Get Ready...

This is going to be quite a long post since I haven't written much in the past couple of weeks. I am currently writing from my wonderful little studio in the 7th. It's only around 150 sqft, but it has an adequate kitchen and nice bathroom - plus the bed slides down on rollers from the ceiling! As I mentioned in my last post, it's was about 100 euros more than I originally intended to spend, but I'm very happy with my decision to go for it. Not only was Hugo, the man from whom I'm renting, incredibly helpful and nice, he also has excellent taste in music, books, and fashion. His books are all classics and range from some of the French philosophers I recently studied in Literary Theory to art history books on Cartier-Bresson and Durer. He also has a bunch of great back issues of the official couture magazine for men and a huge selection of classical music. Besides the studio itself though, the area is everything I hoped and heard it would be. My exceedingly grand entrance (see photo above) is 20 feet from one of the best cheese stores in Paris and I pass innumerable boutiques on the way to the metro every morning - too bad I don't have much money to burn! I'm also really close to the Eiffel Tour, Invalides, and the Musee d'Orsay, as well as only about 15 minutes from the Louvre. I'm very happy to be able to experience another part of Paris as a semi-local for these last couple of weeks.



So now I guess I'll commence recounting my more interesting activities from the past two weekends, beginning with the weekend before last. As I think I mentioned earlier, I took advantage of the Louvre's free Friday evening and explored the Napoleon Chambers and Northern Masters section. On Saturday I decided to do a thorough walking tour of Montmartre since I hadn't really explored the area much. I walked all the way from my apartment to the Sacre Coeur and back, stopping whenever I wanted to window shop or enjoy the view. Generally I found it to be a district full of contrasts. The lower part, home to Moulin Rouge, has a seedy vibe and is considered Paris' "red light district." Although I went during the day, it was one of the few areas in Paris in which I felt a little uncomfortable, but as I climbed higher up the hill, I was surrounded by many nice bars and cafes, as well as interesting old houses and Paris' only remaining vineyard (about a city block). The Sacre Coeur was also still impressive, although the view over the city wasn't terribly beautiful thanks to low-hanging grey clouds.



On Sunday, I decided to put my status as an art student to good use by visiting the Rodin Museum, which is about 10 minutes from the Eiffel Tower. I once again decided to walk there, as I hadn't seen much of the Left Bank and it was finally a beautiful day. The museum was wonderful.It was filled with examples of some of Rodin's best work (unlike at the Picasso Museum, which seems to be comprised of the stuff he didn't sell!) including two of his most famous statues, the Thinker and Balzac. The grounds of the Museum are also gorgeous and there were numerous people who just came to enjoy the garden itself. After the museum closed at 6, I had about an hour before I was supposed to meet one of my conversation exchange friends, Frederic, for a picnic at the Eiffel Tower with some of his friends. I originally thought that the Eiffel Tower was essentially just a tourist destination, but in fact, the majority of those on the grass (les Champs de Mars) are groups of French people. Our group consisted of 6 people, all of whom were French except for me. It was a bit challenging to understand the conversation when they all began talking at once, but in general I was able to follow what was going on and have some nice conversations with people. Overall it was a really pleasant evening, and of course the sparkling Eiffel Tower never gets old. Apparently the Parisians actually had a vote as to whether to continue the sparkling show after the millenium celebration, and it was approved overwhelmingly. Thus they pay a small tax within the city to pay for the extra electricity and maintenance. One more example of the many and varied things the Parisian/French government does to improve the lives of its citizens in small ways.



This past weekend my friend Eric visited me as part of his summer trip to Europe. After living with so many people (my roommates plus countless friends of ours) for two months and really enjoying the activity of our apartment, it was very nice to have some company for my first weekend without them. It was also nice to have an impetus to do some of the more touristy things that I've been meaning to do for months. On Friday we ate at the little Japanese place kitty corner to my previous apartment, as I had neglected to eat there the entire time! I could see it from my window and it had a line out the door almost every time I looked, so I figured it had to be good. It wasn't the most traditional introduction to Paris for Eric, but it was a tasty meal and satisfied my curiosity. Saturday I moved into my studio with Eric's much appreciated help, and then we went to Southern Paris to see the infamous Catacombs. Although my understanding of the history of their creation is a bit sketchy, the jist seems to be that many of the cemeteries in Paris began to get overcrowded and were becoming risks to public health by the end of the 18th century, so the city began to exume and rebury hundreds of thousands in what were old limestone quarries beneath the city. Apparently almost 7 million people lie burried in the various catacombs under Paris, although the official Tour is but a small taste. It was both fascinating and creepy, as the bones had been stacked and arranged in all sorts of decorative configurations. They went on for as far as one could see in some places. It was hard to get my mind around the fact that each set of thigh bones, piled one on top of the other, represented an actual person!



After the catacombs, we patronized the delightful cheese store next to my studio and bought three excellent cheeses. It was a bit stressful since there is barely enough room for two people to stand side by side, but that just means there is tons of room for cheese! Lots of free samples too, which were very helpful. For a late dinner, we went to a Paris institution called Chartier, which has been open for over 100 years. They still have a bunch of small boxes on the wall where their regular customers used to store their napkins. It has a reputation as efficient and affordable, as its originally purpose was to provide workers with a good, reasonably-priced meal, but it turned out to be pretty mediocre. I think that the quality of the menu ranges broadly though, because the two men next to us had great looking food - I guess being a regular really would help!






On Sunday we set out for the Louvre, as it was free museum day and although I've been three times now, I could go back 15 more and still not see everything. We did a pretty thorough tour though, seeing the most famous paintings like the "Mona Lisa" and "Liberty Leading the People" and then going underground to see the remains of the medieval Louvre (complete with moat) as well as the temporary exhibit of Spanish drawings, the Apollo Room housing some amazing gems, the Islamic Wing, the Egyptian Wing, and Greek Statues. Admittedly we didn't exactly study every single piece, but I still feel like we were able to appreciate a lot of what we saw. Little is as tiring as musuem going though, so we had any easy afternoon afterwards and then went out to a wonderful meal at a restaurant recommended by my new little Pudlo guide (thanks Jim!). We knew we were in for a treat as soon as we tasted the amazing butter provided with our bread. I don't know what the differences are in manufacturing techniques or resources between French butter and American butter, but goddamn, you can certainly taste it! My appetizer consisted of enough food for a normal meal: two eggs poached in red wine sauce with bacon, onions, and mushrooms. The sauce was absolutely packed with flavor and like nothing I'd ever had before. My main course (as I'd decided to be adventurous) was some sort of crawfish souflee - apparently a French specialty. Very good, but once again unlike anything I'd had before. And just to top things off, my entree came with more of the delicious butter, but this time disguised as mashed potatoes. It was definitely someplace I'd visit again!


And now I am (and have been for the week) all alone in my studio, enjoying my independence and the new area. J is absolutely thrilled with what I did last week in her absence (an elaborate wire, crystal, and chiffon three dimensional flower, two life size flatt crystal roses with stems, and 5 Dior D skin jewelry pieces), so that is a major relief - especially since her business partner and boyfriend had gone off on an unexpected little diatribe last week about how the chiffon rose wasn't delicate enough! Thankfully I had done pretty much exactly as J had directed prior to leaving, so all worked out perfectly and she's going to see the designers tomorrow or Monday. Louise and I also continue to get along very well, so going to work is generally pretty fun. In fact, we're going to go out to an Irish bar tomorrow evening to watch the opening game of the Rugby World Cup (France vs. Argentina) as France is hosting it this year and it should be pretty crazy.



Alright, that should give you a sufficient, if not excessively detailed, idea of what I've been up to recently. I've got one more week left working and then will head off to Florence next weekend to visit a family for whom I babysat in highschool. Then I'll have two more days in Paris before finally coming home. I have loved Paris and have lucked out amazingly with my job, but I am certainly ready to see some familiar faces at this point!