Drawing Class, Philosophy, La Nuit Blanche

Before I let too many days get away from me, I will try my best to document a few of the past week.

I had my first drawing class last Wednesday night. My drawing class is held outside of my IES school at a French art academy that offers drawing, painting, and sculpture classes to students of all backgrounds and levels. I was somewhat surprised to hear that I was required to go to the art school on Wednesday night because I was under the understanding that my classes would be held on Thursday nights and I would have open-studio time on Wednesday nights. According to this understanding, there was no reason to go to the Wednesday night open-studio without having had my first Thursday night class... I heard that some other students from my Thursday drawing class were also going on Wednesday so I decided it would be better to make the trip and check in with my teacher instead of risking missing anything important.

The Academie de la Croix Nivert is a one-room schoolhouse that looks something like a large storage warehouse. There is a loft where lots of tablets and tables are stored and the main floor has many easels and a raised platform in the center of the room where the model sits. It took me about 35 minutes to get to the school which caused me a bit of concern, knowing that on a normal Thursday I get out of an IES class at 2 and have to be at la Croix Nivert by 2:30, but I noticed that there were many straggling students coming into class late and the teachers welcomed them all with a very relaxed attitude.

When I arrived all of the students in the classroom, regardless of whether they were taking painting or sculpting or drawing, were given an easel and paper and we worked on figure drawing for the entire class period. I was very nervous at first, not knowing at what level the other students would be drawing at, but I was happy to find that there was a wide range of students in my class and I was somewhere in the middle. We drew poses from 5 minutes to 30 minutes and I felt myself getting more comfortable with charcoal and drawing again- something that I haven't really done since last spring semester. At the end of the class period, we turned in our two best drawings that will be graded at the end of the semester. Hopefully they will grade on personal improvement versus comparing to other class members?

On Friday I normally do not have any classes but this past Friday, I met with my Architecture of Paris class and we toured the Latin Quarter, visiting the Notre Dame de Paris, the Hotel de Cluny, and another church that I can't quite remember the name of. It was difficult hearing my professor talk about the sites we were visiting because I find that I have a hard time not looking directly at the person who is speaking (in French) and she kept telling us to look at the architecture and not at her. We will have one of these guided visits every two weeks or so- I'm looking forward to the tour of Montmartre.

On Friday night I went to a birthday party for my friend Addie that was being held at the IES Apartments. When I arrived there were quite a few people there, including our Residence Adviser who was concerned about how loud the party was getting. People started leaving shortly after but a good 10 people stuck around the party until 3am. I spent most of the evening listening to an existential debate between the R.A. and another IES student and from 3:00 to 5:30am the R.A. offered to us an in-depth explanation of Sartre and Existentialism. It was very interesting, and I found myself quite satisfied from mentally exhausting myself in a manner that I normally do not.

In recovery from a late night Friday and in preparation for Saturday night, La Nuit Blanche, I slept most of the day yesterday and did some homework in the evening. La Nuit Blanche is an all-night festival in Paris when museums stay open through most of the night and all over Paris there are performances and art installations to visit. It just so happens that last night was also the night of a Rugby World Cup match between France and New Zealand and France won, causing much celebration in the streets. With a combination of La Nuit Blanche and excited sports fans, I witnessed the most crowded streets I had ever seen at 3am in Paris. It was even more wild than when I was here for the summer solstice in 2005. Absolute madness. People were climbing up on the Fountain of St. Michel and singing and cheering and waving flags... wild. I didn't end up seeing many of the events of La Nuit Blanche, but I did walk around with friends until 6am when the Metro started working again.

It was a cyclingless weekend for me, but I was very happy to have some time to enjoy the nightlife of Paris instead of trying to go to bed early in order to go riding at 7am. I will get back at it next weekend, I am sure.

C'est tout!