Tag Archive for: travel study

By Jason Vu

Arrête! C’est ici l’empire de la mort! Stop! This is the empire of the dead! These words greeted my friends and I as we approached the entrance of the infamous Catacombs of Paris. Opened to the public in 1809, the Catacombs were established as a place to store the remains of Paris’s many cemeteries due to the health problems associated with them. After years of deaths and burial, ancient remains from as far back as the Medieval era had to be transported over to the Catacombs to prevent the overcrowding of dead remains in the city.

After passing the entrance, we began our 5-story descent into the lowest point of the city of Paris. The tunnels we walked through were quite low but they were also a welcomed escape from the scorching heat of the Parisian summer. Luckily for us, the catacombs stretched for about 1.5 km, meaning we’d be in these tunnels for at least one hour.

After passing the entrance, we began our 5-story descent into the lowest point of the city of Paris. The tunnels we walked through were quite low but they were also a welcomed escape from the scorching heat of the Parisian summer. Luckily for us, the catacombs stretched for about 1.5 km, meaning we’d be in these tunnels for at least one hour.

Yes, these are REAL skulls and bones. 

The first stretch of tunnels we passed by were mostly made of stone and brick, but about at the halfway point, we stopped by something … unusual. Instead of stone walls, we started seeing bones and skulls stacked one on top of the other. At first, we couldn’t believe that all of these bones could have belonged to real people who died hundreds of years ago. Being surrounded by thousands of skulls was chilling to say the least, but at the same time, I was so intrigued by the history of location and had to keep exploring.

A…”cute” gesture?

Eventually, as we kept seeing more and more bones around us, we began noticing that some of them were arranged in patterns like hearts and crosses. I personally thought having these strange designs made the catacombs all the more interesting, but a part of me also felt that if one of these skulls were mine, I’d prefer not to be put on display like this.

The final aspect of the catacombs that stood out to me were the many stone plaques with quotes in both French and Latin. These quotes were drawn from a combination of the Bible and famous writers such as Virgil and Dante. The quotes varied from hopeful about the prospect of death to fully dreading the idea. What they all had in common, though, was that they acknowledged that death was a reality that we would all have to confront at some point in the future. Perhaps that was another reason to build such an intricate place to store the remains of the dead; it was a reminder that we all eventually pass on.

After we finished exploring the rest of the Catacombs, we made our way back up the long staircase to the surface. Whether you’re fascinated with death or in for a little scare, I’d highly recommend visiting the Catacombs on your trip to Paris!

Jason studied abroad in France in Summer 2019. https://ieo.ucla.edu/travelstudy/GlobalStudies-France/

By Jason Vu

Only a few meters from the Eiffel Tower lies a small park with trees and plants not native to anywhere in Europe. With windy dirt paths and flowing creeks, I forgot for a moment that I was in the middle of one of the most bustling districts in all of Paris. Even stranger, this jungle-like environment was the entrance to my class’s final excursion together—La Musée du Quai Branly.

Opened in 2006, Quai Branly was designated as a museum featuring the indigenous arts and cultures of Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. While a good number of visitors come to see the many unique items showcased in its exhibits, this museum was definitely no d’Orsay or Louvre. Given that it’s not as well-known, I appreciated the fact that Prof. Behdad set up this group visit to expose us to this museum that most of us would otherwise have missed.

Introduction to La Musee du Quai Branly by Prof. Behdad

Starting promptly at 2pm, our class met at the outdoor auditorium of the museum where Prof. Behdad shared a little about the history of Quai Branly and how objects that originated outside of Europe ended up in one of its most famous cities. This history was on that involved trade, colonization, and the construction of the French nation-state. After an interesting discussion on these issues, our TA Mariam returned with our entrance tickets and we soon went on our way.

Ritual Objects from Southeast Asia

The museum’s exhibits were divided based on their specific region of origin. Since there was no particular order in visiting the museum, I decided the first thing I would see would be the Southeast Asian art section. I was impressed by the array of items featured in the exhibit and particularly the ones that originated from the many indigenous tribes of Vietnam. Beyond pots and traditional clothes, what stood out to me the most was the elaborately designed ritual objects used in all kinds of sacred activities such as ritual sacrifices and incense burning. Given my own Southeast Asian ancestry, I saw a lot of parallels between these objects and the ones my family has used before as well.

Fresco of the Virgin Mary and Jesus painted by Ethiopian Christians

Following my visit to the Southeast Asian wing, I made my way to the cultural objects of Africa. Of the many intriguing items featured here, what surprised me the most were some ancient Ethiopian Christian paintings sectioned off in their own little space. These artworks surprised me because they dated back far before Europeans sent missionaries to their colonized territories to convert them to Christianity. That meant that Ethiopia had Christians far before Europe began spreading Christianity around the world, a fact that I did not know beforehand.

Hot pot meal made of paper for “Paradise Palace” Special Exhibit

Finally, to conclude my visit, I checked out the Quai Branly’s temporary exhibit titled “Paradise Palace”. This exhibit featured several pieces of traditional Taiwanese art called “zhizha” or Taiwanese funeral objects. These objects were made of paper and shaped to look like common everyday places and objects such as meals or bedrooms. In Taiwanese tradition, these paper effigies were burned as an offering to deceased relatives and ancestors to grant them these comforts in the afterlife. “Zhizha” are often very intricate and well-designed as evident by the hot pot meal pictured above. While I liked this piece because of how well it was made, I was especially drawn to it because hot pot happens to be one of my favorite meals. Staring at the delicious meal before me, I knew it was time for me to leave the Quai Branly and head to dinner with my classmates.

Jason studied abroad in France in Summer 2019. https://ieo.ucla.edu/travelstudy/GlobalStudies-France/

By Jason Vu

On July 14th, France celebrated La Fête Nationale (The National Day). In English, we know it more commonly as “Bastille Day”. In 1789, French revolutionaries stormed the infamous Bastille prison in Paris to free prisoners and acquire weapons. The action marked a significant turning point in the French Revolution, marking the end of the monarchy in France. Given the importance of this occasion, the celebrations in Paris were sure to be magnifique!

Festivities began bright and early in the morning with a grand military parade on the Champs Elysée. Led by French President Emmanuel Macron, the parade showcased France’s military marching from the Arc de Triomphe to Place de la Concorde. Even though I got there pretty early, I still had to jostle my way up to see the parade. In the end, I was able to snag a couple of shots of the passing troops, but none were as spectacular as the cavalry that trotted by.

Bastille Day Military Parade on the Champs Elysée.

After the end of the parade, I wanted to try out another perk of Bastille Day in Paris. In celebration of their cultural heritage, France marks Bastille Day by granting free access to all its museums and monuments that would normally cost around 10 Euros or more. Since Bastille Day also commemorates the troops who defend the French Republic, I decided to stop by Les Invalides, France’s national military museum and monument.

To say that Les Invalides was just like any other French monument would be a great understatement. Instead of being known for one thing or another, Les Invalides is actually made up of several buildings that either serve as museums of French military history or monuments dedicated to fallen French soldiers. Some of these buildings include La Musée de l’Armée, La Musée des Plans-Reliefs, and two churches connected back-to-back. These two churches were my favorite parts to see of the complex mainly because of their rich history and artistic design.

The older of the two was the Cathedral of St. Louis-des-Invalides, which was intended to be a chapel for veterans of France. Constructed under the reign of Louis XIV, the church was built in a Baroque-style and featured the flags of France’s enemies throughout history. On the other side of a glass wall was the Dôme des Invalides, another church that was eventually turned into the resting place of the late Emperor Napoleon I. Surrounded by statues of angels and portraits depicting mythicized scenes of his life, the tomb of Napoleon was made into the center of the Dôme and visitors have flocked to honor le petit caporal ever since.

The Cathedral of St. Louis-des-Invalides

The tomb of Emperor Napoleon I in Le Dôme des Invalides

With afternoon getting nearer, I eventually made my way out of Les Invalides and headed to the Pantheon for another feature of Bastille Day. All over Paris, free public concerts were taking place in historic monuments and churches to celebrate the storming of the Bastille. At every event, you could hear the French national anthem, La Marseillaise, being played proudly for all to hear. The concert I was going to was composed of wind instrumentalists from the French military academy who were playing several famous French pieces of classical music. I don’t remember the names of the songs they played, but being there was something I won’t forget!

Celebrating Bastille Day with a free wind instrument concert in the Pantheon

To conclude my first-ever Bastille Day, I met up with some friends at Trocadéro Park where we would watch the firework show from the Eiffel Tower. The show lasted a whole 30 minutes and every second of it was fantastic! Not only were fireworks being shot through the sky, but the show featured light effects and music to celebrate the end of a national day of celebration. Now I’m a big fan of 4th of July fireworks back in the States, but I have to say, we definitely can’t compare our shows to fireworks of Paris…

Bastille Day Firework Show at the Eiffel Tower

Jason studied abroad in France in Summer 2019. https://ieo.ucla.edu/travelstudy/GlobalStudies-France/