Skip to main content
I think I have finally decided on the cities for which I am applying to study abroad at, although this may change…

1st is Rennes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rennes It has a metro system (subways kind of send my heart a flutter from time to time), fine arts museum, is in the northwest region of France, and has a nice large population.

2nd is Saint-Étienne. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-%C3%89tienne It is in the mountains just southeast of the center of France and has a tramway, museum of modern art, and their main industry is bicycle manufacturing.

3rd is Montpellier. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montpellier It is near the Mediterranean to the south of France, has a tramway, hosts lots of cultural events, the largest population of any of my choices (265,364), and it pretty much stays at 50 degrees all year round.

4th is Amiens. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiens A smaller town to the north of France with a population just under 140,000 with a river that runs through the town and all the way to the English channel, and an oceanic climate of regular rainfall.

Now I just get to have the pleasure of going through the University websites for each town to figure out which classes I would like, although once I have chosen all these they will change once it actually gets closer to moving over there. Oh well, the prof that I had last semester for French is as well the department head and when I went by his office the other day to get a recommendation from him for this study abroad program he said that he would be placing me in all of the above average and outstanding categories that the form provided. As well as advise me a bit into letting me know that I should be taking two different French classes next semester. It seems that I will be having some pretty French heavy Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays next semester. Now hopefully I will be able to figure out how graduate while abroad and make things a bit more interesting, since it seems that I will be coming close, if not breaking, 100 credits at the end of next semester. Although what I find odd is that as the French classes get more difficult they begin to be worth less credits…

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Birth.

Hey. C'est moi.  It has been a few years. Since I last discussed into the void here I attended grad school for architecture at the University of Washington, finished the Master's program by the skin of my teeth, graduated into a global pandemic (I would not recommend this), gave away most of my worldly possessions, and am now flâneur-ing around Europe on the slim budget of my life savings. Allow me to reintroduce myself : I am the artist, Gaston. My interests include ; architecture, sustainability, art, vintage fashions, antiques, and flâneries. All while consuming massive quantities of tea. “I know where I'm from, but I don't know where I'm going.” I recently heard this line at a video playing at the Tate Museum in Liverpool, and it rang strong in me. In the film Casablanca, when Rick is questioned on his nationality he responds that his is a “drunkard,” insinuating that he has renounced his American nationality for that of someone who owns and runs a bar. From ...
1 comment
Read more
French underworld tattoos at the turn of the century. The man sports a tattooed mustache intended to foil the prohibition of facial hair in the Foreign Legion. The World of Tattoo by Maarten Hesselt van Dinter. I can only dream of being anywhere near that combination of badass and crazy. Though at that point the Foreign Legion was probably still the best place for criminals to get their record cleaned so perhaps he is as well quite legitimately scary upon all of that. I find myself flipping back to this page time and time again to romanticize the French underground from around 1900. Give him an accordion, a beret, and some braces. Prostitutes who could easily kill you if you ever come up short and tattoo the names of their ‘actual’ lovers between their breasts, close to their heart. Tattoo ‘Je mother fucking t’aime’ in a tattoo cursive along my collar bones.
Post a Comment
Read more

The Toulousian Painting.

I sneak in a mirror reflected reference photo. While we were in Toulouse we ducked into a nice little salon de thé that to me felt like something out of a 1940s representation of Europeans in Africa. Probably just the French dealing with the heat of the south. While at this place I noticed a girl sitting alone at one of the tables reading on her phone. Perhaps surfing the internet, perhaps reading a book, I couldn't quite tell as it was in Asian characters. I would guess that it was either Chinese or Japanese. In such a beautifully intriguing place I found it to be somewhat odd that she would pass the time ignoring her surrounding to immerse herself in her phone. I remember they also had nice restrooms. The girl then left and we stayed a bit longer sipping on our drinks, which if I remember right were not actually tea but something cool to counter the heat of Toulouse. Taking a breather in the hectic nature of our vacation. It was one of those towns where I ...
Post a Comment
Read more