An evening back in Conord and La Belle et La Bete

Last wednesday, I got the chance to meet up with my friend, Leigh Ann, from Concord!! She was in Paris for a few days with her family staying around Opera Garnier. We had dinner at Au Petit Riche, then we went out to a nearby bar with her brother and parents to catch the first half of the France v. Ecuador World Cup match. It was so nice to catch up with everyone and get a little break of home!

Last thursday night, some friends and I went out to see La Belle et La Bete (Beauty and the Beast) at Theatre Mogador in the 9th Arr. It was such a fun show!! A bit raunchier than I remembered it being when I saw it in NYC 11 years ago, but the costumes and acting were great! 

Fête de la Musique

Last Saturday, the first day of summer, was fête de la musique in France! Each year,  live music fills the city streets and restaurants and transportation stay open all night to kick off the start of the summer. Some freinds and i decided to get a little picnic together (winc, cheese, bread, chips, and fruit) and hang out in the Tuileries for the afternoon. 

The Latin Quarter

Got out of work early today and headed over to the Latin quarter. I stopped by a cute little store called, The Abbey Bookshop. I'm not sure if you can tell from the photo, but that shop was jam packed with books. There were so many piles of book all densely packed next to each other; it felt as if the walls of the shop were built with books! I only stayed in for about 10 minutes, since it was tough to maneuver through the narrow aisles and the selection of books was a bit overwhelming, but planning to go back sometime! 

An old edition of one of my favorites! 

Then afterwards, I headed to the closest crepe stand to pick up a savory crepe, also known as a galette. I started talking to some other people from Boston while I was in line! They were from Lasell College and they were fashion design students here on a program to help out with Mercedes-Benz fashion week, next week in Paris (I almost died when they told me that...haha). One I had my crepe I just strolled around the area, past the restaurants and bars, until I was finished and then headed back to my dorm to work on my paper and watch the France v. Switzerland football (soccer) match..... which ended with a French 5-2 victory!! 

Cette Semaine à Paris

Last monday was another Catholic holiday, la pentecôte, which meant another day off of work! Although I had some assignments to finish for my classes the next day, I figured I could squeeze a quick trip to the pompidou in with some friends. We also got in free with our BU IDs!

Sacre Coeur in the distance

This week, work was a bit more laid back, as my supervisor was away in New York at the Company's trade show. There were only three of us in the office! Here's the desk I sit and work at every day (behind stacks and stacks of magazines)

A little later on in the week, BU organized a group dinner at the Restaurant l'Entrepôt, which was located in the same arrondissement as my dorm, the 14th. It was a cool place with live music and a pretty garden and veranda. We had a three course meal: raw salmon, a choice of beef or fish, and lava cake (Moelleux au chocolat).

Friday night I went out to a pretty cool club called The Showcase. The music wasn't exactly our taste (very electronic...), but the location made the night. It's located right under the Alexander III bridge (Pont Alexandre III), which is the bridge located between Les Invalides (the french military museum where Napoleon is buried) and Le Grand and Petit Palais. 

On Saturday, I went with eleven other BU people to a chocolate factory, which was the last planned group event of the program. During our visit, we got to have a hand at making some chocolates! This place is actually located a couple blocks away from where I work, which may end up being quite a dangerous thing...

 Right after the chocolate factory, I planned a little rendez-vous with some friends, whom I kept in contact with, from the french exchange program in high school. It was so nice getting to see them again and the weather was great so we just spent a while walking down along the seine and chatting! 

On Sunday, I made some more plans to meet up with another old friend of mine. We met up at the Musee d'Orsay and walked around there for a couple hours, then walked over toward the Latin Quarter and into the Jardin du Luxembourg. 

A view of the Louvre from the Tuileries, on my way to the musee d'Orsay

Le Marais Pour Toute La Journée

 Today was a beautiful 82 degree day! It's been feeling a lot like summer here lately. My friends and I took advantage of it and decided to have a picnic at Place des Vosges, the oldest planned square in Paris! It got pretty hot in the direct sun, but that didn't stop us from having a nice time sipping wine with our baguettes, cheese, grapes, strawberries and box of palmier cookies! 

My friend and I wandered around the Marais some more. It's known as the jewish quarter of Paris, although it has also become quite the trendy part of the city (like the Brooklyn of New York), containing lots of galleries and high end stores, such as Zadig & Voltaire, Maison Scotch, and The Kooples. We picked up dinner at L'as Du Fallafel, which is one of the best according to the guidebooks! 

'Midnight in Paris' et Les Champs Elysées

Our first "Atelier de Stage" was on tuesday before classes, where we all split up into groups to have a professor go over the internship course details. It was a bit overwhelming! lots of work ahead...

And on a happier note, half of our group attended the play 'Le Malade Imaginaire' at La Comedie Francaise! (It was a scheduled event by BU and the other half will be seeing the play next Thursday) It was a bit tricky to follow all the dialogue, so depended greatly on the body language and the rest of the audience.., but had a nice time overall! 

The play got out around 10:45-11 PM and we all decided to head over to the Eiffel Tower. The weather was so nice that we decided to walk. We went past the Louvre and through part of the tuileries where big groups of college students were sitting down drinking, eating, and listening to music. At 11, we could see the Eiffel Tower far away in the distance as it started sparkling. Of course, this only made us more eager to get over there. We walked down along the Seine for a while, where there was a similar scene of groups of kids hanging out. The atmosphere was so relaxing and romantic! My feet didn't quite enjoy our decision to walk, but every other part of me did! We finally reached the Eiffel Tower just at it struck midnight, when the sparkles went off again. It was so cool looking up at it twinkling, a sight I had only ever seen from afar. 

The next day, a few girls and I decided to be super touristy and check out the Champs Elysées. The sky cleared up just as we got there! 

We did a little shopping and grabbed lunch. Then, of course, we had to make a stop at Ladurée, the famous macaron shop. Yum!

Orange Blossom, Salted Caramel, Strawberry Poppy, Lime Basil, Pistachio, and Rose macarons

Le Weekend

My supervisor bought a bunch of different foods for everyone to at lunch on Friday. It was a little bit of a good-bye party for two of the workers. Also got out a little early! Ended up going out to eat at a Thai restaurant near the Place d'Italie stop, in the 13th Arr. Afterwards went out to a bar with some girl friends as the first night of celebrating on of the girls' 21st birthday. 

The next morning I went to the Porte de Vanves flea market, which had an incredibly long stretch of stands selling a wide variety of things, from designer shoes, to vintage postcards, to furniture, to prints. 

 After getting lunch me and a few girls headed over to the 5th Arr. for a tour inspired by movie scenes set in Paris! It was such a fun and different way to get to know the city!

Stopped by Place de la Concorde for a picture in front of the fountain. 

Line of students waiting to get let into la bibliotheque Saint-Genvieve. They only let a certain mount of students in, so they have a one in, one out policy.

A VERY pricey menu.. 98 EUR for lunch... 

Tea menu at jardin du palais-royal

having some fun with a box of costumes after the tour

Later that evening after celebrating the girl's more officially over dinner, we went out to a club on the Seine for some dancing! 

As for Sunday, I didn't get around to too much since just about everything was closed. I stopped by the store to pick up some birthday gifts for my mom and sister, and then got some bread and macarons from a local bakery to bring to work tomorrow. 

Gigantic macarons!