Le Book + Shopping

I started my internship at the Le Book on monday! So far I have been researching fashion and beauty campaigns to put on their website. You can check out the website here: http://www.lebook.com/ (you can go under "La Creative" to see some of the things I've put up!) One thing I love is that the office gets tons of magazines sent to them for free from all over the world and once they're done looking through them, they are up for grabs! Here are a couple pictures I took on the first day (hope to get some better ones later!):

Today was a national catholic holiday in France, Ascension Day. Most things are closed, except for big shopping malls and restaurants in more touristy neighborhoods. My friends and I went to Beaugrenelle, a nice shopping mall near the eiffel tower. They had a few stores that we were all familiar with like H&M, Zara, and Sephora, but Promod, La Maison du Monde, and Maje were new to us. 

And then afterward we walked for a few blocks, in the direction of the BU Paris center, also located in the 15th Arr., and grabbed food and drinks. 

Jardin du Luxembourg

Yesterday, some friends and I decided to check out the Luxemburg Gardens. Since most stores are closed on Sunday, it was a great opportunity to go exploring outside. We walked around the streets a little bit and passed a long string of stands selling things from candy to soap to jewelry to cheese! We grabbed a quick bite to eat then walked some more around the neighborhood, which is home to the Sorbonne. 

Just before we entered the gates of the gardens, we all picked up some ice cream! I got a scoop and of pistachio and a scoop of rose. The weather was perfect for enjoying our cold sweets and walking around the gardens. (Was a bit surprised by the palm trees!)

Musée du Vin

Today we took a group trip to the museum of wine (Musée du Vin). We split into two groups and a wine specialist talked each group through the smells, tastes, and appearance of 5 different wines.

Les Archives Nationales

Today was the last day of our intensive week of classes. We will only have class once a week from now on and, believe it or not, our midterm exam is next tuesday!

For today's outing we went to the French National Archives (les archives nationales), which is only open to people who take guided tours. It was incredible going through the rooms of old documents, some dating back to 625 AD! It looked like an old library, but of course it stores all different kinds of documents from declarations to treaties to an old set of playing cards!

Les Archives Nationales are located in the Marais district and were created in 1790

The Hôtel de Soubise and the Hôtel de Rohan have housed the national archives since 1808

Louis XVI's playing cards

Le musée des arts et des métiers

Tuesday afternoon my literature class took a trip to the musée des arts et des métiers, Before leaving the metro, our class located the unique stop on the 11th line that was designed in 1993 by the Belgian artist, Francois Schuiten.

 

Click HERE to see Schuiten's original illustration.

The musée des arts et des métiers displays various technological innovations that have been produced in Paris since the date it was founded, 1784.

Exhibits are set up in an old church attached to the museum

Cute little train tracks winding throughout the museum

Spot the original model of the statue of liberty.

Le Premier Jour de Classe

My french literature class started today, and I really like it! We spent a few hours reading and discussing texts by Baudelaire and Anna Gavalda, then we had an hour lunch break, where I just grabbed a sandwich nearby the BU center and sat and ate with some classmates. Then after, while the other two classes went back to their classrooms, we went out to explore the quarter of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. 

Le Procope dates back to 1686. It is a cafe that was frequented by great figures in literature such as Voltaire, Rousseau, Hugo, and even Oscar Wilde 

This brasserie has been known to have hosted great literary and political figures such as Proust, Gide, Hemingway, and Camus

The Saint Germain Abbey, which was founded in the 6th Century by Childebert I, son of Clovis I

Orientation: Jour 4

Had a fun time out with the group last night! It ended being longer than planned because we took a few wrong turns trying to get back to the dorm... 

Got to sleep in, which was nice though! And today, I went to the Bastille quarter with Paige, Vanessa, and Yssi. It was another beautiful day! we grabbed bagels from lunch and at them in the Place des Vosges park, and then we started our final orientation activity, which was a scavenger hunt around the quarter. 

Place de la Bastille


I also can't resist sharing that I saw Michelle Dockery, also known as Lady Mary from Downton Abbey, getting into a cab here! Wish I had gotten a picture of her, but took a triple take and almost had a heart attack, so by the time I got to my phone, she was already driving away in the taxi.

Port Arsenal- Port de Plaisance

Ancient tunnels, which stretched across the 12th Arrondissement and connected the Bastille prison to the suburbs/ forest, that have been turned into a planted walk way


After we finished all the steps in our activity, we found a little cafe on la Rue de Charonne that served tartines, which are essentially open faced sandwiches. Added a glass of Chardonnay to our meal and had ourselves a very lovely evening.

Orientation: Jour 3

Yesterday, I spent about 7 hours at Versailles... and didn't even manage to see all of it!

Here are some pictures! 

La gallerie de glace/ hall of mirrors

l'orangerie

Crepes at La Flotille, next to the Versailles canal

new friends from wesleyan

sitting in front of the chateau

Orientation: Jour 2

The group and I arrived at the BU center at 9:30. After a few talks covering our internships, our classes, and safety information, I could really feel the jet-lag kicking in... Around 1:30 the teachers and staff presented tables of assorted french foods. Each of the three table represented a region and their specialty foods. A table for Ile-de-France, Normandie, and Franche-Comté. One of the instructors gave us a step-by-step presentation of each food and drink! It was fun learning about the different nuances in french gastronomy. We tasted various cheeses (comté to camembert), meats (salami to rillettes), desserts (palmiers to chouquettes), and drinks (red wine to cider). 

We were free to go off on our own around 4:00. Most of us went to buy our books for our classes that start on Monday. I got my book, for my literature class, at a bookstore a few streets away from the BU center for about €2.50. Later I took the metro to the Marais district and looks around a local flea market and some shops with two new friends from Wesleyan. Eventually the jet-lag swept over us again and we stopped by "Blend", a cute little burger shop, before heading back to our dorms and homestay. 

Visiting Versailles tomorrow! It's one of my all time favorite destinations. Expect a bunch of photos!