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!

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!)