Friday night my friend Sam, from Amherst College, and I decided to cut his hair. I trim my own hair from time to time, and I’ve also completely cut it all off before, so I didn’t really hesitate when he asked me to cut his. Pretty soon, all of our mutual friends in the Sweet Briar program were scaring me into thinking I couldn’t do it. The thing is, it’s hair. Hair grows back, and even if you do mess it up, you can usually go back and fix it. I think homemade haircuts look more styled anyway. Here are before and after pictures!

Saturday, I spent all day at the Centre Pompidou. I can’t get enough of that place—no matter how many times I go there, it’s like there’s always more art to see, and there’s always such an amazing lively atmosphere in the foyer. Modern art museums are becoming increasingly void of color and intricacy in order to focus the visitor’s attention on the art, but I love that the Centre Pompidou is so colorful and kitschy and manages to be more of a cultural center than just a “museum.” One of the greatest things about the Centre is the free wi-fi, so even though I’m writing this blog entry in my apartment, I’ll probably be sending it off when I go to the Centre tomorrow to be posted online.

Saturday, when I went to the Centre, I checked out the exhibition on Futurisme, which is an amazing period in Modern Art that started with a manifesto on how art should be focused on the future, and includes really colorful and dynamic art. The point of this period was really to communicate energy, so basking in front of each painting is really a treat. I also tried to go to the permanent modern art collection, but it was so extensive, I only had time to see one eighth of it!

Saturday night, one of the workers in our program invited the Sweet Briar students to a French/American soirée, which turned out to be pretty fun.

I talked to a bunch of guys whose mothers were American and whose fathers were French, and I couldn’t help but ask the dads how in the world they met American women, why they married, and what the cultural differences were like once they were married. All of the stories were so romantic, and it all started with college exchanges. Crazy! I am such a sap. I can’t even imagine living in another country permanently.

Sunday (today), I took a day trip with a small college travel agency to the castle of Fountainebleu, which is a castle that has been constructed and reconstructed by various kings of France from the Middle Ages to Napoleon. It was meant to be a chateau of hunting and festivals, so it is still located in more rural town with a vast amount of garden and forest.

I had a great time taking pictures with such an inspiring location. I’m always torn, though, when I go to these places and they are so ridiculously ornate, because I feel disgusted that human beings would waste so much time, energy, and money on themselves and their pleasure, but at the same time, the art and architecture is beautiful.

After the chateau, the bus took us to the small town of Barbizon, otherwise known as the location of the premiere art school for the Impressionists. Now, the town is quiet, but gorgeous and decorated with autumn leaves. I spent my time walking around, checking out the small boutiques, and going into the atelier of a painter named Jacques Rouquier, whose gallery blew me away. His paintings weren’t necessarily incredibly intellectual, but he manages to paint compositions that really inspire the mind of the viewer. The posters I bought from him take me to a different, meditative world when I look at them.

After Barbizon, we went to the town of Milly-le-foret where we checked out a small Medieval chapel that used to be dedicated to the treatment of leprosy, and still hosts a small homeopathic garden, but now it houses the tomb of Jean Cocteau, a modern artist, and he decorated the interior with his colorful pictures and stained glass. That was really a small, almost secret treat of France. I walked around Milly, which turned out to be an extremely medieval and quaint village, and we then left for Paris.

Tonight I hung out with friends from my Sweet Briar program, and we climbed the Arc de Triomphe. Every first Sunday of the month, Paris’ art museums are generally free, and every first Sunday of the month starting with November, climbing the Arc de Triomphe and other otherwise super-touristy sights are free as well. At the top of the hour, we got to see the Eiffel Tower sparkling, and it was an amazing way to end my weekend. Tomorrow I am excited to meet with a Wellesley alumna who is currently working at the Louvre!