The Abbey and the Garden

This was probably the best weekend I’ve had so far in Paris. I did see that movie, but I will not waste my time recounting the awful details. To this movie, I'd say a loud french bouf. Instead, I’ll focus my time on two major exploration sites: L’Abbaye de Royaumount and Le Jardin d’Acclimatation.

L’Abbaye de Royaumount is an Abbey built in the 13th century by the Famous Saint Louis. The monks who lived there lived a relatively sophisticated life, however they adhered to usual monk type things such as taking a vow of chastity and silence. It was briefly turned into a cotton mill during the revolution, and after the french revolution, the bourgeosie class was attracted to the romance of the Abbey and decided to restore it to its original architecture. Now, the Abbey is famous for hosting autumn concerts, most notably Pink Floyd performed there, and study abroad students on tours.

At the Abbaye we indulged ourselves on a delicious 3 course meal. We started with what we like to describe as the most sophisticated hot pocket we’ve ever had, then a type of salmon cake and risotto, some cheese (bien sur), and then an amazing dessert of caramel ice cream, sweet roll, and a poached apple.

I spent a majority of my weekend running errands and recuperating, but today was such a nice day outside (50 degrees!!) that I grabbed a friend and decided to explore my suburb Neuilly. I’d heard popular talk of Le Jardin d’Acclimatation and we were rather pleased to discover that is was a theme park! There were several rides, fun-house mirrors, and other carnival-type things, a petting zoo with goats and donkeys (which reminded me of “Muley” from Switzerland for all those unfortunate enough to know my odd attachment to farm animals), and a random Jardin de Séoul, which was a collection of Korean stone statues built as a sign of good relations between the mayor of Paris and the Mayor of Seoul. The two must have known I was coming!

It’s supposed to be 57 degrees and sunny tomorrow, perfect for my next class excursion to Saint-Germaine. I’ve lost my voice singing too loudly to music at night, but I find the scratchiness of my voice adds to my yet-to-be-perfected french “r”’s, n’est-ce pas? I’m beginning to plan trips with my friends and I cannot wait to begin my european travels. Why does study abroad only last one semester?

Pictures will arrive once my internet connection has forgiven me. I seem to have angered it by downloading a very large course-reader for one of my classes.