A Photo Journey to Campus

Voila! For those of you who found my last blog entry a little too mushy or too wordy, I have a treat for you. Below is photo documentation of my daily trip from my room to the CIEF classrooms on the University of Burgundy's campus. I took these pictures on Sunday around 1pm, when I knew there wouldn't be much traffic (both pedestrian and vehicular), so I would inconvenience as few people as possible. Obviously I couldn't take a picture of every single view, so it's not quite complete, but it should give you an idea of what I saw quite frequently this semester. Just doing this blog entry was fun, because it really made me think about the sites I saw everyday and helped me firmly imprint them in my mind. Enjoy!

View looking out towards the front gate as I lock my door. Hendrix is standing on top of the roof of the garage, where I store my bike.

My view as I walk around side of the house towards the front gate.

Joseph has good taste in cars, what can I say... the bike I use is stored in the garage to the left of the car.

At the top of Rue Nicolas Berthot, ready to go!

This is usually the point at which my eyes tear up because the cold air starts to sting as I ride down the hill.

This is a little shortcut street called Rue Auguste Perdrix, off of Rue Cellerier (where Peter lives). I think it's technically one-way in the other direction, but I haven't encountered a car yet.

Heading towards Place Grangier.

Waiting at a stoplight to cross Rue Desvoges. For some reason I don't think I have ever caught this light.

Place Grangier...Dr. Barbour's apartment is just across the square on my left.

This is where there is a marché every Tuesday and Friday...and the store on the corner behind the pedestrian sign is an organic foods store.

This is my view as I look left, les halles (the covered market). The building is a rectangle and all around it are restaurants and specialty foods shops (butchers, pasta shops, produce vendors, etc).

View of the facade of Notre-Dame. You can see the long strands of Christmas lights - the whole city is decked out and when I was riding back from Parc de la Colombiere on Sunday evening I got to see them all illuminated for the first time...quite festive!

Bookstore on my left.

This handy little pedestrian loop butts up right against the Palais des Ducs. There's a cute little park to the left.

This is the view as I look to my right...this street leads to Place de la Liberation and the entrance to the Palais des Ducs.

Place St. Michel / Place de la Théâtre (both the church St. Michel and the Theatre are located nearby). The opera is also behind me, located in the same square. One of Dr. Barbour's favorite spots to take us for lunch, Café de la Comédie, is also located on this square.

You can see why I had trouble figuring out the system at first...this little green logo is tiny and quite difficult to distinguish. But when in doubt, I ride in the bus lane, since I often find the bike logo there.

In this picture I am approaching Place Wilson. You can see the Christmas decorations overhead.

Rounding the corner and entering Place Wilson. You can see the Christmas tree which is currently in the center of the fountain. There's also a gazebo on the left.

Far side of Place Wilson, heading towards the fac (university campus) now. From this point on I pretty much follow the route of Bus #5. Sometimes I see Wake students riding the bus as I go by. I usually arrive before they do because the bus has to stop so frequently and I only have to stop at the traffic lights.

My view down towards les Allées du parc and Parc de la Colombiere (looking to my right).

No, I have not [yet] been to this patisserie/chocolaterie. I do think it is important to note that a boulangerie, a patisserie, a viennoserie, a chocolaterie, and a sandwicherie are not necessarily the same location, although you can often find bread, pastries (which in the French sense means tarts and little cakes case), viennoserie (what we would call breakfast pastries, croissants), chocolate, and sandwiches all in the same store. Let's face it, they use a lot of the same ingredients and it's highly practical to purchase your sandwich and dessert at the same time as you buy the bread to go with dinner that night. Or Nutella the next morning.

Eldorado Cinema...if this was America we would call it the "indi-flick" theater, but since it's France that means they show lots of non-Hollywood international films or smaller budget French films. I'm a big fan of their 2.50 euro showing everyday at 14h00 (2pm).

This is the point where the separate bike path starts - and I breathe a sigh of relief because the likelihood of me being struck by a car just decreased tenfold.

Approaching the fac...the buildings on the left are part of the campus.

You can see the Maison de l'Université on the far left, that's where CIEF's office is and where the Wake people sometimes met to do work together.

This view means I have officially made it to campus, less than 5 minutes from here to the inside of my CIEF classroom (but first I have to lock up my bike).

So in this picture you can see: on the left, the bike rack where I store my bike while at the fac (university campus) and on the right, the cluster of CIEF buildings, which are sort of glorified trailers, but which are very clean on the inside and outfitted with the necessary accoutrements for learning the French language (aka dry erase boards and TV moniters for showing news clips)