Paris... Last day...

Arc de Triomphe

Champs Elysees

Luxembourg Palace

Luxembourg Gardens

Fountain in the Place de Concorde

The last day in Paris was bittersweet as my roommate Rachael said... It's true. Our feet were killing us and we were completely exhausted, but at the same time we all knew that we would miss the excitement and energy of Paris.

On the last day Matt and I wandered around the city near the Hotel de Ville and walked down the Champs Elysees and all through the Tuileries and Luxembourg Gardens. Now let me tell you, all of those locations are VERY far away from each other and by the end of the day, Matt and I were ready to pass out on the TGV (high speed train) on the way back to Avignon.

Au Revoir Paris!!
Je t'adore!

Paris... The Eiffel Tower

We made it to the second tier just in time to see the sun set over the city! :)

Daytime! It is such a beautiful piece of architecture. Laura, don't let me forget to show you all the details photographs later!

The Eiffel Tower SPARKLING!! :)

At the top level looking down at the city. You can see the bridges crossing the Seine lit up. And in the left hand corner you can see the spotlight shining from the top of the tower!

Matt and I at the top. Brr..

The Eiffel Tower was INCREDIBLE! But after taking the elevator to the top and realizing that I had a strong fear of heights, I now know that I won't be able to build my studio off the side. We waited in line at dusk so that we could see the sunset while we were at the top. It was beautiful. I could see the city in all different directions and located all the important monuments. :) Matt and I took the stairs down from the second level to the ground level. I was terrified, but it was an amazing experience. A different times in the night, the Eiffel Tower will flicker its lights and sparkle... and while we were on the stairs the entire structure started to light up! It was amazing!

p.s. I got a neat key chain as proof that I actually visited it. :)

Paris... Versailles

Just as we were leaving Versailles all the fountains turned on... so naturally we had to stay and take some pictures!!

Just one of the many gardens and areas where fountains were located. This particular garden was relatively close to the palace. Matt and I ate lunch in a cafe on the premises. The gate faces a beautiful gold fountain of a man bursting out a pile of rubble. Throughout all the gardens speakers projected stereotypical French classical music. I felt like a noble walking through the gardens in mid afternoon. :)

Bedroom for Louis XIV. I "accidentally" let my flash go on this photograph, because the room was so dark, I could hardly see what I was looking at.

Famous hall of mirrors. I never thought that I would ever get the chance to see this.

Me at the gates of Versailles. Aren't they just incredible??

On Saturday Matt and I spent the entire day at Versailles. Entrance fee was 25 euros, but it was well worth it. It took us forever to walk through the entire palace and then we still had to walk through the gardens. The gardens were bigger than the palace so naturally we didn't see everything... but we did get a chance to see Marie Antoinette's Domain that Louis XIV built for her... It was exquiste and surprisingly far away from the palace... and much more than gaudy.. :)

Paris... The Louvre

Nike of Samothrace (no explanation necessary - it is shear beauty)

The walls and entrance ways to the exhibition halls are so masterfully adorned. It really reinforces the thought that the Louvre was a palace at one time. :)

Venus de Milo

From the inside of the glass pyramid, this one is for you Laura! All the wires that you see create tension to keep the whole structure elevated.

Me walking into the LOUVRE!! :)

I have been back from Paris since Sunday evening. Our whole class went for five days! It was the most incredible experience! I can't even begin to describe. So I'll just post some photos for y'all. I know you have been waiting patiently, while I have been catching up on my sleep... :) (I seriously don't know how all the Parisian women wear heels everyday... I'm exhausted from just wearing my sneaks!)

Arles Continued...

Van Gogh's famous Night Cafe

Me and Matty.

A garden Van Gogh painted.

The Rhone River.

Arles

Church in Place de la Republique

Me standing outside of the Roman Arena

Matador with bull and red cape.

Procession of matadors at the beginning of the fight.

Outside the arena when we first got to Arles. There were two bands playing. One in red, the other in lavendar. The red band had their music memorized... I liked them better.

The trip to Arles was absolutely incredible. The first part of the day we went to a bull fight! The matador costumes were amazing, all the colors and sequin! They were even wearing the traditional pink socks and black ballet flats. I saw a cape, just like the ones they were wearing when they entered the arena, in a store front selling for 1300 euros!! During the fight six bulls were killed. I admit, I cried after the first one. But once you've seen one, you start to focus more on the performance and show done by the matador. The purpose of the matador (other than to kill the bull) is to show his own dominance over the bull and create an artistic relationship between man and bull through this so called "dance." It was fascinating. Each bull that came out after the first, was more agressive than the last, giving the matadors a bit of a hassle in trying to slay it. I found myself cheering for the bull on some occasions.

After the bull fights we all walked around the city together. I got to see the inside of a beautiful cathedral in the Place de la Republique. But the best part of the trip, was the tribute to Vincent Van Gogh. He lived in Provence for two years, spending close to fifteen months in Arles. I got to see the famous Night Cafe and gardens that he painted as well as sit on the steps of his apartment. I felt so inspired sitting in the exact locations that a creative genius sat. I'll post a few different posts of pictures of Arles so you can see everything!

p.s. I bought a beret while in Arles :) Now I REALLY look like an American tourist... ;)

Bonnieux

Front of a Hotel Deville

Overlooking a new section of the valley.

Church at the base of the hill. Bonnieux is built on a hill like Lacoste, only it is significantly MORE steep.

Bell tower with Lacoste in the background, I drew this for my sketchbook.

For my travel portfolio class we drove across the valley to sketch a different city. One of our assignments was to draw our own village, Lacoste, in the background.

Glanum

some of the ruins.

a really beautiful carving, probably once a freize of some sort.

corinthian columns from one of the restored temples.

what remains and has been restored of the smaller of the two "twin" temples.

triumphal arch - the official entrance into Glanum from the Via Domitia (road between Spain and the Alps) :)

For our Art History class we took a field trip to Glanum. All that remains of the city are foundations from the original architecture. It was absolutely fascinating.

Menerbes et Musee Tire-Bouchon

This is an oven located inside of our library. Our library was the villages original Boulangerie. It's reminiscent of an igloo. And is one foot away from the walls so that cats could sleep next to the oven and protect the flour from mice. :)

This is a gorgeous picture that Matt took showing the beautiful sunrays coming through the clouds in the valley.

Vineyard in Menerbes

A portion (I'm sure) of the owner's wine collection.

Another "portion" of the owner's wine collection. ;)

We went to Menerbes with all the students to get an exclusive view of the Tire-Bouchon Museum (Corkscrew Museum). A private owner of a vineyard collects antique corkscrews and is giving SCAD Lacoste students the opportunity to design a poster for his Museum. Winner gets a 1000 Euro prize!! Matt and I are in the process of collaborating on a few ideas to turn into final poster designs. I can't tell you any more about it because the whole operation is a secret so no one can steal our ideas!!

Here are some pictures of Menerbes and the owner's home and vineyard. :)

I also included some images of campus again just so everyone can get a feel for where I'm staying.

Some Beautiful Views of Lacoste

Me sitting in an orchard of cherry trees! :) Full Blossom. This is where I got my inspiration for one of my pieces that I scanned in below.

The orchard of trees. Aren't they magnificent?

This is a view from the orchard looking up at Lacoste!

Me meditating befor a long day.

Bonnieux. Our neighboring village at sunset.

All photographs were taken by Matt Rutenbar. Matt has a super special camera so that he can take the most amazing photos EVER! :)

My camera died for a couple of days so Matt took photos of everything so I could share them. :)

Hello Everyone!!

This is the first piece that I was working on. It is a doorway in Gordes. I used some antique French books (a chemistry book, philosophy book, a novel and a book about a King) and tore out their pages to create collages for my backgrounds. I used a graphite transfer method to transfer my original sketches from my notebook to the surface of the final and then used pen and colored pencil to accentuate the drawings and make them pop out from the busy backgrounds. Same method was used on the piece below.

All the cherry trees are in full bloom. Fields and fields of them are in the valley. I took a walk down and sat in a giant field of them and started sketching. Same old book backgrounds but this piece is a composite of the field of cherry trees and an enlargement of one of the buds. :)

Today is Sunday and its about 6:15 at night. I had a bit of a busy day today but I wanted to share it with y'all (haven't lost the southern vocabulary, yet). This morning I went to Isle sur la Sourge. It is considered the Venice of France. The whole city is built on a canal system and is just beautiful and magnificent. It was perfect for taking pictures and of course my camera died. So unfortunately no pictures from this weekend, but I'll post some next time I go. Apparently we go almost every weekend. On Sunday's it's the hotspot for wealthier French people to go (as well as tourists like myself) and look at the antiques and eat lunch at one of the cafes. They have the most amazing antiques but I only bought a chocolate and coffee cake to share with Matt instead. :) Matt managed to take some really colorful photographs of all the unique people that were shopping in the area. Today as you know is Palm Sunday and we walked into the famous church their and listened to part of the mass (but it was in French so we hardly understood anything). Church goers were carrying olive branches and placing them throughout the town to celebrate.

When we got back to Lacoste it was time for brunch and after brunch I worked on some of my projects for my Travel Portfolio class. For that class we are required to complete four pieces that are put up for the jury and they selecte which pieces will be entered into the Vernissage (exhibition) at the end of the quarter. Not every student is guaranteed a spot and some students have mulitple pieces selected. Only one of the four pieces is due this Tuesday, but to increase my chances of making it to the Vernissage I have created two for this due date. I scanned them into the computer so you guys could see :)!!!

This afternoon I went to a soccer match at the field at the base of our town. It was Lacoste against another village (supposedly the number one team in our league). Well we WON!! it was so exciting 2-1. I guess the SCAD students brought some luck. :) I think all the players are celebrating in one of the local cafes. FELICITATIONS!! (congratulations!!)

Anyways I hope all is well back in the States I miss you guys a ton. Love you!

au revoir
G.