Sunday April 5th, 2009
Misa and I got up around 11 and ate breakfast... (left over macarons from the day before!!!!)
I believe this is a rose flavored one. I really like it! Misa just likes to make faces.Just as we were about to leave and meet Matt and Lauren, Misa's friend calls asking if he can come over and use her computer. Therefore I went to meet the couple and retrieve them to go back to Misa's and decide where we were going to eat. They were late, of course, but it gave me a good opportunity to do some quality people-watching. I took pictures too, but I don't like any of them so you don't get to see! haha. I discovered that people here use olive leaves instead of palm fronds in the Palm Sunday service. It took me a second to remember that it was Palm Sunday, so at first I was really confused as to why everyone had olive branches!
Anyways, they showed up and we went back to the apartment and collectively decided to get fallafel, again!!!! yayayyayayay! We walked back to L'as Fallafel, but the line was super long because it was the middle of the day on Palm Sunday. We ended up at a fallafel place down the street that had a smaller line. It was good, but not as good as L'as....
After all the tummies were full, we headed back to the apartment to regroup. Misa and her friend wanted to do homework, so they were going to stay in for the afternoon. Lauren started feeling bad, so she decided to take the afternoon off and nap in Misa's bed. That left Matt and I to take on Paris!! Misa told us that all the museums were free today because it was the first Sunday of the month. YAY! Matt wanted to hit up Museé d'Orsay because he didn't get a chance to go last time he was in Paris. We were in the mood to walk, so we took the long way. When we passed Pompidou, there was a street performer on a unicycle juggling fire for a lot of people. And there was a dude in the background painting a pic of Obama! yayay!!! (Y'all will probably have to click and enlarge the photo to see the Obama painting, but its in the middle on the left)
We walked down the Seine to check out the street vendors. It was really interesting because they were selling old cookbooks, novels and poetry books right next to the souvenirs. While Matt was perusing, I took pictures....
When we finally got to d'Orsay the line was an hour long and it was already 5pm, so we decided to wonder back in the general direction of the apartment. d'Orsay is right across the Seine from the Louvre, so we walked in that general direction. This was first first really good look at the Louvre and it was beautiful! Then it got even better when I spotted this...
The French must really love their McDonald's, that our there was a huge American tour group that passed by... haha. Paris has amazing food, I just don't understand it...Moving on, we walked along chatting about music and our likes and dislikes. We started talking about opera because my sister is in the classical voice program at the arts school in New Orleans (yea NOCCA!!!). Matt and I agreed that we can appreciate the art, but didn't love it. Throughout high school and even more in college I have become attached to classical, orchestral music. Just as I told him that, we started to hear violins and then a bass. Eventually we stumbled upon this group of artists performing in a square...
And a really cute boy who was enjoying the performance with his mother...
It was so nice to pause for a moment in the middle of one of the busiest cities on earth and just enjoy the music!Once I had gotten a decent dose of the music, we continued to walk and almost instantly came upon this lovely sight!
There was a group of about 8 skaters that were taking turns jumping over the caution tape tied between these two barricades. It was kind of random, but very cool to watch. (I figured out later that this group is in this plaza just about every day, well when it is nice out.) Oh and yes, that is the Louvre in the background.
After those two lovely surprises, we headed back for real. Well sort of.. we stopped to get crepes on the way home. First Matt got a ham and cheese one to eat while we walked, then we stopped to get a nutella and banana one for Lauren when we got closer to the house. I carried it back because Matt was eating his dessert crepe and it was so difficult not to take a bite!! But I was good and Lauren was very happy to have the crepe, not to mention she was feeling all better! The two of them headed out to a romantic date at a nameless restaurant that they stumbled upon. (awwwwww)
Misa had gotten a bunch of work done and had a nap so she was all ready to go! Her aunt was over and then a couple of their friends showed up. They were all speaking french, so I decided to stay in Misa's room and watch a little bit of The Graduate while they visited. At around 7:30 Misa came to get me because we had plans to eat dinner with a couple of her friends from school. Her Lebanese friend, Nora was making some delicious food! yum! So we headed out to the left bank, which means that we had to pass Notre Dame, and it happened to be the perfect time for photos....
We got to Nora's apartment and I met Lauren, Elizabeth and Nora. They were all so nice! The kitchen was pretty small, so Misa and I had to sit it out while they made dinner. The result was this...
YUMMMMMM!! She also had really good pita to go with it. It was exactly what I wanted. For those of you that don't know, I have a little bit of an obsession with hummus so not eating it for 2 months is a pretty big deal. Well for me at least. hahahAfter dinner we headed to a local hookah place to drink some yummy tea and smoke hookah of course. The place looked a little more like someones house than a restaurant, but it was really comfortable. The five of us snagged a spot downstairs and ordered. While we were waiting Misa got a little pensive...
She has a great profile! yay! Finally our drink came and we sat and talked and chilled for a while.
As it got later Misa started to turn into her late night self...
so I suggested that we should probably head back. haha. So we walked home (the metro was closed) and passed out. And that was the end of Sunday night!Monday April 6th, 2009
Misa had school and left around 10 for class. YAY! haha just kidding. Matt texted me around 10:30. He wanted to meet up in an hour and wanted me to bring my OJ... haha ok. I was the one that was late this time AND I forgot the OJ. Matt grabbed some more and then cracked out a bottle of champagne for us to share before we headed out for the day. Yay Matt!!!! We saw this cute girl chasing pigeons while we were waiting...
After mimosas we headed over to Notre Dame. I figured that I had walked by it one to many times without going in and that is not acceptable! One the way Lauren spotted this sweet car...
It was really beautiful inside. It had a ton of fleur de lis!!! These are my two favorite...
After the tour inside, which was free by the way, we wanted to head up the tower and have a look at Paris. Unfortunately that line was sooooo long, so we decided to spend our time wisely, doing something more productive that waiting in line. This means that we got nutella and banana crepes. YUM! Then we went and say in the park behind Notre Dame to figure out what we were going to do next. Break out the handy guide book!!! But first cute pictures...
awwwwww!! Lauren tossed her purse down on the ground to take this picture, which would have been fine if the ground wasn't dirt and gravel. Poor purse.
We finally made up our mind to head to the Louvre and actually go in. Matt wanted to take the long way again so he could see the street vendors and wonder around on the left bank a little. Everyone started to get a little hungry so we spotted a bakery and got a baggutte and some croissants to go along with the wine and cheese that Matt was already lugging around. Misa had mentioned earlier in the week that a lot of people picnic on the foot bridges when it is nice outside, so I suggested we go there to eat. We found a nice little spot and got cosy! (Matt took the pic of me)
This guy was across the bridge from us.
After Matt's bag was significantly lighter, we headed into the Louvre. What follows is some of the pieces that I found cool. Yes, I did see the Mosa Lisa, but no I'm not going to include it here. She's cool, but y'all have seen her a million times. We also saw Winged Glory of Samothrace but I didn't get a pic... Here are the ones that I did get photos of...We decided to do the Ancient Greek Wing and then the Mesopotamia section...
Here's Hercules!
These artists amaze me! That bed looks so freaking comfortable and the clothes look so flowy! Plus she has a pretty nice tush! haha. How do they do it?!
This is a really cool drum that reminded me of how Matt is always drumming on things. Yay Matt! I tried to get it for him, but the curator didn't really like that...
The rest of this is really cool pottery that I'm going to use to inspire me in my ceramics seminar class in the spring. YAY
Then the museum closed before we got to see any more. I guess I'll have to go back! (Fun Fact: It would take you 4 months to see every piece of artwork in the Louvre if you only stood in front of each one for 1 minute!)
We started walking back towards Misa's place, but our feet were tired so we grabbed drinks and chilled in a park for a bit. There was an interesting group of men playing Bacci ball right next to us. It consisted of several old men in suites, a younger man in jeans and a t-shirt and a man dressed in Fubu. It was really cool to hear them arguing in French, especially because I had no idea what they were saying! hahaI had to be back at the apartment for 7 for dinner, so we had to leave the park. Matt and Lauren came up to say goodbye to Misa because they were leaving the next day and she had school. Then Misa and I made dinner! She made pasta with yummy sauce and I made steaks! yum!
After dinner, we chilled and watched The Graduate and then went to bed. Yay Monday!!!Tuesday April 7th, 2009
I was supposed to meet Matt and Lauren at 9:30 in their section of town to walk around and get lunch before they left, buuuut I woke up with a migraine. I figured out later it was because I had not been drinking as much water as my body is used to... oops. Anyways, I had to stay in bed all day and try to sleep it off because Misa didn't have any meds and I didn't want to go out. By the time that Misa got home at 5, I was feeling good enough to go on our second date of the week.... MUSSELS!!!!!
When my papi went to Paris a couple of years ago (without me of course), he could not stop raving about the mussels, thus I had to have some. Plus I LOVE mussels. A lot. So Misa looked up this cute little place right by Luxemburg Park and the Pantheon.
We sat outside on the side walk, which made Misa happy!
Then the food came out!!
I want you all to notice the drip of sauce that is coming off of that bread. SOOOO GOOOD!!!!After that very satisfying dinner, which only ran us 30 Euro (we even got a pint of beer each), we headed to The Fifth bar to meet up with some friends and watch the Arsenal v VillaReal game. On the way I stopped to take this photo...
And Misa didn't see me stop...
But it wasn't an accident! Look how smug she is!!!! Meany. I can't help that I have short legs...
It was a pretty disappointing display of football from Arsenal, but I did have a good convo with one of the guys about Morocco. yay!
Once the game had finished we headed back to the apartment to watch a movie before bed, Woody Allen's Manhattan. Misa only got about 15 minutes in, but as I had slept all day I had plenty of energy to watch the movie and chat with Matt on skype. I had never seen Manhattan and I thought it was really funny and witty. yay! for Tuesday!!!
Wednesday April 8th, 2009
Wednesday marked the beginning of my solo wanderings through Paris because Misa had class and Matt and Lauren were gone. It was kinda gross outside, so I decided that I would try to go to Museé d'Orsay again. It started to drizzle, so I took the short route. When I got there the line was massive. It must have been twice the size of the Sunday line. I debated for about 15 minutes what I was going to do, but decided to do it another day because the line had only moved about 15 feet in the time.
Instead I headed to a most glorious place called Angelina's. This is a cafe right by the Louvre, therefore not far from where I was, that was supposed to serve some amazing hot chocolate. My family bragged about it after there last trip to Paris, again without me. I had to wait for a couple of minutes to get a table, but soon enough I was seated and ordering.
Then it came out...
It was milky and rich, but not too heavy. Basically it was perfect. Plus it came with a nice view of the park!
And because I am the awesomest daughter/sister/girlfriend in the whole world, I picked up some for the family and boyfriend back home!
After getting very wet, I decided to take a little rest at the apartment before heading out again. Centre Pompidou didn't look too crowded when I walked by, so I decided to check it out. 
The line looks long, but it moved quickly, and before I knew it I was heading up the strange escalators in plastic tubes on the outside of the building.
(Above) This is closer to the top, where you can see the Eiffel Tower and the crappy weather... haha.
The museum had two visiting exhibits that I really wanted to check out. I wasn't allowed to take photos in either exhibit, so I found one or two for you. The first one I went to was by Kandinsky. His paintings were soo cool. And they had it set up in chronological order, which was really interesting. Two of his paintings that I really liked are
Composition VIII
Yellow-Red-Blue
The second exhibit was of Alexander Calder's works. He was a sculptor and this exhibit showed mainly his wire and toy sculptors. They were so cool!Joshephine Baker III
They were all displayed like this, so really it was two pieces of work. Y'all should check him out, if you haven't already.After these two exhibits and all the walking that I had done already, I was exhausted. I made an attempt and looking at the permanent works on other levels, but I could not stand up much longer. You would think after walking so much in Granada for the past two months, I would be used to it. I blame it on the nasty weather!
So I headed home and grabbed a baguette and some apples on the way home for dinner. Misa was going to go watch another futbol game, but I decided to stay and catch up on my journal writing and outside communication. (My computer didn't get internet access in her apartment so I had to use hers. It was a PC, so it hated me and was slow.) When Misa got back we cleaned the apartment some and packed up our stuff. She was heading out for Germany the next day and I was headed to her friend Georgia's apartment for the night. My flight was on Friday. We got through about 30 minutes of the Pride and Prejudice before Misa fell asleep, and that was only because I talked to her for the first 15!
Thursday April 9th, 2009
Misa had class in the morning, so I was on my own again. I was supposed to wake up with her and head to d'Orsay, but I slept through my alarm. Instead I got up around 11am, ate breakfast and chilled till Misa got back at noon. Took this pic too...
We finished cleaning up together and then headed over to Georgia's place. It was only about 5 minutes away, which was nice. I had met Georgia my first night in Paris and we hung out a couple of other times, so I was excited to see her again and grateful that she was taking me in. Her building was nestled behind some shops (very Parisian, Misa says) and up six flights of well worn stairs.
The apartment itself has a large living room and dinning room and a decent sized kitchen. The two bedrooms are above in the loft. Its all very open with large windows. All in all a really nice place.
We hung out for a while before Misa had to leave to go to work, then the train station. Georgia gave me the keys to the apartment so that I could go out for the afternoon, as long as I was back by 7 to let her in after class. No problem!I headed out in the general direction of the center of town, not quite knowing what it was that I wanted to do on my last day. Should I try d'Orsay again or walk down Champs-Elysées and see the Arc de Triumphe or maybe go back to the Louvre for another look-see. In the end I decided that I wanted to see d'Orsay and the impressionist paintings that it housed. Boy was I happy with my decision. It only took be about 10 minutes to go through security and get into the museum. I guess when it is nice out, people don't want to go to museums!
The museum displays a whole range of art works ranging from 1848-1914 and the whole thing is organized chronologically. Double yay! I saw a lot of very impressive art, but my favorite painter in the museum was definitely Edgar Degas. This is partially because he spent about a year in New Orleans, and one of my favorite restaurants in New Orleans carries his name. Coincidentally, that restaurant has my favorite mussels in New Orleans. Anyways, back to the art.
I was aware that he painted beautifully, but I was unaware that he also did bronze statues. And they were beautiful! (They reminded me of my friend Ashley, who is a sculpture major at Southwestern and made a very cool little bronze last year)
And my favorite... Little Dance, Age Fourteen. It reminds me of my sister...
And of course there were other gorgeous paintings like this on by Gustave Caillebotte called The Floor Scrappers
There were so many more paintings that I would love to show you, but alas this blog is too long already.Sooooo I headed back to Georgia's apartment for 7 pm. We'll I took this photo, then headed back...
The rest of my day was uneventful. My computer got internet in her apartment, so I was a little excited to be able to use my Mac and video chat with Matt. Plus, Georgia went out with her friends and took the key, so I couldn't really leave. It was a relaxing night though.Friday April 10th, 2009
I woke up around 1pm just in time to chat with Matt before he went to work. Then I got a headache, so I took a nap until 3:30. I thought my flight was at 8pm, so leaving the apartment for the metro station at 4:30 or so would have given me plenty of time to mess things up. When I woke up at 3:30 I decided to check my flight status and saw that my flight was at 18:20 not 8:20. Yay for the stupid 24 hr clock! So I threw all my stuff in my bags as fast as I could, gave Georgia a goodbye hug, and rushed to the metro. My train showed up within minutes of me getting to the landing, and I got off at the right stop, on the Orly train, through security and to my terminal with 40 minutes to spare. After that it was all a piece of cake. My transit back to Granada could not have gone more smoothly. Here are some pics...
The Granada airport is really small, so you get to walk on the tarmac. I actually prefer this because you can exit from both the front and back door, which makes everything go faster.
On the bus ride home.
And there's all my clean laundry waiting for me when I arrive! yay!
Yay for Paris and a good trip!
Did you get to see Venus De Milo? That section was closed when I went last Summer...it made me sad. = ( If you did I'd love a picture if you have one!
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