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!

Friday.. where all the fashionistas of Paris shop

Friday, July 6th

Today was a free day, so Katy, Maddie, and I wanted to go to the famous Colette store on Rue Saint-Honoré. It was incredible... downstairs they had a restaurant and a water bar (what is that? a bar that serves expensive water, different flavors and all... no joke) . Upstairs where they had the clothes.. they had mannequins lined up in the center of the room displaying all of their clothes. And then on the outside wall of the room more clothes hung on hangers. Everything was so chic.. but extremely expensive.

We were right down the street from Coco Chanel's apartment... so of course we had to walk by and take a look. It's actually right above the Coco Chanel store. Everything on this side of town is absolutely fabulous!

We also walked by another French flower shop so of course I have so more pictures of that.

We went out with everyone at night... drank wine by the Seine and went to our favorite bar Corcoran's in the latin quarter. We went home a little early though because we had our trip to Champagne early in the morning.

L'Hotel de Ville and the Shoah Museum

Thursday, July 5th

Today we had lecture and went to L'Hotel de Ville (Paris's city hall) where there was an exhibition on the deportation of Jewish children from France and also the heroes who hid some children as well. I found a letter written by a Polish boy in French that just touched my heart. He wrote about how his mother was born in Poland and was a very hard worker. His father took a job in Paris and they all moved here. They were Jewish and he talked about all of the hardships they were facing.

L'Hotel de Ville

Afterwards, we went to the Shoah museum. The museum was well designed and paid tribute to all those victims of the Holocaust and World War II as well as the many heroes. It's still astonishing to think that such an act could occur in the world for so long. Even when brave Polish men like Czeslaw Mordowicz and Jerzy Wesolowski escaped Auschwitz and Birkenau and then risked their lives to tell their accounts of what had happened it took years before anything was done to stop the extermination. I also give so much credit to those who risked their lives to run secret operations to help those in trouble such as Irena Sendler and Jan Karski, who I've learned much about from my dad.

To be in the presence of the belongings, outfits, pictures, personal letters, and the names of all those who lost their lives was incredibly impacting.. it was such a disappointing and catastrophic time in our world. I only hope that people will truly learn from this point in our history and a calamity like this will never occur again.

After the museum, we walked around Marais which is known as the Jewish community in Paris. This area was specifically targeted when the Nazi's invaded France. We had just eaten but Danielle and I are planning on going back to get a falafel from this area, which we hear are the best in all of Paris.

Marais - Jewish Neighborhood

Weekend (6/31-7/1)

Forgot to talk about my weekend in Paris!

Saturday morning (6/31) I woke up early to do some laundry. There's not too much different about the laundry here except that clothing you buy from France needs to be washed carefully and mostly hung dry. Supposedly the water pressure in the machines here is harder so if you wash a lot, your clothes may take a beating... luckily I only do laundry every 2 weeks. :P

It was Aly's (our TA) birthday so we went to meet our professor for lunch with her. But first we got to see where our professor is staying, a true French apartment. She rents from an italian architect who has an office here in Paris. The building is supposedly very historic, so historic that when they put a tiny (one person) glass elevator in, there was lots of protest. When you walk in from the street you walk right into a little tiny courtyard. I absolutely love how there are little courtyards hidden behind these great big walls of the city. You'd never know they existed unless you explored a bit. It's pretty awesome when you stumble upon one every now and then because they're just such an enchanting escape from the chaotic city streets! Up a few flights of stairs and inside the apartment we discovered a tiny little kitchen with windows looking out towards a fantastic view, a pretty decent size bedroom, a living room/office where at least 2 walls completely lined with books (As you can guess, I was in heaven). Above the living room there is a little loft that could be a makeshift bedroom (but was currently just used for decoration and a bit of storage) and a latter off to the side, should one decide to go up there. The toilet and shower are often in separate rooms in old French apartments.

A true French Kitchen... small but so cute!

Katy and I in our professors courtyard

Another court yard we stumbled upon while walking

Another little courtyard we found

We ate lunch at this little restaurant in the latin quarter. Aly told us to watch how the French people eat, specifically how they cut their food. Basically they keep a fork and knife in each hand at all times, always above the table (unless grabbing a napkin) and no elbows on the table either. The knife is always in your right hand and the fork in your left (despite whether your right or left handed). I tried it and after a little while I got the hang of it while eating my pizza but I'm no where near expert as these Parisians. Watching them eat is like watching a little synchronized dance on their plate... it's flawless; there's no effort, it's just natural. My margherita pizza et poulet (poulet is chicken) was delicious, and I even saved half it for another meal. Another thing I love about eating at French restaurants is not being constantly bothered by the waiters. The waiter can tell when you're ready to order by the simple gesture of closing the menu; don't expect him to stop by if you still have your menu open... you'll be waiting for awhile. So much of the experience here is learning how to communicate through body language. When you want your check or need something, catch the waiter's eye and lift your hand slightly. But of course expect to spend some time in a restaurant, the French don't rush through meals; and when you're not bothered by waiters you really feel like you can take your time and enjoy the food and atmosphere.

Where Rene Descartes used to live... we were just casually walking by when we noticed the sign. Paris is just so full of history! I love it :)

After lunch we headed towards Saint-Germain Blvd to watch the Gay Pride Parade. It was quite the experience and it went on for hours! They had to section off a few blocks at a time as the parade made its way. And wow was it crowded... all the locals were out either walking in the parade or cheering them on! It's also where we discovered our new favorite song here... "I follow rivers" by Lykke Li. Katy and I can only take so much of crowded areas so we left after an hour or so and walked over to some shops near the area, but it was still unbelievably crowded... (where did all these people come from?!) So we stopped at a little park, sat on a bench, and people watched which turned out to be such a nice escape from the craziness going on all around us!

The park where Katy and I sat and people watched after the crazy and chaotic parade.

Sunday, Katy, Morgan, Iesha, Kevin, and I went to Montmartre and visited Sacre Couer. The view of the city from where we were was absolutely amazing! We walked through the cathedral while mass was going on. Everyone who was walking through the church was very respectful... women had to cover their shoulders and the guards made sure everyone kept very quiet. The mass that was taking place was very nice; we even heard the choir singing some beautiful music. We plan on going back later in the week to climb to the top of the dome where the view is supposedly spectacular. Montmartre is also the region where many of artists line the streets.

Les Passages, Aux Printemps, Jardin du Luxembourg, Pere Lachaise

I'm backtracking here a little bit so bare with me...

Tuesday, July 3rd we headed over to the Catacombs... an underground ossuary. A final resting place of human skeletons... pretty scary. However, the line was way too long, and since they only let in 200 people at a time, we decided not to wait. Our T.A. says to us "I don't know about you guys, but I say we come back and do this another time. Let's go shopping!" But this shopping trip did serve an educational purpose. We have to write an essay discussing the concept of the flâneur, or person who strolls. In the 19th century this word was associated with the wealthy in Paris. We visited les passages, also called the arcades, which are basically little streets in between two buildings that contained stores and a glass ceiling as a roof. Paris is famous for these passages but there are only a few left. It's where "window shopping" was pretty much invented. After we went to the les passages, we went to the large and famous department store, Aux Printemps... talk about luxury! Everything is designer, and while the sales may be anywhere from 40-60% off.. it's still very far from my budget. Nonetheless, we did enjoy browsing through all the handbags, shoes, and clothes... I guess you could say we were the epitome of the flâneur that day.

Les Passages

A little bookstore that I found very charming

A hotel at the end of les passages.

Aux Printemps - the department store

Chanel's awesome window display

After our long day of window-shopping, we decided to get a drink in the latin quarter during happy hour. We decided on the piano bar, a quaint little bar with velvet stools and booths, bookshelves, stone walls, and of course a piano. One drink ended up turning into 3 because we were all laughing, talking, and enjoying the piano man play so no one was ready to leave. We also saw Kyle Richards (from Real Housewives)... not really but if she had a twin, this girl would be her.

Morgan and Danielle

Katy, me, and Leah 

Piano Man quickly became our favorite when he played our song request, Layla by Eric Clapton

In case you want a bottle of Smirnoff.. only 80 euro. Good thing it was happy hour.

Morgan posing so I could snap a picture of the Kyle Richards look-a-like.

Monday, July 2nd  we were free in the morning so a few of us decided to walk over to Jardin du Luxembourg since it's pretty close to where we are staying. All of us were not expecting to find such a beautiful park right in the city. The lawns were perfectly manicured and outlined with flowers and large trees lined the walkways. There were beautiful stone vases that contained bright pink flowers surrounding the center of the gardens, and a little pond. There were people reading and lounging in chairs all around the manicured lawns, others were doing yoga or just sunbathing. We'll definitely be going back when we have another free morning. Need an escape from the big city and crowds of people? This is the perfect place to get away and it's only a 15-20 minute walk from where we stay. I think I also enjoyed it so much because it's not overrun with tourists. It would be a great place to read or do some homework.

Alicia, me, & Katy. The building behind us is the Luxembourg Palace where the French Senate now resides.

   

In the afternoon, we went to Père Lachaise... the famous cemetery where many famous people are buried. It's also home to the Wall of the Paris Commune, where the anarchists and communists who sealed themselves off from the rest of Paris and lived under their own government were lined up and executed. It was very haunting because you can still see the bullet holes in parts of the wall, that is now a vine-covered memorial to those that died there.

Père Lachaise

Frédéric Chopin

Where Edith Piaf is buried. 

Edith Piaf again 

A memorial to those who died at concentration camps during the Holocaust

A wall memorializing those who died from the Paris commune. Interesting side note... after France had lost the Franco-Prussian war, they called Prussia back over to help them take down the Paris Commune.

After we went to Père Lachaise we headed back over to St. John's, but since it was still early we decided to see what stores were open. Surprisingly for a Monday, many were. (In Paris many stores are closed on Sundays and Monday). We went into a vintage store right down the street from us and I found a jean jacket that I'm absolutely in love with! I also found some black jeans, (which are a staple here in Paris... everyone wears black jeans) and some cute shirts, oh and some sunglasses, too! These sales occurring only 2 times a year is the best invention ever! Clothes are marked down so much it's completely unreasonable for Paris... I am so glad our program took place during this time of the year.