We'll Always Have Paris

or, The Time I Walked Shoeless Down the Champs-Élysées (aka the most expensive strip of real estate in the world)

 

ahhh, Paris...

Last week was "Fall Break" for my university, which really means "hey we're not going to observe American holidays (i.e. Labor Day, Thanksgiving), soooo I hope this makes up for it!"  Today is Halloween and I wouldn't have remembered if it weren't for the themed Google homepage.  This marks the 2nd year I haven't participated in masked mayhem, as Halloween is just starting to gain popularity in Italy.  But I suppose I'll give it up if that means I get a week off school to pretend I don't have deadlines looming over my head and visit my friends in chic european cities!

 

Ricarda, Me and Nathalie - the Paris Reunion Tour

I spent 4 days in Paris, epicenter of mode, heartland of glamour, a bizarre social vortex where classy women can smoke cigarettes and somehow appear sexier!  I met up with two of my former roommates, Nathalie and Ricarda, for a mini-vacay in Île-de-France and it was just the kind of getaway I needed!  Weeks of studying, reading and writing finally culminated in a pleasant jaunt up to our neighbors beyond the Alps.

 

ze French cuisine, ooolala!

On the plane ride up to Paris I ran into a French guy from my school who was going home for the break.  He offered me a ride to the city center via his parents, and knowing I could save a solid 15 euros I could do nothing but accept, naturally.  I met Nathalie and Ricarda around 10pm in the city and I must say that just seeing my friends after months was worth the trip alone.  I happily caught them up on university gossip and it was as if no time had passed at all!

 

The Belles of Notre Dame!

Our first full day in Paris was spent in Notre Dame (no verifiable hunchback sighting, fyi), walking along the iron-balconied avenues, peeking in shops and boutiques, inhaling the delicate smell of fresh baguettes, stopping for a crêpe at a street vendor and enjoying it in Luxembourg Park.  Luckily I'd brought my gloves because Paris was decidedly colder than Turin, and in a way it gave the city a bit  more romance.  (That is, until I had to add on socks and a scarf on during the night.)  We stopped for a petit chocolat, which means 'small hot chocolate' for those of you who aren't up on your French :)

mon petit chocolat!

I had my only disappointment when we reached the Musée d'Orsay which was scheduled to reopen after big renovations on the very day we arrived.  But alas, France will be France.  The museum was closed due to a strike.  Argh!  The agony, the frustration!  It lasted only a few minutes until I remembered I would finally be seeing the Louvre after what has by now amounted to a 3 year evasion of the truth.  What do I mean by this?  See I'd been to Paris in 2008 on a backpacking trip with my friend Sara but we didn't get a chance to see the Louvre.  And let me just say that especially as a student of the arts, you can never ever admit you've been to Paris without seeing the Louvre. That'd be like going to Rome without seeing the Coliseum, or New York City without passing through Times Square.  And you'd be surprised how many times that conversation comes up in 3 years, each time I had to keep my dark secret a mystery!  Ohhh, Paris is greeeeat, and the Louvre... incredible isn't it?!  

 

Louvre at first sight.

But this time I did it!  And with my permit to stay in Italy I managed to enter free of charge (they assumed I was a European Citizen, that means my mysterious airs and colored pants are working over here).  I saw so many of the paintings and sculptures I'd studied for years in my undergraduate courses, Antiquities, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, you name it we saw it!  Not to mention the most famous artwork in the world, the Mona Lisa.  I'll just say that when you've spent nearly the last 7 years of your life studying art you feel a bit like you've completed your pilgrimage to Mecca by visiting the Louvre, it is quite the religious experience.

 

we climbed a nearby hill to get a better look.

We made a trip to the Eiffel Tower by night and somehow reached it just as it started to glitter and twinkle with thousands of lights -- so beautiful.  By the time we arrived at Natalie's house her mom had made us a delicious Polish dinner of pierogis and even a pie for dessert.  Ricarda and I thanked her countless times for her hospitality and she told us (in French/Polish) it was her duty to take good care of us since we were so far from our own moms.  *so sweet!*

 

this is what breakfast in Paris looks like.

Ricarda and I set off on another artistic adventure at Centre Pompidou, a famous collection of Contemporary Art, which was a nice compliment to what we'd seen at the Louvre.  Again I got in for free by appearing devilishly European (yes!)  We had fun perusing the immense galleries and after a few hours we realized Paris had gotten the better of us and we took a break from standing, walking and looking at art by stopping in a local bistrot for a delicious charcuterie plate and macaroons.  Later we happened upon the Bridge of Love where thousands of couples had affixed their padlocks to the railings to demonstrate their lasting commitments to each other.  We met Nathalie in the evening for a trip up to Montmatre, a hill in Paris where artists like Picasso, Dali, Monet and Van Gogh were once working!

 

l'amour...

On our last night we went out to an über elitist Parisian nightclub where in truly chic metropolitan fashion those of us non-French-speakers were made to wait outside for over an hour in ze cold!  Inacceptable! (to be read in a thick French accent)  Needless to say after walking kilometers, standing and then dancing, this Texas girl simply couldn't make it to sunrise in cute black heels.  I tried to be glam, people, I did.  But 3 full days of museuming, touring and simultaneously looking great can really take it out of a girl.  So there I was on arguably the most famous avenue in the world with my Old Navy socks tramping along the Champs-Élysées.  Trés chic, no?

 

old roomies together again.  not pictured: georgina!

This week I'm getting serious about several projects, including the exhibition that needs to happen in less than 5 weeks, oh and organizing the 2nd Annual Thanksgiving Dinner!  Paris was absolutely lovely, a real pleasure to experience in the brisk autumn air.  I savored every moment, from reuniting with good friends and chatting over tea and buttered croissants, to witnessing some of the most important artworks in our world's history.  Not bad for a 6 euro flight, a free ride from the airport, free museum entry and staying with a good friend while her mom spoils us with tasty French and Polish food!  It's a rough life, everybody, but someone's got to do it :)

Me, Mona and Ricarda, just chillin' at the Louvre.