Hi everyone!
I'm writing this from the comfort of my bedroom at home to let you all know that I've arrived home. I spent my last day in Paris packing, attending a final chi-gong class, and having a lovely dinner with Victoria before going to bed early to get my flight on time the next morning. (She and her mother very kindly drove me and my heavy luggage to the airport at an ungodly hour of the morning!)
Anyway, although I'll miss the friends I made in France, and certain aspects of French life and cuisine, on the whole, I'm glad to be back at home in the States. It was a great four months abroad, but I'm ready to get back to real life.
Thank you all for reading my blog; I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed creating it!
Au revoir!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Adventures in Northern and Western Paris
Bonjour!
I've had a lovely penultimate full day in Paris continuing my last-minute sightseeing. I started out today with a visit to the Auber metro station, where I'd been told Ikea has a tiny house set up with five real people living in it to show how useful their products are at maximizing small spaces. (It's a temporary display.) They also had a second, identical, display set up which the public could enter and check out. It was roughly on my way to my second stop of the day, and it was pretty interesting.
For my second event of the day, I headed over to the 16th arrondissement, in the west of the city, to visit le Musée Marmottan Monet, which, as their name suggests, has a large collection of Monet's paintings. They also had a temporary exhibit on of Henri Edmund Cross and the neo-impressionists, which was really interesting as well. On the whole, I like impressionism and neo-impressionism, so I enjoyed this collection a lot. Additionally, this museum is housed in an old mansion, so the building was very pleasant as well.
Then, I hopped onto a bus for my last adventure of the day, a visit to the café featured in the movie Amélie, which is, oddly enough, actually a real-life café and not a soundstage! Before I got there, though, I had what was undoubtedly the scariest experience I've had in Paris: being on a bus that was driving around the six-lane rotary that rings l'Arc de Triomphe. I don't know if any of you have ever been in a bus that fearlessly cuts through six lanes of heavy, fast-paced traffic to get to the center of a rotary before cutting back out again, but I personally found the experience terrifying--luckily the whole maneuver didn't take very long. Anyway, finally I arrived safe and sound at le Café des Deux Moulins (the Cafe of the Two Windmills), which is right near the Montmartre district of Paris, and also in the heart of the red-light district. (It's only a block away from Moulin Rouge.) I met up with one of my friends there for our final visit together for a while, which was sad, but at least I had a delicious hot chocolate and crème brulée to console me. It was a lovely day!
I've had a lovely penultimate full day in Paris continuing my last-minute sightseeing. I started out today with a visit to the Auber metro station, where I'd been told Ikea has a tiny house set up with five real people living in it to show how useful their products are at maximizing small spaces. (It's a temporary display.) They also had a second, identical, display set up which the public could enter and check out. It was roughly on my way to my second stop of the day, and it was pretty interesting.
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| This is certainly bigger than most dorm rooms I've seen! |
Then, I hopped onto a bus for my last adventure of the day, a visit to the café featured in the movie Amélie, which is, oddly enough, actually a real-life café and not a soundstage! Before I got there, though, I had what was undoubtedly the scariest experience I've had in Paris: being on a bus that was driving around the six-lane rotary that rings l'Arc de Triomphe. I don't know if any of you have ever been in a bus that fearlessly cuts through six lanes of heavy, fast-paced traffic to get to the center of a rotary before cutting back out again, but I personally found the experience terrifying--luckily the whole maneuver didn't take very long. Anyway, finally I arrived safe and sound at le Café des Deux Moulins (the Cafe of the Two Windmills), which is right near the Montmartre district of Paris, and also in the heart of the red-light district. (It's only a block away from Moulin Rouge.) I met up with one of my friends there for our final visit together for a while, which was sad, but at least I had a delicious hot chocolate and crème brulée to console me. It was a lovely day!
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| The nearby Moulin Rouge! (moulin rouge=red windmill) |
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Musée du Quai Branly ("world" art)
Salut!
After my foray into the 11th and 12th arrondissements this morning, I decided to visit the only major art museum in Paris that I still hadn't seen, le Musée du Quai Branly. It's over on the other side of town (and across the river), right near la Tour Eiffel! It's a fairly new museum, and it's dedicated to non-European art ranging from a long time ago to the present day, and the art it includes is mostly what I'd think of as artifacts--which is to say statues, jewelry, clothes, headdresses, tools, combs, etc. The building may have been just as interesting as the collection itself, which I didn't think was curated very well, for a whole host of reasons. Even so, I'm glad I visited the Branly, and it was interesting to check out some non-European art!
After my foray into the 11th and 12th arrondissements this morning, I decided to visit the only major art museum in Paris that I still hadn't seen, le Musée du Quai Branly. It's over on the other side of town (and across the river), right near la Tour Eiffel! It's a fairly new museum, and it's dedicated to non-European art ranging from a long time ago to the present day, and the art it includes is mostly what I'd think of as artifacts--which is to say statues, jewelry, clothes, headdresses, tools, combs, etc. The building may have been just as interesting as the collection itself, which I didn't think was curated very well, for a whole host of reasons. Even so, I'm glad I visited the Branly, and it was interesting to check out some non-European art!
11th and 12th arrondissements
Bonjour!
Since I've hardly spent any time in the 11th and 12th arrondissements, despite their proximity to where I live, I thought I should finally head in that direction and check them out. And I discovered that really the reason I've never bothered to go before is that there isn't much to do there. It's a fairly residential area of Paris. But I did wander through an open-air marché, called Marché Aligre. My Fodor's guide made it out to be some sort of particularly noteworthy street market, but it seemed pretty much like the others I've seen here. Still, I always enjoy wandering through the street markets here; it's always interesting to see all the exotic produce and the assorted old bric-a-brac that people are trying to sell.
Close to Marché Aligre is the Promenade Plantée, which is a sort of raised garden located on what used to be the tracks of a raised railway line. I didn't walk the whole length of it, but I did enjoy the part I saw; like most of Paris, there's much more greenery than I'm used to at this time of year!
Next, I wandered toward Place de la Bastille, and then into the 11th arrondissement via Boulevard Richard Lenoir, which has a large median with greenery as well. There wasn't much to look at there...
Since I've hardly spent any time in the 11th and 12th arrondissements, despite their proximity to where I live, I thought I should finally head in that direction and check them out. And I discovered that really the reason I've never bothered to go before is that there isn't much to do there. It's a fairly residential area of Paris. But I did wander through an open-air marché, called Marché Aligre. My Fodor's guide made it out to be some sort of particularly noteworthy street market, but it seemed pretty much like the others I've seen here. Still, I always enjoy wandering through the street markets here; it's always interesting to see all the exotic produce and the assorted old bric-a-brac that people are trying to sell.
Close to Marché Aligre is the Promenade Plantée, which is a sort of raised garden located on what used to be the tracks of a raised railway line. I didn't walk the whole length of it, but I did enjoy the part I saw; like most of Paris, there's much more greenery than I'm used to at this time of year!
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| The promenade plantée from ground level. |
Next, I wandered toward Place de la Bastille, and then into the 11th arrondissement via Boulevard Richard Lenoir, which has a large median with greenery as well. There wasn't much to look at there...
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| Apparently this is the Winter Circus... I thought the building was visually interesting. |
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
fancy places
Bonjour tous!
So today one of my American friends and I visited some fancy places! First we went to Jeu de Paume, which means, literally, Palm Game, which was, according to my Fodor's 2011, a predecessor of tennis. Anyway, it's a museum specializing in photography, an art form I haven't seen a lot of here. For months now, Courtney and I have been seeing ads for a retrospective exhibit of Diane Arbus's work there, so we finally decided to go check it out. It was an interesting exhibit, although I'm not sure I can honestly say that I like her photography.
Then we headed to Ladurée, a really posh, fancy, well-known Parisian café since it will be one of our last chances to treat ourselves while we're here! We split a rose-flavored réligieuse, which is a sort of cream-filled, iced puff-pastry. Flower-flavored things are always... interesting. I think I prefer fruits or chocolates, on the whole. I also had some fun tea.
Next we wandered over to Invalides, which I've already visited (see my post from Halloween). It was almost closing time there, so we saw Napoléon's tomb briefly, before crossing the river again to check out Place Vendôme, which is renowned for its pricey watch and jewelry stores. We had a lot of fun window-shopping there! So many diamonds! So much gold! But as we see it, where would we wear a diamond tiara, anyway?
So today one of my American friends and I visited some fancy places! First we went to Jeu de Paume, which means, literally, Palm Game, which was, according to my Fodor's 2011, a predecessor of tennis. Anyway, it's a museum specializing in photography, an art form I haven't seen a lot of here. For months now, Courtney and I have been seeing ads for a retrospective exhibit of Diane Arbus's work there, so we finally decided to go check it out. It was an interesting exhibit, although I'm not sure I can honestly say that I like her photography.
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| Jeu de Paume is located in le Jardin des Tuileries, as is L'Orangerie (home to Monet's Water Lilies). |
Then we headed to Ladurée, a really posh, fancy, well-known Parisian café since it will be one of our last chances to treat ourselves while we're here! We split a rose-flavored réligieuse, which is a sort of cream-filled, iced puff-pastry. Flower-flavored things are always... interesting. I think I prefer fruits or chocolates, on the whole. I also had some fun tea.
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| tea and réligieuse |
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| Courtney and a cross-section of the treat (There were raspberries inside!) |
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| part of the outside of the café |
Next we wandered over to Invalides, which I've already visited (see my post from Halloween). It was almost closing time there, so we saw Napoléon's tomb briefly, before crossing the river again to check out Place Vendôme, which is renowned for its pricey watch and jewelry stores. We had a lot of fun window-shopping there! So many diamonds! So much gold! But as we see it, where would we wear a diamond tiara, anyway?
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| Like many a Parisian place, there was an (unexplained) column here. |
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| Place Vendôme |
Monday, January 9, 2012
Jardin des Plantes, Bibliothèque F. Mitterand
Salut!
Today I did some exploring around the south-western part of Paris; I spent a good part of the late morning and early afternoon in le Jardin des Plantes, in the 5th arrondissement. They have a couple of nice, big gardens, and since the sun was in and out today, it was rather pleasant out!
I also discovered that they have a greenhouse there, and you're allowed to go inside! It was fun to see all the exotic, tropical plants. (The heat and humidity were rather pleasant, too, I thought!)
Then, on the note of seeing an arrondissement that I still haven't seen much of (the 13th), and of riding the only métro line that I still haven't taken (line 14), I took a bus over to la Bibliothèque nationale de François Mitterand. It's a funky looking complex made up of several enormous buildings in L shapes (to resemble open books). I also enjoyed taking the 14 back to the center of town, because it's one of the few automated lines (most lines' cars are still operated by human drivers), which means that you can sit up in the front of the front car, where a conductor would sit, and see the tunnels from that point of view, which was kind of interesting. (But I didn't take any photos... It wasn't that interesting!)
Today I did some exploring around the south-western part of Paris; I spent a good part of the late morning and early afternoon in le Jardin des Plantes, in the 5th arrondissement. They have a couple of nice, big gardens, and since the sun was in and out today, it was rather pleasant out!
I also discovered that they have a greenhouse there, and you're allowed to go inside! It was fun to see all the exotic, tropical plants. (The heat and humidity were rather pleasant, too, I thought!)
Then, on the note of seeing an arrondissement that I still haven't seen much of (the 13th), and of riding the only métro line that I still haven't taken (line 14), I took a bus over to la Bibliothèque nationale de François Mitterand. It's a funky looking complex made up of several enormous buildings in L shapes (to resemble open books). I also enjoyed taking the 14 back to the center of town, because it's one of the few automated lines (most lines' cars are still operated by human drivers), which means that you can sit up in the front of the front car, where a conductor would sit, and see the tunnels from that point of view, which was kind of interesting. (But I didn't take any photos... It wasn't that interesting!)
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Père Lachaise
Bonjour!
Today I visited another major Parisian cemetery, Père Lachaise, in the 20th arrondissement. It was much larger than Cimitière Montparnasse, and there were more tourists, but it's such an enormous area that it wasn't at all crowded or noisy, which was really nice. (It was also easy to spot the graves of famous people, because those were the only places where there really were crowds of people.) I didn't see Oscar Wilde's grave, but I did see where Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison are buried.
There were also a number of monuments to groups of people famous for reasons far less cheerful than their artistic success. Part of the cemetery is known as le mur des fusilés, which could roughly be translated as "the wall of people shot to death," although it involved homages to people who were killed in other terrible ways, as well, particularly during the Holocaust. Among other things, this part of the cemetery made me realize, as I hadn't really before, how strong the memory of the Holocaust and the Second World War are here--stronger, I think, than in the States--certainly due in part to the fact that such a large part of the war took place here. In addition to the vivid sculpted images on many of these monuments, most also had inscriptions giving details about the circumstances of death for the victims they're commemorating. Many of them ended with the same command: Souvenez-vous (remember).
However, the vast majority of this cemetery is made up of personal tombs, and, as at Montparnasse, I found some of these to be the most aesthetically interesting. They weren't as artsy, on the whole, as the ones at Montparnasse (which was, after all, somewhat of an artistic neighborhood), but it was a very pretty place to walk through, nonetheless. I especially liked the abundance of trees, moss, shrubs, lawns... greenery abounds here, which I though was a nice reminder that life continues on.
Today I visited another major Parisian cemetery, Père Lachaise, in the 20th arrondissement. It was much larger than Cimitière Montparnasse, and there were more tourists, but it's such an enormous area that it wasn't at all crowded or noisy, which was really nice. (It was also easy to spot the graves of famous people, because those were the only places where there really were crowds of people.) I didn't see Oscar Wilde's grave, but I did see where Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison are buried.
There were also a number of monuments to groups of people famous for reasons far less cheerful than their artistic success. Part of the cemetery is known as le mur des fusilés, which could roughly be translated as "the wall of people shot to death," although it involved homages to people who were killed in other terrible ways, as well, particularly during the Holocaust. Among other things, this part of the cemetery made me realize, as I hadn't really before, how strong the memory of the Holocaust and the Second World War are here--stronger, I think, than in the States--certainly due in part to the fact that such a large part of the war took place here. In addition to the vivid sculpted images on many of these monuments, most also had inscriptions giving details about the circumstances of death for the victims they're commemorating. Many of them ended with the same command: Souvenez-vous (remember).
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| Mauthausen |
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| Auschwitz-Birkenau |
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| Dachau |
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| Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen |
However, the vast majority of this cemetery is made up of personal tombs, and, as at Montparnasse, I found some of these to be the most aesthetically interesting. They weren't as artsy, on the whole, as the ones at Montparnasse (which was, after all, somewhat of an artistic neighborhood), but it was a very pretty place to walk through, nonetheless. I especially liked the abundance of trees, moss, shrubs, lawns... greenery abounds here, which I though was a nice reminder that life continues on.
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