Paris, je t'aime!

Oh, Paris. Forgive me while I unleash my inner 1920s-diva in this post, because Paris was simply divine!

This turned out to be a rather clinical and list-y post, so I'm going to mark my favorite parts with an asterix. 

Tuesday:
+ I arrived around 12.30/1, and we made our way from Gare du Nord to her dorm at Cite Universitaire.

+ Around 2.30 we took the tram to the Musee du Monde on the banks of the Seine to see an exhibit of Balenciaga, old and new. And then wandered around that area.

+ Made it over to Montparnasse, where her school is, and sat in a cafe that looked out at the street and had Croque Madames (oh, so good) and it was very nice and very French and Paris is gorgeous in mid-afternoon sun. (Though, Paris is always gorgeous...)

+ Wandered through/around Jardin du Luxembourg, got gelato, sat and gabbed away.

+ Visited Saint Sulpice, which was featured in Da Vinci Code and is a stunning church.

+ Went to go find a bar/pub/thing that sounded really cool over near Place Saint-Michel, but alas, it wasn't that interesting. Basically just a tiny pub. (There are so many pubs in Paris! It's weird.)

* + Decided on a jazz cafe/bar, which didn't start the music until we were leaving, but I had some of the best cider I've had in my semester over here. Loic Raison, expensive, delicious, from Bretagne.

+ Back to her part of town and got sandwich grecs with a really good and spicy side sauce for a late dinner and then we watched Victor/Victoria. (Oh, so amazing, how had I not seen it before?!)

Wednesday:
+out by 10.15 to St Michel-Notre Dame metro, where we got coffee and croissants (from two different places) and then went to Notre Dame.

* + Notre Dame is an experience and a half, though our tour ended up being two and a half experiences...I'll get to that, later. But Notre Dame, oh, wow. It didn't make me feel like the Hagia Sophia, but there is a reason it is so famous.

* + Went to Shakespeare & Company, which is nearby, and spent a good long time in there. There were a couple sections where people from all over the world had left notes (SB+JR; or a quote; or "thank you;" or something) and so we did, too. For mine I used an Oscar Wilde quote (surprise, surprise): " 'It is the spectator, and not life, that art mirrors.' Thank you, Shakespeare & Co for providing us with the means to learn more about ourselves." Even though I didn't buy anything, there collection is gorgeous and you can just sit and read in the nooks for hours and play the piano and enjoy art and life.

+ Banana and Nutella crepes for lunch! jksa;hfkjdsafdsa so good

+ There is a Crypte Archaeologique out in the plaza in front of Notre Dame, where the original Roman city lies. And so obviously we had to go in there and see all the awesome ruins and pieces of walls and heating and baths they've found.

* + Then, the second part of my Notre Dame story: we went up into the towers! Yes, that is right, I went up and looked out on the city from near the top, with the gargoyles, and what is more, I went up to the belltower itself! (And of course I must link God Help the Outcasts, from Hunchback. There is a reason Esmeralda was my favorite. Oh, and Bells of Notre Dame! Man, I need to watch this again...)

* + After that amazing experience, we went up to Pere Lachaise, the famous huge cemetery in the north of Paris. They were out of maps, so we managed to chart a course to our 5 different graves and only got lost a couple times. Jim Morrison, Moliere, Sarah Bernhardt, Edith Piaf and my main man himself, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde. ♥

+ Then came wandering around the Marais, the sort of hipster, ethnic, fun shops and vintage clothing area. We had delicious dessert-in-a-crepe crepes at a really Japanese-Lolita-style place called Princess Crepes. Lots of pink and hearts and the waitress wore a bow in her hair. Very cutesy and delicious.

+ Finally, we found our way up to Montmarte, the old artists' corner (think the movie Moulin Rouge--the Moulin is in the Red Light District which is nearby but not at Montmartre, but it's where all the artists and writers and free-thinkers of turn-of-the-century Paris went to do what they did and drink absinthe and whatnot) and found a delicious Vietnamese place (around, like, 9 or 9.30 at night, so I was very hungry, but it really was yummy). And after that, we walked up all the many, many steps to sit at the steps of Sacre Coeur and look out over Paris at night. Absolutely gorgeous. My pictures didn't turn out (I didn't think they would, but one must always try), but I am very, very glad I have that picture painted in my mind to carry with me for the rest of my life.
 
Thursday:
+ Lauren had class from 9-12, so she sent me off on my own, to....

* + THE PARIS CATACOMBS!! Ahem, excuse my excitement, but it's something I've always wanted to do and I did and I spent the entire time wandering around in a daze, muttering to myself about how amazing it was and mostly just saying "Oh my god..." and "Wow." the whole time.

+ Oh, also, before that, I went into a boulangerie and ordered a croissant and a pain au chocolat all by myself, in French, and it was a real French pain au chocolat and croissant and it was delicious and I want good French food with me at all times.

*+ Lauren and I met back up at 12.30, went out around 1-ish to the Latin Quarter, where we: went to the Pantheon (somewhere I simply must go when I go back!), got really good Lebanese take away, sat in the ruins of a Roman arena, and had tea and baklava at a cafe attached to an old mosque on the corner.

+ We went back early, to wait for her brother to arrive. (He's spending the next few days with her, and then they go home together on Wednesday. She leaves Paris after a year, he after 5 days.) He showed up around 5, we hung out and talked, then finally went out to do dinner, which consisted of: a baguette, various cheeses, and a bottle of white wine.

*+ We brought our food to a park across from Notre Dame and had our wonderfully Parisian dinner as they caught up and Michael told me all sorts of cool and interesting things. (He's an architect, so the stuff about Notre Dame was cool, but he also knows a lot about a lot of different things, including anthropology and linguistics!)

+ After wandering and showing him a little bit of Paris, we went to the cinema (apparently a very French thing to do) to see The Artist!

+ After which, we got more crepes and sat for another cider (and he got a beer) at the jazz club, then finally made it back and I collapsed into sleep.

Today (Friday):
+ I awoke at 7.15, got on the metro at 7.45, made it to Gare du Nord by myself and got on the train back home. I have been wandering, doing errands, and catching up on things here all day.