Soooooo, I originally planned to make many little posts for you, each with a theme of what I had been up to (i.e., "Louvre Excursion") or an area of Paris or whatever, but I got busy/lazy so now you will all have to endure a MONDO post with everything from the past few weeks. I was going to apologize to you for not posting sooner, or more often, or in smaller and more digestible and coherent posts, but then I thought better of it, so really, all I have to say to you is "shut up please, I'm very busy and important!" http://www.radio-quality.com/wp content/uploads/2010/09/bridget_jones.jpg (hi Carolyn Fanning)
Anyway, what has happened over the past few weeks, you ask? What hasn't happened?! Two weeks ago, after I got back from Lyon, we still had CUPA classes, so I went to those, but I also managed to get some fun stuff in too. I went to a small museum called the Musée Maillol to see an exhibit on "The Treasure of the Medicis" which was pretty cool. I also had my camera with me, so I snapped a few shots of the area (i.e., the 7th arrondissement):
Kewl sneakaz
After that, we went for a nice walk from the Louvre to L'Arc de Triomphe . Here are those pictures.
The bubbles that this man was blowing were ridiculously large and mesmerizing. Hannah and I seriously considered forgoing the Louvre just to stand in front of this magician and watch him work.
But then we went anyway...
I really like the way this one came out...
The best McDonald's I have ever seen.
Graffiti at Gare St. Lazare
That Friday was gorgeous and we enjoyed it by walking around Place St. Sulpice...
(best viewed large!)
Pierre Hermé, one of the best pâtissiers/chocolatiers in Paris, with a lovely cake just in time for Valentine's day!
Then on Saturday, I really wanted to go out and take those Marais photographs that I promised you guys, but the day suddenly turned gray and awful and just looking at my photos made me depressed, so I stopped taking them. I did manage to get a few ok ones in before I turned my camera off...
Le Pont de l'Archevêché, where lovers attach locks to symbolize their love and then throw the keys into the Seine below... Also, check out Notre Dame looking like a beast in the background...
More of the same...
Then, because the weather was slowly draining me of my will to live, I figured I'd better find something else to do. So I went to the Monet museum (Musée Marmottan) and saw this huge exhibition they were having on all of Monet's greatest works. I think I like his scenic paintings (i.e., Rouen Cathedral, Impression: Soleil Levant, etc) better than his nature paintings, some of which look like he just happened to have a massive muscular spasm while holding a paint brush in his hand.
This is a statue of Aesop (of Aesop's Fables) that I saw on my walk to the Musée Marmottan. Anyone recognize the fable?
And now for la pièce de résistance (that's French, you know)...MONTMARTRE. It's where Amélie was filmed (you know, that painfully adorable French movie where Audrey Tatou goes around changing peoples lives for the better and looking incredibly French? No? Just watch it... Seriously, watch it right now...) Anyway, Montmarte is also the area where all the famous artists lived and worked, like Picasso and Matisse. It's very charming and hilly and still looks, in a way, like the small village it once was. Here are some photosssss:
CANDY CART
Om nom nom nom
A wall on which "I love you" is written in like a bazillion languages. Oh Paris, you hopeless romantic.
Too indie? My apologies...
As we were walking down the steps of Sacré-Cœur, we found ourselves in the middle of this big sing-along concert. Not sure what the song was, but it was a very "We Are the World" moment, as Isabella described it. And it made for a cool picture...
Ok, I feel like the next thing I'm about to tell you should have it's own freakin' post called something like "Remember that time we saw Justin Bieber?" Cuz we did. In Paris. For the premiere of his highly anticipated biopic Never Say Never. French girls were going crazy. The red carpet was purple. JBiebz was there in all his pre-pubescent, cherub-faced glory. It was a night to remember...
Oh hey Justin... (photo courtesy of Aly Kravitz)
When Bieber Fever hits, it hits hard...
Then we did some other, less important stuff...
This building is the Institut de France, which houses the Academie Française, a society dedicated to maintaining the purity and integrity of the French language. This means that before a word goes into the French dictionary, it has to go through them first. Yes, the French really are that crazy.
Ok, so that's all for now. I know I'm really behind on posting and everything so I'mma try to get my next few posts up in the next couple days, so stay tuned. If you're reading this, I guess that means you're one of the faithful ones, which means you deserve a reward...
So here it is
