Spring Break Adventures: Midnight in Paris

We had the morning in London and I bought my last souvenirs; HP The Philosopher's Stone, Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea and a French grammar text (books, of course) and lunch at Pret Manger, which was a chain EVERYWHERE in London. The above photo is what my pomegranate juice cap read. No truer words spoken by a bottle cap. In the afternoon, we took a Eurostar train to Paris! I slept like a baby.

Once we arrived in Paris and were settled into our hotel, we stopped at a Vietnamese restaurant down the block. There were so many Vietnamese restaurants around that I felt like I was back in Arlington! We were the only people in the room and  the cute little old man who owned the restaurant was Vietnamese and so in order to get pass the French-English barrier, I spoke to him in Vietnamese instead, which was just mind-boggling that I could be in Paris speaking Vietnamese while we are studying abroad in Italy. Just too much for me to handle! But it was refreshing to speak my native tongue (and I even forgot a couple words) and it made me miss my family (especially my daddy) very much. BITTERSWEET MOMENTS ARE NOT MY FAVORITE.

But about the food. It was actually very delicious, which was surprising because it was just so horrible in London. It wasn't completely authentic Vietnamese pho, but it had a french twist to it that I  really enjoyed. And he made the BEST eggrolls that I've ever had, hands down.

I had three days to space out all the museums that I wanted to attend,, monuments I wanted to see and any sites I wanted to hit for my "Midnight in Paris" tour, which is my all-time favorite movie. I didn't hit every site (one being Gertrude Stein's house-- boo) but I'm quite ecstatic with every place I did go to!

The first full day we spent the day (around six hours) at the Louvre. I have never been so "museum fatigued" out in all my life. I'm happy it was the first museum we went to because I don't know how I would have survived it after seeing the other museums. I went straight to the Mona Lisa because I knew how crowded it would be once everyone started piling into the Louvre (I arrived 30 minutes before the museum opened at 9am and there was still a long line to get in). It was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. But my favorite piece of work at the Louvre was definitely Canova's Cupid and Psyche. I could have just looked at it forever. I also chatted it up with some Italian HS students that were on a tour. I think they were surprised that an Asian girl in Paris was speaking to them in Italian, ha!

The following day, Laura and I went to the Musee D'orsay and the Musee Orangerie (which houses the famous Les Nymphéas - Water Lilies of Monet). Since we were technically EU students, we were able to get into them for free!

I wish I could have taken photos inside the D'orsay. It was one of my top favorite museums that I have been to (right there next to the Uffizi and a Cubism: Picasso/Braque exhibit I attended at the Kimbell Art). There were so many beautiful (post)impressionist art by Degas, Monet, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Cezanne.. the list goes on. And to make it even better, there was a Dark Romanticism exhibit! I couldn't believe how close I was standing to Fuselli's The Nightmare or Goya's The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters. It was also a nice contrast to go from the lightness and pleasantness of Impressionist art to the dark, twisted and demonic characteristics of the Dark Romantics.

The de l'Orangerie held a lot of (post)impressionist art as well (I mean, it IS Paris), but is most famous for Monet's "Water Lilies" rooms. They were just breathtaking! When Monet created the rooms, the were meant to help relax and meditate anyone that entered them, and it really did just that. We weren't allowed to take any photos, but when have we ever gotten to take photos of cool stuff in museums?

   

However, here is my illegal shot of one of Monet's Nymphéas rooms. 

Outside the Orangerie was a copy mold of Rodin's The Kiss. One place I am sad that I didn't see was the Rodin museum and the gardens (Rodin's and Monet's -- but Monet's gardens were closed during the winter months).

 LUCIE. Loving how the French spell my name. Of course I went to a Starbucks for my fix.
However, Italian cappuccinos (con brown sugar) remain the top dog of all coffee drinks.

 An interesting view of the Luxor Obelisk, The Eiffel tower and other structures.

Beautiful Eiffel in the day.

Beautiful Eiffel in the night.

As for my "Midnight in Paris" walking tour, I visited the steps of St. Etienne du Mont (where Owen Wilson's character is picked up every night for his fantastical adventures to the 20's - my favorite era, which coincidentally was the exact street that my hotel was - how perfect and romantic!), Musee de l'orangerie, Notre Dame (although we did not go inside and I did not get to read at the Parc Jean XXIII), Pont du Alexandre III (where the movie ends), Versailles and ate delicious traditional french cuisine (the best chocolate mousse I've ever had) at Polidor restaurant (where Hemingway, Jack Kerouac, James Joyce and other literary folks have eaten at) with the lovely Laura. 

 On the way to Versailles, beignets and a crappy french cappuccino.

Our last full day was spend on beautiful day in Versailles. However, not much was open and the gardens were quite bare from the winter... It was definitely not the best time to see the gardens in all their glory, but we made the best out of it anyway and had lunch there, which was very peaceful and relaxing considering how busy the days prior were.

So, I let my sweet tooth get to me and decided to go to the famous Laduree pastry shop with the famous macaroons. They were the MOST expensive pastries I have ever bought (I am at this point very accustomed to 90 centesimi pastries at La Posta and other bar/cafes) but once my mouth tasted its crunchy outlayer and chewy inside, I could see why they were so famous. I got a gift box of the lemon, chocolate, pistachio, "Marie-Antoinette," strawberry and coffee flavors.

For my last day in Paris, I bought as my book souvenir "Le Petit Prince," a famous french children's book that I read in high school. I, since then, haven't perfectly retained a lot of my french and really hope to pick it up once again (with the help of my french grammar book and the aforementioned).

I wasn't quite ready to leave Paris. Although I love Italy and definitely am more comfortable with myself there (and missed cappuccinos very much), I had a very personal connection with Paris, from the Vietnamese influence and culture to the art-romantic and nostalgic atmosphere that it showered me with to the people walking and conversing on the streets. Spring Break was so surreal and I hope to be able to spend more time in Paris/France in the near future (and London as well) for a longer extended period of time, like anyone should for any foreign area. You just cannot know a city, no matter how small, in a couple days, a week, or even a couple months. This was my teaser for Paris and if history repeats itself, I will be in Paris once again doing what I am doing now in Italy (but maybe not taking classes, we can just cut that idea out).

Until next time!

"You know, I sometimes think, how is anyone ever gonna come up with a book, or a painting, or a symphony, or a sculpture that can compete with a great city. You can't. Because you look around and every street, every boulevard, is its own special art form and when you think that in the cold, violent, meaningless universe that Paris exists, these lights, I mean come on, there's nothing happening on Jupiter or Neptune, but from way out in space you can see these lights, the cafe, people drinking and singing. For all we know, Paris is the hottest spot in the universe." - Gil (Midnight in Paris)