We started the day later than usual which was nice in some ways, not in others. We got to sleep in but I had planned on having time to go to the Louvre because we usually have class at 9 and I thought I would have had time, but class was at 11. Therefore, the Louvre, one of the MAIN things I had wanted to do I am not going to be able to do. That means, I MUST COME BACK! I didn’t see the Louvre or the Rodin Museum and I am very sad.
Heather and I had a bridal appointment at 1 with Fanny Liautard. Her stuff wasn’t really my style so Heather tried them on. None were too exciting but it was fun! Honestly I am so glad I am making my dress because I have never in my life found a dress that I was absolutely in love with and would want as my dress. Quite frankly, most dresses aren’t that great at all, which is sad because I LOVE WEDDINGS! And to me as a designer the dress is the most important part. The people here are defiantly nicer and more respectful in stores; I actually don’t fear the department stores here like I do in NYC.
I was told I needed to make a visit to LADUREE, a pastry shop. Delicious. Beautiful. Amazing. I also stopped at a chocolate shop. So much for being thrifty….. sweets and me. I can’t resist. I stopped and ate them by a lovely flower shop.
Then I visited the Pantheon. It is another AMAZING piece of architecture, it still is so amazing to me that these buildings were built and that they are completely focused on art. They are FILLED with artistic talent. The Crypt was filled with famous people; Hugo, Dumas, Voltaire, etc. Kind of weird walking through boxes with dead people in them…. It was very ‘crypt’ like. Focault’s pendulum which demonstrates the rotation of the earth is very very cool, I watched a little documentary on it and wow, scientist are amazing! Genius discovery.
For dinner my professor took us by the Seine for a picnic. We ate authentic European food and had AMAZING pastries. We got to sample 10 different kinds. They were beautiful and delicious. There were amazing rose gardens lining the cobblestone path, it was such a perfect setting!
Sorry again for no pictures, I will just let you know when I am able to add them and you can just go back through the posts to see them, hopefully in Milan! I know reading with no pictures is so boring but I don't know why they don't load. I try everyday. Soon I hope, Soon.
Day 4-Sunday June 6 2010
I started the day at the flea market. It was a sight to see, it was GIGANTIC and permanent, they didn’t just have little tents, it was almost like storage spaces rent out. There was SO much stuff it was insane, I got so lost! There were these beautiful old keys that were amazing and a necklace I wanted SO SO SO SO SO bad. They wouldn’t let me take a picture, but oh my goodness, it was to die for. 5 gold strands of beads clasped together with a marvelous handmade, hand painted little flowers and stuff. AMAZING, I seriously almost got it, it was 420 Euro. I would have worn it for my wedding! But it wouldn’t have necessarily been the smartest purchase plus when I put it on with my heart necklace that I never take off, they looked funny together. Oh it was a beauty though, and so old, and still in perfect condition. How I so wish I had a picture.
I was supposed to go to some museums with people from the group but like I said, we all got major lost in the flea market so I went by myself off to find Versailles. I nice, helpful Australian girl helped me buy my ticket in French since she was going to the same stop I was and I took the train to Versailles.
OH. MY. GOODNESS. AMAZING.
WOW. Versailles is breathtaking; it is absolutely beautiful, and SO DANG HUGE!!! No wonder it bankrupted a whole country! Gold everywhere, 100’s of paintings that are the size of a whole wall. Can you imagine painting that? How much time that would take, it is truly a sight to see. I love how much they enjoyed the beauty of art back then, miles of just enormous paintings. Many of the ceilings are painted too. Each room is decorated with art from floor to ceiling. Sculptures are what amaze me most though, carving a life form out of marble and having it actually look like the correct person blows my mind, but even more they make the SAME marble took like fur. FUR. And lace, rope, hair, satin. HOW do they do it? It is defiantly the most magnificent art form.
Enough about the beauties of the inside, the GARDENS are marvelous. Beautiful. I didn’t even see an 1/8 of it and I was there for 3 hours. I want to live in the gardens. I want to get lost in them, find a little secret spot and just fall asleep. There are so many different places to go, so much green!!!! It is the greatest, largest, most peaceful, romantic, beautiful place I have ever been. Everyone was just lounging around having picnics, riding bikes, rowing boats, and enjoying the fresh air. I would have loved to live there because I could spend every day, all day, in those gardens discovering new things. It could seriously take hours and hours, days and days to see it all. I didn’t even brush the surface. I can’t wait to go back. If I could just get a foot massage every couple hours I would be set. Bring a picnic and I could stay ALL DAY LONG. I am going to. I wish I could explain in words how amazing it was. I loved it!
Naturally I had two ice cream cones, mango and chocolate/vanilla, and a Panini. Everyone is always carrying around and eating huge loafs of bread, some just bread, some a sandwich, and I always wanted to. FINALLY I got one, a long Panini filled with chicken, mozzarella, and tomato. Yum Yum Yum. It was a lovely day. I spent 6 hours there including travel time. It was so nice!
That is basically all I did today, my feet kill but I am so happy, and I still can’t get over how HUGE the gardens are. WOW. Is it bad that I am not fully embracing every hour I am here out and about in the city? It is hard because I am by myself a lot and I don’t speak the language, so for both of those reasons going out to dinner and finding restaurants is really difficult. Also everything I would do by myself, like museums, are all closed by 6…. And shopping closes 8 ish, so what do I do all night???? I feel like I waste time in my room but really there is nothing I feel like I can do. It is not a good feeling. The next few days are filled with adventures though and I am excited.
I definitely need to come back again with a different agenda, I love it, and I would love to see the other side of the city, not just the shops, although those are amazing.
Today we were able to see the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit and it was hands down the most amazing/beautiful/inspiring thing I have EVER seen. He is famous, I knew that, but I didn’t know much about him at all. I completely fell in love with him and his stuff today, it changed my world. He was a genius. There were over 300 outfits there on display. The evening dresses were to die for; I wanted to wear every single one. They just shaped the body marvelously and were so flattering and were simply works of art. He also made the Tuxedo suit for women which were sculpted to perfection. It was a masterpiece of clothing. SPECTACULAR! I wish we could have taken pictures, it was so inspiring. Our fashion today, evening dresses, are HORRIBLE, so cheap and tacky. We need to bring back Yves Saint Laurent. Truly sensational.
We then walked around this magnificent street of boutiques; we didn’t get to stop in many so hopefully we’ll have time to go back. I feel like I am running out of time so fast. I really don’t know if I’ll get to see and do everything I want to. More reason to come back! Oh, and we got FREE drinks!
My professor took us to lunch at crepe restaurant and it was delicious. We had a savory crepe; I got spinach, cheese, tomato, and egg. We shared a dessert crepe, roasted chestnut, AMAZING!!!!!!! It has a special name but I can’t remember it, it was so good. It tasted almost like caramel. Yummy!
I decided it would be the perfect night for the Eiffel Tower! I went all by my little self and just marveled at its beauty from 8-11. I watched it in the daylight, I watched it turn orange, and I watched it sparkle. It is BEAUTIFUL. It would have been lovely to be with loved ones but it was as perfect as it could have gotten! I decided to not go up the tower because I want to wait until I am with friends/family to do so. I had an ice cream and a crème de maroon crepe (which is the same kind I couldn’t remember the name of this morning) It is chestnut flavor, very good! Paris is beautiful; everyone covered the fields just watching the tower sparkle in the night. Also, if I had a crepe every day I would be a happy person, I LOVE THEM! It was a beautiful evening! (haha, and yes I DID take a picture of the tower with my crepe! I am awesome)
Also, want to know how thrifty I am, I have only spend $55 in the 3 days I have been in Paris! AND I have still been having a blast!
Paris POST 2
Day 2, Friday, I think, I tried to get up early to blog… didn’t happen, I woke up 9:20 and we had to be ready, with breakfast eaten by 10. Good thing I am quick in the morning and a quick eater. Breakfast is provided by the hotel; pastries, hard-boiled eggs, ham/turkey/salami, cheese, orange juice, and Frosted Flakes.
Today was a big shopping day! Very fun, but very tiring. We started out at Le Bon Marche which is an INCREDIBLE department store, comparable to Saks only 1000000 times better! Paris fashion is amazing! My goal is to come to Paris with an empty suitcase and leave with a full one, all full of great clothes!
After we went to a bridal shop, Celestina Agostino! We tried to make an appointment but they only do custom, well they have a collection (which was BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!) but she lets the bride mix and match and create an individual dress. This month they had 200 wedding dresses to make, so they were very busy. I would LOVE to have her do mine if I wasn’t already doing my own. The language barrier is very nice because it is never awkward and they can’t tell if we are making up a story or not because if we pause or look confused it is just because we can’t understand. In America they know and are rude! NO ONE has been rude at all, it has been lovely.
We were then suppose to catch up with the group and meet them to go to another store but they left before they said they would so we were completely on our own to find a store, all we had was the subway stop, street name, and store name. The street was FOREVER long but due to our research in NYC I was able to find the store address in my stack of 30 pages of Paris shopping maps. It took a while though. On the way there we passed through the Tuileries where we stopped for some ice cream, I got lemon, and we saw the Louvre. I can’t wait to go inside!
We walked forever in the wrong and right directions and finally found the store, Colette, which we were looking for. We then proceeded to Galeries Lafayette which is like Bloomingdales. It was not very exciting for me because I was so hungry, thirsty (it is impossible to find water here), and my feet were killing me (it is now almost 6). I did try on a couple things but most of it wasn’t really my style and my camera died while at the Tuileries so I couldn’t get any photos.(These are from Heather's camera)
When we got home I was about ready to pass out, so we came to McDonalds to use the internet and ate there, French McDonalds… I know, LAME!!!!!!!!! But it was cheap, easy, and convenient. It tastes the same. BUT they have a pastry bar! We Americans are definitely missing out. Heather and I shared a lemon tart. Yummy! Basically that was the end of my day, I went to bed around 11. The time difference really hit me today. It is amazing though, it stays light until 10:00, you never realize how late it is.
It is beautiful here, it is so clean and it smells wonderful. I’d love to live here but French seems like such a difficult language to learn, I don’t know if I could do it.
Sorry blogging has been hard here. The pictures are having a hard time uploading so I just posted the last one without all the pictures, I will add them when it will let me. Bear with me...Some more photos are on facebook. I don't know if i should post the words without the pictures then add the pictures later.... Cause I have everyday written I just haven't been able to upload...
Alrighty friends, let’s begin. My trip to Paris, POST 1
First off, the internet in the hotel is 9 Euro per hour and you can't re use time later so it is honestly ridiculous. So I am blogging from McDonalds. Thank them for free WIFI.
Before I left NYC I was so loved by my dear mother, I thank her greatly, I had received a letter from Elder Wilkins at my home (since he knew I was without a permanent address for over 3 weeks) and my mommy scanned it for me and emailed it so I got to read in more than 2 weeks earlier than I should have. And it was beautiful, I am so happy!
I left NYC at noon June 2 for Paris. I took the Subway to the airport and got there around 1:30. oh wait p.s. before I left the city I got stuck in the elevator with 5 HOT firemen. AWESOME. haha one of those things that would always be sweet but NEVER happen. Well, it did. I was just going up to the 5th floor, they got on at the 3rd. There was one making funny/awkward conversation about how hot it was (seriously 100+) it was miserable. They were all in their gear and everything. It got to the 5th floor but wouldn't open. Another comment on how I must have eaten an extra muffin that morning so it was too heavy. It wasn't aligned and wouldn't move. They started banging and trying to force the door open and it started moving again, keep in mind, tiny elevator, 6 people, 100+ degrees, it got to the 6th floor (where they were going) and did the same thing.... Basically it finally went down to the 5th floor and opened and we all got out so it really wasn't a big deal but I thought it was sweet I got stuck in the elevator with NYC firemen. My flight didn't leave until 4:40 so we had a bit of a wait in the airport.
Plane Ride. Oh ya, we are going to France, all instructions are in French, naturally, but it is so different hearing a different language as the dominant language. I was so confused. It was a 6 hour flight, funny thing is it is only an hour more than going home to Utah except this flight gives you 2 COMPLETE meals, not just peanuts.
For dinner I had Beef Borguignon with mashed potatoes, a side I can't explain (it was an odd flavor), cheese, bread, cheesecake and.... RICE PUDDING. I was so happy. 2 of the guys sitting by me in my group didn't want theirs so I got 3. For Breakfast they gave us yogurt, a chocolate chip pastry, and orange juice. I slept for a couple 5 minute intervals… nothing too great, I tried very hard though, it is just SO UNCOMFORTABLE. I WILL ride 1st class sometime… not fair. Their seats and feet space are amazing.
I flew a little over 3630 miles. I arrived at midnight NYC time, 10 pm Utah time, and 6 am Paris time. I lost 14 hours in the day plus 4.5 before airport and 3.5 after the airport traveling. Almost 22 hours lost in transition. It is so crazy that everyone is living normally on so many different time frames, and in so many different cultures and languages. FOR KATIE: You would have loved him, he had great glasses, very much our style! French man-ish with glasses! Oh and there are a LOT of French-man suits here, nice cut/perfect fit/amazing!
The view from the airplane window was beautiful; my goal is to once a month get up early to watch a sunrise because they are magnificent. I wish this picture did it justice. The sun was literally BRIGHT neon orange/pink/red.
Motorcycles are defiantly the way to go; they drive in the middle of the road, between the lanes, barely scraping by in between cars, insane but convenient. The traffic was HORRIBLE. It was a 45 minute ride that took about 2 or so hours. Cops also drive little cars because they also go in between traffic, crazy driving. I even say a motorcyclists view view mirror fly off because it hit a car, on the highway.
We arrived at the hotel around 9:30 and we were off! We had some delicious pastries for breakfast and then went on a treasure hunt of Paris. I went with Heather, she is my roommate and she is the other girl doing bridal so we have been bonding for the past week! We ran into another man who spoke no French while trying to ask for directions, he was from Canada looking for a Starbucks, haha. Luckily Heather speaks some French so we are able to get around, I just smile. P.S. the metro system here is AMAZING! It is so easy to understand, so clean, so fast, so convenient. BUT there is NO grid system, no way of getting around; it is like downtown Manhattan where is starts to have no order, only WAY worse.
Stop 1: Rue Cler-A food market. I got some delicious looking cherries for only 2,50! YUMMY.
Stop 2: George Pompidou Center- Modern Art museum. We didn’t go in.
Stop 3: Forum de Halles: Mall like, over 180 shops
Stop 4: Shakespeare and Company Book Store
Stop 5: Seine: We took a little stroll, it is beautiful, everyone was picnicking! So fun.
Stop 6: Notre Dame: A-MAZ-ING. So happy I was able to study it in my Art History class because it made me appreciate it so much. It is truly so beautiful.
We showered and cleaned up and went back by the Notre Dame to Café La Bucherie. Heather had been there before and remembered the crème brulee being AMAZING, so naturally I had to go, and it was. SO HAPPY. We got Pizza to share, I guess it isn’t exactly French… we didn’t know though.
This is my hotel.
I was beat, I went STRAIGHT to bed! It honestly doesn’t even feel like a foreign country except I don’t understand what anyone is saying. Maybe it is just because I am tired. I love it though and it is beautiful. The weather has been GREAT!
So I have been just realaxing all day. Yes, my last day in the city as been spend in Jenn's apartment watching Prison Break, re-packing, trying to remember all the things I need to do before hopping on the plane tomorrow, napping, etc rather than being out in my city for the last time until August. Good thing my weekend was FULL of adventures in the city so today I could rest.
While the internet (which isn't very reliable, it decides to stop working frequently and is very obnoxious) took it's break I was board, I literally had nothing I could do that wasn't internet related SO I looked at some old pictures on my computer of my best friend Taylor and I.
We did a small photo-shoot for my photography class and the pictures turned out great. They are my favorite pictures ever! They were taken in 2007 and I thought I'd share some of my favorites just for fun.
-there are many others but, that is all for now.
P.S. My next post will be when I am in PARIS!!!!!!!!!
