I went to Paris! and this song was stuck in my and Carolina's heads the whole time. Listen to it while you look at the pics and as I tell you stories!
i arrived in terminal 2 at 10:30pm, it was essentially empty and I had to take the shuttle to terminal 1 (4 stops away) to take a bus to Paris's center. I arrived at terminal 1 and there was NO SIGNAGE for finding the bus. There also were NO PEOPLE. only janitors and cleaning ladies who didnt speak any of my languages and also, simply didnt KNOW where the buses were. eventually a very very nice worker called his friend who spoke some english and also worked at the airport. the man came to where I was and took me to this bus stop pictured above. where I stood for 10 minutes (and took a few pictures) before realizing that the buses in fact stopped at 11 and it was now 11 30. This meant I had to take a taxi. upstairs there was a giant queue of people waiting for the taxis, but there were ZERO taxis. There was an airport worker calling all the taxis but kept on saying "there are no more taxis". I was trapped at charles de gaule airport. not what I expected for my arrival to paris. At least I wasnt alone...I figured worst came to worst i could just sleep at the airport until 6 am the next day when the buses started up again. Then i saw this blond little firecracker who was absolutely flabbergasted at the lack of taxis, and lack of help, and the french people's lack of care, she was running around, pissed off, asking people if they wanted to share a taxi when one came/talking to the airport worker etc etc. I knew I could get out of the airport if i befriended her. so i did. and we took the shuttle to terminal 3 (2 stops away) and split a cab together. her name was suzanne, from texas, lived in new york for 10 years, was a fashion consultant and is now living in paris. fabulous.and she had the most remarkable pair of black boots with GILDED heels! I arrived at carolinas house at 12:30 am.
when I woke up in the morning ("feeling like p diddy grab my glasses, I'm out the door, I'm gonna hit this city"...kidding! Ke$ha song...), early, because I was just too excited I was in Paris, I opened up my balcony window and this is the first thing I saw! I had to grab my camera.
adjacent to our flat
the detailing in my room!
a wall of an adjacent building
the house had SO MUCH light in it, I actually went around and drew a floor plan of the whole apartment in my notebook! one tip architects: light wells. there was even a window in a closet. a true novelty.
pretty
a room with a view :)
hello, neighbors!
PUPPY! Molly is probably the weirdest dog I have ever met.
Chanel N°5
Chanel N°5
excited. also, great armoire.
we did a cooking class in Paris alñskdfjñasdlfkj!! I didnt realize that I wouldnt understand a thing they were saying (since it was in french) until I actually arrived and they were speaking french. but it was actually fine, because I just payed extra attention to their actions. Carolina speaks french, but ended up asking me questions/what the next steps were! actions really do speak louder than words.
Carolina looking foxy whilst mixing the mushroom risotto
window glare.
after class we walked all over paris. I think I want to crop this picture so you only see the tops of the building/carousel. I'll crop it just above the truck.
I love it when steel is lacy. This is a green lacy steel bridge
Quasimoto's crib! (Notre Dame)
carolina in paris
not exactly snow white, but this guy had birds flocking to his hands to eat. I thought it was kinda gross.
two people in paris who will never know I took this photo of them
this guy had the most piercing blue eyes, played a fierce accordion, and I believe in a moment of fiery passion threw his head back and yelled "SCORPION!". I'm going to copy him from now on. PS my obsession with accordions continues fervently
Carolina by some trees right next to this ww2 memorial we went to that was unfortunately quite ugly. The memorial, not the trees. I was very disappointed. we couldnt take pictures of it either.
Remember in Before Sunset, Ethan Hawk's character returns to France to promote a book he wrote and to find Julie Delpy again? THIS IS THE BOOK SHOP! [Brooke Hulteen this one's for you]
a couple being really cute. also, this looks like city hall in San Francisco. was i creepy for taking this picture?
for trish
i really dont get the obsession, but thats just me. it was multi-story and there were very many VERY excited japanese people running about.
someday... maybe.
Carolina by some trees right next to this ww2 memorial we went to that was unfortunately quite ugly. The memorial, not the trees. I was very disappointed. we couldnt take pictures of it either.
love locks on bridges. and people throw the keys in the river. keon we should do this on our sister honeymoon because sisterly love is the best kind of love in the world! except can we please not throw the key because that's littering...
it was very explicit.
it was very explicit.
CELEBRITY! Gaudi's Metros...swoon!
hello, Patina...double swoon.
THE BEST MEAL OF MY LIFE at Ladurée. Ladurée is a world famous patisserie, mostly famous for their macarons (of which i ate 8 in one day). Ladurée did all the little cakes and goodies you saw in Sophia Coppola's movie Marie Antoinette. Regardless of what you thought about the movie, the visuals were undeniably stimulating. Anyway, I ordered a jus de pamplemousse (grapefruit juice) to balance out the sweetness of the macarons, cafe au lait (coffee and milk) for energy, and 4 mini macarons: rose, orange blossom, madagascar chocolate gnoch, and voilet-currant. the rose and orange blossom tasted like god kissed me on the lips. it was the most delicious thing EVER. i wish i bought a box of infinity of them. or maybe ill just move to france and work at Ladurée and basque in the glory of the macarons every day for the rest of my life...kidding...kind of.
being a silly tourist (and hopeless foodie) taking pictures of the macarons!
more macarons!
this reminded me of my mom. she knows why.
the eiffel tower lights up for 5 mins every hour on the hour and i snapped a quick pic.
arc de triomphe, empty street, moon.
a shameless round 2 "tea time" at 11:30 at night.
this time i got pistacho, vanilla, raspberry, and lemon.
i couldnt help myself. they're so adorable.
rose icecream. it was straight up bastani irani (persian icecream)
being hygienic.
mirror shot.
outside of Laduree. keon i cant wait to go here with you. it'll be like the time we went to Serendipity in New York BUT times 100,000
can you see the shadow of the man on the building? also mine and carolina's on the pavement?
city lights. I believe this was taken from carolina's favorite bridge in Paris, undeneath which we found a club, and curiously entered. As we waited in line a bouncer offered us jelly beans. we each took one. then carolina looked at me and said "do you realize we pre-gamed with macarons and rose icecream?" the natural response could only be and do you realize we just gamed with a jelly bean? girls gone wild.
soaking it in
a delightful cheese shop the inside was decorated with an explosion of plastic flowers.
my favorite flower in the universe. 'tis the season of anemones!
the white ones are my favorite.
you make my heart pitter-patter...
and take my breath away...i love flowers.
celebrity sighting!
view from the metro crossing the sen river eeee!
eeeeeeeeeee! so excited!
being shooed-away by the chinese tourists. who i later sassed out because they kept on walking in the middle of our pictures and taking their own pictures!
eiffel and me!
being silly with statues
really silly...photo taken by a poor dutch couple we accosted for a photo shoot...
really silly...photo taken by a poor dutch couple we accosted for a photo shoot...
in front of a living wall!
guess whooooo!?!?!?
hello, eiffel tower!!! so nice to finally meet you...
I CANT BELIEVE I WAS RIGHT THERE!
their front yard is the eiffel tower...
spring blossoms and eiffel tower
hi!
its just so lacy and light and beautiful. whether you like it or not, its an icon, and i´m a star-struck ex-architecture student.
and its just so wonderfully photogenic it makes EVERYONE look like an amazing photographer!
shayan was here
i dont think you can tell in this photo but there was a RAINBOW! it was MAGICAL.
cool.
au'revoir eiffel tower!
iranian embassy! i've never seen one of these before! also i saw an iran air office!
just down the street there was a small small demonstration of iranians yelling "marg bar khamenei marg bar dictator." (death to khamenei, death to the dictator) which was quite cool but they had parchame shir o khorshid (lion and sun flag, the previous iranian flag before the revolution)...which means they were shahi (shah supporters)...which was not cool...honestly HOW do people support monarchies these days?? so primitive.
louis vuitton shop...uhm, kind of strange display, but i was there, and it was there, and i had my camera in hand so i took a picture.
someday... maybe.
met up with Nadia, Asal's lovely friend I met back in Chatel. she currently lives in Paris. I have no idea why she wasnt looking at the camera...we unsuccessfully tried 5 times before giving up.
i was so tired.
french women have this amazing glow about them. is it their obsession with face creams or is it just good genes?
so, i´m standing in carolinas dads kitchen and i see this tea box...hmm...that looks SO FAMILIAR ...is it one of Jennifer's products from Country Corner??...(worked in the shop for 2 summers, i recognize the products like the back of my hand)
BY JOVE IT IS! (sorry its upside down) smaaaall world!
BASICALLY IT WAS AMAZING. there was so much I wanted to do, that I cant wait for round 2...and 3 and 4 and 5...but mostly, what I enjoy doing when I go to a new city is just walking around and getting to know it on foot, popping into shops and cafe, eating the food, drinking the drinks, meandering down streets, and just absorbing everything thats around me. and thats mostly what i did this time. i was mistaken for moroccan, french, portuguese, and spanish...realized that franco's influence on spain is still extremely visible today in that it is still VERY NOT COSMOPOLITAN. even in the largest cities like Barcelona and Madrid. Paris was so much more diverse. I tried rhubarb jam for the first time, ate the most amazing french bread, walked along the Sen, ordered a crepe in french , gazed up at the eiffel tower and Notre Dame Cathedral, learned to make a really delicious meal from a 5-star hotel chef, laughed my face off with carolina (as usual), hung out with a really awkward dog, and basically indulged all my senses in every way possible.
thank you universe for giving me this wonderful opportunity! i'm SO THANKFUL for all my good fortunes!
X
No comments:
Post a Comment