on friday, we woke up early and left by charter to germany. first stop: vitra design museum. really more of a design complex. part museum, part warehouse, part showroom. all in a dozen or so buildings spread across their campus. not just any buildings, either. i would compare it to a cheese tasting plate (because i am in france). but instead of cheeses, each building is designed by a world famous contemporary architect. starchitect, even. frank gehry, zaha hadid, buckminster fuller, jean prouve, and on and on. once again, i marveled at the way germans celebrate and appreciate excellent design. the museum was only once exhibit; currently a temporary collection of jean prouve's works. interesting, indeed, but our tour guide was a little too thourough for the collective group's attention. we must have spent an hour and a half on what should have been a 15 minute overview, then time to explore. also, vitra has a showroom of furniture not unlike the merchandise mart. maybe it was my lack of sleep and overall giddiness, but i frolicked around that room like a five year old on a sugar high in a toy store. quite amusing.
the gehry-design vitra museum.
my favorite eames chair.
after vitra, we were supposed to drive to basel, switzerland to enjoy some free time in the city center, and lunch. our long-winded tourguide got us behind schedule, so we ended up skipping basel. instead, we stopped at a rest area on the highway in switzerland and had lunch. funny, switzerland has been the only country so far to stop us at the border (with the exception of the airport) and ask to see passports. we were in switzerland for maybe an hour. i bought a chocolate bar at the store, so basically saw everything switzerland has to offer.
actually, we go to switzerland again at the very end of the trip to go skiing and snowboarding.
friday afternoon we had free time in freiburg, germany. doreen, our tour manager, says that freiburg is her favorite city in the world. i can see why. lots to do, nice people, cute german boys. oh, doreen also told us a superstition of freiburgians. throughout the city, water runs down every street in little streams that sort of look like gutters. i guess the water is from the river or something. anywho, if a girl falls into one of these streams, she is destined to marry a man from freiburg. walking with a group of people, i couldn't help but play into this tale. i stepped into the stream, to the cheers and laughs and "ooooohhs" of my friends. hehe.
but wouldn't you know, i got hit on all day. i should have bottled up some of that stuff and taken it home.
hehe.
long bus ride home, than an evening writing possibly the worst paper i've ever written in my life. i don't think my online professor realizes that i am in france, and would rather not do anything related to sociology. seriously. how can you expect me to form any kind of argument about gender inequality when i've been in three countries that day?
saturday was our tour of le route du vin. translated: road of wine. arrived at our first winery at 10. am. for a wine tasting. after visiting the cellar (which smelled of fermentation), we learned about the seven types of wine produced in the alsace region. riesling is the most recognized, but there are 5 more white wines and one red, a pinot noir. wine tasting is really quite lovely. first of all, you're drinking. but more than that, it's very interesting to see just how different each grape is, and to do a side-by-side comparison. also, the guy from the winery was adorable. he reminded me of joe pisapia. and he was funny.
in the cellar
our guide
i couldn't help but think of the princess bride. you know, "mawwidge is what bwings us togewwer... and wove, twue wove..."
anywho, after a much needed lunch break, then poorly planned trip to a medieval art museum, we were off to wine tasting number deux. for reference, this was a solid five hours later. we're not alcoholics.
wine tasting two was much more informal. we tasted a greater variety of wines, from the sparkling wine of the region to pinot noir. again, delicious and informative. and just a little buzz.
hmm, i don't want you to think from reading my blog that all that i'm doing while i'm over here is drinking. honestly, with the exception of oktoberfest, i haven't really been "out", to a bar or club, that is. any alcohol consumption has simply been part of the cultural experience.
anywho, today we visited the museums of strasbourg as a group, the musee de beaux arts and the museum of contemporary art. thankfully, we weren't subject to lengthly presentation by outside guides. instead, an overview at the entrance of the museum, then freedom to explore as you wish. afterwords we discussed what we saw, which was informative and enlightening.
i have to say, i'm not good at doing things in large groups. i tend to get annoyed. like at how loud we can become, especially in open spaces such as a museum. and how some people seem to shout "oh my god, that's amazing" at every piece of fine art they see. ugh, this one girl was really getting on my nerves. honestly, have you never seen a picasso before? have you never been to a museum? can you use your indoor voice???
at the contemporary museum, we were free to return on our own. i spent quite a bit of time exploring the impressive collection on my own (had to separate before i snapped). before i realized it, everyone else from our group had left. it was really nice to wander the streets on my own. i've always enjoyed my independence. i liked blending into the scenery; becoming one of the strasbourgiouse. i made it back to the chateau all by myself.
contrast of the thinker (cast) and some street art... very interesting.
anywho, that brings us up to speed. my french is coming along nicely, but i still need a little more confidence before i speak without reverting back to english.
random notes:
the clouds here are amazing. there must be something about the weather patterns, because the clouds form the most magnificent formations. i really must take more pictures of the clouds.
