Les Vacances, Part I: Two Americans in Paris!

Bonjour tout le monde!
My, it's been a little while! And very eventful too, so much so that I'll have to break it into bits to get it all out there. This post will focus on the first weekend of my trip, when I went to Paris.

I have of course already been to Paris, but it was when I was thirteen and so I was eager to go back. I was going with my friend Sam, who is studying abroad in London for the semester. Sam understands French pretty well, but is less comfortable speaking, so I was the main translator. It was a beautiful and delicious weekend! We stayed at this nice little hostel in Montmartre, close to a Metro stop and not far from Sacre Coeur. The hostel had breakfast included and a very international group staying there--though we mostly chatted with Americans. It was also very colorful. Our room alone had four different wall patterns going on.

The first night we went for some traditional French cuisine next door, complete with wine. I had this lovely special:

And the above was dessert. The next day we headed out, ready for our adventure! We started out with a visit to the Arc de Triomphe. It was beautiful but very cold and windy, especially up the windy stairs to the top. Here's a picture of one of the views, with this little tower that keeps showing up:

 

After that we walked down the Champs-Elysees to enjoy the classy shopping. We started out at the Mont Blanc store, oohing at the fancy pens that cost more than what some people make in a year. I naturally wanted the Grace Kelly pen, but one cannot have everything. The shops there are really quite fun to wander through and unlike when I was thirteen I now actually enjoy shopping. But for sure one of the highlights was going to Laduree for macarons. When I spotted it across the street, I knew we just had to! And it was an experience. Beautiful creations and the inside was decorated in lavish 19th century style. Some photos:

 If I could, I would have ordered one of everything but our six macarons cost about ten euros alone so I could not.

After that we wandered over the the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank. We wanted to find Shakespeare and Co but got a bit lost; nonetheless we had a good time going into shops and enjoying the little streets and atmosphere. We also got some cidre in bowls which I haven't had since coming to France, as its not as common in my region, and we both really enjoyed that! The snack was especially necessary as it was snowing and flurrying all day, which we are told is unusual but of course happened when we came. Ah, well.

The Little Dog Watching Contingent in Paris spotted this Little Dog wearing a coat (and his brother, hiding) in the Left Bank

The next day we headed over the the Louvre, and ended up spending most of the day there. It was incredible. We spent quite a bit of time in the Objets d'Art, with some beautiful old French things and I particularly enjoyed the Napoleon III apartments, as I do enjoy my emperors. We attempted to bypass the Mona Lisa as to avoid the tourists, and managed to do that pretty well. Again, we got lost a bit, but that's not so bad in a place where every room is crammed full of incredibly beautiful works of art.

I hang out with Empress Josephine

As an Empress, I too would decorate in red.

We finished the day with an incredible meal. I had duck breast with honey sauce, and I have discovered that duck breast is one of my favorite things. The place we ate was very cute, very Montmartre, and there was lots of red in the decor so naturally I approved. I also had a very perfect creme brulee with a nice solid crack-able top, so I felt a bit like Amelie, especially given the setting.

The next morning we woke early because our train to London was going to be mid day and we wanted to see Sacre Coeur before we left. It was snowing, and this time actuallly sticking, which was annoying for walking but beautiful for scenery. I enjoyed the church as its really different than most others I've visited here and the views of Paris are stunning.

Then it was off to continue the whirlwind in London!
NEXT: the V&A; two First Folios in one day; High Tea; British hoards

Bisous!
Miriam