Saturday, 7 July 2007
First week at work
So I have completed my first week at work, and it went heaps better than expected, though I had pretty low expectations. I have started in the lab already, which is great, because I think that is where I work best and can ask more questions about what is going on. Tomorrow we are having a big group meeting and everyone is going to go over their current and future projects, and then I get to pick on that I want to 'lead', though I use that word very loosely. I'm really looking forward to having an experiment of my own, though I will probably just end up following on from another PhD student here, who is due to leave pretty soon. One of the best things about work here is that they never work on weekends, woohoo. Even the big cryostat they only run for 3 days a week. I really love that about the French, they know how to live!
Gif shopkeepers
The shopkeepers in Gif are a funny lot. The town is apparently where heaps of rich people live so I guess they have to do things a bit differently for the rich folk. At the fruit and veg store they have everything laid out, just inviting you to pick the apples and stuff that you want, but no that's not how it works. Instead there is one guy employed and you tell him what you want and he will pick everything out for you. I've been in there when there have been a few other people, and nobody picks their own food, they all just wait for this one person to get to them. I suppose that's why the French aren't known for their efficiency.
They also have a seafood shop here which is open 3 days a week (I think). It actually seems pretty random when it is open or not. I don't think I'm going to be shopping there, at least not unless I feel like having 3 days off work. All the seafood is just laid out on ice (I guess at least they do that) but then it is basically sitting in the street, with no walls or coverings of any sort. So all the flies and bugs that feel like gorging themselves on seafood can just go right ahead. Yuck!
One thing I'm loving though are the awesome bakeries, the bread really is better here. And the eclairs are something else!
They also have a seafood shop here which is open 3 days a week (I think). It actually seems pretty random when it is open or not. I don't think I'm going to be shopping there, at least not unless I feel like having 3 days off work. All the seafood is just laid out on ice (I guess at least they do that) but then it is basically sitting in the street, with no walls or coverings of any sort. So all the flies and bugs that feel like gorging themselves on seafood can just go right ahead. Yuck!
One thing I'm loving though are the awesome bakeries, the bread really is better here. And the eclairs are something else!
Funny Frenchities II
Some more funny French things I've noticed:
The shop keepers here have this love-affair going with the small change in their tills and want to hang on to it for dear life. If you try and buy something small using a $20 they will, without fail, ask if you have anything smaller. I don't know what would happen if you tried to use a $50, I guess they just wouldn't sell you anything.
The post offices are open on Saturday, that is so awesome!!
The shop keepers here have this love-affair going with the small change in their tills and want to hang on to it for dear life. If you try and buy something small using a $20 they will, without fail, ask if you have anything smaller. I don't know what would happen if you tried to use a $50, I guess they just wouldn't sell you anything.
The post offices are open on Saturday, that is so awesome!!
The Concierge and Saint-Chapelle
The Concierge and Saint-Chapelle are kind of connected as they are all one part of what used to be the French palace. The Concierge was the gaol and torture chamber whilst Saint-Chapelle was built to house the holy relics of the French kings. The Concierge was where Marie-Antoinette spent 67 days after the French Revolution before being guillotened, though she certainly wasn't alone. The French went a bit crazy with the whole killing people and guillotened over 2700 people in the years 1793-1795.
It was interesting to see the Concierge, the name comes from the keeper of the prison, (who was called the concierge), but I wouldn't rate it in the top 10.
Below on the left is a recreation of Marie Antoinette's cell, complete with a life-size Marie doll. On the left of the picture is a screen which separates her from the gendarmes who were constantly watching her.
The picture on the right is the Hall of Men-at-Arms. It was built in 1310 and is huge. It was used as a dining room to feed the 2000 people in the king's service.
After the Concierge I went to Saint-Chapelle and whilst I had to stand in a massive line for maybe 40 minutes, it was totally worth it, even for the approximately 30 minutes I spent inside. It is an amazing building and unfortunately the camera really doesn't do it justice. Unlike Notre-Dame, Saint-Chapelle was built in only 6 years from 1248, and it was intended to house the crown of thorns (which the king at the time spent 3 times the value of the chapel on) as well as, among other things, a fragment of the True Cross. So a lot of effort went into making the chapel good enough for the relics. Unfortunately during the French Revolution these relics were stolen, so I couldn't see the crown of thorns :(.
On the left is the lower chapel, where the poor people went to pray, whilst on the right is the upper chapel which was connected directly to the palace, so the royalty never had to see the plebs downstairs. The upper chapel was were the relics were stored and it had this amazing feeling of space. It really was beautiful and I highly recommend it, especially after seeing Notre-Dame.
This is a picture of the outside of Saint-Chapelle, with what used to be the palace on the right, it is now the law court of France.
It was interesting to see the Concierge, the name comes from the keeper of the prison, (who was called the concierge), but I wouldn't rate it in the top 10.
Below on the left is a recreation of Marie Antoinette's cell, complete with a life-size Marie doll. On the left of the picture is a screen which separates her from the gendarmes who were constantly watching her.
The picture on the right is the Hall of Men-at-Arms. It was built in 1310 and is huge. It was used as a dining room to feed the 2000 people in the king's service.
After the Concierge I went to Saint-Chapelle and whilst I had to stand in a massive line for maybe 40 minutes, it was totally worth it, even for the approximately 30 minutes I spent inside. It is an amazing building and unfortunately the camera really doesn't do it justice. Unlike Notre-Dame, Saint-Chapelle was built in only 6 years from 1248, and it was intended to house the crown of thorns (which the king at the time spent 3 times the value of the chapel on) as well as, among other things, a fragment of the True Cross. So a lot of effort went into making the chapel good enough for the relics. Unfortunately during the French Revolution these relics were stolen, so I couldn't see the crown of thorns :(.
On the left is the lower chapel, where the poor people went to pray, whilst on the right is the upper chapel which was connected directly to the palace, so the royalty never had to see the plebs downstairs. The upper chapel was were the relics were stored and it had this amazing feeling of space. It really was beautiful and I highly recommend it, especially after seeing Notre-Dame.
This is a picture of the outside of Saint-Chapelle, with what used to be the palace on the right, it is now the law court of France.
The Parisii
Sorry about how the pictures are looking, but I find it hard to easily make blogger look good, and I'm sorry my dear reader I just can't be bothered spending ages to get it looking perfect.
After visiting Notre Dame, I went underground. As you may or may not know Notre Dame is on an island in the middle of the Seine, in the middle of Paris. This island was where a celtic tribe, called the Parisii, moved in and set up a town in centuries BC. The island was easily defendable as back then it was surrounded by marshes and a river. But not so easily defendable that the Romans couldn't move in and conquer everyone, in renamed the town Lutetia. So ever since the Parisii there have been people living in the same site, where ground zero was underneath Notre Dame. When they were doing excavations they found the ancient ruins of the Romans and the subsequent people.
The ancient ruins underneath Notre Dame. The column on the right is an old Roman column that was incorporated in buildings which came later
After visiting Notre Dame, I went underground. As you may or may not know Notre Dame is on an island in the middle of the Seine, in the middle of Paris. This island was where a celtic tribe, called the Parisii, moved in and set up a town in centuries BC. The island was easily defendable as back then it was surrounded by marshes and a river. But not so easily defendable that the Romans couldn't move in and conquer everyone, in renamed the town Lutetia. So ever since the Parisii there have been people living in the same site, where ground zero was underneath Notre Dame. When they were doing excavations they found the ancient ruins of the Romans and the subsequent people.
The ancient ruins underneath Notre Dame. The column on the right is an old Roman column that was incorporated in buildings which came later
Notre Dame, Part 2
Today I returned to Notre Dame, to fight the hordes of tourists and somehow make it inside. Notre Dame is on of the most popular tourist attractions in Paris, along with the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, and once I was inside I could really feel that. The place was completely packed and you are sort of shuffled along this tourist conveyor belt as the hordes move around the outside of the cathedral. They have confessional booths set-up around the outside and the centre is meant for people praying, though god knows why you would go to one of the least peaceful churches in the world to pray! I think the catholic church should just admit that it's basically just a tourist attraction now and go all out. The cathedral itself is amazing and you can see why it took 200 years to finish. Though I think the upper bit was better, being able to see the gargoyles. So if you only want to stand in one massive line when you go to Notre Dame, I would chose the line that goes up the bell tower. Below are some pictures of the stained glass windows and the inside of the cathedral.
The entrance to Notre-Dame, with a small line in front of me,
this line only gets longer as the day goes on
A weird statue inside, I don't know who is is meant to be, but they are climbing out of a coffin. The catholics go in for some strange art work
The inside of the cathedral looking over the alter, with the obligatory stained glass windows
The entrance to Notre-Dame, with a small line in front of me,
this line only gets longer as the day goes on
A weird statue inside, I don't know who is is meant to be, but they are climbing out of a coffin. The catholics go in for some strange art work
The inside of the cathedral looking over the alter, with the obligatory stained glass windows
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