Adele abroad: Organ tuning

Yesterday morning I was sitting in my room not doing much of anything, when it hit me. If I just say in my room, my weekend will end up exactly like last weekend where I didn't do anything. So I suited up to face a few hours of picture taking in -10 (before the windchill) and set out down the hill.

Without any kind of concrete plan in mind I began by turning right after crossing the bridge, which I rarely do. My goal was to figure out what one of the buildings is that I always look down on from my room. It is quite large but what interested me about it is that the center is empty, though you would never be able to tell that from the ground. I was hoping that you would somehow be able to gain access to the middle courtyard. Alas, this was not possible though I did discover that it was once the old parliament. Though it was somewhat disappointing to discover that it wasn't a tourist attracting I did end up learning quite a bit about the history of chivalry.

Pierre Terrail de Bayard was the french knight upon which our current image of the knight is based. Born in 1473 he came from a noble family and began training to be a knight at 13 (as a page). I'm not quite sure exactly what he did to become so well loved but it seems that within France his status is similar to that of Joan of Arc.

stature of chevalier de Bayard

the south side of parliament


the north side of parliament (I don't know why its a different colour... maybe they're resurfacing it?)

After viewing the statue I went inside the church in this square. It was very simple but impressive nonethless and I got to hear to organ because it seems the organist was practicing, though he or she didn't actually seem to be playing any complete songs, just bits. I also go to see the priest organizing the altar and there were quite a few women chattering whom I assume were part of as guild of something of the like.It was a very cool glimpse into this church whos name I have forgotten. It seems that de Bayard's remains are buried there, or were once buried there... the sign inside wasn't exactly clear.There was also a plaque dedicated to all the members of the congregation who perished during the first world war, it was quite long and there also seemed to be a lot of women's names, perhaps there was bombing here? I don't have any pictures of the inside because it seemed to peaceful to take out my camera. In any case I wouldn't have been able to capture the atmosphere.

After the church I wandered around some more and ended up in an area I was familiar with. By this point I was quite cold so I wandered in and out of shops to warm up though I didn't really see anything particularly interesting. I did find a booksale that was taking place in a church downtown. It was quite interesting because the booksale was actually inside the church and they had reorganize the back to make room for the books. Even though I did not buy anything it was a cool experience.

After my walk around downtown I ventured nearer to the university and bought all the stuff that I need to go skiing. I ended up finding some very good deals (my ski jacket was 20 euros) and walked out completley outfitted for skiing (minus skis and boots) for about $160 which seemed like quite a good deal to me. I am hoping to put all my stuff to good use Thursday afternoon because the university is running a bus to one of the mountains nearby and there will be free lessons taking place (though I'm not sure how it works yet).

Also, for all those who are interested as of now I have made 0.43cents. Hourrah! If it continues this way soon I will have made my first dollar!