paris pavements

I am back home in Houston. After being in airports and planes for 32 hours, I was ready to get out of travel mode. I got back to the house to find two beautiful bulbs of white hydrangeas sitting on my bedroom table and a box of Special K Red Berries in the pantry. I’m home!

Rewinding…

Serena Williams was on my flight from Paris to London. I sat in row five up near first class. A woman who strongly resembled Serena Williams boarded the plane after me. She was tall and athletic. I tried to discretely stare (oxymoron if I ever saw one) and convince myself that it was her. First class, huge Fendi purse, little Miss Helper Lady in tow…must be her. She didn’t seem too happy. Maybe she was still a little ticked big sis V took the singles title home. She left the plane wearing a big white Burberry coat, a lite pink pashmina scarf, huge sunglasses, black leggings, and bright neon Nikes. I attempted to rush quickly behind her to see if any notorious Heathrow paparazzi were waiting there for her. I didn’t see anyone, but again non passengers aren’t allowed in the gate area anyways.

Rewinding a little more…

As I was sitting in the Charles de Gaulle airport for much too long, I tried to think of my main takeaway from this trip. Last year, I was able to conquer the streets of New York. This summer, I set foot on paris pavements.

I walked, power-walked, ran, and weaved on the rues of Paris. It is empowering to take on a city with close to 10 million people. Overwhelming at times, but still empowering. Of course, I had trouble the first few days. Let’s not forget the language barrier that was often frustrating and embarrassing. But after a little trial and error, you get into a routine. There were the small gratifications - like saying my baguette order well enough not to butcher the language, or not needing to refer to my metro map, or perfecting the art of winding in and out of crowds – that were little signs of mastering the city.

Number 6 on my 3^rd ‘What to Look Forward to’ entry was “being lost but pretending I know exactly what I’m doing and where I’m going.” I know I had my share of tourist moments, but I would like to think that, at times, I was able to trick the system and blend in with the millions of Parisians.

So what did I love most about Paris? Montmartre and St. Germain, the art that is the culinary/dining experience, street-side/metro musicians, daylight from 6am-10:30pm, the ballet, the small patisserie near my dorm, finding small hole-in-the-walls.

Now it is back to Houston for the summer. I move back to Austin in mid-August. Then I will begin my last semester in college = scary.

So that was Paris. Thanks for going along for the ride.

I decided to go. And so I went.

mis fotos

I was able to really explore with my camera during my trip. I have never taken a class, but I have always been interested in photography. I would like to think it is a hobby I inherited from my Grandpa Bruce. He loved photography and had his own dark room in his old house in Austin. During one visit during middle school, he lent me 10+ books on photography. Like a gluttonous novice, I eagerly piled them into my arms with full intentions to soak up every nuisance of information. I was a bit too ambitious. I remember getting my first real camera the Christmas of my freshman year of high school, sitting down with him in my room, and showing off my new 35mm. One of the first pictures I took with that camera is one of my all time favorites: it is a black and white photo of King – my dog from four to nineteen years old. He sat staring out onto our backyard. The glass panes of the doors allowed sunbeams to poor in, and the glow around him made him look so calm and regal. No need to ramble on, but it is just a little insight as to why I love the view behind the lens.

Here are the links to my online photo albums. They are public links, so you do not need a facebook account to access them. Take a looksie when you have some time to spare:

Sweet Lorraine | Paris I http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2470172&l=19967&id=7939957

C’est Si Bon | Paris II
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2472595&l=ea0d9&id=7939957

La Vie En Rose | Paris III
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2476949&l=b5198&id=7939957

Summer Samba | Paris IV
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2480819&l=bf175&id=7939957

Redcoats | London
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2472614&l=4db28&id=7939957

Nice and Easy Does It | Nice and Monaco
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2473658&l=3924a&id=7939957

Macarena | Barcelona
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2474764&l=025d0&id=7939957

(For those not familiar with Facebook, the links above will take you to a page displaying thumbnails of the pictures in the album. Just click on the individual thumbnail to view the enlarged picture.)

closing in

It is Saturday morning here, and everyone has just about moved out of the dorm. I am here until Tuesday. I was originally planning on going to Italy by myself at the end of the program for four days. Now sometimes my independence gets the best of me, and I am not always the most rational person. This was the case when I booked my plane ticket. After realizing that a) I shouldn’t probably travel alone for safety’s sake (my parents would have gone into cardiac arrest) and b) Italy is a place that I really want to share with my family, I tried to push up my departure date from Paris. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do so, so I will be in Paris at a hostel until my flight on Tuesday. I must say, I am a bit ashamed of not making it to ANY of the countries of my ancestry – Italy, Scotland, or Ireland – while I was over here. Then again it gives me all the more excuse to make another trip over here.

All my presentations and tests this week went well. I went to Les Deux Magots – an old café in Paris where authors like Ernest Hemingway used to write their classics – to study for my French professor’s test:

Our UT professor, Raj, had a picnic with us during the week on a bridge crossing the Seine before he left:

The end of the trip concluded with a great night of dancing and a few more trips to the Eiffel. It will be lit blue at night for the next six months. French President Sarkozy is the European Union (EU) President for the next six months. The Eiffel is lit in the colors of the EU flag.

Our group in front of the sparkling, blue Eiffel (sorry for bad picture quality). We convinced Chase to bring is guitar.

Joy and I in front of the tower:

Paris has been wonderful. It is a great city, and I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend six weeks here.

I will post again and will send the link to all my online photo albums once I am back in Houston.

I’m homeward bound.

lazy weekend

It was a relaxing weekend in Paris. Friday, I went to Angelina - a tea house near the Jardin de Tuilleries with Meagan, Margaret, and Linda to "study" how the French interact in public settings. We had a group project due for our French professor. Basically, this was an excuse to order the guiltiest of all pleasures - their famous African hot chocolate. I'm not sure what was African about it, but it was heaven in a saucer. This drink was so thick it created a light skin on the top after it sat for a while. I was like soup. No, not 'like', it was soup. We could eat it with a spoon.

I ran afterwards. Oh yeah, we made some general observations for our project.

Later that night, the in-Paris-for-the-weekend group made another trip out to the Eiffel Tower.

Meagan, Brittney, and I:


Saturday morning the group headed up to the northside of Paris to visit a flea market. Unfortunately, we didn't find as many goodies as some of our friends who had gone weekends prior. BUT not to worry ladies, you could by an entire lingerie set for your fella for only 5 euro. What a steal. Classy too.

I went to Montmartre afterwards. I like to call this area Movie Paris. It has all the cobblestone streets, quaint restaurants, artists painting away, and street musicians entertaining tourists that you see in films.

A cute house on the way up the hill to Montmartre:

Meagan and I near the only remaining vineyard within the Paris city limits:
Painting Pierres:


The Sacré Couer/my favorite church in Paris:


We stumbled upon another (smaller) flea market near the Abessess metro stop. The entrance to the Abessess metro is one of the two remaining originals designed by Hector Guimard.


The flea market had antiques and odd tchotchkes (Laura word!). Old books, sheets of music, bicycles, teaspoons, typewriters, even shoe molds. It was a big treasure hunt!

The "I love you" wall in Montmartre. It is said in over three hundred languages.


Brittney, Nora, and I went to Parc Floral de Paris later that evening to see the Paris Jazz Festival. I love love love jazz music, so I had been planning to go to the festival since before I left on my trip. We jammed.


Sunday, I woke up and went out to another goods market, except it ended up being another fresh food market. The vendors were hilarious. They were literally singing to passerbyers in an attempt to lure them to their booths. Other vendors were shouting at each other from across the aisles. Competition just gets too 'em, I guess. It was fun to walk through Sunday morning chaos. I went back to the dorm and worked on some homework and ran on a gorgeous path near my dorm. I would have to say the highlight of my Sunday was getting some gelato at Pozzetto. It's a small shop in the Jewish district owned by three Italian guys who moved to Paris, but couldn't find any gelato that suited their fancy. So they opened up their own place. If you're in Paris, go.

Well, the last week of class is here. It's crunch time with tests and presentations. Let's hope I can stay focused.

Also, shout out to Baby Boy Brent the Bomb. How about that, lil bro?

gallivanting around

There goes another week.

Last Monday the marketing program took a trip to a L’Oreal Manufacturing plant just north of Paris proper. We saw the assembly lines of Garnier hair and skin products. Even better, we had to wear scrubs during the visit. We all looked ridiculous in our gowns and caps. I oddly felt like Meredith Grey. Alas, no McDreamy though.

Several of us had tickets to see a ballet, La Dame aux camellias, later that night. The plot was similar to Moulin Rouge. The ballet was BEAUTIFUL. The lead, Marguerite, was flawless. I was shocked to see one fellow hopping through his pirouettes though. Come on, guy. You’re in THE Paris ballet company. Maybe I am being too critical, it’s not like I can just bust out the turn either. The ballet was at Palais Garnier – the historic opera house in Paris that now only houses ballets.

This theatre inspired Gaston Leroux to write the Phantom of the Opera.

Doesn't this remind you of the Titanic?

Tuesday, I visited the Galeries Lafayette Gourmand for a class assignment. My group had to study yogurt in multiple grocers around Paris (the French love their yogurt). Now the Galeries Lafayette is a department store – similar to a Nordstrom’s or Bloomingdales. An epicurean market is oddly situated above their men’s department. I arrived up the escalator to food connoisseur heaven. My dad would have gone crazy in that place. You too, Steven. I can’t really equate it to a Whole Foods because it didn’t have the health/organic vibe, but it did have patrons dining at little gourmet stands all throughout the store. I guess it is most similar to a Rice Epicurean as far as food is concerned. Regardless, the place was overwhelming: artisan breads, cured meats, wheels and wheels of cheeses, freshly made Japanese, Italian, and Greek food, chocolate, and on and on. Long story short, what I thought was going to be a quick surveillance of their yogurt section turned into an hour long walk of utter amazement.

Dad, they even had Olive Loaf. I laughed out loud when I saw it sitting there in the case. Grandma Donna would have been tickled.

Wednesday, I went to the Annie Leibovitz exhibit. This is the one I mentioned in a previous post. It was Wednesday after 5pm, so we got in free. YES.

Thursday I visited the Musee d'Orsay with Meagan. This museum houses a large portion of impressionist works. The building was an old train station. City officials were going to to tear it down, but they decided to turn it into a museum. Resourceful, no?

After, Meagan and I went to a famous falafel place in the Jewish district for dinner. It cost two more euros to be seated inside. No thanks. We grabbed our grub and took it street side. This small little hole in the wall gets rave reviews. Even Lenny Kravitz recommends it. That’s right.

The end of my trip is slowly creeping up on me. Ten days.

It’s to-do list time.

everyday sights

life on rue de reuilly looks like this:

hey annie. can you teach me?

I went to the Annie Leibovitz exhibition today. In case you're under a rock, Ms. AL is probably one of the most famous American photographers. Her work floods the pages of Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Rolling Stones.

The famous Demi Moore nude/preggers picture...that's her work. The famous Willie Nelson profile photo...that's hers. And if you are into pop culture, the supposedly "controversial" Vanity Fair shot of blanket-wrapped Miley Cyrus...that's hers too.

Much of her photography is in black and white (my favorite). The exhibit featured large photos as well as small stills with little hand written notes. Her work is just mesmerizing.

Inspired? Indeed.

quiero más barcelona

Yes despite the Catalonian lisp and myriad heads of mullets, Barcelona is my favorite trip thus far.

I was so happy to be in a Spanish speaking country. Getting lost in the language barrier in France can get overwhelming at times. It’s funny how much vocabulary the good ole brain remembers when you need it to.

After almost eight hours of buses and plane rides, we finally arrived at our hostel on the northside of Barcelona Thursday evening. All in all, thirteen girls from the program came.

(Meagan is missing from the pic)

We headed out to La Princesa 23, a recommended restaurant, for dinner. The restaurant was decorated with dark colors and plush seats – very Moorish. We tried traditional Spanish tapas – Tortilla Espanola and Pan con Tomate. Tortilla Espanola is like a potato quiche, and the pan con tomate is simple bread with fresh tomato spread. Then onto a pulled pork sandwich with asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes.

Tapas buddy at La Princesa:

Exhausted, we headed back to the hostel. Catch was, once we got of the metro, we had to walk up two HUGE hills to get back. We got our work out this weekend.

Friday morning we headed off to the beach. No clouds, just the sun beating BEATING down on us.

The beach in Nice was all pebbles, so it was wonderful to lay on the soft sand.

And yes, I evened out my nose tan. We stayed there for a good five hours and tried some great Sangria.

My attempt at drawing 907:

Then we headed off to a busy shopping area of Barcelona called Catalunya. We weaved in and out of shops and wound up at this quasi-upety Japanese restaurant – except it wasn't really Japanese. Some of us just decided to get appetizer and then find some paella later on. Other people decided to get meals – or so they thought. Meagan and Joy split a ‘hamburger’, except what arrived was ground beef on a cracker. Literally. Nora and Paola unknowingly ordered raw beef. Needless to say we got out of there as soon as possible. Comida aside, this place was uniquely decorated. Magazine lamps hung from the ceiling (center of the left pic) and the fridge was exposed to the eating area (right pic). Yep, that's a fridge.

A hop, skip, and a jump across the street, we found paella. It was good, but I am sure there is better in Barcelona. I walked around Catalunya and found a mini concert on the street.

Later on, the crew went out to find a recommended club. We got off at the wrong metro stop, but happened upon another spot. The bouncer out front asked us if we had our invitations. We said, “No.” He said, “Sorry.” As we retreated, he asked us, “Well…how many of you are there?” After we told him thirteen he let us in. Not sure why we let thirteen uninvited people into this shindig, but we’ll take it! Fyi, people dance weird in Barcelona.

Saturday, we went to La Boqueria. This is a famous open air market was established in 1826.

It is a huge farmer’s market full of fruit, veggies, fresh seafood, meat, cheeses, spices, and nuts. Many fruit vendors sold freshly squeezed juice.

Jugo:

It's what's for dinner:

Unas zanahorias, cebollas, y pimientas:

And guess what I found? A homemade pasta stand! I tried homemade veal ravioli with pesto sauce. Pesto was too oily, but the pasta was AMAZING.

We walked around the city until our bike tour began. Let’s remember I have not been on a bike since…uhhhh…a long time (stationary bikes at the gym don’t count).

One of the bike tour guides was from Austin, and a group of A&M students who were studying in Spain were along for the ride, too. Go Texas.

We biked around the city for the next four hours and saw some famous tourist spots. A violinist was playing Pachabel during on one of the small alley ways of the tour in the historic district of Barcelona. It was my favorite part of the ride.

Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand greeted Chris Columbus on these steps upon his return from the New World:

The Arc de Triomf. There are four replicas (slight variations) in the world: Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, and New York City.

Shamefully, I don't remember what this building is. I think it is a music or theatre hall:

We stopped off at a park. I made friends with an elephant:

Row, row, row your boat:

Gaudí’s famous Sagrada Familia:

This church has been under construction since 1882. Gaudí was hit by a tram in 1926. He was mistaken for a bum and was taken to a lower-end hospital. Three days after his death, hospital staff realized that the bum was Barcelona’s most prized architect. Gaudí was buried beneath his famous church. The work will hopefully be completed by 2026 – the 100^th anniversary of Gaudí’s death. Personally, the church isn’t my style, but I admire the unbelievable devotion to detail.

A bike ride and minor collision later, we went back to La Princesa 23 for dinner. The nachos were the closest thing to Mexican food I’ve had, and it was delish.

Heads up to people trying to fly cheap airliners within Europe. Avoid Ryan Air if you value your life. Our descent was a consecutive series of stair step drops. Heads simultaneously rose one foot in the cabin as the plane hit the runway. We were like bobble-head dolls. People even clapped after the plane decelerated and crawled up to the gate – people clapping that they were still alive, seriously. No worries parentals. I don’t have any more flights booked with Ryan Air.

Lesson: If you are flying cheap, take Easy Jet.

Bye Barcelona. Te extraño.

matinées, mas iglesias, and monarch mansions

Not rest for the weary. This week has been packed with activities.

Sunday, I arrived back in Paris and immediately changed to try to make it to the last showing of the opera. I managed to arrive at the new Opera house near the Bastille an hour an a half before the matinée started at 2:30pm. I was waiting in line for the cheap 5 euro tickets. They sold out when I was in line. Again. Luckily, my liaison was there, and she suggested I go to another ticket counter where they would sell discounted tickets to students. An hour of standing (in heels) later, I got a ticket to Les Capulets et les Montaigus. I paid 25 euro for a seat that was normally sold for 150 euro! The seat location was great - center right on the floor level. The opera lasted about 2 1/2 hours. I have never gone to an Opera before. These people's voices were incredible.

Monday, after our Consumer Behavior test, a couple friends went down to the Eiffel Tower at night. There was a picnic and a photo shoot:



Tuesday, I went to Palais de la Cite and St. Chapelle on the Il-de-la-Cite. The Il-de-la-Cite is one of the two islands on the Seine. The Palais currently houses the Palace of Justice, but this was the official residence to French kings from the tenth to fourteenth centuries. St. Chapelle is two-leveled Gothic church with gorgeous stained-glass windows. Here is a shot of the lower chapel:

The upper chapel is the gem. Fifteen gigantic stained glass windows circumvent the church walls. There is a total of 1,113 scenes from different books in the Bible.


Ceiling shot:
We had a group excursion to the Chateau de Versailles on Wednesday. We took the forty minute train ride west of the city to visit. This is where Louis XIV and the descending French royalty (including Marie Antoinette) lived until the French revolution. Also, the treaty that ended the World War I was signed here. Way back when, there were no restrooms in Versailles. People would pop a squat, do their business, and wait for butlers to come behind to clean up the mess. Sounds pretty royal to me. Overall, the palace is very gaudy. Gilded gold and marble EVERYWHERE.

This is the famous Hall of Mirrors. The seventeen panes of mirrors stand opposite a wall of windows looking out to the gardens:

A famous portrait of Marie Antoinette:


Outside in the gardens:


The trees in the right hand picture reminded me of snowmen (or treemen):


Rachel, Frances, Meagan, and I:


We leave for Barcelona this weekend. I am looking forward to seeing La Boqueria, Park Guell, Sagrada Familia, and paella. The beach will be another attraction as I should probably work on evening out my one-sided nose tan from last weekend. I apparently fell asleep on the right side of my face.

I recently discovered new tricks on camera software = Kristin spending even more time messing with her pictures. I am going to try to post them all online at some point. There are just too many to post on the blog. Will keep you updated.

Voy a Espana hoy!