Aero: Christine Elizabeth – France 2015 – History and Culture

Aero: Christine Elizabeth – France 2015 – History and Culture
Creative Commons Image via The LEAF Project

Aero: Christine Elizabeth – France 2015 – History and Culture

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Christine Elizabeth

Upon hearing the word France, one might immediately be drawn to thoughts of fashion, smoking, great food and the Eiffel tower. However one thing that cannot be forgotten is the amazing architecture involved throughout that great country. One thing I noticed as a commonality was some of the most amazing medieval/Gothic styled buildings in both Paris and Vitre. When I looked at the buildings in the city as well as the countryside I payed very good attention and noticed how much work and detail was put into the crafting of these buildings. Most cathedrals I noticed had beautiful stained glass windows, with scenes from the bible inter weaved into them, as well as many gargoyles and or cherub faces carved into the stones outside of them. Used either as gutters to drain the water from the roof, or just as decorative pieces to adorn the outside and add a bit of wonder to the building itself. I noticed more cathedrals in Vitre than Paris, and also that the houses, apartments, and buildings in Paris were all connected to one another. Very rarely did I notice a building that wasn’t connected to the next. For example you would see a long line of boutiques (stores) with patisseries (bakeries) and fromageries (cheese shops) all packed next to each other lining one street. No spaces between the stores. When we walked through the old village in vitre with the castle and all the brightly colored small crooked houses atop bars and meat shops I stood in awe thinking to myself how I had only seen this kind of handy work done in movie scenes from robin hood and Monty python, and now I was standing right in the midst of it. Awe inspiring and breathtaking architecture and beautiful craftsmanship is a definite signature of the french.

We went to a few museums when we were in Paris, the Louvre, and The Musee de Orsay. If I had to choose which one I found the most interesting I would say it would have to have been the Louvre only because I saw some artwork that interested me. I’m not so much interested in sculptures of old art, I am more into the art of the Egyptians because much of its history pertains to the bible which really interests me. As well as the Greek mythology works of art that I viewed in the museum such as Venus, Hermes, Zeus, Aphrodite and Diane which were my favorite characters in Greek mythology because they represented wisdom and strength. Two attributes which I feel are very important for Women to have. The Musee de orsay was more sculptures than anything else, as well as it was not very large, so you could easily view everything in an hour or so. Very different in comparison to the Louvre which was huge by nature and would take days to view everything. One room I really couldn’t get enough of in the Louvre was this elaborately decorated golden room I would call it, where everything pretty much was done in gold paint, and the ceiling was a mural of compiled constellations and their matching months they would appear. This room was very very detailed and must have taken at least a year to construct. Definitely something words cannot describe, but if you go to the Louvre you must see it, it is something you will never regret.

ML@FLCC France 2015 Flickr Photo Gallery

When I was staying with my host family, Yveline and I had many conversations and interactions about music. We shared our favorite artists and bands, and in the process I gained a few favorites myself. Christine and the Queens is a very popular group right now in France and I really enjoyed her song “tilted” and I also grew accustomed to Milky chance, and Selah sue. I noticed in many cafes however that the music of choice typically in Paris, was English speaking music, and many of the bands and artists I heard in these places were songs that were popular in the USA. Interesting to hear they are just as popular in France. That was definitely not something I expected to find in France.

I watched a movie in French at my Host families house and it was called “starbuck” it was a great movie that actually was re made into an English movie here called “the delivery man”. I watched the movie completely in french with no subtitles in English and it was amazing how much I could understand just from facial expressions, body language, music, and tone of voice, without knowing all of the french words being spoken. Same went for watching the news in french.

All in all it seems the French are all about fashion, food, and art from my understanding, and that is something I am ok with and wouldn’t mind being a part of any day 😉

Christine Elizabeth
LEAF Contributor