As promised, this week's blog will be filled with much more interesting things than the last few.
I left early Friday morning on a train to Paris all by my lonesome. All I had with me was my purse and I was off to the big city! The ride was nice. It was a gorgeous day outside as I watched the endless fields pass by. It made me really miss Idaho. I can't wait to get back and get out to the farm.
Once I arrived in Paris, I went straight to Le Bon Marché. It's a great big department store. There were several floors, but I went straight to the one that had the bookstore and stationery area. I love wandering through the pens and notebooks and cards. After a fair amount of time spent there, I quickly walked through the other floors then exited to go to the other Bon Marché building around the corner.
This one was housewares and groceries. I think it may have been the most beautiful grocery store I've ever walked through. Maybe that's weird to say, but it was so enjoyable to walk through the different sections and see all of the offerings. I love the bakery, butcher, creamery, cheese, and pastry counters offering their fresh products. It's all so pretty and oh my goodness, it smells SO good.
I ended up buying a few different things for lunch, then took them to the park across the street to eat. The weather was magnificent. It was sunny, and warm, but not hot. There was no wind and the flowers were blooming. I should eat in parks way more often. I got to watch people walk by and just enjoy the beautiful day.
After lunch, I went to Le Marché aux Fleurs. I read online that it was beautiful and they were right. It's so fun to walk among the flowers. The place was strangely empty, so I hope I just caught it at a low point. I'd hate to think that the vendors aren't doing well for themselves there.
The flower market is on the Île de la Cité, an island in the Seine River. Also on the Île is Notre Dame and a few other landmarks. Since I've seen most of them, I just wandered the streets to see what I could find. I came across a Shakespeare and Company bookstore and spent a nice little bit in there.
From the Île, I visited the Passage Verdeau and Passage du Grand Cerf. These are covered shopping streets hidden among buildings. The first was quite extensive with many shops offering many different things, while the second was shorter and more antique/artsy. I enjoyed wandering the passages and hope to visit a few more when I return to Paris.
I wandered the streets around both passages and just observed the Parisian culture. It's fun to go back in the not-so-touristy areas and feel how different it is from areas around the famous landmarks. It's quite a nice lifestyle from what I've seen.
Around this time, the sun was starting to set, so I decided to find my hotel. It was in an area I had never been to, so once I checked in, I went back onto the streets to explore the neighborhood. I found a nice place to have dinner and sat facing the street so I could watch the people as they passed. It always amazes me that with as many people as there are, we each have our own stories. We all have things going on in our lives. I often wander about what they're going through and what motivates them and why they are where they are.
The next morning, I headed for Galeries Lafayette and Printemps to spend the day. My first order of business was to visit the Starbucks for my breakfast, then take it up to the Terrace. I was there around 10 am and the terrace was almost empty. The morning was cool, but not cold and the skies were clear. It reminded me of sitting on my Mimi and Papa's porch drinking coffee in the summer. In Paris, I was looking out over the city, and at Mimi and Papa's I was looking out over the mountains. Either way, those are my favorite kind of mornings. There is nothing better than sitting in a place with a view with coffee-in-hand in the brisk morning air.
See the Eiffel Tower in the distance?
I made my way through the women's building of the Galeries, then went over to the Home building. There was another grocery store on the ground floor, then housewares on the other floors. They had everything from fine china to bedspreads to lighting and furniture. I spent some time in the Cave à Vin (where the wine is kept) and it was beautiful. I saw a wine from 1899 that was selling for $20,000!
The dishware floor felt like a museum. There were so many exquisite (extremely expensive) pieces. I walked with my purse clutched to my chest so it wouldn't bump into anything. (If you ask my family, they'll tell you I'm an accident waiting to happen.) It made me giggle a bit that at some counters, the crystalware is sold right along side fine jewelry. This is serious stuff!
After a while I was tired and hungry, so I went to find lunch, then returned to explore Printemps. Again, beautiful, but again, I enjoyed the housewares building more than the fashion building. Although, in the fashion building there was an entire floor dedicated to luxury jewelry and fine watches, so I did really like that. (No surprise there.)
I went into a few other smaller stores in the area then realized that I was absolutely exhausted from all the walking I'd been doing. I had about three hours until my train departed, so I picked up a book at Galeries, and went to the train station to pass the time.
I returned home tired, but happy with the time I spent in Paris. I didn't really buy much, just some stationery stuff and a few shirts, but I had a nice time just being by myself.
Sunday was the most beautiful spring day I've seen yet. I walked to the park that morning and there were people out enjoying the sunshine like I was. I didn't even need a jacket over my sweater. It was glorious. I sat down in the park with my book and enjoyed the weather. The birds were chirping and there was a whisper of people around.
After a while I got hungry, so I went home to eat and finish my homework that was due that night, then I went back to the park because it was just so darn gorgeous outside. This time, there were more families out with their kids, enjoying the park, but I still found a spot to sit and take it all in.
This week I actually had to go to class. (About time, I know.) And boy, was it a rough going back. Tuesday, we had an early morning meeting with an advisor about a project that all international students have to do. Then straight from that meeting we launched into our 8 hour class day. To make it all worse, it was a Tuesday and on Tuesdays, we have French class until 7:00pm. In all we were at the school from 8:30 in the morning until 7:00 at night.
(At the first meeting, we were scolded for complaining about the long day ahead and our advisor told us she didn't want to hear it and welcome to 'real life.' Of course she meant that when we enter the workforce, hours like that aren't uncommon. I understand that, I do, but I just don't appreciate the way she said it. Also, advisor, when was the last time you had to sit in awful, wooden, straight-back chairs with no leg room for 10 hours? You would be complaining too.) End rant.
So Tuesday was awful, but today was a little better. We finished the class with a test and got to leave early!
Right now, I'm in the middle of trying to plan things for the next few weeks. I haven't decided where I'm going yet, so that's my first order of business. Once I get that down, I'll let you know what I'll be up to.
Je t'embrasse,
Sarah
Here are the few pictures I took of Paris.
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