Thursday, May 5, 2011

Knockin' Em Down...

As promised, I've started blogging more regularly now that I a) don't have class or homework and b) have begun to cram as much sight-seeing into each day as possible, necessitating more frequent blogging to keep everything straight.

After I went to Musée Rodin on Tuesday, I went to Angelina's on Rue de Rivoli with Isabel E to try their world famous "Chocolate chaude à l'Africaine"...a delicious drink despite it's somewhat ignorant title (what do africans and chocolate have in common? oh wait...)

 Angelina's is a charming little belle epoque salon du thé  near the Jardin de Tuileries in the 1st arrondisement, known for both it's chocolate chaude and it's "Mont Blanc", a dessert made out of meringue, chantilly (whipped cream) and some type of almond filling. I plan on going back to try the Mont Blanc..i'll keep you posted. After chocolate, Isa and I took a little stroll around Place de Vendôme and checked out all of the amazing window displays. Gotta love girl talk, chocolate and window shopping tee hee (just kidding haha)

The next day (Wednesday) I went to Galeries Lafayette, a super-mall located near Palais Garnier in the 2nd. I thought I could get a proper look around in about an hour. I thought wrong.
Beautiful glass-domed ceiling



Despite the fact that it was a little crowded for my taste, I absolutely loved being surrounded by products from every major fashion house at one time. Galeries Lafayette was a-mazing not only due to the sheer size and opulence of it, but also for the booming business the high end retailers seemed to be doing in the midst of what is (or was?) a global recession. Sales clerks behind Cartier counters busily wiped ever-mounting  fingerprints off of the glass displays while a Louis Vuitton Sales Associate tried to keep the line in front of the counter quiet and orderly. Galeries Lafayette, in addition to being a designer one-stop shopping destination, also features it's own travel agency and gourmet food shop.

Today, I accomplished another item on my Paris bucket list by  pique-nique-ing with some friends at Champs de Mars, the fields surrounding the Eiffel Tower. After class I basically decided to wander around (flaneur, if you will) until I ran into something interesting. I ended up flaneur-ing my way to Jardin du Luxembourg, another stop on my list.  Though I prefer the English style (see my England post), I still found Jardin du Luxembourg to be very beautiful...though unfortunately most of the grass was not sit-able.


What Jardin du Luxembourg lacks in tush-friendly grass, however, it makes up for in an abundance of metal lawn chairs. I sat in said lawn chairs and read my LSAT prep book which had come in the mail yesterday. Studying made me feel much better and excited about the future; taking action helped to calm down a lot of my anxieties. In an attempt to find the métro, I inadvertently ran into Le Panthéon, yet another item on my list. Unfortunately it was too late to go inside, but I snapped a shot of the outside. Behind the Panthéon was l'Eglise Saint Genévieve, which had some really beautiful stained glass windows.
Le Panthéon...where all the "gods"of French culture are buried (think Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, Marie Curie..)
I like STAINED GLASS and I cannot lie...































In between sight seeing I've also been working on little things here and there, submitting an application here, getting info about another one there. I'm beat, but there's nothing quite like the feeling of getting a lot done in a small amount of time to keep one motivated!

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