Orsay

Sorry for the big gap between posts - I was really busy with school work, since we had a couple of projects at the same time, one of them being quite a big research work for Danone (yep, the Danone that occupies like half of the yogurt shelf in most supermarkets)!

We also finally got results from one of the exams - food process engineering. I'm super happy with my score, but I'm worried about the other exam (food science and analysis), since that test was a lot weirder.

And on top of all that, we gotta write a motivation letter for our 3rd semester placement, prepare for moving to Dublin in January and apply for summer internships. Seriously, though normal Erasmus is infamous for being pretty much a semester of traveling and partying, Erasmus Mundus so far seems to be a lot more busy than my previous program.

Anyways, finally, after 3 months in Paris (and it is my third time being in Paris too), we went to Musée d'Orsay. Even though it's smaller than Louvre, during our afternoon visit, we barely ran through most floors and haven't even managed to see some. TT__TT I hope that in January, we'll have a bit more free time to sightsee... At the moment, Orsay is holding also a temporary exhibition called Masculin. It presents the male nude across different centuries and styles. The exhibition is rather classic, consisting mostly of paintings and a coupe of sculptures and short animations/movies. For me, the most eye-catching pieces were the painting presented below (I think it is combination of photography, digital editing and traditional painting, but I am not sure since there were more works in similar style and they differed by the use of media). The other very strong piece in my opinion was a sculpture of the artist's dead father. The statue is extremely realistic and executed in smaller-than-life size, to emphasize how pitiful and insignificant we become once dead. Also, the artist was actually unable to see his father before or after he died, so it also an expression of his sadness since he wasn't able to even say the last goodbye.

If you want to visit the exhibition, you should hurry, because it ends on Jan 12. Entry is free for those under 18 or for those under 25 and residing or having long-term visa in the EU - you need to present your ID, passport or at least your European health insurance card. Other groups can also get free entry, just check the Orsay website. For adults or non-EU students without study visa, the fee is 12 and 9,5 E respectively. As for me, if I wasn't eligible for free entry I would have passed on the exhibition for sure, but it is true that the topic is unique since male nude is much less common and more tabooed than the female one.   

Yeah, photos of artworks are not exactly encouraged >.<

Orsay is mostly famous for its impressionists collections.

And if you love Japanese-style cute cosmetics, drop by Soleil Sucré!

All photos stolen from Gerald

Yours truly

Vita