Fifth Day in Florence

After a 12-hour train ride to Florence, we were finally here! We immediately sat in our bus and headed towards our hotel. During our bus ride to the hotel, I was amazed at the beauty, authenticity and simplicity of Florence. The city really seemed to look like a picture from a book because of its unique structure and style. Furthermore, as soon as we arrived to the hotel, we checked-in and went straight to have breakfast at a small restaurant in Florence.

After our breakfast, we began a walking tour of the city. The first incredible building we saw was the Duomo. Stefania explained to us that it took 150 years to build this astonishing and gigantic cathedral, which holds so much of Florence’s historical stories and memories. After walking passed the cathedral, some museums and the Piazza Di Santa Croce, we arrived to a leather factory. The owners showed us how they do custom embroidery on leather products, what type of leather they sell and how they manage their business. I enjoyed visiting the leather business in Florence because I was able to see how these owners interacted with their customers, negotiated costs and actually sold their products. They used a technique of bargaining with their customers and henceforth, made a large amount of sales.

After, we headed towards the Academia in order to visit the famous David statue. The statue of David was just how I expected it to be; handsome, manly and perfectly sculpted. Next, we went to another famous church in Florence, where we were introduced to one of the most interested tour guides I met on our entire tour. His passion and knowledge of his cities historical past was truly inspirational and attention grabbing. He taught us the reason why wealthy individuals purchased their own chambers in many churches and about the specific paintings painted within the churches walls. One specific chamber we were introduced to the Medicini family servant named Francis. The tour guide explained to us that this individual had purchased this chamber in order to show the people of his city the level of his wealth and to always be recognized by future generations. Soon after, we left the church and went to the main center of the city, where we were assigned to evaluate different historical and god-like statues found in the courtyard. All of the statues there had their own stories, meanings, representations and value. They each told the past stories of the Romans.

When evening came around, we were escorted to our restaurant, Rubaconte, to enjoy a nice dinner with our entire group. After dinner, a group of us decided to experience the night-life in Florence. Therefore, we went to a club named Space-Electronics, recommended by Stefania. After a great evening of dancing and having fun, we finally went to the hotel and immediately fell asleep.

Fourth Day in Paris

Today was our final day in Paris, France. Therefore, we started our day early by first making a business visit by a young fashion designer, Josephus Thimister. He spoke to us about his target market, ready-to-wear clothing line, work ethic, competition and past experiences. He really made me realize how difficult it is to compete with strong and established fashion companies, specially being a young and unknown designer. Fashion is a very harsh and competitive industry, and makes me question why small and new businesses would still open during these tough economic times. However, Thimister had a great collection of clothing and seems to be a very hard worker, which can eventually lead to great success.

After our fashion visit, a group of us went to visit the cemetery where you can find the tombstones of Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison and etc. Our hike through the cemetery was truly torturous and tiring. After about an hour and a half of walking, we were able to find Jim Morrisons, Fred Chopins and Oscar Wilde’s tombstones. I thought Oscar Wilde’s kissed tombstone was incredibly unique and interesting, and it looked very cool!

Moreover, after the cemetery, we all rushed back to the hotel in order to get our luggages and take a night train to Florence, Italy. The night train with its 6-person rooms was awful, especially since we also had eight huge luggages. After a 12-hour ride, we would finally arrive to Florence, Italy!

Third Day in Paris

During our third day in Paris, we had the opportunity to have a city tour of Paris. This was a great way to be introduced to the city and learn about the Parisians lifestyle and community.

During the tour, we learned about saw some of these locations:

1. Bellville: Our hotel district, up-north Paris

2. Fashion number one industry, tourism second

3. Paris is 8 miles long and 11 miles wide; 3 million people live in Paris; 12 million in France

4. France is divided into 20 regions

5. France is named after first king of France, who defeated the Romans; He came from Franks tribe

6. World Expo of 1900: Built metro and World Expo of 1889: Built Eiffel Tower

7. Paris is a melting pot because of people from all over the world

8. Louvre: Opened during the French Revolution in 18^th century

9. Luxemburg Palace: Now home for the Senate

10. St. Michael Fountain: Meeting spot for Parisians

11. Oldest clock in Paris

Soon after, some of us had the opportunity to visit Versailles. Even though I had previously visited the Versailles, I was still amazed at the beautiful site of the palace and gardens. The entire property truly looks like a painting because of its perfect architecture, designs and home products. It really makes me think of the luxurious life they used to live during their times and how life was so different back then. These individuals spent countless amounts of money building such palaces and gardens, while the public was living a life of poverty. Nonetheless, these wealthy royal families made incredible landmarks, which accurately represent their lifestyles.

After visiting Versailles, we went directly to the Notre Dame. Luckily, we had the chance to see an evening mass during our visit. I believe the architecture, murals and interior designs were beautiful. Furthermore, soon after I had dinner with my uncle’s family, and said my final goodbyes before leaving Paris.

During the evening, we went to a show at the Moulin Rouge. I enjoyed the show, however I really expected to see more can-can and traditional dancing. However, I felt like the show had somewhat lost their authenticity because it felt like a Las Vegas show, instead of the original can-can show. They need to try to remain close to their origins and deliver a show that is completely different from any show in America

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Second Day in Paris

The day started bright and early. Our first plan was to get on the metro and visit the Musee d’Orsay. I can definitely say that this museum was one of my favorites because of their rich collection of art pieces. Fortunately, I had the opportunity of studying some of those art pieces and artists; therefore it was truly fulfilling to be able to actually see those paintings in person.

Furthermore, while in Musee d’Orsay, we saw some of these famous artists and paintings:

1. Theodre Chasseriau: Naked women/holding water

2. Jean Leon Gerome: Fight of roosters

3. Exoticism paintings

4. Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux: Inspired by Divine Comedy/Master of Orientalisme

5. Couture: Inspired by Roman statues, Roman antiquity

6. Courbet: Funeral in Village

7. Courbet: The Workshop

8. Vincet Van Gogh: Before coming to Paris, dark colors. After coming to Paris, yellow colors

9. Paul Gaguin: He painted nature simplified

10. Edouard Monet: Olympia, Impressionist painting

11. Paul Cezanne: Read his book, “Moon and Sixpence”

12. Monet: The Lunch

13. Armand Guillaumin: Impressionist paintings

14. Edgar Degas: Italian impressionist painting, statues of dancers

15. Henri de Toulouse-Laurtrea: Caboret paintings

16. Henri Matisse: Inspired by neo-impressionist

17. Paul Signac: Leader of neo-impressionist

18. Georges Seurat: Circus painting

19. Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Impressionist painting

Soon after visiting Musee d’Orsay, we took a walking tour in Paris. We visited the Chanzelize, a tiny location where artists sell their paintings, and the Louvre. The Louvre is one of the most famous museums in Paris, France. I enjoyed hearing the history of how the Louvre came about, and how it grew to hold some of the most amazing artifacts, paintings and statues. According to our tour guide, the Louvre used to be a royal palace, which then the king later moved his palace to Versailles and opened a museum, Louvre, in 1973. What I truly loved about the Louvre was its pyramid-like architecture and its unique appearance.

While in the Louvre, we saw some of these famous artists, paintings and statues:

1. Egyptian objects: Louvre holds the biggest collection, other than Egypt.

2. Pallas de Velletri: Antiquity of Greek Gods

3. Venus: Helonistic period; Greeks came up with the unique Greek position of leaning on one leg more than the other leg.

4. Botticelli: Fresco paintings found in a house

5. Leonardo de Vinci: He was an inventor, artist, war weapon, creator and scientist; Direct model of painting to audience

6. Mona Lisa: Famous in 1911; several myths include, (a) model is unknown (b) Leonardo dressed as a drag queen (c) staring at you

7. Liberty Guarding the People: Revolution of France

8. Cupid son of Venus

After the Louvre, we went to a famous French café “Les Deux Magots,” to have dinner. Apparently, this café was home to man famous writers, such as Oscar Wilde and Hemingway.

Clearly, today was a fun-filled, educational and tiring day for all of us. However, the opportunity to be able to visit these famous sights was one of the best moments during the trip. I feel like I was part of the European history because of our chance to hear the stories accompanying those famous statues and paintings. It was truly an educational experience.

First Day in Paris

Upon arrival, our hectic day immediately began. Stefania, our tour leader, greeted us and soon after led us and another group of college students from North Carolina to our bus. The plan was to drop off our luggages at our Paris aparthotel, and promptly began our Paris city tour.

As a group, we decided to take the Paris city metro to go to the Eiffel Tower. Not only would the metro allow us to experience the daily routine of many Parisians, it would also give us an opportunity to be part of the community culture. After our confusing and nerve wrecking metro ride, we arrived to the beautiful Eiffel Tower. It was truly a breath-taking moment. I felt like the tower greeted us to the wonderful and crazy Paris city. After taking countless pictures of the Eiffel Tower, we decided to take a Paris city guided tour boat ride. During the boat ride, we were shown the famous Sorboune University, Notre Dome and the many famous bridges in the city.

One of the greatest moments of the day was our trip up the Eiffel Tower. We had the opportunity to go up on the peak of the tower and look down at the beautiful site down below our feet. The city looked so thrilling, full of rich history and hope. I can confidently say that this was one of my unforgettable moments on this trip.

Soon after Dr. Cremer and Professor Emily Davis took us on a walking tour of Paris, which eventually led us to the metro. Clearly, ever since our flight to Paris, we did not have the opportunity to rest up or sleep. Therefore, when dinner-time came around, we were all extremely tired. Unfortunately, I was one of the individuals who fell asleep during dinner. Exhaustion and lack of sleep had taken a toll on me. After my short sleep in the restaurant, it was time for me to visit my uncles family in Paris, while the rest of the group had the opportunity to go to the hotel and rest.

After 10 years of not seeing my uncle and his family, I was invited to their home for a second-round of dinner. It was great seeing everyone so grown-up and improved. My uncle had completely transformed his families life for the better through rightly working and making a living for him and his family. After eating, gift-exchanging, sharing stories and exchanging laughs, it was finally time for me to go back to the hotel and get some much-needed sleep.

As I closed my eyes to sleep, I knew I still had a long and exciting trip ahead of me!