Université Paris Sorbonne - Paris IV

I don't like one of my professors. Everyone who knows me knows that I'm not a morning person and that I like sleeping a lot. So that's why I don't like to have lessons early in the morning. On fridays I usually should have a lesson at 8 a.m. about the history of Paris between 1660 and 1789 so each friday I have to get up at 6.30 to get to Sorbonne in time. And so I did this morning too. Just to wait in the classroom with the other students a half an hour till we gave up and accepted the fact that the teacher wasn't coming this morning. And this is not the first time this has happened! I think this is like at least the third time! It's so annoying and rude that I'm actually not sure I'll get up for the lesson anymore. I've already done everything I have to for this cours, so I would only go there for my own interest. Because it is interesting once we have lessons since we walk around in the city, looking at the buildnings from that time period and listening to people having presentations about them. But it is not fun to get up early for nothing! Especially when nothing is open that time in the morning. The library doesn't open until 9 and most of the shops, museums and even the computer classroom at Sorbonne open at 10 or 11. So then you just sit around doing nothing and waiting for your next lesson starting at 12.

And what makes it all worse is the fact that the walls in the building I live in are so f*ucking thin! So if my neighbour is home and awake, I can't sleep either. Like yesterday when she had a friend over till midnight and then continued listening to music at least one more hour. Seriously, I can hear her talk through the wall, not the word, but almost. And when she plays music, it's always so loud I can actually hear what they're singing. God, it's driving me mad! Thank goodness it's less than 3 weeks left till I'm back in my own, quiet apartement in Helsinki!

But but... since I was talking about Sorbonne, I could as well show you some pictures. Or a lot of them. And oh yeah, that's the official name of the university you see in the title. Or the last bit just indicates which part of the university I'm studying at, i.e. the best part since it's in the main bulding ;)

This is the main buildning and as you can see it's huge. It's the whole beige building. And this is only one side of it, the main entrance is actually on the other side. And on the inside, it's a real labyrinth! It once took me almost one hour to find one classroom! They have this weird system with different staircases and different floors, but it's not logical at all! For examle, floor F is the third floor of the buildning but even though there also is a staircase F, it doesn't necessarily lead to floor F, it might as well lead to floor E or something. I don't actually remember. Once I've found one way to go to a classroom, I always walk the same way even though I know there's a shortcut somewhere because I don't want to get lost in this huge building :)

And this is the inner court, right next to the Chapelle de la Sorbonne, that unfortunately is under restauration at the moment so you can't get inside. This inner court is where you end up after entering the buildning by the main entrance. Whichever enrance you choose, you still have to show your studentscard to the guards and then they also check your bag. Nobody is allowed to enter without a studentcard. I asked one girl if it has always been like this, but apparently it started after the 911 terroristattack. It's not that bad, but still a bit annoying when you always have to look for your card and open your bag. And then I can't show the building from the inside to the people visiting me. So these pictures are actually the only chanse you have of getting a sneakpeak to the inside ;)

And this is the main lobby that you enter after the inner court. The stairs leads up to the library of Sorbonne and on every side of the lobby you also find most of the amphitheaters, i.e. the big lecture rooms. Like this one, for example:

This one is called Amphitheatre Guizot and here I have a lesson about the medieval ages every tuesday :) ...with an old professor who mumbles a lot so usually I don't understand a thing he's saying. I don't have problems with most of the other teachers but this one is just impossible...

And this is the staircase leading up to the history department. Nice, isn't it? :) I especially like the old wallpaper that for some reason is left on the wall. Actually reminds me a bit of the old wallpapers I found in the rooms in the attic of Mustio Mannor. It's a shame the attic is closed for public because the rooms up there has this special athmostphere... I really liked it.

Last but not least, my new best friend:

These coffee-machines they have at Sorbonne are just so great!!! There's, as you can see, a lot of different hot drinks you can choose from and they all cost ony 60 cents. You would think they tast horrible, but actually quite the contrary! I adore the hot chocolate from this machine! I buy one almost every time I have to hang around at Sorbonne between my lessons. And you know what the greatest thing about it is? It actually encourages recycling! Because if you bring back your plastic cup and but it in the recycling part of the machine, it gives you back 10 cents, so this means you do not only help nature, you also get a discount of your coffee! :D