Weekend de Pacques!

Easter weekend in Paris!! My friend Annie from Reed came to visit for the weekend to celebrate. Anu (another Reedie) and I went to meet her at the train station Friday afternoon. Poor Annie had hurt her foot the night before, and was suffering from a rather treacherous bruise on her inside arch. We took her home to ice and relax; and we all caught up for a bit of time.

Friday night was the CUPA soirée. I left Annie and Anu to relax chez moi, and left with friends to go to the American/French soirée. It was a good night, although the atmosphere of the party came perilously close to that of a middle school basement get-together.

We had a lazy Saturday morning, and made our way to Chartres for the afternoon, with Annie’s friend Anindya as well. The Cathedral was beautiful. Windows upon windows full of ancient stories and depictions marked in brilliant colour normally fill the church with blasts of color. As it was a fairly overcast (and freezing) day, the church was very dark. We could still see the intricately mastered windows, but the flowing night was left mostly to the imagination. My favorite part of the Church was a piece of silk fabric that supposedly dates back to the FIRST century, (yes first) and was acclaimed to be part of Mary’s scarf.

We didn’t do too much walking around in the town, since Annie’s foot wasn’t in top-shape, but we did have enough time to enjoy some of the events going on in celebration of Easter weekend, which were part of the Chartres Easter Festival. A favorite free show - homegrown tech-tonic dancing, the star being a small agile kid who I imagine was probably somewhere around 9 years old. He was rad. Anu and I tried to re-create the magic throughout the rest of the day. We were told it was not quite the same.

Annie and I started off Easter Sunday by going to an 11 o’clock Episcopalian service at the American Cathedral. This Cathedral is beautiful. It was a nice service. After Church, we had a quiet meal at home. The rest of the day was spent in preparation for the soirée to come. Around 8, friends gathered chez moi for a joyous feast of chocolate, pasta, salad, bread and cheese, and devilled eggs (not in that order). Between courses, we rummaged up energy to have a few easter egg hunts, and after dinner we indulged in more chocolate and played a few silly games. Around midnight most people left, except Annie, Anu, and Tibo. We four stayed up for a bit more to watch a film about a group of people (from France) who are summoned by their mother’s will to make the trek to St. Jacques Compostalle. I was supremely and contentedly exhausted, and promptly fell asleep when the movie began...

Monday was spent saying goodbye to friends, cleaning, sleeping, and relaxing. I thank God for a very blessed and peaceful Easter weekend.

Londres!

Last weekend I went to London with my Mom. She came over to see me for the weekend, and stayed on a few extra days to see some friends. We stayed in Sloane Square. We both arrived Thursday night and celebrated with a first late dinner out, which was soon followed by several other late night “out-on-the town” dinners.

We spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday getting the most out of that beautiful and grand city. Friday began with a long walk through London’s central parks – Hyde Park (with a stop at Serpentine Lake), Green Park (with a stop at Buckingham Palace), and St. James’ Park (with a stop by some beautiful swans), which brought us to the Westminster Abbey area. We spent a bit of time in the Parliament buildings – perusing through the ancient building, hearing a debate in the House of Commons, and checking out the House of the Lords. After walking and touring all morning, we stopped at a traditional English pub for a quick bite to eat before checking out Westminster Abbey and St. Margarite’s Church, that lies just “à côté.” Westminster Abbey was jam-packed with ancient gems – tombs of Richard III, Queen Elizabeth and her half-sister Mary, Mary Queen of Scott’s, Henry IV... memorials for Poet’s like Dickens, Shakespeare, and more... I was blown away. After touring the cathedral itself we took a peek at the cloister, the Abbey’s museum (full of ancient clothes of the royalty listed above), and England’s oldest door – a wooden, worn away door supposedly dating back to 1030... Our day was topped off with a viewing of the musical, Hairspray, a musical that will never grow old. It’s hilarious moments, upbeat music, and treatment of issues of race and beauty image in the 60s make it a highly enjoyable experience... that is, if you’re one for cheezy musicals :)

Saturday. Saturday started off with a bang with a successful voyage on the Tube, and a tour of the Globe Theatre in Bankside, London. After a few moments in the Globe museum, we bustled to the artificial tree in the middle of the museum to meet our tour guide. The theatre was incredible. I loved its thatch roof and open ceiling. Images of Shakespeare’s plays sprawl before your eyes in the creative space ... even images from Shakespeare in Love! After our tour, Mom and I headed to the St. Paul Cathedral. This – like Westminster Abbey – is another sacred space full of ancient treasures. With a much more modern feel than the Abbey, this light, enormous Cathedral houses the tombs of other famous figures such as Florence Nightengale, William Blake, and the Duke of Wellington. In this Cathedral lies the famous “Whisper Gallery,” which you can access by climbing up a decent amount of stairs, to the first of several higher galleries. Mom made the trek up. I rested on the first floor, staring up at the massive dome, before heading down to the crypt. After the Cathedral, mom and I headed over to the Bond St. Tube station to see the Wallace Collection. We had a brief lunch there, and then spent a couple of hours looking through the free museum. What a collection! The mansion is stocked with Rembrant, Titian, Boucher, and Fragonard paintings, ancient furniture and portraits of various royalty... It was impressive. Saturday was topped off with a visit to another show – Billy Elliot! Although a bit more somber than Hairspray, it too was enjoyable – 13 year old dancer tore the floor apart with his accomplished tap, jazz, modern, and ballet dancing, as well as bits of gymnastics and singing here and there! “Dancing... it’s like electricity!”

Sunday. Palm Sunday. Mom and I went to Church at the Trinity Church of England in Sloane Square. It was a nice service. The Church was big, but small enough to maintain an element of coziness. After Church, we headed to the Charles Dickens museum. Oh, this was such a cool thing to do! I loved it! The museum was founded in 1925 in the second house that Charles Dickens lived in after moving to London. He lived there with his wife Catherine around the age of 25 for a couple of years. He wrote all of Oliver Twist while living in this house, some of his earlier, minor works, as well as the Nicholas Nichleby series... Original manuscripts of his works are housed there, including a rare, experiment copy of his Christmas stories, with a title page that was printed in red and green. After the museum, we headed back to Sloane Square to have some “down time,” and for me to get ready to go. We had an early dinner on King St. (which runs off Sloane Square) at a yummy italian restaurant, and then packed me on to the tube in time to make my night train back to Paris.

Skiing at Chamonix with Christy and Sweta

Weekend Sejour in Rennes

Organisation du Site

For the moment, I'll be writing descriptions in the "commentaires" part of each entry. If you're interested - take a peak! Also, the site goes chronologically from Bottom to Top... as opposed to Top to Bottom... so THAT (bottom to top) is the order in which these things happened :)

Caitlin

Travels in January Ch III: Avignon Weekend with CUPA

Travels in January Ch II: Plum Village, France

Travels in January Ch I. Berlin

Christmas Vacation: Boston

Bringing in the New Year with Family: Bermuda

L'Initiation Technique

Hello Friends and Family,

This is my first attempt at a public, group email (of sorts). Please bear with me - for computers are not my favorite thing, and thus I imagine the formatting and such might be catastrophic.

I hope you enjoy the stories, and images I will be putting on this site from my travels and experiences in Europe this year.

I miss and love you all.

Caitlin