La Ville Lumière: January 2011

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Versailles

Versailles was so beautiful. It is definitely worth another visit when the weather improves.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Here is a photo of a gallette--my new favorite breakfast food. This one is egg, cheese, and ham, but they come with anything you can possibly think of. The best American equivalent I have come up with are omellettes, but these are so much better!

Musée, Mode, Macaron

Today was non-stop fun. This morning I meet a friend at the Pyramide du Louvre and we took some photos before doing some window shopping on the Rue Saint Honoré. Throughout the course of this window-shopping experience, we stopped by Mulberry, Lanvin, Hermes, and finally Chanel. At Chanel, I bought some nail polish and they put it in the cutest bag with their signature camellia flower, a bow, and a sample of Chanel No. 5 Perfume. Afterward, we stopped by Ladurée so I could buy a box of macarons, some of which I enjoyed with a hot chocolate at a nearby café. After finishing our snacks, we headed back to the Musée des Arts Decoratifs, where they had an exhibit on '90s fashion as well as an extensive collection of decorative arts. My favorite was a large display of mid-century modern chairs!

All this walking made us quite hungry so we decided to take the metro to the Marais, where the next museum on our list, the Carnavalet, is located. On the way to the museum, we stopped by a creperie and had gallettes--mine was egg, cheese, and ham--and split a delicious apple crumble for dessert. After this we continued on to the museum, which was hosting an exhibit of Louis Vuitton trunks. I had no idea all the things other than clothes that people try to fit into a trunk including: beds, desks, surgical kits, and even barbie dolls. Overall, it was very interesting and beautifully displayed, but after a day full of walking we were both ready to return to our homestays for a quite evening. Tomorrow my program is going to Versailles and I can't wait!

Pyramid du Louvre

Close Up of Pyramid du Louvre

Staircase at the Louvre

Mulberry Window

Chanel 31 Rue Cambon

Staircase leading to Coco Chanel's Appartment


Shopping Bag

Camellia

My New Nailpolish!

Ladurée Sign

Ladurée Display

Ladurée Macaron Tree

Macaron and Hot Chocolate

Violet, Carmel, Chocolate, Green Apple, Strawberry

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Ma Chambre

Here is a brief video of my room. Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

J’adore des crêpes!

On Monday, I woke up, prepared for the pouring rain, and went in search of a French textbook and some school supplies. Things didn’t go according to plan, but I got everything I needed, which is good…and now at least I know where the stores are located.

On Tuesday, I had coffee with a friend of my dad's at her Gallery on Rue Faubourg Saint-Honoré, which was an experience in itself. In addition to lovely conversation, my walkabout took me past tons of interesting art galleries and fashion houses. Afterwards, I walked down the Avenue Marigny, unbeknownst to me past the Palais de l'Elysee, then across the Champ d’Elysee with views of the Arch De Triomphe and La Place de la Concord, past the Grand Palais, across le Pont Alexandre III, in front of the Hôtel des Invalides, and then got on the metro and headed to the area where my school is located.

Once I arrived, I decided to go in search of some lunch, and did a little window-shopping on the way. For lunch, I stopped by a little boulangerie and got a ham sandwich and a chocolate éclaire, which I ate a nearby park, despite the near freezing temperature. Next, I needed some warming up, so I stopped by the library and read some French fashion magazines and perused their art history section.

By the time I had done all this, I was getting near time for my class, so I headed back to the school, where I had my first session of Luxury Marketing. After just one day, I love this course. Not only are we learning about the principles of luxury marketing, but also learning how to apply and interpret them. For instance, we analyzed print ads by Chanel, Cartier, and Dior, full of symbolism and subliminal message that are meant to evoke certain desires in the viewer and/or consumer. After my class, I went home for dinner with my host family, and got some much needed sleep.

Today, I had my intensive French class again, which was amazing. First we went to a crêperie in Montparnasse. I had no idea that there were some many different types and varieties of crêpes. For my meal, I got a salad with white asparagus, a galette with egg, ham, and cheese, and a crêpe with stewed apples and sugar! After this wonderful and filling lunch, we took to metro to the Eiffel Tower, where we boarded a double-decker bus tour. While it was too cold to sit on the open top deck, I really appreciated getting to see Paris without having to walk everywhere. It really reinforced my sense of where things are and made me more comfortable to go out exploring again. Next on my list are the Louvre, St. Chapelle, and the area around L’Opera Garnier…a.k.a. major window shopping! Tomorrow, I have my last session of Intensive French and on Saturday, I am going to Versailles with my school, so rest assured that more photos are coming!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

31 Rue Cambon

My dream of visiting Coco Chanel's apartment has received a reality check. The $3,000 fee for the VIP tour remains unrealistically, so I think I will just have to settle for the free NPR broadcast I found (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121714217). Check it out!

Le Dimanche

Today I slept in. When I finally woke up I meet up with some friends for lunch at the Palais de Chaillot with a beautiful view of le Tour Eiffel. While they had crêpes with ham, I had a more substantial panini fromage with tomatoes. Next, since it was really cold we decided to find something nearby to do in inside. Luckily right next to us was Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine, which houses a lot of Romanesque, and Medieval and Modern architecture. After walking around the museum for a while, we were in need of some refreshments, so we headed across la Place de Trocadero to le Pâtisserie Carette and had espressos and macarons. It is now my goal to try as many different macarons as I can. Next on the list is Ladurée.

After the big day I had yesterday and the fact that most non-tourist things are closed on Sundays, I decided that it was probably a good idea to head back home for the day. When I got home I meet my host "parents" children, two daughters, with whom they had lunch. They seem very nice and I look forward to spending time with them in the future. Tonight I am staying in and having dinner with the parents. Tomorrow morning I am going to venture out to purchase school supplies, at believe it or not, Office Depot, a welcome experience after spending an hour wandering around trying to find what I need. After that, I will grad a quick lunch and then I have to go to my intensive French class, which is meeting to walk around le Marais, the oldest part of Paris and the old Jewish quarter, that still has the narrow and circuitous streets that most people stereotypically associate with old European cities.

Le Tour Eiffel

Madone et enfant

Jésus-Christ

Des Macarons

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Plus de la Nourriture

Here are some photos taken by a friend of the lunch we had on Tuesday.

Lamb and Potatoes


Macaron, Orange, White Chocolate Mouse with Berries and Dark Chocolate, Kiwi, Cream Puff, and Espresso

Les vidéos

Here at the videos I promised earlier. I apologize for the shaky and out of focus shot in the Notre Dame de Paris video, but I thought the audio took precedence over any shortcomings and made it worthy of inclusion. (Hint: Click on the video to link to YouTube for better resolution and then wait a minute for the video to buffer completely so it plays without interruptions.)

Paris je t'aime...finalement!

After a long day of walking around the Musée d'Orsay, Notre Dame de Paris, and le Champ d'Elysee, I am very tried, but excited about the new photos and videos I captured . Enjoy! (videos will be posted later)