Paris, November 22

Phew! For those of you who have been wondering why it's been such a long time since I've posted, it's because I didn't have much turnaround between the epic trip to Andalucia and a wonderful excursion to Paris last weekend. Those of you who knew I was in Paris and are wondering why I haven't posted about it yet should also know that I have been SWAMPED with work ever since I got back. . . but now I can relax a little and write to everyone, because, thank heavens, it's SABBATH. Even if I weren't such a die hard Adventist, I think I'd still have to pick a day like this to stubbornly defend rest. . . but I digress. You want the fun exotic stuff, not my anti-stress rhetoric.

Approaching Paris from the air at night was a breathtaking spectacle like no other, a good first impression of the City of Lights. When we landed, and found our way to the hotel, we were mildly surprised to find ourselves in the red light district, but the hotel itself was in a nice, quiet little alley away from all of that. Hotel Andre Gill was decorated in warm orange colors and cats were on the reception counter--and so I instantly fell in love with it. We had our first taste of Paris that night in the form of warm Nutella crepes from a street vendor.

Our first full day, we did a lot. Versailles is large and nearly indescribable in its vastness, not just the palace but its sweeping grounds, outlying summer palace, and Marie Antoinette's estate. The fall colors only served to increase its loveliness. We emerged from the metro after our visit to see a sparking blue Eiffel Tower (blue to celebrate the EU being in Paris currently). Wow, that thing is just as beautiful as I'd always pictured it, and more. . . and the full moon only added to the romantic atmosphere. Later, we toured the Seine on a ferry, sliding under twelve of Paris's most famous bridges and getting a great overview of the city and its history, from Notre Dame to World War II. Altogether, an excellent day.

The next day, we found a Free Tour (which they have in many cities in Europe, it turns out) that took us all over Paris. We started at the Saint Michael Fountain, and it seems like we went everywhere. . . on foot. This filled in an area of French history about which my memory had been sketchy--their civil war between the Catholics and Protestants. Seeing the church from across the Louvre where a Catholic king and a Protestant queen got married to the sound of riots in the streets just amazed me at how people survive such insane things. After our tour, which ended at the World Fair buildings, two of us went to see the interior of the Paris Opera House--wow, that was cool. I was amazed by their score library and set designs. The costumes were out, too, in long rows for a sale or something. The building itself is indescribably beautiful, far beyond anything the various set designers for The Phantom of the Opera can recreate.

After that, we headed out to the Louvre, breaking up to see whatever particularly appetized our own tastes. I saw, of course, the Louvre's three most famous works (the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and Venus de Milo), but I think I was almost more impressed by Napoleon's apartments and Hammurabi's Code of Law, which I hadn't known was in there. Just walking through the section it was in, full of artifacts from Darius I's palace, was amazing from the perspective of a biblical scholar. . . and then to see Delacroix's famous painting of Liberty leading France to victory. . . I think that was my favorite. Afterwards, we saw the Arc du Triomphe up close. I never realized it was so big and beautiful. . . I love it. By the time we got back to the hotel, exhausted, we had, according to my step counter, done a four days' march. It was worth it.

Thankfully, the day that followed was not nearly so intense. We started it with a leisurely stroll up to Sacre Couer, where we arrived not just to a beautiful church and view of Paris inside and out, but to the pure, clear sound of womens' voices--we had come, quite accidentally, during mass. The experience was transcendental. From there we crossed by metro over to Notre Dame, to see it up close and personal. How lovely! It was every bit as gorgeous as Victor Hugo had described it. . . I was in awe of the incredible presence of this cathedral, and enjoyed the music of a choir that was singing there. There were protesters outside of it for some reason, which made it hard for me to meet back up with my group, but I found them, and we ate dinner on the banks of the Seine.

Later, we went on a tour of Montmarte, to see the various homes of the artists and composers who had lived and worked there. From the top of the hill, we could see all the lights before us. It was a breathtaking sight. In one square, we could see artists at work still, carrying on the legacy of the greats. We returned to the hotel, picked up our companions, and went to try and see Luxembourg gardens. Sadly, they were closed for the night, but what I saw through the bars was enough to allow me to see why Victor Hugo picked them as the backdrop for Marius and Cosette's courtship in Les Miserables. I really want to re-read that book now. . . but it's a real brick of a book, and I don't have that kind of time any more. We saw the facade of St. Sulpice, too, and made our way back to the hotel.

In the morning, we did some last-minute shopping before going to the Musee d'Orsy, where the Impressionist works are kept. After the Louvre, this sunlit burst of color was wonderfully overwhelming. The Impressionist masters speak to me in a way the somewhat stilted works in the Louvre do not. To see, at last, up close, the works of Seurat, Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, and so many others I've admired all my life was a truly uplifting experience. The pastel works particularly captivated me with their soft, mysterious qualities. . . there was one of a family that I particularly loved, because it made me think of my parents. The many Degas paintings reminded me of a friend of mine who used to study ballet.

Finding the bus to the airport was a bit of an adventure, but eventually we got there, thinking the adventure over. . . but then we got to Valencia, and there was no one to pick us up from the airport. Eventually, one of the deans came and picked us up, but for a while, we grimly thought we would have to spend the night in the airport.

Since then, homework, homework, and more homework! Hopefully, as we careen towards the end of the quarter, things will start to ease up. Keep in your prayers the community of PUC, as there has been a car accident there which has killed four students, one of which I remember from my work at the library. It is sad to see such things happen, and they remind us all that nothing lasts forever. Thank you for reading to the end of this post, which I know is ridiculously long. My love to everyone. . . I miss you all more than ever, as Thanksgiving approaches, and hope that yours is happy.

Andalucia

I am exhausted, and no wonder--I have just spent the last eight days tromping through Andalucia, the southern part of Spain. This journey took myself and 28 other ACA students through the cities of Granada, Marbella, Gibraltar, Tetuan (Morocco), Algeciras, Seville, and Cordoba. To sum up such an epic trip is a daunting task, as it is to choose which of the visually stunning views to share with you in photos, but I will attempt to do so without making you read two hours worth of text.

Our first stop was Granada, a city full of college students as poor as ourselves. The benefit: lots of cheap food available to cater to the student crowd. Outside a gelato store, we saw two students entertaining themselves by dangling a spider in front of tourists as they passed by on the sidewalk below. Creative way of busting boredom, I say. Later that night (it was a really long night) we had a tour through the Arab section of town, including a glorious view of the former sultan's palace, the Alhambra on our way to a flamenco tablao. I was awed by the intensity of the performance, how these women are so confident even though in the states they would be considered past their prime. I tried to film a particularly captivating performance of a middle-aged woman with lungs of iron and swift feet, but gave up because it's the sort of thing you have to see live to understand.

The second day in Granada was exhausting, as we saw so much in so little time. . . on so little food. We saw the graves of the great Catholic kings, Fernando and Isabella, whose achievements include the reconquest of Granada, uniting Spain with their marriage, and the discovery of America. With that laundry list of achievements, no wonder they seem like some of Spain's favorite historical figures--particularly Isabella. The cathedral in Granada. . . now that was amazing. It's mostly in the baroque style, painted dazzling white with gold accents and high, vaulted ceilings. Almost more fascinating to me were the large old missals lining the perimeter of the room--all Gregorian chant written before the modern system of lines and clefs was invented.

In the afternoon, we saw the Alhambra, and yeesh, after being there, I can't believe it's not as famous as Versailles (which hopefully I'll get to see in a few weeks). The gardens alone are breathtaking, and the many fountains are real marvels of engineering--they use no pumps, just gravity and the physics of narrow and wide pipes. The palace itself defies description, and unfortunately, my camera had run out of battery by the time I got to the interior. There is so much poetry in the geometric designs of the Muslim builders, in the intricate patterns of the tiles and lovely Arab script, saying over and over again, "God is great." I can see why the building inspired the American writer Washington Irving to live there for a time to write the book, "Tales From the Alhambra." I want to read it when I get a chance.

The next day was a welcome respite, mostly bus time with stops to various places on the Costa del Sol. I had my most solid meal in the trip so far in Marbella, where they had, of all things, peanut sauce. . . I had been dying for something rich and tasty like that. Later, we stopped at Gibraltar, which is a part of England, oddly enough. What I love about Gibraltar is that the English, in order to keep Spain from taking this little city away, put an airport between the city and the rest of Spain. The upshot? When you get out of customs and find a bus, you often have to wait for an airplane to cross the runway before you can enter the city. Only in Gibraltar. . .

Tetuan, Morocco, was our destination for the next day. With our native guide, Abdul, we got to ride a camel and take a tour of the Medina, the old section of Tetuan. In the Medina, there are 1800 streets, all narrow and hard to navigate, so it is imperative to have a guide. He joked, "You will see white people like you in there. They are not from Morocco. They came as tourists years ago and never found their way out." I certainly believe it--even with a trail of breadcrumbs or something, I don't think I could ever find the herbalist, the restaurant, or the artist commune we visited ever again through the dense marketplace with live chickens, all varieties of seafood, and robe artisans. I tried to buy a robe at the commune, but in the bartering process, the vendor was being really uncooperative, to the point where he resorted to flattery--"I would pay 250 camels for you if I saw you in that robe." Despite the cultural implications of this particular piece of flattery, I did really enjoy my time in Morocco, especially at the restaurant, where they treated us to good couscous and Moroccan mint tea.

By the time we arrived in Seville, it was rainy and almost sundown, so the main highlight of the day was the interior of the cathedral there. This cathedral is very, very impressive--supposedly the third largest in the world, and it houses the body of Christopher Columbus, among others. It has a pipe organ so large there's a choir room in the middle of it. Its bell tower, once the minaret of a mosque, is a beautiful, seamless blending of the Arab and renaissance architectural styles. For Sabbath, we went to the Seville SDA Church, where the people were very amiable, and spent the afternoon walking through the Plaza de Espana, which hosted the World Fair in 1929. Incidentally, George Lucas also filmed a part of Star Wars: Episode II there. Beyond that, we saw a memorial to the great Spanish poet Becquer, which was beautiful in its form and the significance of its different statues. Later in the evening, I enjoyed more sculpture as I accidentally happened upon a plaza full of Salvador Dali statues.

Our last day in Seville, we visited the royal palace there--it is actually the oldest one in Europe still in continuous use. How continuous? The king and queen were there just ten days ago. Much of the interior celebrates the discovery of the Americas, though there is one painting that interests me in particular because it finally explained to me who in the world San Fernando is. I spent so much time in the San Fernando valley without knowing who he was, it's embarrassing. So many layers of history in each room. . . and then the gardens were lovely as well, with peacocks and cats wandering through them.

Our teacher surprised us with a carriage tour of Seville, and it was neat to see the city from that angle. I sat up next to the driver, asking him questions, and that way learned a number of things I had missed over the last two days. Shortly thereafter, we headed out to Cordoba for our last night. Cordoba is a small town, but charming, with baskets of flowers hanging from the walls of the houses. The old section revolves around the old mosque we'd come to see, the new around a beautiful plaza of many illuminated fountains. The last morning of the trip, we toured the mosque--it was amazing, I just wish I'd been more awake and healthy to enjoy it. The mosque, now a Christian cathedral, is the largest in Europe, and well-preserved except for the parts the Christians ruined by building their own things in it. King Carlos the Fifth, several hundred years ago said that ruining the perspective of the place by building in it was a bad idea, and it stays that way to this day.

It was a long trip back, and I'm tired. Going back to routine school is tough after that, especially with such a difficult English class this afternoon and difficulties in hostel reservations for Paris. . . and being sick doesn't help things at all. Adventure comes at a cost, but I'd say that it's well worth it. I hope you all are doing well, and that you have a wonderful week.