I've been home

from Paris for as long as I was there. It seems like it was a really long time ago and it's so far removed from my daily life now.

So... I'm getting ready to post about some of the things I've done since I've been home. Some you've already seen. Others... not so much.

Later.

Dancer in the St-Merri Cathedral

Remember this cathedral?
I visited it on one of my first nights in Paris.

It's on the west side of the Pompidou Center, next to the Stravinsky Fountain.

The Tuesday before I came home, a small group of friends and I were walking around and decided to stop into this church for a second. This is what we saw.

This particular parish seems to really encourage participation in the arts--they often have different installations hanging overhead. And it seems like almost every cathedral in Paris offers free concerts (as well as some concerts you have to pay for).

Eglise St-Eustache by the Forum des Halles

I had never heard of the Eglise St-Eustache until some friends took me there after Institute one night.
I think it's really beautiful.

The cathedral is behind Les Halles. If you explore back behind all of the trees near the Chatelet-Les Halles RER or the Les Halles Metro stop, you'll find the church.

And the best part?

The cool little plaza out in front of the church that houses this cool sculpture.

You can't see it in the pictures, but to the right and behind where I was standing there were tiered rows of grass where people would lay out and read, make out, walk their dogs, or have a smoke and chat. I think it's a great spot.

Also Seen at Hotel de Ville: IUFM of Paris protest

The plaza in front of the Hotel de Ville was also used several times as a "call to action" center for manifestations (protests) and collecting signatures for a variety of petitions.
The students below are professors in training (I don't know if they are in training to teach secondary school or at a University level--my guess is the former) who were protesting some changes to the way the teacher training programs at the University were being organized and administered.
Protests are not very effective. They happen way too often in Paris to have much of an impact.

Musee D'Orsay: The exterior

I think the Musee D'Orsay is really pretty on the outside. Like many, many buildings in Paris.

Filipino cooking

So, remember waaaay back when my Relief Society in the Paris ward had a Filipino cooking class? Well, before that we had a great Thai cooking class.
Here are the pictures.


This may not look delicious (since it's raw), but the spring roll-y things we made with it were AWESOME.

Music at Place de la Chatelet

While I was waiting for a friend at the Chatelet metro stop, this was going on near the fountain.

This kind of stuff is one of the best things about living in a big city.

Chillin' with the Sistas

While in Paris I spent a lot of time with the Sister missionaries. I volunteered to go with them to a teaching appointment one week, and it turned into a standing weekly appointment.

These are the two sisters, Sister R and Sister O, that I started working with. Then Sister O went home, and Sister H was transferred in. (Sister H is the one below eating raclette).

Here we are in front of the Church on rue Saint Merri near the Pompidou Centre.

Sister R, me, Sister O

On the night before I came home, we had one last teaching appointment with E and her two daughters.
The Sisters surprised me with an awesome dinner before we went to teach--raclette!! I had never had raclette before, so it was fun to see how it works. And it was soooooo good!

So, basically you have a raclette pan with spaces for all of these little dishes to sit in. You put a slice of cheese in the dish, slide it under the heating element, and then make a little open-faced sandwich.

This is me with E and her girls on Mother's Day at church. Love them! Miss them.

On my last night, at E's apartment. Love these girls. Aren't they just beautiful. They're little sweethearts, too. Let's just ignore how pasty I look next to their gorgeous skin.

Le Petit Nicolas (Young Nicholas)

At Hotel de Ville in June there were two exhibits: one about Gustave Eiffel, and the other about Petit Nicolas.
If you're not familiar with the Young Nicholas stories, they're stories about Nicholas, a young school boy, and all the mischief he makes at home and school with his friends. They're really cute, and they've been translated into several languages.

From Wikipedia:

The humour of the books derives from their unique story-telling style: the adventures of Little Nicolas are told in the first person by Nicolas himself. On the one hand, the books are a parody of the story-telling habits of little children; for example, the author makes frequent use of stylistic features such as run-on sentences and employs an egocentric, naive point of view. On the other hand, adults are the targets of the books' humour when the straightforward and uncomplicated worldview of the child narrator exposes the flaws of adult perception. The subversive element in the Petit Nicolas thus made it an early example of modern children's literature that is centred around the experience of the child, rather than an adult interpretation of the world.

I used a little collection of Petit Nicolas stories for a couple of my French conversation classes at BYU, so it was fun to learn more about the inspiration behind the books.

Promenade Plantee

I think it was the Design*Sponge Paris city guide that pointed me toward the Promenade Plantee as something worth visiting. I had never even heard of it, but it was a beautiful escape from the crowded, noisy sidewalks. I spent at least an hour walking along the promenade, which is built on an old viaduct that used to be the home to a set of elevated train tracks.



Some of the things I saw as I walked:

(My sad attempt at capturing myself on the Promenade. Let's be honest--this picture could have been taken anywhere. But I had to try.)

The Jardin de Reuilly park. A total hidden gem. (Well, not totally hidden, as you can see. But not packed by any means.)

If you visit Paris and have an hour or two that you'd like to escape the city for a while, this is definitely worth your time. I enjoyed it a lot, and I decided I wouldn't mind living in that area--it seemed pretty cool.

To access the promane plantee, take the Metro to Bastille, and you'll find the promenade plantee behind the opera building.

The Pompidou Center

I spent a lot of time at the Pompidou Center during my time in Paris. And a lot of time in their bookstore.
I rode these escalators many a time to check out the exhibits. The views of Paris are not too bad from the top floor, either.



The Eiffel Tower through the window (and the rain).

Another great thing about the Pompidou Center is that the bookstore and the bathrooms don't require entrance to the museum. You just have to go through security. I'm not gonna lie--I totally took advantage of that a time or fifty.

Montmartre

I wandered around Montmartre one sunny day and took a few pictures before enjoying a banana split at an extremely touristy joint that looks onto the big square full of artists.

I think the Sacre Coeur is a gorgeous building.

Palais de Tokyo

I went to the Palais de Tokyo.

It was disappointing to say the least. I think maybe I missed most of the museum.

Maybe not.

When I got there and pulled out my money to pay, the cashier asked me if I was a student. I said yes, but I was older than 26, so I don't get the discount.

"Are you sure?"

"Uh, yep. Pretty sure."

"And you don't qualify for any other discounts?"

"I don't think so."

"You're sure? You're definitely older than 26?"

"Yep." (Seriously??) (Although, apparently almost everyone in France though I was 23, so I guess I can't blame her.)

"Well, okay then. It's 10 Euros."

I should have taken that as a bad sign. If even the museum staff doesn't think the exhibit is worth the entrance price...


This was the coolest thing in the museum. And it was in the gift shop.


This is the cafeteria.

This is a piece by Jim Shaw called "Heap." It's a big pile of McDonal's Happy Meal toys turned into a creepy sea monster with resin, green spray paint, styrofoam, and metal rods. This was the next most interesting thing in the museum.

In the background you can see the security guard. I was the only person in the museum. (Yet another clue.) When I asked if I could take pictures, he said, "Yeah. You can also stay here and flirt with me for a while if you'd like."

I just laughed like he was joking and went on my merry way, trying to get pictures in the ridiculously low lighting.

Don't know who did this or what it was called. But it was built to look like it had smashed through the wall of the museum.

So that's it.

Disappointed?

Well, I'd be lying if I told you I was surprised.