First I must say, I’m totally missing Paris today. The week went by so fast. There were 6 of us total that went on the trip, and we all had a fabulous time. Unfortunately, I will not be able to post all of my photos on this blog. You’ll have to view the rest of the photos and video on Facebook.
There are a few observations I made about Paris. First, everyone is thin - which is mind boggling because they mostly eat pastries and bread, and dinner is usually around 9pm. I know Parisians walk a lot, but it’s still quite amazing. Also, they don’t dress that differently than Americans (we saw plenty of knee-high boots and skinny jeans), but I think the difference is, they can really vamp up color combinations and layers. Finally, Parisian women are beautiful! And not the ‘wearing tons of make-up and botox’ beautiful…they’re very ‘natural’. I know it was weird, but I stared at some of the girls on the metro. I noticed the women are all very well groomed…perfect eyebrows and perfect skin. They don’t wear a lot of foundation, but only very little mascara, eyeliner, and subtle lipstick. I wish I could find whatever miracle cream they’re all using.
Besides staring at Parisian men and women on the train, we did fit in some touring. Here was our itinerary: (Day 1) Notre Dame, Champs Elysee, Arc du Triumphe, Eiffel Tower; (Day 2) the Louvre, Arc du Triumphe and Champs Elysee at night; (Day 3) Versaille, including Marie Antoinette’s hamlet; (Day 4) Day trip to London (the Queen was home that day as well); (Day 5) Catacombs, Musee de Orsay, Musee de Eugene Delacroix, walk through St. Germaine dse Pres; (Day 6) Galeries Lafayette and Printemps, Les Invalides, walk through Montmare. Please excuse my misspellings – I took Spanish in school, not French.
We stayed in the Montmare district, not too far from Pigalle or the Sacre Coeur. The area was more residential, so we got a chance to see ‘daily’ Parisian life since we weren’t in the touristy city center. We found a nice little café called “Le Select” where we ate breakfast practically every day. We stayed at the “Hotel France Albion” – and even though it was a two star, it was quite nice. The only ‘con’ was that were next to a bar that was pretty noisy at night. Parisians take their wine seriously, and many drank until this bar closed at 3am. We ate countless pastries at nearly every “Patasserie” in the area. One of my favs were ‘La Bonbonniere de Buci” in St. Germaine des Pres.
Two major highlights of the week: (1) Touring Marie Antoinette’s hamlet in Versaille; and (2) Seeing an exclusive Eugene Delacroix gallery show in the artist’s old apartment in St. Germaine Des Pres. I also discovered my new favorite painter: Etienne Dinet – and I have a newly rekindled fondness for the works of Jacques-Louis David. The man truly was a genius, and painted some of the most historically significant works of French history.
The next time I go back to Paris, I plan on taking more walking tours of the unique neighborhoods in the city. I also plan to spend more time immersing myself in the art and architecture (which is hard to do when you travel with a group of non-artists). Great trip overall - must save up more $ next time.
There are a few observations I made about Paris. First, everyone is thin - which is mind boggling because they mostly eat pastries and bread, and dinner is usually around 9pm. I know Parisians walk a lot, but it’s still quite amazing. Also, they don’t dress that differently than Americans (we saw plenty of knee-high boots and skinny jeans), but I think the difference is, they can really vamp up color combinations and layers. Finally, Parisian women are beautiful! And not the ‘wearing tons of make-up and botox’ beautiful…they’re very ‘natural’. I know it was weird, but I stared at some of the girls on the metro. I noticed the women are all very well groomed…perfect eyebrows and perfect skin. They don’t wear a lot of foundation, but only very little mascara, eyeliner, and subtle lipstick. I wish I could find whatever miracle cream they’re all using.
Besides staring at Parisian men and women on the train, we did fit in some touring. Here was our itinerary: (Day 1) Notre Dame, Champs Elysee, Arc du Triumphe, Eiffel Tower; (Day 2) the Louvre, Arc du Triumphe and Champs Elysee at night; (Day 3) Versaille, including Marie Antoinette’s hamlet; (Day 4) Day trip to London (the Queen was home that day as well); (Day 5) Catacombs, Musee de Orsay, Musee de Eugene Delacroix, walk through St. Germaine dse Pres; (Day 6) Galeries Lafayette and Printemps, Les Invalides, walk through Montmare. Please excuse my misspellings – I took Spanish in school, not French.
We stayed in the Montmare district, not too far from Pigalle or the Sacre Coeur. The area was more residential, so we got a chance to see ‘daily’ Parisian life since we weren’t in the touristy city center. We found a nice little café called “Le Select” where we ate breakfast practically every day. We stayed at the “Hotel France Albion” – and even though it was a two star, it was quite nice. The only ‘con’ was that were next to a bar that was pretty noisy at night. Parisians take their wine seriously, and many drank until this bar closed at 3am. We ate countless pastries at nearly every “Patasserie” in the area. One of my favs were ‘La Bonbonniere de Buci” in St. Germaine des Pres.
Two major highlights of the week: (1) Touring Marie Antoinette’s hamlet in Versaille; and (2) Seeing an exclusive Eugene Delacroix gallery show in the artist’s old apartment in St. Germaine Des Pres. I also discovered my new favorite painter: Etienne Dinet – and I have a newly rekindled fondness for the works of Jacques-Louis David. The man truly was a genius, and painted some of the most historically significant works of French history.
The next time I go back to Paris, I plan on taking more walking tours of the unique neighborhoods in the city. I also plan to spend more time immersing myself in the art and architecture (which is hard to do when you travel with a group of non-artists). Great trip overall - must save up more $ next time.
Click here to view a few of my photos on Flikr.
( Me at Versaille)
1 comment:
Great ohotos! Makes me wanna go back to Paris. Welcome back!
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