A view from my window...sunrise at 7:30 this morning.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
interesting week...
Easter in Paris...
although sundays are generally quiet in paris (most shops are closed), this sunday proved to be even more so. It seemed as if everyone left town for easter weekend to their cottages in the country. It is pretty obvious to everyone reading this that i don't celebrate easter in the traditional sense but i was very curious about easter mass in paris. France is predominately catholic and i imagined the elaborate easter ceremonies. I stopped by the notre dame during easter mass just to peak in...it was a very interesting experience, very very elaborate with a monastic choir and all the bells and whistles that go into a religious ceremony (i have no idea what anything meant). I figured it would be the first and last easter mass i ever go to, so why not go to the notre dame? On Monday i went to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. It is huge. the history there...wow.
took lots of pics.....
PICTURES
Friday, March 21, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Oh London
London was absolutely amazing, I am in love. One weekend was not enough. We left Paris early Friday morning, I was so excited to get away for the weekend. I was in dire need of anglophones, it was really nice to be surrounded by english speakers for a change. Although i love Paris it is difficult to constantly try to think and speak in another language.
What was so amazing about this trip was that everything seemed to be working for us, we had the best luck this weekend. We arrived at our hostel and decided to walk around the city. We walked through Hyde Park...it was actually sunny on Friday...and headed towards Buckingham Palace. We walked up to Buckham Palace during the changing of the guards. We continued walking until we found Big Ben, and I proceeded to take about 40 pictures of Big Ben. By this time we were starving and decided to go on a hunt for fish and chips (for me) and bangers and mash for Candida. ----I have to preface this by saying that this was a weekend of gluttony, I don't think i ate anything that was not fried this weekend----After lunch we grabbed coffee at Starbucks (ok, i know, but 1) It is virtually impossible to get coffee to go in Paris. 2) I refuse to go to Starbucks in a land full of cafes. Anyways, we made our way to the London Eye, a huge modern ferris wheel that overlooks the city.
On Saturday we had every intention to be proper global citizens but ended up at Topshop for 3 or 4 hours. Later that night we found a club/bar in the West End. It was perfect. Mix of soul from the 60's (english do it best), electro, britpop, and a bunch of other goodies. We danced a lot that night. Sunday was our last day and we went to the Tate Modern Museum. We lucked out because sundays are free AND the was also a temporary exhibition with one of my favorite artists, Marcel Duchamp. Ahhh, it was amazing.
I love London.
Here is a link to my pictures:
London
Monday, March 10, 2008
macaroons, etc...
Last Thursday I went down to the Musée d'Orsay (my third time, its free!)...but this time i was armed with my camera. Dare me to say I enjoy the Musée d'Orsay more than the Louvre. I can't get enough of it!!
(these boots got RUINED in the rain today)
Before the museum, candida and i went to Pierre Hermé, one of the best macaroon shops in Paris...there is a french saying for such great sweets, "C'est un péché mortel" or "it's a mortal sin". They were sooo good!
On the way home, we ran into a group of breakdancers. Breakdancers in paris can rival that of any in the world, they were unbelievable. What I love about Paris is that all forms of expression are appreciated, without judgement.
high art
low art
Friday night, ohhh, friday night, i found this music venue/club that showcases up-and-coming bands and mcs called fleche d'or. The lineup was great lots of electro beats. I was really excited because I've had a hard time finding 'nightlife' that consists of more than café bars. We don't get into the club until 1:30am which would usually signal the end of the night, but this place stayed open until 6am! We ended up staying till about 5am and took the first train home at 6am. It was really funny actually, we saw people seeting up the morning open air markets. The metro was full of the late night crowd juxtaposed with people on their way to work. Needless to say, I didn't do much on saturday or sunday.
Today started a week full of rain in Paris. It has only drizzled here so I expected the same today...no. It was pouring rain combined with 20 mile an hour wind. This is the result:
what's missing here?
love and peace!
(these boots got RUINED in the rain today)
Before the museum, candida and i went to Pierre Hermé, one of the best macaroon shops in Paris...there is a french saying for such great sweets, "C'est un péché mortel" or "it's a mortal sin". They were sooo good!
On the way home, we ran into a group of breakdancers. Breakdancers in paris can rival that of any in the world, they were unbelievable. What I love about Paris is that all forms of expression are appreciated, without judgement.
high art
low art
Friday night, ohhh, friday night, i found this music venue/club that showcases up-and-coming bands and mcs called fleche d'or. The lineup was great lots of electro beats. I was really excited because I've had a hard time finding 'nightlife' that consists of more than café bars. We don't get into the club until 1:30am which would usually signal the end of the night, but this place stayed open until 6am! We ended up staying till about 5am and took the first train home at 6am. It was really funny actually, we saw people seeting up the morning open air markets. The metro was full of the late night crowd juxtaposed with people on their way to work. Needless to say, I didn't do much on saturday or sunday.
Today started a week full of rain in Paris. It has only drizzled here so I expected the same today...no. It was pouring rain combined with 20 mile an hour wind. This is the result:
what's missing here?
love and peace!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Mexican food in Paris...
...is a bad idea.
Candida and I had a lackluster day and decided to go down to the latin quarter and walk around. We weren't particularly hungry but we ran into this little mexican restaurant tucked in between a little alley. They had nachos on the menu and we were swayed inside. We ordered the 'super nachos' which consisted of 5 DORRITO chips, and some other unmentionable ingredients. I just wanted some tortilla chips with cheeese! I know, i know, we are in Paris what should we expect, but come on, dorritos? It was actually quite funny, from here on out it's ham and cheese baguettes!
Also today:
i did my laundry.
Candida and I had a lackluster day and decided to go down to the latin quarter and walk around. We weren't particularly hungry but we ran into this little mexican restaurant tucked in between a little alley. They had nachos on the menu and we were swayed inside. We ordered the 'super nachos' which consisted of 5 DORRITO chips, and some other unmentionable ingredients. I just wanted some tortilla chips with cheeese! I know, i know, we are in Paris what should we expect, but come on, dorritos? It was actually quite funny, from here on out it's ham and cheese baguettes!
Also today:
i did my laundry.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Weekend in Brussels
Hi all! It's been about a week since I last blogged...not much has happened. I started my phonetics class this week, so that means a whopping 4 hours of class a day. I've made friends with some people from class and we've started getting coffee after class each day. Things like that are so simple but they make me so happy! Nothing beats coffee and conversation.
This past weekend I went on a group excursion to Brussels, Belgium. We took the express train Saturday morning and arrived in Brussels around 10am. Regardless of how early we leave the house, it seems like Candida and I are always racing to make it on the train. Brussels is a beautiful city full of chocolate, beer, and waffles. What I found most interesting was the juxtaposition of modern architecture with the 17th century architecture. I don't find this to be the case in Paris, everything is really really old or made after the 1970's...anyways, this is probably boring you. The plaza in the center of the city was amazing! There was a spirit about the city, a little bit of whimsy and eclectic culture mixed into one.
The best part of the trip was the trip back to the train station. There were about 40 of us in the group, we all recollected at the end of the day and planned to walk to the train station together. Either the Metro was not where it should have been or the director of the group didn't know where we were, but we got so lost. Time was ticking..30 min...20min...15min...we finally found a tram that would lead us to the train station. We hop onto the tram, it is packed full of people, we are like sardines in a can. We arrive a block away from the train station and are told to run like we have never run before to the platform. here we are 40 AMERICAN'S RUNNING THROUGH A TRAIN STATION. The looks by the locals were priceless. Everybody was laughing and running at the same time, it was so funny. We were about 3 minutes late for the train and had to wait for a later train. So funny.
Here are some pictures from Brussels:
Plaza
its so beautiful!
Manneken Pis
(sorry for the pic)
Atoimum
(im lazy)
one of many chocolateries
a look inside
My sweet glasses I bought in a costume shop
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
