Days 9 & 10 - Fin

Sigh. We have to leave tomorrow. Can't believe it. I'm obviously so sad to go, but it's been an amazing trip, very different from the time I spent here three years ago, in the best of ways.
To recap: Yesterday was very chill, as it was Sunday and no one in France really does anything except go to church and eat on Sundays. We basically walked from one end of the Left Bank to the other - from where we are in the 5th to where we used to be in the 7th, back to our old haunt, Au Chien Qui Fume. We walked up this beautiful street, rue du Cherche Midi, and it was so empty I swear you could a pin drop (I hate cliches, but it's true). It was cloudy and cold, a huge switch from our glorious Saturday, but I actually think Paris might look best when skies are grey and it's raining a bit. We essentially set up camp there for a few hours - reading, writing, laughing about all of our adventures, and then retraced our steps back into the 6th.
Maeve wanted to check out the Delacroix museum, tucked away behind the St Germain church (next to the tourist trap of Cafes de Flore and des Deux Magots). Not only was it open, but ended up being free on Sundays. It was such a nice little detour. Plus, Delacroix? Kind of a fox. You learn something new every day. Last night we spent some time in with treats from the boulangerie and watching French television, which is hilarious and sometimes a little frightening in it's craziness. We were delighted to find American Beauty, dubbed in French, and Suddenly Last Summer (part of an Elizabeth Taylor marathon).
Today was a lot of wandering, soaking up as much of the city as possible. We walked to the Ile St Louis in the morning and got into conversation with a man who had just arrived in Paris from Libya, where he monitored human rights violations. I don't I've ever seen someone so shellshocked. He said it felt like being in Oz, which definitely made sense. We walked over to the right bank, back to some favorite spots in the Marais, and then, when it got really cold, we hopped on the Metro back to the 5th. We spent the rest of the late afternoon in the outdoor cafe at the Mosque, with our tea and hookah and aggressive pigeons (I ended up kicking and swatting at them beyond what was normal or appropriate). We just packed (sob), and tonight we'll have a little picnic while we glorify in front of the Eiffel Tower. I can't wait to see it sparkle up close!
Can't believe I have to return to my real life tomorrow. As always, Paris has been magnifique.
Xo.

Location:Rue de la Clef,Paris,France

Day 8 - being flaneuses*

Yesterday was so idyllic. 73 and sunny, trees in bloom, long walks and a picnic by the Seine. Seriously contemplating how we are going to force ourselves into going to the airport on Tuesday morning.
They day even began excellently. We slept with the windows open last night and woke up to a French man in the apartment behind us blasting Whitney Houston (All At Once, if you happen to be a Whitney connoisseur), and singing along, of course. Right away, we knew this was a good omen.
We headed out to Montorgueil, which is very lively, especially on a Saturday. Lots of cafes, shops, and food stores. There were children and dogs everywhere. We grabbed a quick dejeuner to go, walked for a while, and stopped into a few boutiques before going into E. Delherin, a quintessentially French kitchen store. We made some purchases, walked around the neighborhood, and made our way to the Seine.
Seine picnics are one of the most "Paris" activities to me. Sitting on the Ile de la Cite, close to the water, next to the Pont Neuf (the oldest bridge in Paris) is really magical, and you feel like you're really experiencing the energy of the city.
After lingering in the beautiful weather for a couple of hours, we headed back to the apartment, took a little rest, and went out for the evening. We had a glass of white wine to celebrate the warm weather at Fish La Boissonerie, a favorite restaurant where we ate about a week ago. The clientele is a big mix of French, British, and American, and we ended up chatting with a born and raised New Yorker who lives above the restaurant (not a bad address). Afterwards, we went to 20 de bellechasse, a great bistro tucked away behind the Musee d'Orsay in the seventh. They make a salmon that is actually raw, but, when dipped in a specific sauce, becomes amazingly flavorful. Oh, it was so good.
Today is Sunday, a very calm day in France. Few shops or restaurants are open, so it will probably be a day of a simple meal, some reading and catching up on writing, and staring at the city some more.
We're back in New York so soon, and I feel as if I have to soak up as much Paris as I can. More before we depart on Tuesday!

* Flaneuse, a word that would only exist in French, means aimless, yet soulful, wanderer.

Days 6 & 7

We made it into some excellent churches yesterday (Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle), and reveled in Paris glory.
On Tuesday night, we went to a fun restaurant owned by a friend we made the night before. The weather wasn't great, so we headed home shortly after to rest up for Wednesday.
Wednesday was epic. We started by having a delightful coffee on the Ile de la Cite at the apartment of some friends of my parents. Their place is absolutely beautiful, a duplex facing Hotel de Ville. Afterwards, we walked along the Seine to the Marais, a favorite neighborhood. We ate legendary falafel (a specialty of the area), sat in the Place des Vosges, and wandered over to Place Vendome, home of the Ritz and essentially every luxury brand you could imagine. I did the requisite photo shoot with my Goyard bag in front of the Goyard store (I was delighted to find that their patron saint of sorts is a French bulldog chasing a ball. It seems appropriate.), and wearing my scarf in front of Hermes. Plus, everything was open, so we got to go into stores and do some dreaming.
After a quick rest at the apartment, we were off to Montmartre again to a restaurant called Aux Refuges de Fondue. They only serve one thing, cheese fondue along with wine in baby bottles. It is about as absurd as you'd imagine.
Right now, we're relaxing in a cafe, post late lunch, and tonight it's off to the Eleventh and Ave Maria. Can't wait!

Location:Rue de la Clef,Paris,France

Days 3-5. Glorious.

The past 5 days have been pure joy. It has been in the 60s and sunny, and I have never seen Paris with so few tourists. It's almost eerily quiet and with next to no Americans, which is, naturally, perfect for us.
Saturday ended in a night of truly epic proportions. Lets just say we ended up home in the very late evening/early morning after having made many new friends.
On Sunday we got an (understandably) later start, heading over to the Seventh and one of our old stand-by cafes, La Marquise. There is a chevre chaud salad that is the stuff of legend, and it was truly delicious.
Side note: my cheese tolerance has diminished considerably since I was last in Paris. Sad. We then wandered to the First, near the Concorde and Place Vendome. We went to La Duree for macaroons, which I had never tasted before and completely lived up to expectations. The rose petal flavor was especially delicious. We then walked down the rue Faubourg Saint Honore, home to many favorite aspirational stores, but I was most excited to worship at the altar of Hermes. Their windows are unreal. For dinner, we went to a brasserie that Maeve discovered in her Taschen book on Paris, Le Chartier. It was a classic French establishment and lots of fun for the people watching alone. Given the events of the previous night, we allowed ourselves no distractions that would interfere with getting a good nights sleep, so we put blinders on and went straight home.
Yesterday, we woke up early and set off to conquer the Louvre, which was great. I'm currently reading a biography of Cleopatra, so I was especially into the Egyptian and Roman artifacts. Maeve, museum warrior that she is, fought her way through the crowd in front of the Mona Lisa and got a photo of it without any Japanese tourists in the way - the mark of a true pro. The end of our time there was a little intense. All the exit signs started contradicting themselves and we felt like we'd never find a way out. There are worse things in the world than being stuck in the Louvre, but we were relieved to be free. We decided to decompress at a favorite fromagerie on rue de Seine, but when we got there, it had been replaced by some ridiculous candy store. RIP Fromagerie 31. Having been denied our lunch of cheese, we, somewhat depressed, wandered the 6th near the Place St Germain and found a tabac to serve our purposes. It's pretty difficult to find a place in Paris that isn't delicious. After a late lunch, we went to the tea garden at the Mosque, which is beautiful, and sat outside with Moroccan tea and hookah for a couple hours. Not bad, right?
Last night, we went to La Bocca, a great Italian restaurant in Montorgeuil, the Second arrondissement, followed by La Coeur Fou, a favorite bar nearby. Then, deciding we couldn't be good forever, we ran over to the Eleventh to our own version of Mecca, Ave Maria. We were able to fit in one drink before they closed, and made some friends. One of the women we spoke to owns a restaurant near Hotel de Ville, where she invited us tonight.
One of the things we've noticed this time around is how easily we're meeting people, speaking French (wine doesn't hurt), and making legitimate social connections. It's a pretty amazing feeling. I feel like I'm having a completely new conception of what Paris is, compared to my previous experiences.
I've kind of exhausted myself with this, so we're off to go for a walk around the Ile de la Cite at dusk. Hopefully the line to get into Notre Dame won't be too long and we can see the last bits of daylight through the Rose Window.

More later!

Day 2 - Rodin, Cheese, & Celebrity Sightings

Bonjour from Paris!

What an amazing time I'm having, and it's only been 2 days! I don't have a ton of time to write this, so I'll try to hit all the highlights thus far.
As some of you may know, it is impossible for me to nap or sleep sitting up in any capacity, which makes long flights completely miserable. But on Thursday night the impossible happened. I slept for the entire flight. The whole time. I'm still shocked. So, when we arrived in Paris (at the adorable apartment we're renting), after a quick double espresso, we were off and running with little to no jet lag.
We walked to the Seine, freaked out in front of Notre Dame, went to our favorite cafe for late lunch, watched French children (who are better dressed than I am on a good day), got a little lost in the 14th, and had a picnic dinner in our apartment. In the course of all this, we've been speaking a ton of French with pretty good results in that no one has answered us in English yet. Still got it.
We woke up a little late today, got pain au chocolat and more double espresso (Maeve and I enable each other's caffeine addictions), and walked all around the 5th, where the apartment is. We then walked down Rue de Grenelle, a very chic street in the 7th, on our way to the Rodin museum. Walking into a children's clothing store was a man with crazy hair who seemed familiar to me. After a bit of staring, I realized it was Tim Burton around the same time Maeve spotted Helena Bonham Carter. Of course,we went in and pretended to shop while sneaking glances their way. Such a cool celebrity sighting.
Now, we're back in the apartment preparing for dinner at Fish La Boissonerie, which I expect will be predictably amazing.

I didn't know exactly how it would feel to be back, but the only way I can describe it is boundless joy. Paris really just makes me so insanely happy.

Missing all of you. More tomorrow or the next day! Xo.

Quick Pre-Paris Update!

Ok, I know I've been very bad and have neglected this blog terribly over the past few weeks. In my defense, there has been a ton going on, especially in preparation for the trip to Paris tomorrow.
For those who want to follow along, I'll be chronicling my escapades with Maeve (more or less) daily while we're there, via iPad. No pictures until I get back, but hopefully I'll be able to describe springtime Paris well enough so you'll feel like you're there.
Until Friday - À Bientôt!



PS. On a completely unrelated note, if you have a minute, you really should read this article written by the four New York Times journalists who were held captive in Libya. Incredible story, grippingly told.

Sacred Faulkner Space

"It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

When I was writing my Senior Thesis in the Spring of 2009, I would shut my door and become a recluse for hours on end - reading The Sound and The Fury over and over again. If this seems like a recipe for insanity, that's pretty accurate. I wrote my thesis specifically on the first part of the novel, narrated by Benjy, a member of the Compson family with severe mental disabilities. Faulkner's method of narration from his perspective, with all its seemingly nonsensical prose and imagery, was unprecedented and, in my opinion, genius.
My general argument was that Benjy is an "idiot savant", a psychological phenomenon where people of low IQs possess genius-level memories or mathematical skills, like the recognition and prediction of patterns. I remember reading a study on one idiot savant that could do multiplication of huge numbers in seconds - the kind of problems usually only solved on a calculator. Benjy's seemingly impermeable accounts of specific instances are peppered with distinct memories and observations that set him apart from his limitations. Once the reader is acclimated to the admittedly psycho language of Benjy's world, it's clear that he has capabilities overshadowed by what sets him apart in the first place.
But, I don't need to rehash my paper here. The point is, I sequestered myself reading some pretty crazy literature and went hours without seeing or speaking to another human being. During this time, I told my apartment-mates that I was in the "Sacred Faulkner Space", both mentally and physically, and was not to be disturbed - for better or worse.
I feel like I'm going through something similar right now. Because I was foolish and didn't start putting money away until about a month ago, I have basically brought all social activities that involve spending money to a screeching halt until I leave for Paris. The result is a lot of time spent alone in my apartment - writing, reading (sometimes legitimate books, sometimes fashion magazines), and watching alternately awesome and awesomely bad television.
The result - I think I might be going a little crazy. Cabin fever is a real thing. I know this because it is my reality. I am typically a person who enjoys being alone, and relishes pockets of solitude amidst an active social life. But this has been a lot of time with myself, and just myself.
I have to keep telling myself that this will all be worth it when I'm in Paris, being out for breakfast, lunch, dinner, after dinner, and into the early morning. After all, what's the point of going if I'm not going to live it to the fullest? 11 days of exuberant living will be pretty incredible.
I've also downloaded a blogging app onto my iPad, so I can write little Paris dispatches while I'm there. No photos until I return, since there's no way to plug my camera into the iPad. I'll just flood this blog with them when I get back. Oh, I'm already bursting with excitement - exactly three weeks to go!

Two little postscripts.

This glorious video:



And this gem from Jezebel's "Drink 'Til He's Witty: The Reader's Drinking Game", to undercut all the Faulkner-ian pretension happening here:

William Faulkner: Every time a sentence goes on for more than a page, drink the entire bottle. Then make out with your sister.*

*I would not recommend this. To anyone.