Last few days as a Parisian...

The countdown is officially one whole day left in Paris. It is hard to believe that my six week program is done and the time in my little apartment with my roommates is practically through. Luckily, this past week, I got to go do and see a lot! I had one last picnic by the Eiffel Tower, had a coffee in La Maison Rose in Montmartre, had a dessert in the cute café called Café Constant, walked around the Opéra Garnier, strolled through the old shopping district called Les Passages, got a delicious crepe, went to the Pantheon, and saw the sailboats in the Luxembourg Gardens. I'd say it was a pretty full week! 

Overall, I think my favorite neighborhood in Paris is Montmartre. It has a very different feel to it. Although it is packed with tourists from all over, you can almost imagine back to a time when the writers of the day were writing in the cafés. The buildings are old and full of character and the only vineyard in Paris is located here. The view from the Sacre Coeur is breathtaking as you can see all of Paris from the top. La Maison Rose is a little pink house that many a French writer wrote in back in the day. It was pretty special to have a coffee there.

Since the Paris metro is quite easy to navigate, my roommates and I would sometimes pick a random station in a cool neighborhood and go walk around there for a bit and metro back home. This week, one of my roommates and I went for a stroll around the Opéra Garnier. This opera house is home to the legend of the Phantom of the Opera. Although we did not go in, it is possible to take a tour of the opera house and see the moats and locations that were featured in the story of the Phantom of the Opera. 

One of my roommates is quite the foodie so she finds all sorts of places for us to try. This week we went to two places. The first, a fancy restaurant called Café Constant, is know for is excellent profiteroles. Those are little cream puffs that are filled with ice cream and covered in hot fudge. I had a floating island which is a merangue floating on a sea of English cream. All of their desserts looked so good! 

The second place that we went this week was a well known creperie called Little Breizh. The "Super Complete" crepe was delicious. It was a buckwheat crepe filled with ham, bacon, a sunny side up egg, cheese, and leek cream. I was so full that I couldn't even eat dessert! This little creperie is operated by a brother and sister in a quaint neighborhood. If you are ever in Paris, you should pay them a visit for the best crepe you may ever have. 

Another one of my favorite places in Paris is the Passages. This area has a few of these narrow shopping alleyways. The were built in the late 18th century as hidden passageways, but eventually fell into disrepair. Developers in the late 1800s decided they would make great shopping places since they are covered. My favorite gluten free restaurant is here in the Passages Panorama. 

Only one place in Paris can call itself the final resting place for Marie Curie, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Jean Moulin, Voltaire, and many other well-known people that contributed to the progress of France. The Pantheon in the Latin Quarter is not only a memorial to these people, but it serves to remember the French that helped save French Jews World War II as well as being a place where influential French people will continue to be remembered.

There is almost nothing cuter than the little sailboats in the fountain at the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. Little kids can rent tiny sailboats to put in the fountain. Each kid is given a long pole so they can push the sail boats from one side of the fountain to the other. The fountain is in between the gardens and the palace. 

At the end of the week, I head to Toulouse! More to come. 

Coffee at La Maison Rose

Peek-a-Boo Sacre Coeur

Luxembourg Sailboats

Little Breizh Crepe

Sunset at the Eiffel Tower

La Passage Verdeau

Eiffel Tower from the Pantheon

The Pantheon

Interior Pantheon

Mini Pantheon

Here rests Jean Moulin-Head of the Resistance Army for France in WWII

Opéra Garnier

Opéra Lights

Faces at the Pantheon

Ile Floatant-Café Constant

Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas

Luxembourg Gardens

Galeries Lafayette-Luxury Shopping Center

Eglise de la Trinité near the Opera

 

Pompidou Centre, Macaron Making, and the Ballet

Well, the countdown has really begun. I have seven days left in Paris and thirteen left in France with so much left on my "to do" list. In Paris, I would love to go back to Montmartre because it is such a unique place, have one last picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower, and go on another walk at night around the city. 

These past few days, I have gone to the modern art museum called the Centre Pompidou and I have been part of a macaron making class. I'm lucky that one of my roommates is an art student so that I can tag along to her class and actually learn about the art that I am seeing. It is incredible how much background information can make the artwork more special and full of character. 

The Centre Pompidou is a building that is easily recognizable. To me, it looks like a big shopping mall. The air vents and tubes that are inside the average building are on the outside of the Pompidou. It makes the building look very industrial, but colorful at the same time. The building embodies the modernity of the art that it houses. 

Artists such as Jackson Pollock, Salvador Dali, Picasso, Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol, and Matisse are featured here along with many others. The building's walls move so they art is able to be hung and positioned to the exact specifications of the artists. While I was at museum, there was a huge exhibition on videography that required a lot of space. Its not everyday that a building can just move some walls to accommodate for space. 

I have to say that the macaron cooking class was probably one of the best things I have done in Paris so far. The chef in charge of the class was excellent and the process went by smoothly. Macarons are surprisingly easier than I had expected, but they take a long time to make. The chef said that you can freeze the cookies and certain fillings so you can make them ahead of time. I am planning on trying to make them when I get home. And...the best part is that they are gluten-free! We made white chocolate raspberry and chocolate ganache macarons. The chef also told us that the cookie part of the macaron doesn't have the flavoring. It is only every the filling. If you order a lemon basil macaron, the filling is lemon basil, not the cookie. I am more than happy to share the recipe they gave me, just ask! 

Ever since I came to Paris when I was little, I have dreamed of going to a production at an opera house in Paris. This trip, I finally got to do it. There are two main opera houses in Paris. There is the Opéra Garnier, which is the setting for the Phantom of the Opera, and there is the Opéra Bastille. This opera house was built over top of the old Bastille train station and is home to a mix of opera and ballet performances. Of the two opera houses, the Bastille is the more modern one. 

My roommates and I went to see "Notre Dame de Paris" which is based on the book by Victor Hugo and similar to the Hunchback of Notre Dame by Disney. The ballet was the Paris ballet company and the costumes were designed by Yves Saint Laurent. Everything was beautiful; the music, the costumes, the stage, the dancing, and the opera house itself. The design of the theatre reminded me a little of the new Kaufman performing arts center in Kansas City since it is very moderns as well. 

So far, it has been a great week. Super hot, although not has hot has the usual Kansas weather. My apartment doesn't have air conditioning, so we are doing the best we can. 

Here are some photos of this week:

The Pompidou Centre

Jackson Pollock Painting at the Pompidou

Interior Pompidou

Mark Rothko-Pompidou

The best place in Paris to buy macarons

La Cuisine Paris-Macaron Cooking Class

Notre Dame de Paris at the Bastille

Opéra Bastille

Cluny Museum and Bastille Day

Today marks the ten day countdown to when I will leave Paris. I don't like that I can now count the number of days left in this beautiful city on one hand. I have had incredible opportunities since being here to see and go places I did not expect. Although I will soon be saying goodbye to Paris, I will be saying hello to Toulouse! Since I was a Rotary exchange student in high school, I am going to go back to where I lived and visit my friends. Can't wait!

This week was a challenge. It has been over three weeks with a cold and medical care is much harder to come by than expected here in Paris. Try as I might, it is hard to get an appointment with a doctor. I even called their "doctor on wheels" and they never showed up! This morning, I woke up early and went to a doctor that my school recommended and they were not there. Luckily, I called another doctor that is within walking distance and hopefully he will actually be there during the appointment time. With my luck, he'll probably forget! 

Anyways, if you like Medieval history, the Cluny Museum is for you. They offer beautiful tapestries rich in biblical history, golden statues, religious relics, pieces that were once on Notre Dame, and the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries that are shrouded in mystery as no one really knows where they came from or what their origins are. All five of the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries are housed at the Cluny Museum. To me, it is hard to believe that fabric and fibers from the 1200s still exists and are in good condition. And, these tapestries are incredibly lovely while being rich in the tales of the times they depict. 

One of my favorite parts of the Cluny Museum are the heads of the kings. These heads are the beheaded heads from the king statues that were once on Notre Dame cathedral. During the French Revolution, revolutionaries at the time beheaded the statues on the cathedral just as they did the real people they represented. It wasn't until recently during the 1970s that people discovered these statue heads buried in a random spot in Paris. The Cluny Museum is home to these heads as well as other parts of Notre Dame that have been taken down and redone as the years go by. 

The museum is in a neighborhood that is close to the Sorbonne. Since it is the university neighborhood, there are a lot of fun stores, restaurants, and places to see in close proximity. My roommate and I had delicious hot chocolate at a little cafe close to the museum and we lunched at a "Creperie" that served large salads, crepes, and galettes. Galettes are the savory version of they typical crepe. They are made of buckwheat and are therefore gluten free. My galette came with "lardons," or French bacon, an egg, cheese, walnuts, and green salad on top. For dessert, I had a galette, since it is gluten free and a crepe is not, with hot chocolate sauce on top.

July 14 marks the day that the French revolutionaries stormed the Bastille Prision which released the prisoners that were held captive by the king and his court. The king, at the time, could throw anyone he wanted into this prision without any questions asked. It was notorious for being a horrible place to be. As the embodiment of what the French Revolution was fighting for, the revolutionaries attacked the Bastille and showed they could rebel against the king's wishes and "no questions asked" policy.

On this day in Paris, there is a huge French military parade down the main street called the "Champs-Elysées." This is the main street that runs through the Arc de Triomph. If you want to get a spot to see the parade, you need to get there at six or so in the morning. The night before my roomates and I went to an Irish pub to watch the World Cup final and did not make it to the parade the next day. We did, however, see a large parade of military tanks, trucks, and armored cars pass our street! Since we live so close to the Eiffel Tower, we see a lot of traffic and yesterday it happened to be a whole bunch of tanks. It felt as though France was under attack since I have never seen tanks roaming the streets before. 

Last night I went and saw the famous Bastille day fireworks that are launched off of the Eiffel Tower and behind the tower from barges in the Seine. I don't have words for how incredible these fireworks were. The fireworks had a timeline theme and went through years describing them artfully in fireworks. Fireworks spelled out "Vive La Paix" or "Long Live Peace" at the beginning of the show. The Paris Symphony played the music in the background and performed a free concert before the fireworks started. They played many opera pieces as well as classics such as Star Wars. There were probably eight hundred thousand people squished together on the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower. Since my roommate and I arrived two hours ahead of the concert and three ahead of the fireworks, we managed to get a spot. It was always my dream to see the Bastille fireworks and I am so glad I can cross that off my bucket list. They were better than I ever could have imagined. 

My roommates and I were dying to to try the "Velib'" bikes that they have here in Paris. They are easy to use and you can bike around the city for a small fee. Many people use them in Paris as an alternative to public transportation since they are inexpensive and very "green." My roommates and I biked along the Seine and sat in the sunshine on the banks for a bit. It was surreal to bike past the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower. French traffic is a bit hard to navigate on a bike so only try it if you feel you have a good sense of the traffic. Luckily my roommates do so I followed their lead!

This week I am going to go to the Pompidou contemporary art museum, so keep your eyes out for a post about that! 

If you would like to see the whole fireworks show, here is a great youtube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7eYp0j01MQ
 

Here are some photos from this week:

Crowd at Bastille Day

The "Tour Eiffel" in blue lighting with fireworks

Purple Eiffel with Fireworks

Tye-dyed Eiffel for the '60s part of the show

Vive la PAIX-Long Live Peace

Biking past the Louvre...Yes that is me on the bike!

Velib' Bikes

Mosaic at Cluny La Sorbonne Metro

Beheaded Heads of the Kings

Cluny Museum

Tapestry from the 1200s at the Cluny

Many Monets and Other Adventures

Only in Paris can you sit in a room and be completely surrounded by Monet's Waterlily paintings. By completely surrounded, I mean that you are sitting in a circular room with panorama paintings done by Monet. The Musée de l'Orangerie was designed by the artist so that the people of Paris have a place to come and relax. Not only are Monet's beautiful impressionist paintings relaxing, the museum itself is calming. Since it used to be an orange tree greenhouse, it is sunny or rainy depending on the weather outside. Located in the Tuileries Gardens, this museum was a beautiful place to visit. Besides the Monet paintings, this museum is home to works by Picasso, Renoir, and Cezanne. I had the chance to tag along with my roommate who is in an art history class. It is incredible to have someone explain why a painting is the way it is and what everything means in the painting. 

If you're ever in Paris, I'd highly suggest you go to the Musée Marmottan Monet. Although the l'Orangerie Museum is beautiful, it is also crowded. This museum is a little farther out in the Paris neighborhoods, but it is primarily Parisians that visit it. The building was the former residence of a family of society and is an lovely location for a museum. The main attraction for this museum is the variety of art and the basement exhibit of Monet's paintings including the painting that was the "beginning" of impressionism.

One of my favorite things about Paris, among many, is how many cafés there are. If you're craving a hot chocolate, you have the choice of many area cafés to buy one. One the walk home from the Museum Marmottan, I stopped at a cafe with a lovely view of the traditional French Parisian buildings. It is hard to imagine the real age of the buildings here since even the oldest American buildings aren't even close in age to those in Paris. If only the walls could speak!

Today, my business class took a field trip to the auction house called Drouot. This auction house sells art, designer clothing, furniture, and other items in a live auction style format everyday. My class sat in on a fashion auction where they were auctioning off names such as Chanel, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent, and Valentino. Most of the people that bought these items were most likely buyers for high end stores, but it was interesting to see these items as well as hear a French auction. I was tempted to bid on a Chanel handbag, but it sold for almost two thousand euros. 

With only two weeks left, I am trying to see as many things as I can while I am still in Paris. Next week, I am going to see the Paris Ballet performing Notre Dame de Paris! I can't wait to see it, especially since it is in the Bastille Opera House! And, July 14th is on Monday! I hope to go to the parade down the Champs-Elysées.

Monet at Musée Marmottan

Musée Marmottan

Musée de l'Orangerie

Drouot Auction House

Chocolat Chaud

 

Montmartre, Versailles, Rodin Museum, and Orleans

This past week and a half was full of seeing historical places and famous monuments. I had the opportunity to visit an old friend and see a town in the Loire Valley as well. Despite battling a bad cold, I tried to do as much as I could since I have a little less than a month left! Its hard to believe that I have already been living as a Parisian for more than a month now. I know that I have been here for a while when I get to my Metro station and I relax since I feel at home in my neighborhood. Its going to be hard to say goodbye to my apartment, roommates, and all the beautiful things I get to see everyday. I am, however, excited to see my family and friends as well as get some gluten free bread!

Recently, I have gone to the area called "Montmartre" twice. Montmartre is home to Sacre Coeur, a famous basilica, to bars that artists frequent, and to beautiful views of Paris from above. Montmartre is situated high on a hill that overlooks Paris and the surrounding neighborhoods. Nearby are artists painting canvases, the bar that Amelie Poulin from the movie "Amelie" worked at, and the well known Moulin Rouge. No, I did not go in, but I did walk by! Since the mountain is rather high up, one can either take a beautiful set of stairs that seems to go on for forever or there is a metro car that cruises up the mountain for the price of a metro ticket. I opted for the metro car since you can watch the surrounding areas as it takes you to the basilica on the top of the hill.

While I as at Montmartre the second time, there was a city square full of artists painting canvases and musicians playing accordions. I felt as though I stepped into a movie. The streets are narrow and sprinkled with quaint bars and "creperies" that make delicious crepes. There is even an ice cream store that scoops your ice cream into the shape of a rose. Since the facades of the buildings haven't changed in years, you feel as though you are experiencing France from years ago. Montmartre is almost as though you stepped into a time capsule. This is one of my favorite areas in Paris.

Let me preface this next bit with a tip for anyone that wants to go visit Versailles on a Monday. It is closed. This is what I found out after a friend and I made the train ride out to the chateau on a Monday before class. We made the best of it though because the town is very nice and we could still see the outside of the chateau. When my family and I were here in Paris in 2006, we saw the interior and the beautiful gardens. If you ever come, make sure to not go on a Monday!

Fridays are the only day of the week that I do not have class so I try to go do something interesting. This week, my roommate and I walked to the Musée Rodin which is just next to Napoleon's tomb and the army museum. It was incredible to not only step into a scene from the movie, "Midnight in Paris," but seeing the statutes in person was equally as incredible. In France, if you are a student within the European Union, you can get discounts on entrance fees to museums. At this particular museum, it was free!

Rodin's Museum included lush gardens that are home to many of his statues, including The Thinker. The interior of the museum houses his smaller works as well as his personal art collection that included works from Picasso and Monet. The beautiful estate that the museum is housed in was Rodin's property. Upon his death, he donated all of his artwork and estate to the State of France on the condition that they turn it into a museum for the public. Now, the house has the museum, but it is also where parts of Paris Fashion Week happen. This year, Dior has their runway in the backyard of the museum.

Although Paris is lovely, it is also sometimes overwhelming since it is a concrete jungle. As a Kansan, I am quite fond of green space and fields of plants. Here in Paris, you have to go out of your way to see some green space. Even then, the green spaces are parks with grass. The best garden in Paris is the Tuileries which are just outside of the Louvre Museum. This garden has artwork and beautiful plants to see.

This weekend, I took the train outside of Paris to a town called Orleans. Orleans is best known as the hometown of Joan of Arc, or Jeanne D'Arc, as she is known in France. Her house is in this town and it is open for tours by the public. Her statue is the focal point of the town square. My visit to Orleans included meeting up with a family friend that my father has known since he was in college!

Our family friend took me on a visit of the beautiful castle from the Middle Ages, Chateau de Chamerolles. This Chateau is located in the Loire Valley and is known for being a perfume producer many years ago. Not only did this chateau have a lovely exhibit of how perfumes were made those years ago, it also had period furniture, and beautiful gardens. This chateau is well garded by a bridge and moat!

Hopefully this cold will go away soon so I can keep exploring the area. I hope to visit some smaller art galleries this week. More to come!

Panorama from Montmartre of Paris

Basilica of Sacre Coeur

Moulin Rouge

Gates of Versailles

Houses in Montmartre

Rodin's Thinker

Gardens at Chateau de Chamerolles

Chateau de Chamerolles

Jeanne d'Arc Statue in Orleans, France

Orleans, France