French fries to French bulldog

This week has been relatively calm, but that is definitely a good thing! The weather has been just beautiful, and as such, I have spent as much time outdoors as possible. However, there was one pesky thing that prevented me from enjoying this week to its fullest : class.

That was a joke, people.

Anywho, lets review the highlights -

On Tuesday, after classes, I relaxed in the park near NYU with Alex and watched the dogs playing. Then, I journeyed over to Uniqlo to exchange a few shirts for a different size. Failure. The girl at the counter was SO rude to me. It really made me upset. I am still considering writing to Uniqlo. I shop there enough that I think it is completely fair to complain!

Tuesday evening, Patrick held CiPizDi (Cinema - Pizza - Discussion) with all of his classes. We watched Le Petit Nicolas, which was really cute and funny. I had tried watching it online earlier in the semester, but my internet connection was too slow. Afterwards, Patrick had a bunch of pizzas delivered from ............ Pizza Hut! How funny.

The pizza was good, but it was not like American Pizza Hut. First of all, the cheese pizza had slices of goat cheese on it. Second, it was not thick greasy crust like in America. Third, there was goat cheese on the pizza! (<-- I can't get over this detail.)

The Discussion aspect of the evening did not go so well. Several people decided they didn't want to speak in French, even though it was an evening spent at NYU in Paris, that was organized by a French professor, and we were discussing a French film. Whatever. Some people get it, some people don't.

Wednesday was a great day! For my Contemporary Art Scene class, we met at the Museum of the Decorative Arts and saw modern art that was NOT pretentious at all! In fact, it was quite pleasing! The artists, a couple with the last name Lalanne, created pieces that were at the same time sculptures of animals AND functional items. Sadly, we could not take pictures. But let me illustrate a bit: There was a big blue hippo, whose mouth opened up to reveal a bathroom sink and mirror, and his back opened up to reveal a bath tub! How cool! Then, there was a rhino, but the rhino came apart and was actually a bunch of arm chairs and love seats and ottomans! How cool!

I was able to snag a few pictures while I was upstairs exploring the museum. Here is one of the better ones:

You can see the hippo on the right

After class disbanded, I stay and enjoyed the rest of the museum. (Side note: I think it is ironic that I ended up at the Museum of Decorative Arts after finding out that morning that I had gotten into the NYSID.) There was a Playmobil exhibit. Need I say more?

Chef de tribu et son cheval, 1975

And so I continued on, and went through the entire history of French decorative design: Medieval to "Currently." I was really happy to find that my two favorite styles were very well documented - Art Nouveau and Art Deco.

Art Nouveau bedroom set

Art Deco Dining Room

Not sure who is familiar with these styles and who isn't, so let me give a short description. Art Nouveau is a late 1800s - early 1900s style that emphasized organic forms. Essentially, you should just imagine an Art Nouveau interior that has absolutely NO pointy edges. An onlooker can imagine that the furniture/interior are in fact plants.

Art Deco, on the other hand, is a big fan of pointy edges. Art Deco followed Art Nouveau. The distinguishing feature of Art Deco is the play of light and dark. Sadly, this means that the majority of the Art Deco interiors at the museum could not be photographed without a flash. Result? The only good picture I got does not have Art Deco furniture, but you can see how the ceiling is bright gold, and the walls are a deep dark wood.

I like both of these styles so much because 1) they are fun, 2) they are French, and 3) they are absolutely unique and make no attempt to harken back to Ancient Rome! I get really bored with western architecture referencing ancient Rome. Boring. Do something NEW! Whats new? French Gothic, French Art Nouveau, French Art Deco, Gaudi, and of course, Germany's contribution, Bauhaus. Ok, enough ranting.

There was a retrospective of design from the 1940s to the current day, which was housed in the top floors of one of the pavillions. To show the retrospective, the museum had the different periods on different floors, but they all had a cut out that formed an atrium, at the bottom of which there was an exhibit of chairs:

Retrospective much?

Ok, enough with the museum. Afterwards, I wandered over to the Marais, got a sandwich and did a little window shopping. What a beautiful day. Sigh.

Thursday was a pretty uneventful day. There was a thunderstorm in the afternoon, which was a bit disconcerting considering that it was March. I met Liz, Taylor's ... female friend. Shes very nice. I'm excited to get to know her better. I waited around to help Patrick get a cell phone, but he ran out of time, and so that didn't happen. It's cool though. During the last 20 minutes of my wait, I thought about the NYU in Paris building, and how much NYU does not take advantage of its beauty. Sigh.

All week, my mind has been on two things: French Fries and French Bulldogs, both of which I want. I have been craving McDonald's french fries and Pommes-Frites-Sauce all week. So good. And I've been thinking about French Bulldogs because before leaving for Paris, Luke and I discussed adopting a little Frenchie when I got back. He's submited an application for this one: Guinness

Well, thats all for now. I'm tapped out. I've also been awake for two hours now and havent left my bed! hehe

- Dave

Oh, before I forget, here is a picture of Clemmie:

I know this seems random, but let me explain. While talking about Art Deco, I went searching for pictures of either the Chrysler Building or the Irving Trust Building, both of which are the prime examples of an Art Deco building. Anywho, I found this picture of Clemmie and her paws. Aww.