Another weekend in Paris

Saturday, July 7th


Katy and I woke up extremely early today (6am) in anticipation for our trip to Champagne, France. We rush to the metro because we're still running a bit late... only to find that it runs every 10minutes this early in the morning... ugh! We had to wait for 8 minutes for the next metro... but our favorite security guard at St. John's just got off from his shift and joined us at the metro station. We tell him Abou that we are heading to Champagne for the day. "Oh you have friends there?" "Nope." "Family?" "Nope. We're just going to see the Champagne cellars." He was amazed... "See that's why I like you American girls. French girls would never just go travel like that without knowing someone who lives there." Finally the metro comes, we arrive at cityrama just in time... only to find out that the company we booked through overbooked us. Of course! So we rescheduled for that Friday and headed back home to sleep.

Later that day Kevin, Katy, and I headed back to the Shakespeare Bookstore & Co. to buy some gifts for our families. Then we walked around some more in the Latin Quarter and eventually found a place for dinner, Café La Bucherie. I had a chicken sandwich but it was more like a chicken & ham on a piece of toast, not quite what I was expecting but I still enjoyed it.

That night we went back to the latin quarter and sat outside at a hookah bar for a little bit and just people watched. Then we headed Corchoran's. Kevin made some friends who bought us a round of shots, which the bartender lit on fire!

Then he knocked the shots into the redbull

Kevin's new friend that paid for the shots

Katy and I with the bartender

Sunday, July 8th

Some of the first trunks designed by Louis Vuitton

Today we planned to go to the Palais Garnier, the famous Opera house in Paris. Just our luck it was closed randomly for the day... no worries though, we came with a backup plan! We headed to the Louvre to see the special Louis Vuitton & Marc Jacobs exhibit in Les Arts Décoratifs. We got in for free with our St. John's student cards, which was another plus! I can hardly begin to describe this exhibit... except to say that I have the upmost respect for the Louis Vuitton label after watching how it evolved over the last century. Starting off the exhibit mannequins depicting all the garments for a day in the life of an affluent lady in the 19th century. Louis Vuitton understood the need to create luggage that was functional, innovative, and of top-quality. He created the "flat topped trunk" that made it much more easier to stack than its predecessor "dome-topped trunk." Competition between trunk makers was fierce, as there were 300-400 companies in Paris alone. He used materials such as poplar or pine wood to construct his trunks, making them more light weight. He also used canvas and patented his own designs so as to thwart counterfeiters; once it was coated in varnish it was fully waterproof. Vuitton was invited to display his products at the Universal Exhibitions held in Paris in 1867, 1878, and 1889. Commercially innovative, Louis Vuitton displayed only the trunks that were available for purchase in his boutiques rather than only masterpieces like the other exhibitors. In 1890 Georges Vuitton, Vuitton's eldest son, invented the theft-proof five tumbler lock. Every customer was able to receive a personal combination to secure all of his or her luggage. In 1896 Georges Vuitton creates the world-wide recognized L.V. label with flowers and stars in the background to commemorate his father who died in 1892.





The exhibit continues upstairs and displays walls of pop art, posters, tv shows, movies... basically everything that defines the times that have passed between the 19th century and when Marc Jacobs took over as the artistic director of LVMH in 1999.

Mannequin depicting the volume of all the garments worn by ladies.

The Explorer's Trunk... a fold out bed... how convenient is that?

The evolution of the Louis Vuitton hand bag, all of its edits before it became the signature bag.

Notes accompanied each bag with suggested revisions from Marc Jacobs

"Louis's linear and rational legacy finds its equal in Marc's eclecticism and poetry, Louis was a French entrepreneur of the modern age. Marc is an American artistic director whose intuitive approach reflects today's society. Louis understood the importance of industrialization, Marc, globalization. Both men provide complementary solutions to the needs of their era, which is precisely what makes them such perfect partners through time. "

That night for dinner we went to this little sushi place down the street... It was this fancy little place that served take-out sushi or they also delivered. I ordered two different rolls and then they asked for my name, so I gave it to them but they thought my name was Stephanie. This is the second time someone who is French has mistaken my name as Stephanie... apparently they aren't familiar with the name Tiffany, but oh well.

Look how amazing these rolls look! Yum!