Tag Archives: literature

Un retour à l’antiquité

This past weekend, I visited the most fantastic place in Paris. I am not sure the best way to describe the experience to you but here it goes. Imagine you were in a room of the most famous people in the world (whether that is James Franklin, Beyonce, Will Ferrel, Melissa McCarthy, or all four of them). That is the feeling that I had except the famous people that I was surrounded by were all in a crypt.

For those of you who did not read my first blog post, I study French, Spanish, and Comparative Literature. Hopefully that helps you understand the feeling that I had when I was in the crypt in the Pantheon and I saw the tombs of Emile Zola, Rosseau, Voltaire, and Victor Hugo (just some of the many examples).

What is the Pantheon?

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The Pantheon is a building that was originally built as a church in the Latin Quarter of Paris. The church, originally dedicated to Saint Genevieve, housed the relics of Saint Genevieve. During the French Revolution, the church was turned into a secular mausoleum containing the bodies of celebrated French citizens.

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Louis XV decided to renovate the remains of the Abbey of Saint Genevieve after making a promise that he would put a church worthy of the name Saint Genevieve in its place if he recovered from an illness. Louis XV pulled through and he constructed the church. Years later, the Revolutionaries decided to secularize the church because it was a symbol of the monarchy and the Ancient Regime (it did not only happen to this church but many other churches and things built by the monarchy or the Catholic Church due to its association with the monarchy).

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The building is neoclassical and looks like a mixture between a cathedral in the form of a Latin cross and a Greek temple. Unfortunately, the dome is currently under renovation so you are not able to see the dome or the pendulum that is usually inside.

Why I got so excited!

So, instead of recounting everything that I found awesome in the Pantheon, I am going to just add pictures and you can just assume my excitement from that.

 

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Tomb of Voltaire

 

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Memoir of Antoine de Saint Exupery (author of Le Petit prince (The Little Prince)

 

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Location: Montagne Saint Genevieve Paris France

Loquacious, Literary, and Loving Every Second

Now that I’m back in Galway, I have been drinking up the abundance of literary culture faster than the pints I’ve been partaking in.  I really lucked out in choosing to study in a place where music, art, history, and literature dominate the city; around every turn, there is something new and wonderful to stumble upon.

But to get to those places, sometimes it helps to ask questions along the way.  Before I arrived in Galway I was determined to find the residence of Nora Barnacle, who was James Joyce’s wife.  She was born and raised in Galway before she met Joyce, and now her old home has been turned into a museum (even though the house is tiny!).  When my friend Mary and I ventured into town, we stopped by the Galway tours office and I asked the man working how to get to Nora Barnacle’s house.  Jokingly, he said “She’s dead, she doesn’t live there anymore.”  After a bit of laughter, he did give us directions, and after two failed attempts, Mary and I finally made it to the small house nestled inside a side alleyway.  We happened to arrive at it at the same time as an Australian couple, so we all helped each other out by taking one another’s photos.

Mary and I standing in front of Nora Barnacle's House.

Mary and I outside Nora Barnacle’s house

It’s still difficult for me to fathom that I’m so close to the history of my favorite authors.  Every time I go into the center of town, I pass a statue of Oscar Wilde, who is one of my all-time favorites.  I’m loving being surrounded by a prominent literary culture here – it’s such a change from what life is like back in State College.

Oscar Wilde statue in Galway City

Oscar Wilde statue in Galway City

A few days after our Nora Barnacle adventure, my friends and I chatted with a local shop owner and got directions to Charlie Byrne’s Book Shop, which stole my heart as soon as I entered.  I could have spent hours looking around, but we had to get to class so we only had about an hour to browse.  It was time well spent, though!

Me reading a book in Charlie Byrne's book shop

Me enjoying a book in Charlie Byrne’s

There are so many book shops in Galway – I seem to notice a new one each time I walk down Shop Street.  It’s definitely a dream come true for me… all of it is.  There is something inherently magical about Galway, as cheesy as that sounds.  The constant music that’s played in the streets, in the pubs… everywhere, really… seems like a soundtrack to life.  I don’t think I’ve gone a day without singing here – it’s impossible not to.  And yes, my friends and housemates do call me out on how I’m always singing.  Galway makes it so easy to live my passions, though.

And Galway always seems to point me in the right direction, too!

Me pointing at a sign for Diagon Alley in the book shop

Diagon Alley and Galway feel like the same place to me!

Looking forward to sharing more of my adventures with you!

-Maddison


Location: Galway City, Galway, Ireland