First Sunday = FREE

On the first Sunday of each month, all of the state-run museums in France are free. So, after Ames and I go-karted (okay, it was a golf cart...) our way through the gardens of Versailles, we hopped the RER back to the city and went to the Rodin Museum and the Picasso Museum.

The Rodin Museum was amazing. I highly recommend it as a 2-hour stop if you are ever in Paris. (It will only take 2 hours if you have a short wait to get in, and you like to look at and think about the sculptures. If you are like my father and jet through museums at the speed of light, this museum will take you 30 minutes once you get in, including the beautiful gardens).

Oh, also... many of the major works presented inside the house are presented in their final versions in the gardens. It's only 1 Euro to go in the gardens... if you're looking to save money and time. (You're welcome.)

A view of the back of the house from the gardens.

Amy being a statue in the gardens (with a tree growing out of her head. Sorry, Ames.)

The Thinker

Creepy fish-face lady

Just a little taste of what the interior of the house looks like. I'm sure it was in much better condition when it was inhabited... but it's still beautiful.

The Kiss

This one is called "The Hand of God" and it is shaping the forms of Adam and Eve. It is also on a turntable pedestal and displayed in front of a large mirror, because Rodin intended for this sculpture to be viewed from all sides. You can see the back of the sculpture reflected in the mirror (And I can't tell you how many evil stares Amy and I got when we moved the turntable. It's OKAY, people!! This is actually allowed!!)

The Cathedral (formed with two right hands)

The Picasso Museum is, in my opinion, completely skippable. There are several reasons I came to this conclusion:

1) The layout is horribly tangled, so you have to cross through rooms you've already been in (and disrupt people who are trying to stop and look while you, annoyed, have to walk through the room YET AGAIN)

2) No air conditioning, too many people, and no open windows. Stuffy, hot, and altogether unpleasant.

3) I found the presentation of the works to be jumbled and I couldn't make sense of it. Was it chronological? By theme? Were Picasso's works presented next to art he had acquired that specifically influenced those works? Or was it purposefully chaotic? Maybe that was the point.

Either way, photography wasn't allowed in the museum, so here is a quick view of the front facade (which looks like it's being renovated... let's hope that's why the inside of the museum is such a mess).

and a clandestine picture of a painting from the museum. This was housed in a room the size of a small bathroom... and apparently no museum staff was relegated to sit there all day. So, yep. I took a picture.

I'm not a huge Picasso fan to begin with--though there were some works (mainly sculptures) in the museum that I liked. Overall, I would say that if you're not an art fanatic or a big Picasso fan, you can feel good about leaving this one behind.

The Gardens and Fountains of Versailles

On Sunday Amy and I went to Versailles to see the fountains play. We rented a little golf cart so we could get through all of the gardens faster, because on the first Sunday of each month all state museums are free, and we wanted to get back to city quickly so we could get in a couple of other museums. Here are some highlights from Versailles:

How random is this? I almost liked it, but then I didn't. It's just a bunch of different colored hoses hooked to some metal rings to become a fountain. It looked better from farther away.

You can barely even tell, but the boxy shape behind the fountain spray is the castle... waaaay back up at the beginning of the gardens.

Turning at the same fountain, but in the opposite direciton, you can enjoy the seemingly infinite view of the rest of the gardens.

Amy in one of the gardens by awesomely sculpted potted shrubbery.

Same garden. This time an awesomely sculpted fountain.

(Though less awesome was the fact that even though the fountains "play" from 11:30 - 1:30, they don't all go at the same time, as evidenced by this fountain. Laaaame.)

Another Mini-escape from the City

After visiting Pere Lachaise cemetery, Agenor, Amy and I hopped the metro to a little gem of the city (in my opinion, anyway). There is a little shopping center called Bercy Village that reminds me of a teeny tiny version of the Gateway, or a not-as-charming and still teeny version of Gardner Village.


Cute atmosphere. Random shops (some great, some bizarre, some too expensive, and a grocery store). Feels like you're in a small town, when you're only a hundred yards from a Metro. The shooping area is also lined with cafes, and I decided I'll have to go back and have dinner there sometime just to enjoy the atmosphere.


On our way back to the Metro, we found this just across the street:

I like to think of it as my little zen garden in the city. I don't like to think about how much the rent would be for one of the apartments overlooking it.

Disclaimer: Memory Lapse

I am going to proceed in posting the rest of my lovely week with Amy over the next couple of days. However, I don't remember what we did on which day, so I am simply going to go through my (already named and therefore chronologically unhelpful) pictures and go from there. I'm pretty sure you don't care about the dates anyway.

Hope you had a great Sunday!

Pere Lachaise, Baguette sandwiches, and Flan

After enjoying the park, I expected that we would all go our separate ways, but we decided to spend a few more hours together and go grab lunch before visiting the Pere Lachaise cemetery (which you may or may not remember from a previous post).


We looked high and low for a patisserie so we could get some baguette sandwiches, and we finally found one about three blocks from the cemetery. We all grabbed sandwiches, and some desserts to share.


Some thoughts:


1st: French sandwiches are really simple, but sooooo good. Must be that bread. :)
2nd: I had never tried flan until that day. I love it and I must learn how to make it.
3rd: Since the first time I went to Pere Lachaise I was picture happy (and it was mostly deserted, making for better pics), this time I decided to just show you a grave that made me laugh:

The inscription reads, "Finally alone!"

Parc Buttes Chaumont

Amy arrived on Saturday the 4th. Once we got her baggage situation figured out (boo on Air France for losing ALL of it), we stopped by my apartment and then went out to meet some friends at the Parc des Buttes Chaumont for a fun -- and tiring-- day of sightseeing.


The Parc des Buttes Chaumont is in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. I never knew this existed until I first started looking for apartments in Paris. From the maps I looked at I could tell it was decent-sized, but I didn't realize just how big it really is. And it's gorgeous. I'm so glad my friend Agenor suggested we go there.


We hiked up and down the different hills, making fun little discoveries left and right.

My friend Agenor enjoying the waterfall.

Didn't expect stellagtites...

A nice view of Sacre Coeur from the little pavillion on the hill...

Being in the Parc was a nice little escape from the city. It's so nice to find places that allow you to escape from the frenetic hustle and bustle of the city, but still get home in time to do laundry, work, and get a normal night's sleep. (Ames and I did this several times--and some of them actually were out of the city, but just a short and painless train ride away.)

These pictures don't do justice to the beauty of the park. I didn't take as many pictures showing just how lush and green it is-- down in the valleys of these tall hills you can lose sight of the city skyline completely and feel like you're in a little oasis. You can't even hear the city, which to me is it's own little miracle. :)

Back in Paris

I'm still in the middle of my whirlwind family adventures, but back in Paris... so hopefully in the next couple of days I'll be able to get caught up on all of the fun things I've seen/done/eaten, etc. in the last two weeks or so.

As a little preview...

-Strasbourg: listened to the lovely Hallelujiah chorus in a goregous sun-coming-through-the-stained-glass centuries old cathedral. Maybe I cried because I was so moved. No making fun, you would have cried, too.

-Salzburg: "tea with jam, jam and bread" posing on the famous Von Trapp "Do-Re-Mi" fountain

-Vienna: Lots of churches, charming streets, and a beautiful castle (which we were, unfortunately, only able to take pictures of from the grounds, and not inside).

-Prague: giving all the Euros we had to a shady cop just past the border into the Czech Republic, deciding I hated the Czech Republic, and then changing my mind and thinking it was "okay" after visiting gorgeous and interesting Prague

-Dresden: two wonderful days with our friends Reiner and Heike in a beautiful city which is still recovering (architecturally and otherwise) from the effects of WWII. Beautiful architecture, and a super-outdoorsy feel to the general area. Loved that.

I decided that I wouldn't be completely opposed to marrying a German or Austrian guy who also speaks impeccable English. Some of those little country villages look verrrrrrry appealing. Quaint. Charming. Quiet. And surounded by history, with just a short drive to a thriving city. (Though this is also still entirely true of France. Preferable, really. I'm just keeping my options open...)

And the Czech Republic has kind of wierd candy. Just sayin'...

Stay tuned, I'll be back with what will probably be more pictures and details than you care to see. I won't be offended if you pick and choose, skim, or ignore them altogether. I'm just happy to have an internet connection again for more than 5 seconds so I can finally get some work done.

Paris as a Bulleted List

This week Amy and I have been taking it easy, just doing a couple of things a day.

But here are a few things we've seen, which I'll give more details on later:
-train rides
-visited the lovely Vaux-le-Vicomte castle (the castle that Versailles was modeled after)
-had delicious and exotically-flavored ice cream on St. Louis-en-Ile
-found several fun and interesting shops
-visited the Louvre (and saw a really depressing light show on the pyramid to celebrate its 20th anniversary)
-made a pit stop into Shakespeare & Co. bookstore to stock up on books for the upcoming road trip with the parents (who arrive in a day and a half!)
-went to the catacombs
-visited the Parc Buttes Chaumont
-saw a random zen garden hidden away in the city
-visited a darling shopping center that made us feel like we were miles and miles outside the city
-waited around for Air France to deliver Amy's luggage
-climbed up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe
-visited the gardens and fountains of Versailles via golf cart
-went to the Pompidou center
-gave directions to three sets of tourists in about 30 seconds in the train station
-took more cab rides than I have in my first 28 years of life combined
-laid out in the sun just to soak it in for a while
-ate ice cream in the Jardin du Luxembourg
-intended (twice) to visit Sarah's school so Amy could see it, but never quite made it there...
-squished into my building's teeny tiny elevator (considering that we both also carry large purses, this is no small feat.)

...and many other things (let's not talk about the food we've been consuming this week. Although gyros [a.k.a. donner/dunner kebabs], pizza, pastries, and gelato have figured into the mix--and obviously ice cream more than once, given the list above).

Tomorrow we're headed out to Giverny, Claude Monet's lovely country home and gorgeous gardens. We're not expecting much in the way of flowers, given that every other parc in Paris has next to nothing to show for the fact that it's spring. :)

But we ARE keeping our fingers crossed for some more of the goooorgeous weather we enjoyed today at Vaux-le-Vicomte. Don't think it's gonna happen, but we can hope.

The Next Two Weeks...

...will be filled with truancy (as in skipping my classes--not other silly stuff like tagging metro trains and thousand year old cathedrals), food, frolicking, museums, pictures, laughing, talking, and who knows what other kinds of fun and mischief.

Yes, friends. My sister is coming to town TOMORROW! And next Saturday my parents fly into town and we are all off on a little adventure to Austria, the Czech Republic, and Germany.

I will try to give updates as frequently as possible. I'll still have to get in a few hours of work each week, so I'll be on the computer and I'll do my best to share pictures and little snippets here and there.

In the meantime, I'm curious what you would like to see more of? What can I do to help you enjoy Paris vicariously until you can get here yourselves?

Walks along the Seine, Laughing in the Rain...

Okay, so I'm not in Mama Mia, and it's not summer (and P.S., I hate the terrible rhyme in that part of the song. Just for the record, the Seine rhymes with TEN, not with RAIN).


But I did walk along the Seine today with my Egyptian friend. It was beautiful and picturesque. The conversation was... interesting, to say the very least.


We talked about love. For him, this naturally led to talking about sex. Which for me, naturally led to talking about the Church.


My stance on pre-marital sex is really a difficult concept to explain in my limited French. Specifically, it's challenging to really explain the motivation in clear enough terms. Saying I won't have sex before marriage is simple enough. It's answering the follow-up "Why?" and "What?! WHY???!!" questions that requires more vocabulary than I've got in my arsenal. In English, no problem. But in French, uh... yeah. Problems.


He has a pretty typical view of love and sex, and he was verrrrry confused and a bit surprised by my position on the matter. My inability to clearly express myself didn't help the situation, I'm sure.

After recovering from the shock, he was actually really respectful about it. He just kept asking questions to get a feel for the "boundaries," if you will. And he kept shaking his head, not understanding how I could live 28 years... without. Ha. I just told him it's easy to go without something when you don't know what you're missing.

picture from Flickr creative commons