Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Versailles

It has been crazy to think that I have been home for 48 hours. I miss Paris so much! There are no words to explain how much fun I had on this trip, or all of the history, culture, and experience that I experienced. I really liked learning about how the French live their life, and how they merge business and culture. 

My favorite place that we visited was definitely Versailles. I loved the fact that everything about the Palace was fabulous. Nothing was short of perfect, and it is hard to imagine that the palace was once somebody's home. The size of the building was so unreal. Not only was it big in terms of square footage, but it was also big in the aspect that everything was so tall and grand. My favorite part of the house was either the Hall of Mirrors or the gardens. 

Charlize Theron starred in a commercial for Dior. The commercial took place into Versailles's Hall of Mirrors. Throughout the commercial, Theron was modeling for a fashion show and strutting down the famous hall. The commercial is obviously very sophisticated and extravagant. Dior is a luxury company with a classy and timeless reputation, and Versailles arguably the one of the most luxurious places in the world. The brand and advertising location seem to be the perfect fit, and this commercial was a great example of how the Parisian culture acquires business. 

Monday, May 20, 2013

Bye-Bye Paris

We are at the airport right now. It is hard to imagine our trip is over, but I genuinely enjoyed every minute. It is sad because we have become such good friends, however I know we will remain friends. I am so thankful to have come on this trip with Dr. Desplaces because he was able to teach us about the business of culture and Paris in a way that made it memorable and enjoyable. I will be posting more pictures throughout the rest of the week, and continuing to blog, so no need to worry- you're not getting rid of me yet!

Free Day

Today was our last day in Paris-nooo! The whole trip went by so fast. We had nothing scheduled for the class, so it was considered a free day.  The weather was rainy and cold, so it was nice that we had the option to choose what we wanted to do. However, the rain provided a very peaceful and beautiful atmosphere and view which was nice to enjoy on the last day.  We used our free day by going out to lunch, and then dinner later. Both meals took place at cute little cafes that were close to our hotel. This was actually a really good way to embrace parisian culture and people. A whole bunch of us hung out together at the end of the night. It was a great way to spend our last night in France!

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Side Note

I uploaded my photos on to iPhoto, and they have not been showing up on blog properly. I am trying to figure out what is wrong. As soon as I do, I will put all of my picture up!

The Louvre


Today was an exciting day because we were visiting The Louvre. The Louvre is the most famous and most visited art museum built in the world. The museum takes up about 15 acres of property and houses 35000 pieces of artwork. It was used as originally a palace until 1791. It is home to some of the most famous artwork in the world, including the Mona Lisa. However, it houses arts from all different time periods. I visited four specific time periods, and found great interest in all of them.

We first went and visited the Egyptian time period. It was there where I was exposed to hieroglyphics, sculptures, and a mummy. I loved this section because Egyptian history is so interesting to me. I love how their way of life was so structured, and their art has been preserved so nicley. I really liked looking at the mummy. It was so weird thinking that the mummy was once a living person. It made me wonder what kind of life they led, and why they were so lucky to have been preserved so nicely.  

Next we viewed a lot of Greek artwork. Although there were painting, a lot of the artwork that we saw in this section was sculptures. Some of them were full body while others were busts. However, it was still all beautiful and interesting. It is also crazy thinking about all of the hard work that people put into the art. Although today’s people do not lack the skill to make such beautiful pieces of work, they often lack the patience that is necessary, and that is what makes these pieces so rare.

After that is when we visited the Mona Lisa. It is not as small as I thought it would be, but still weird to see. I have seen and heard about DeVinci’s painting hundreds of times in my life, and it was so weird to think that I saw it up close and in person. It is cool to have seen it with my own eyes. However, the picture opposite the Mona Lisa stretched from the floor to the ceiling, and didn’t get half of the attention. I felt kind of bad for that artist, but still paid more attention the Mono Lisa.

Lastly, we went and visited Napoleons apartment. I have never seen anything like it before. I almost liked it better than Versailles. Everything in it was massive and royal. The chandelier was beautiful, and I have never seen anything that big before in my whole life. It is crazy to think that he actually lived there.

We finished our night with dinner- our last dinner with Dr. D. I couldn’t believe that our trip had gone by so fast. We seriously grasped so much of Paris, and made amazing memories and friendships along the way. Dinner was of course delicious, and we enjoyed good conversation with Dr. D and his sister. 

Business and Culture Applications


Today was an eventful day for us. We explained business, culture, and the business of culture in many different forms today. We visited two museums, and met with major leaders in an actual Parisian business. 

We started out the day by exploring the basics of a Parisian business.  We had the privilege of visiting Biologique Recherche, a luxury skin care brand in Paris. It was there where we were able to speak to major leaders in their company, and ask them questions about how they run their business, as well as the business culture of France. They also answered all of our questions that we had about their business or the business of culture in general. They were so kind to offer us their time, and great resources for our class.

After that, we went to lunch at a small sandwich café. My sandwich was seriously so good! That wasn’t a huge part of our day- I just thought I would add that in because it really was amazing.

We visited two museums to expose our selves to different aspect of French culture. The first museum was a museum of what the older versions of modern technology looked like. It was actually really interesting. I got to see things such as the first turn table, the first floppy disk, and the first computer. It is crazy to see the evolution that all of these technologies have made.



The next museum that we went to was another art museum. We had the same task that we did at the last museum, find four pieces of art that you would display in your home. The first piece of art that I choose was by Pablo Picasso simply because it was a piece of art pained by Pablo Picasso himself, and if I was lucky enough to have a piece of artwork in my possession, I would display it in my house.

The second piece of art that I choose was called La Vauge Violette by
Georges Lacombe. The purple in the painting is absolutely beautiful. The picture lives up to it’s title in the aspect that it is very vague and mysterious, but that is what I like about it. It is definitely a piece of art that could leave on thinking for hours.

I really liked the next piece of art because I would love to live somewhere life this. This picture looks like it is a cottage that a Disney princess lived in before she became a princess. I like the fantasy aspect that the picture holds. I like how just by looking at it, one start imagining what their world would be like if they were to live there.

I liked this picture because it is similar to the first one in a fantasy world aspect, and because this is somewhere where I would love to visit. It seems so idealistic. The photo seems so serene, and could easily leave the viewer wondering or hoping to find a place like this during their lifetime.

I am not the biggest art fan, but I enjoy going to museums every once in a while. I liked this museum overall because it gives me time to imagine the world and myself from different perspectives. We finished our night at Relaus de l’Entrecote where the food was nothing less of perfection. I always enjoy dinner because we get to talk about all of the fun that we have had for the day and spend time together!

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Pictures

I forgot to post pictures from yesterday-my bad!

This is me with a statue of the man who built Versailles 

Me in front of the back of the palace

Me in front of the famous Notre Dame windows. This picture doesn't give justice to how pretty the colors were.

Shakespeare and Company!