Back to Life in Paris

Let it be known, that there is nothing more difficult than catching up on a week of blog posts. On the other hand, you can rest assured that this is proof that I have actually been working! I will catch up until today, which I will have to cover tomorrow, I suspect. I am, after all, incredibly tired after all my hard work!

Thursday was a big day; as I complained vociferously to several of you, I had an exam, a 30-60-minute presentation on a computer science topic, and a computer program to write, plus several readings and courses. It was a busy week. I only took a few photos, but I have included a couple below. The high points were definitely the class in the Louvre Wednesday, where we hung out with Ingres, and whatever else I did that got caught up in a whirlwind week that included, unfortunately, very little sleep. It was almost like being at Stanford again!

If you don't recognize this, please Google "Paris"

This sunrise. Alternative title: how to look more like an artist than a tourist while subtly taking morning photos of the Eiffel tower and the Boulevard Montparnasse intersection

It always gets back to this structure, doesn't it?

The Louvre. Yes, we had tons of sun! No, I'm not sunburned. Yet.

If I can't be outside, at least the 6th floor library has a good sunset view!

I know there aren't any food photos! This is because, Monday through Thursday, I had pretty typical breakfasts. Then, I had small or recognizable lunches (or shameful ones, such as my friend's noodles he didn't want or a box of Madeleines that I bought for €1), and dinner was good (more boudin blanc, some pasta with chicken? veal?, my mère d'acceuil's specialty cauliflower gratinée, etc.) but I have not frequently taken photos at the table...

Thursday night, finally, became an adventure. It started out calmly (well, it kept going calmly, but that doesn't sound as exciting!) at a special soirée for ISEP (and Stanford) students, with free crêpes. I had…3 or 4. Right before dinner. Don't judge. I was hungry! Then, I went home to a tasty dinner (was this the boudin blanc night?) and tried to meet my french friend at the Palais de Tokyo, which is open until midnight every night. This has the benefit of french practice and friendly company, but involved serious travel (25 minute Métro).

I left a bit late, so I hurried, and when I finally got off the Méro, I ran downhill towards the Seine, stopping only to take some photos of the sparkling Eiffel Tower and the elegant, cloud-enshrouded moon. When I got there, I realized very quickly that I had no idea how to get in. It is the type of thing you only understand if you are there, staring at some small facet of the colossal building and fully recognizing its impermeability. The Palais is impenetrable.

I found my friend, but we quickly discovered that, for a wee, the museum is closed because they are switching exhibitions. Naturally, we were quite despondent, but decided to go search for something that could go safely into our bellies. We headed by the architectural museum, which was, of course, closed (it was well after 10pm by this point), and wandered a bit before deciding that the neighborhood was far too pricy for students, and hopped on the Métro to Saint German, where one finds numerous student-worthy options.

We ended up at some place where a live band created such a clatter that we had to write messages in order to communicate. Then they stopped, so we could have a conversation, until a) the place closed or b) I decided I was too tired to stay and went home. It turned out to be a mixture of both. I was exhausted. Hence the lack of clear blog post.

Thursday: Free crêpe party in the sous-sol with ISEP!

Glittering Tour Eiffel

The moon Thursday

Palais de Tokyo. Note the lack of door or big sign that says "enter here!"

Friday was an adventure from start to finish. Start was a 9h15 meet-up on Champs Elysées with my two friends who live there, so we could continue our voyage out to the Fondation de Louis Vuitton, right by the Bois de Bourgogne. It was quite beautiful, and the exhibitions were very good; I was plead with our guided tour, if a bit drowsy (but, then again, what else is new?).

Louis Vuitton. The Fondation, not the man. This would be an odd-looking man.

The architecture is not exactly old-fashioned or traditional

But the lines are very nice.

Did I mention the view from the top? You can see all across Paris...

And all the way down in the staircase. Don't fall!

There are not enough transparent buildings.

After a quick Coeur de Blé lunch, I somehow won permission (and, more importantly, funding) to accompany the course Engaged Intellectuals to the Musée de la Grande Guerre, a WWI museum waaaay out of Paris. We took a special little bus and everything. It was fascinating, and the guided tour was, again, great.

Afterwards, we went back (although not to ISEP, because after letting off the professors and some students, our special bus kept on driving to who-knows-where until, finally, I stopped him and asked him where we were going.  Everyone went their separate ways; One friend and I went all the way to her home off of Champs Elysées before finding out that the others had found somewhere to eat. Raizing that they would bedone long before we even arrived, my friend and I decided tot ogre our own path, so we went to that place where, unfortunately, we were rejected the weekend when the friend from Germany was here because we had too many people. It was delicious. We even split a dessert.

I had a rigatoni with eggplant, fresh mozzarella, some basil, some garlic, all prepared in a nice, thick tomato sauce with bread on the side. She got a delicious gnocchi. The coffee ice cream, too, was worth it. Then, we met up with our third friend and went to our French friend's home to hang out, watched a movie ("Morning Glory") and then went on a walk, ending up all the way at Champs Elysées by the Arc de Triomphe before having to return at 3am (hence the lack of post yesterday).

Once I explain today, you will surely understand why I have to wait until tomorrow. It also has something to do with the fact that, in the middle of the last paragraph, I fell asleep and typed something totally insensical… In the meantime, enjoy the teaser photos!

The museum. Yes, there was sun

This was my "Paris" afternoon. So urban!

We came out just in time for a beautiful sunset

Trying to capture it from the bus was challenging

But the sun dipping below the horizon, shining through the trees, was quite a sight

My friend's apartment was on the 7th floor, of these stairs

This is open. So, someone should use the stairs to make a James Bond movie. 007 could throw someone out the "window" on every floor!

Night on the seine

La Seine, la nuit.

Yes, that was vendredi.