials of Henri II and his wife Catherine de Medici on the ceiling, the chapel was finished during Henri II's reign.

Rose window at the back of the chapel

The Keep- From the signs, I think the French word for the Keep is "Donjon" which sounds and awful lot like dungeon and was rather confusing.  But there were some political prisoners here at one point so the "donjon" was also used as a dungeon! 

 Doorway to the queen's private room for Mass.  She could look out the window and participate without having to sit with all the rif raff!

 The Duke of Enghien Descending into his Tomb
This is the statue in the Queen's viewing room

View of Chateau de Vincennes from one of the keep's battlements

 Crossing the bridge to the donjon! 
Please note my notebook.  I am studying while studying abroad!

 Charles V worked in the little section that is jutting out from the castle. 

The great room where kings and queens hosted visitors

The chateau is on the end of line 1, so when we got back on the train after our visit, THERE WAS NOBODY THERE.  THIS NEVER EVER HAPPENS ON THE METRO!!  I was pretty excited.  Although as my cousin Becky pointed out, there is someone sitting in the background, but he is in our class, so I'm not counting him.  This is probably the closest I'll get to an empty metro.  After the visit my friends and I stopped in a cafe for a choclat chaud (hot chocolate...yum!) and then went to a photo gallery before heading back to our respective host families.

And now for my first culture shock.  Later that evening, my friend and I went to got and see the film (not a movie, it was a film) The Artist.  We thought it would be good because it is a) nominated for best picture and b) it is SILENT so we didn't have to worry about keeping up with rapid fire French.  One day I will go an see a French movie, je vous promet (I promise).  The movie was due to start at 10:30pm, so we arrived at the theater at about 10:15 so we could get good seats.  After buying our tickets, we tried to get up to the theater.  However, there were a bunch of people standing in front of a security guard by the stairs we needed to take.  Neither of us had any idea why the hell we weren't allowed to go get our spot in the theater!  Finally the security guy removed the rope to let people up the stairs.  At this point, it was 10:26, so we were getting nervous.  When we got to our theater, ANOTHER security guard wouldn't let us in.  WHAT THE FRICK??  We were really confused, and he radioed down to the other guy "not to let people for theater 3 upstairs".  AlorsTres interessant! 

Alors, now I've got to continue my internship search and figure out my travel plans for February break.  A bientot!

Allison