Maymester Day 1

My eyes keep drifting upward as I stand in the Galerie Vivienne. The ceilings are simply spectacular and I notice that one of the designs represents Paris’s “circular” makeup. It begins with a small circle which then gets swallowed up by another larger circle and so on, much in the same way that Paris’s arrondissements are layed out. As I finish my fresh squeezed orange juice, Joanna begins her first lecture.
I find it very interesting how women used to be the ones selling goods behind the counter before there was a fixed market, but once the market became fixed, men started to become the sellers. Either way, neither of these types of transactions seemed very friendly or respectable. When the women were the sellers, the men would try to assert dominance and haggle prices down, when the men were the sellers, they would be condescending and often times assume the woman could not afford their goods.
It’s incredible that we were able to see the Galerie Vivenne, especially because it was the first “arcade” and also because it was an important part of the process of the world’s market becoming “fixed”. As I think about how shopping malls in the U.S are so ubiquitous and essential to our society, I can finally make the connection back to the Galerie Vivienne, where the idea of the “arcade” was conceived long ago.
From the Galerie Vivienne we made our way to the Louvre and then onto the Champs-Élysées. In between we passed by the Jardin des Tuileries, which was really cool for me to see as I have played Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an exhibition” many times, and his “Tuileries” movement is one of my favorites. I could hear the music in my head once Joanna pointed out the connection. I totally could see how Mussorgsky’s “Tuileries” movement was inspired by the playful and colorful “Jardin des Tuileries”.
Now I need to make a quick tangent by saying this: I had a very tasty salmon baguette at a café we stopped at in the Champs-Élysées. A very tasty strawberry tart followed this(shoutout Alvaro). Overall, very tasty.
Our last stop was at the famous Eiffel Tower. I will admit that I have seen the Eiffel Tower in the past, but nonetheless I was blown away again when I saw it this time. For me, it’s not the height of the Eiffel Tower that astounds me, but the sheer uniqueness of its architecture. I simply cannot relate it to any other building or monument, period. I also find it incredible that it was meant to be temporary, but ended up remaining. This I feel is a true testament to its timelessness!
Overall, I would say day 1 was an enormous success. I cannot wait to see Notre Dame tomorrow!

A reflective stone man dreaming of biking to the Champs-Élysées

A man for the Fountains.

Part of the Galerie Vivienne ceiling.