Although today was quite a different experience from our stroll in the park (literally) yesterday, it was still an equally amazing experience. In our apartment on Boulevard Brune, our study abroad program has designated us with an RA who we can go to with key problems, broken things, etc. Carol, a 26 year-old PhD student at the Sorbonne is ours and has been one of the most welcoming people I have met since being in Paris. Carol gave her 3 hour+ dissertation in a tiny library/classroom this afternoon in the Sorbonne and guess who she invited? Her residents!
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| La Sorbonne today |
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| The original Sorbonne |
This was the first time I had seen the Sorbonne and it is beyond beautiful! One of the oldest universities in Paris, it sits in a charming area of the Latin Quarter and was very approachable and easy to locate for all of Carol's American residents.
Carol gave her dissertation in front of a board of five French professors. One professor in particular I found especially interesting: a blonde 60+ aged woman wearing a skirt that ended above her knees and heeled boots that rose above her knee. And may I add that she did no less than demand the respect of everyone listening to her (I was afraid to take any pictures!). Maybe because I come from UVA which is considered such a conservative school, I found it very interesting to see the dramatic difference in dress that is accepted as respectable here. I don't know whether it was because she was dressed from head to toe in black or because she was Parisian that she pulled it off so well--either way this sixty year old woman rocked it.
Anyways after four hours of the dissertation, a Q&A session, and a reception, the story has a happy ending....Carol received her PhD!
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| Where Carol and the professors spoke was just inside this side of the Sorbonne |
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| La Sorbonne from a street view |
Félicitations Carol!!
Lots to do for me tonight so I apologize for such a short post. Fun things should be coming your way tomorrow though...It's fashion week in Paris and I am going star stalking. Three friends of mine saw Kirsten Dunst and Diane Kruger at the Chanel Couture show today...Valentino here I come!
Bijoux bijoux, Mary
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