Fun fact: I have been to more McDonalds in the past three weeks in Paris than I have in the past three years in America. And even though it’s been a while in America, I’m pretty sure everything is at least double the price here.
Of course, this is completely irrelevant…to everything. Anyways, it’s week three. Before the fact that I’m living in Europe has even sunk in, the sneaky week 3 has descended upon us. Which means French 4 is over. Which means…finals. Ok, fine. Singular, final. But nevertheless, a final exam in Paris. And I thought LA was distracting!
We had our final on Tuesday, the day after Bastille Day, and I spent the morning before class cramming studying for the test. Since French 4 is mostly review, and since I had my French 1-3 notes in tow, it wasn’t too bad. The cultural aspects of the class were pretty much drilled in given that a lot of it was applicable to daily life…or at least was brought up at the dinner table.
After class, I wandered over to the Gilbert Jeune by Saint Denis to pick up some discount books before slowly strolling back (in a long windy completely touring half the arrondissement kind of way) to the apartment for dinner. Suffering from exam-exhaustion, I only had energy to…finalize tickets and lodging for my post-travel study London trip! There goes $500. Aka like a month’s salary. With two (poor paying) jobs.
On Wednesday, I met up with my friend from Global Studies again and we wandered over towards Pompidou where we grabbed a relatively cheap but filling prix fixe breakfast at a nearby café on Rue Rambuteau. We then walked over towards Rue de Rivoli for some shopping.
After a mini shopping-spree, we headed towards Ile Saint-Louis, aka the island that is not Cité (which is the bigger island that houses the Notre Dame Cathedral). Ile Saint-Louis is tiny and filled with shops and cafés that add to the cute-ness of the place. As soon as you cross the bridge (near Hôtel de Ville) to the island, you’ll know you’re on the island of Berthillon. Aka the best ice cream in France. Or maybe the world, who knows. But, the iconic gothic typography logo will be adorning the signs of every café. And if you walk further down on the street, you’ll see the original Berthillon. It’s impossible to get lost because there is only one street that runs down the length of the island–the rest of it is mostly residential.
In short, though there isn’t much on Ile Saint-Louis, it is still a nice way to kill an hour or two. It is extremely well preserved in terms of historical buildings and planning and it is a quaint and quiet neighborhood in the middle of Paris. And there’s great ice cream. What’s not to love?
If you follow the street to the other end of the island and continue down Bd Henri IV, you will eventually reach Bastille (where the Global Studies Program held classes). Near Bastille are tons of shops, less of a “shopping environment” than Rue de Rivoli since it is more scattered and has more variety, but still tons of options that range from affordable to…well…not.
On Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, there is a little MUJI, a Japanese household/lifestyle store, tucked into a quaint space. Probably the prettiest MUJI I’ve ever been to. The prices were not so pretty, though. Makes the MUJI on Hollywood Blvd. seem much more attractive.
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After class, some of us decided to check out some thrift stores near Hôtel de Ville/Marais. We were only able to hit a couple of them before having to part ways for host family dinners but it was still interesting to check out the thrifting culture in Paris.
There was one shop worth commenting on: Kilo Shop. It is basically a thrift store that operates on a weight price system. Items are tagged with different colors representing different rates, such as 20 euro per kilo or 30 euro per kilo. There are scales scattered throughout the store to weigh things to gauge prices. There are also some things that are fixed prices. Although I at first thought that things would be super cheap, I actually found out (much to my dismay) that clothes are heavier than I think (insert #sob emoji here). It also bothered me that I couldn’t just look at something and be able to check the price tag. Although I guess if someone were to shop here often it would be easier to estimate prices. I believe there are several other Kilo-like stores around the city, as well as other thrift stores that use normal price tags.
Le Marais
The next day, I found myself back on the streets of the thrift stores! But this time, it was for a program tour of the Marais, the historic Jewish district and gay neighborhood of Paris. We met by the métro station Saint Paul on the extremely hot and sunny morning. After splitting up to our usual two groups (English tour and French tour), our tour guide, a UCLA alum, took us on a walking tour of the area, pointing out historical buildings, recounting stories and legends, and showing us the best falafel in town.
Many schools around Paris have plaques in memory of the students captured and taken to concentration camps during the Holocaust. I think it is worth noting that the French acknowledge their part in the act, mentioning the Gestapo assisted by the “police de Vichy,” the French government of the time.
Apparently, if you’re the third (and illegitimate) son and destined to go to the Church and not the military, you can always just play war in your castle-like mansion. At least, that’s what Tristan de Salazar, the Archibishop of Sens, did in the late 15th/early 16th century when this fortress was erected. This building, complete with medieval embellishments and a canon lodged in the façade in memory of a battle during the 1830 revolution, it was also at one time home to Marguerite de Valois, the ex-wife of Henry IV, where she was known to have many love affairs. It is now home to an arts and craftsmanship library as well as a public garden. Yay Europe.
The Marais is full of historic passages and streets that have been there since centuries ago when it was home to the aristocratic district. Now, many of these little courtyards and passages are filled with cute little shops and cafés.
Hôtel de Sully is a hôtel particulier, aka a private mansion, from the 17th century. It was originally built by…a rich person…and then purchased by the duke of Sully, hence the name. Afterwards, it was owned by a string of people, eventually in the hands of a wealthy Jewish family. During World War II, it housed dozens of Jewish workers before it was emptied out by the Nazis. After the war ended, there was no one that survived to inherit the property, so it has since been state owned.
We ended our tour at Place des Vosges, probably the most well-known site in the Marais. It is the first planned square in Paris and was originally built by Henry IV and called Place Royale. Now, the covered walkway is lined with classy art galleries, restaurants, a museum (Maison Victor Hugo) and even a hotel, Pavillon de la Reine, all of which surround a courtyard garden.
So basically, the Marais is low-key super classy, living up to its aristocratic history. The inconspicuous buildings are home to expensive boutiques and provide a quiet shopping environment for those who can afford it. The rest of us can just stroll through and appreciate the history. And falafel.
After the tour, we headed back to the métro station and decided to go for some Taiwanese food. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were only two Taiwanese restaurants in all of France. And both are in the Rue Sainte-Anne area. So we took the métro from Saint-Paul (ligne 1) over to Palais Royale Musée du Louvre and walked through Palais Royal over to Zen Zoo on Rue Chabanais. 14 euro will get a “boxed lunch” (main dish, rice, two side dishes) and a boba. Apparently they only have beef noodle soup on Saturdays. Can you tell I miss Taiwan? PS, for good ramen, go to Hokkaido across the street.
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Then, it was back towards Grands Boulevards for class. After class, we wandered along Grands Boulevards and shopped at HEMA, basically the smaller European version of Target. A chic Dutch discount store, it offers everything from tableware to stationary to cosmetics. And the always addicting stroopwafels. If you ever crave peanut butter, this would also be the cheapest place I’ve seen sell it. Who wudda thunk that peanut butter would be so hard to come by in the land of Nutella?
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Friday morning it was up bright and early for our program sponsored trip to Musée d’Orsay. This is the museum that features art that isn’t quite old enough to be in the Louvre but isn’t quite recent enough to be in the Pompidou. Probably one of the most popular museums (it’s everyone’s favorite, kind of like the Van Gogh of museums, because how many people haven’t told you that their favorite artist is Van Gogh?), it features (suitably) Impressionist art, aka everyone and their mother’s favorite art period. While I lean towards Baroque and Neoclassical when it comes to fine art preference, I can definitely see why Musée d’Orsay is a popular choice. To begin with, it is beautiful.
Just look at it! Isn’t it breathtaking?
The museum used to be a train station (Gare d’Orsay) back in the early 20th century, until the trains outgrew the station in the late 1930s. I can only wish that every train station could be so casually beautiful. Anyways, after it stopped being a station, it was basically just sitting there, sometimes as a mailing center, sometimes as a movie set, and then it was almost demolished in the 70s before someone came up with the brilliant idea of making it into a museum. The Impressionist museum was born to the world in 1986.
Even just the clock is beautiful.
Speaking of clocks, when you go upstairs, the most magnificent work of art isn’t even framed. It’s through a clock. It’s a window out to the city, across the Seine, to the Louvre and Tuileries, and beyond, with Sacre Coeur reigning from its throne up in Montmartre. Breathtaking.
Seriously, how is this view even real.
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Our tour ended up being a bit rushed and pretty history-heavy. I was too tired and hungry to explore afterwards, but definitely plan on returning to do this beautiful museum justice. That being said, just the view from the lock windows upstairs was worth waking up early for!
After checking out the gift shop, we decided to spend the hot hours of the day indoors and headed towards Montorgueil/Les Halles for lunch and shopping. Unfortunately, the most straightforward way of getting there was to battle the heat and walk. But walking in Paris in any weather is lovely because of the intrinsic beauty you are submerged in. But in all seriousness, I highly recommend walking. I know it sounds silly and rather gruesome depending on the weather, but you really do miss out on a lot if you just metro and pop out of the ground in random places. My love for walking helped me familiarize and orient myself to the city really quickly.
After some shopping and gelato, it was time for class again! The nice thing about hanging out in this area before class is that class is only about a ten minute walk away. That’s like…walking from De Neve to Moore. Which is like a dream come true during the school year, right?
Friday’s after class adventure took us to Opéra…and then shortly beyond, to Madeleine.
The church looked cool and all, but we were really only there to get macarons. Because right down the street that leads to the façade of the church is a Ladurée. If you’re walking from the métro station (away from the Church) it is on the left side of the street.
I can’t believe I went through three weeks in France before trying the best of the best (arguable, but hey, they invented it!). Even from the outside it was just…so…pretty!
Inside, the rows and rows of pastries and chocolates and jams and cakes, and God knows what else is absolutely mesmerizing. Like you could hypnotize me with this stuff. It’s crazy. It’s nerve-wracking. Because as you wait in line, you see more and more options. And you have to decide what you want…but the elegantly dressed workers greet you when you’re only halfway through. And you have to know what you want so as to not hold up the line. But then you forget what was at the beginning. And things are too far away to point at. And you can’t really see what there is to come that you might be missing out on. And then you realize that you’re a poor college student and everything here is expensive. All in all it’s just a stressful experience the first time. Or maybe that’s just me.
I ended up restraining myself and just getting one macaron.
A salted caramel one. With a four inch diameter.
Just look at that thick layer of caramel. Glistening. Sparkling.
At the same time sugary, buttery, with a hint of salt. Suddenly, the fact that it was 95 degrees didn’t matter anymore.
….
I feel like I’m writing for Buzzfeed so I need to stop.
Anyways, we had more time to kill, since Fridays were one of the days I didn’t have dinner with the host family. But it was getting late (aka 6 pm) and there wasn’t much to do. Plus it was still like a million degrees out. (You know how it gets cold in the evenings in LA? That doesn’t happen here. It gets cold after midnight…and then doesn’t really warm up until late morning)
So we head back to Rue Sainte-Anne. Because boba. Parce que hot. And thirst.
And that’s how Taiwanese meal #2 happened.
Shopping off a food coma isn’t really viable after 8 pm, but since it gets dark never, wandering around is definitely an option. So wander I did, snaking my way through the 1er arrondissement on a maze-like path home.
There’s nothing I love more than wandering about a city alone, with only my camera to keep me company.
Is it possible start missing a place before I even leave? I can’t believe that I’ll only be in Paris for two more weeks. I don’t even feel homesick yet…I don’t think I would get sick of this place for a while.