Michelle, ma belle…
It’s been a whirlwind three weeks since I arrived in Paris, and on Wednesday of last week, it got even whirlwindier. Michelle Enriquez, my BFF of about 12 years, decided to jet-set from Barcelona, Spain over to Paris for a visit. We had SUCH a great time together, seeing many of the monuments and museums I'd already visited (the Louvre, Notre Dame, etc.), but also doing SO MUCH that I've been waiting to do because I knew would be more fun with a good friend.
Michelle and her friend Kelsey touched down in Paris around 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, and I met them at the hotel as soon as the ballet was over. (You may recall I won tickets to see a ballet at the Comédie-Francaise.) Incidentally, Wednesday was the citywide Fête de la Musique, where bands and orchestras and hip hop acts and EVERYONE plays free music in the streets. Robbie Williams even gave a free concert! We tried to find a cool act, but we got started pretty late (after midnight), and we decided to just head back to the hotel before the metros all closed. The metros were SUPPOSED to stay open all night because of the festival, but the directrice at school had warned us of a rumored metro strike that would leave festival-goers with few options.
Well guess what? That happened to us. We had to walk MILES back to the hotel, arriving around 2:30 a.m. Not exactly the warmest welcome Kelsey and Michelle could have had. I stayed at the hotel Wednesday night because I certainly didn't want to walk home alone!
The next day was MUCH better. Michelle and I went shopping for hours, spent way too much money, and then headed up to Montmartre, this artist colony on top of a mountain in northwest Paris. We found a restaurant that serves all manner of fondue and-- get this-- wine out of BABY BOTTLES. I'd love to show you pictures, but it may take a while since the computer is a little busted. I'll try later.
After Montmartre (which was out of this world), we went to the Eiffel Tower to see the light show. We managed to get the LAST elevator to the top, and we got to view the entire city lit up from the highest point. We shared the elevator with two French guys who were actually good looking, and they took quite a liking to us. It got old after a while, but it was fun to speak in French and translate for Michelle.
Friday we spent HOURS in the Louvre, which was crazy. That place is WAY too intimidating, but it's also awe-inspiring to be in a room with antiquities and masterpieces like those.
After the Louvre, we made our way to Notre Dame, where Michelle spent a small fortune on rosaries for family members. It was my third visit to Notre Dame during this trip, but this was the first time I was really struck by the commercialism of the church of Notre Dame. Michelle and I had seen a painting at the Louvre called Jesus Driving the Merchants from the Temple, a portrayal of the episode in John 2 where Jesus threw out all the merchants desecrating the temple with their base trades. The gift shop in the church, the line of people waiting to pay eight euro to go up to the top with romantic notions of The Hunchback... and all the while they were conducting a church service. It was a little off-putting.
The good news is, I got over it and Michelle and I had a picnic on the Pont Alexandre III (Bridge of Alexander III) overlooking the Seine. It was so simple: wine, cheese, ham, fruit... We would have had a baguette, but I accidentally left it at home. We took really artsy photos of the river and the sunset and the boats. TONS of fun.
Saturday Michelle and I met really early to go to a flea market just north of Paris. It's supposedly the largest flea market in the world, and it really felt huge! It is mostly comprised of people selling T-shirts and touristy stuff, but there is a good amount of people selling really interesting handmade leather purses, gorgeous linens, beads, pottery... Our favorite part of the market is the antiques and home furnishings section, which we stumbled on by accident. If I had a ton of money, I'd definitely go back there and buy EVERYTHING, but it's not cheap, so I just looked.
Michelle, on the other hand, bought a really beautiful little glass, multi-leveled candelabra with lots of hanging pendants. It was originally 50 euro-- about 65 dollars-- but it had been marked down to only 19 euro. She bought it and deemed it her "distinctively Parisian purchase." But unfortunately, the story doesn't end there. We walked back to the metro, and Michelle got pushed into a metal pole. The candelabra broke into six pieces only minutes after she bought it. She's hopeful that it's fixable, but I'm really not so sure...
We decided to drown the sorrow over the broken candelabra in some quiche and beignets. HAHA! I swear, I ate more this weekend than I have in the ENTIRE three weeks I've been here, combined. After stuffing ourselves, we sat in front of a movie screen for two ours and let the adipose percolate. The film of choice was "La Rupture," or as my American friends call it, "The Breakup." I liked it because it didn't fit the traditional romantic comedy formula, but Michelle was not a fan. At least it gave us something to talk about.
We walked to Ile de Saint Louis, one of two islands in the Seine, where they sell the best ice cream and gelato in Paris. We each got two scoops-- I chose coconut and kiwi (the coconut was TO DIE FOR), and Michelle chose strawberry and yogurt flavor. TASTY.
We walked all over the island and saw many a chic boutique, and then we walked around the city for hours and hours and people-watched and talked, and Michelle fell in love with a French firefighter for about five minutes (long story, and this blog is getting long enough. Ask me if you're curious.) It was gay pride weekend and everything was crazy, so we decided to go back to the hotel. Plus, we were sooo tired from all of the day's events. I spent the night at the hotel, because Michelle agreed to accompany me to church the next morning (YAY!).
Which leads me to Sunday: I had been wanting to visit this English-speaking Protestant church comprising mostly Scottish people. We walked there the next morning, but as it turns out, we were an hour early. We chatted for a bit with a couple of the Scots (haha), and in the few minutes we were there, they invited us to join their choir, have tea and biscuits with them, and we met some of the church leadership. AS SOON AS we walked in the door! I really loved the vibe. HOWEVER-- Michelle and I were starving and we still had quite a while before the service was scheduled to begin, so we left to try to find a boulangerie where we could buy a pastry or something. We FULLY INTENDED TO COME BACK-- you all know how important it has been to me to find a church here-- but we got caught up in a really terrible rainstorm and had to take cover in the nearest metro, which didn't lead back to the church. I know, I'm terrible, but I am DEFINITELY going back there next week.
On the bright side, the metro DID lead to the Musée D'Orsay, and Michelle and I got to browse among thousands of GORGEOUS and soothing works of art. I LOVED the Musée D'Orsay, WAY more than the Louvre. One of my favorite painters of all time is Edgar Degas, and this museums houses a huge collection of his work. It also has a ton of Claude Monets, and since I just visited his home in Giverny, it was a little surreal. Overall, this museum is just a gentler, happier Louvre. The flow is better, and it's also pretty super awesome that the museum was converted from an old train station. LOVE IT.
We were approaching the hour of Michelle's departure, so we decided to have a goodbye lunch at none other than Chez MacDo, or McDonald's. I'm telling you, it's SOOO much better here.
Then she left. Sighhh... But it was a GREAT time, and I'm blessed to have GREAT friends. Thanks for reading this much. I know it was a long one...
Happy,
Kate
Michelle and her friend Kelsey touched down in Paris around 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, and I met them at the hotel as soon as the ballet was over. (You may recall I won tickets to see a ballet at the Comédie-Francaise.) Incidentally, Wednesday was the citywide Fête de la Musique, where bands and orchestras and hip hop acts and EVERYONE plays free music in the streets. Robbie Williams even gave a free concert! We tried to find a cool act, but we got started pretty late (after midnight), and we decided to just head back to the hotel before the metros all closed. The metros were SUPPOSED to stay open all night because of the festival, but the directrice at school had warned us of a rumored metro strike that would leave festival-goers with few options.
Well guess what? That happened to us. We had to walk MILES back to the hotel, arriving around 2:30 a.m. Not exactly the warmest welcome Kelsey and Michelle could have had. I stayed at the hotel Wednesday night because I certainly didn't want to walk home alone!
The next day was MUCH better. Michelle and I went shopping for hours, spent way too much money, and then headed up to Montmartre, this artist colony on top of a mountain in northwest Paris. We found a restaurant that serves all manner of fondue and-- get this-- wine out of BABY BOTTLES. I'd love to show you pictures, but it may take a while since the computer is a little busted. I'll try later.
After Montmartre (which was out of this world), we went to the Eiffel Tower to see the light show. We managed to get the LAST elevator to the top, and we got to view the entire city lit up from the highest point. We shared the elevator with two French guys who were actually good looking, and they took quite a liking to us. It got old after a while, but it was fun to speak in French and translate for Michelle.
Friday we spent HOURS in the Louvre, which was crazy. That place is WAY too intimidating, but it's also awe-inspiring to be in a room with antiquities and masterpieces like those.
After the Louvre, we made our way to Notre Dame, where Michelle spent a small fortune on rosaries for family members. It was my third visit to Notre Dame during this trip, but this was the first time I was really struck by the commercialism of the church of Notre Dame. Michelle and I had seen a painting at the Louvre called Jesus Driving the Merchants from the Temple, a portrayal of the episode in John 2 where Jesus threw out all the merchants desecrating the temple with their base trades. The gift shop in the church, the line of people waiting to pay eight euro to go up to the top with romantic notions of The Hunchback... and all the while they were conducting a church service. It was a little off-putting.
The good news is, I got over it and Michelle and I had a picnic on the Pont Alexandre III (Bridge of Alexander III) overlooking the Seine. It was so simple: wine, cheese, ham, fruit... We would have had a baguette, but I accidentally left it at home. We took really artsy photos of the river and the sunset and the boats. TONS of fun.
Saturday Michelle and I met really early to go to a flea market just north of Paris. It's supposedly the largest flea market in the world, and it really felt huge! It is mostly comprised of people selling T-shirts and touristy stuff, but there is a good amount of people selling really interesting handmade leather purses, gorgeous linens, beads, pottery... Our favorite part of the market is the antiques and home furnishings section, which we stumbled on by accident. If I had a ton of money, I'd definitely go back there and buy EVERYTHING, but it's not cheap, so I just looked.
Michelle, on the other hand, bought a really beautiful little glass, multi-leveled candelabra with lots of hanging pendants. It was originally 50 euro-- about 65 dollars-- but it had been marked down to only 19 euro. She bought it and deemed it her "distinctively Parisian purchase." But unfortunately, the story doesn't end there. We walked back to the metro, and Michelle got pushed into a metal pole. The candelabra broke into six pieces only minutes after she bought it. She's hopeful that it's fixable, but I'm really not so sure...
We decided to drown the sorrow over the broken candelabra in some quiche and beignets. HAHA! I swear, I ate more this weekend than I have in the ENTIRE three weeks I've been here, combined. After stuffing ourselves, we sat in front of a movie screen for two ours and let the adipose percolate. The film of choice was "La Rupture," or as my American friends call it, "The Breakup." I liked it because it didn't fit the traditional romantic comedy formula, but Michelle was not a fan. At least it gave us something to talk about.
We walked to Ile de Saint Louis, one of two islands in the Seine, where they sell the best ice cream and gelato in Paris. We each got two scoops-- I chose coconut and kiwi (the coconut was TO DIE FOR), and Michelle chose strawberry and yogurt flavor. TASTY.
We walked all over the island and saw many a chic boutique, and then we walked around the city for hours and hours and people-watched and talked, and Michelle fell in love with a French firefighter for about five minutes (long story, and this blog is getting long enough. Ask me if you're curious.) It was gay pride weekend and everything was crazy, so we decided to go back to the hotel. Plus, we were sooo tired from all of the day's events. I spent the night at the hotel, because Michelle agreed to accompany me to church the next morning (YAY!).
Which leads me to Sunday: I had been wanting to visit this English-speaking Protestant church comprising mostly Scottish people. We walked there the next morning, but as it turns out, we were an hour early. We chatted for a bit with a couple of the Scots (haha), and in the few minutes we were there, they invited us to join their choir, have tea and biscuits with them, and we met some of the church leadership. AS SOON AS we walked in the door! I really loved the vibe. HOWEVER-- Michelle and I were starving and we still had quite a while before the service was scheduled to begin, so we left to try to find a boulangerie where we could buy a pastry or something. We FULLY INTENDED TO COME BACK-- you all know how important it has been to me to find a church here-- but we got caught up in a really terrible rainstorm and had to take cover in the nearest metro, which didn't lead back to the church. I know, I'm terrible, but I am DEFINITELY going back there next week.
On the bright side, the metro DID lead to the Musée D'Orsay, and Michelle and I got to browse among thousands of GORGEOUS and soothing works of art. I LOVED the Musée D'Orsay, WAY more than the Louvre. One of my favorite painters of all time is Edgar Degas, and this museums houses a huge collection of his work. It also has a ton of Claude Monets, and since I just visited his home in Giverny, it was a little surreal. Overall, this museum is just a gentler, happier Louvre. The flow is better, and it's also pretty super awesome that the museum was converted from an old train station. LOVE IT.
We were approaching the hour of Michelle's departure, so we decided to have a goodbye lunch at none other than Chez MacDo, or McDonald's. I'm telling you, it's SOOO much better here.
Then she left. Sighhh... But it was a GREAT time, and I'm blessed to have GREAT friends. Thanks for reading this much. I know it was a long one...
Happy,
Kate
posted by Katie | 6:17 AM
3 Comments:
Loved to hear about your time with Michelle. I felt like i was there! Ah, well, back to packing. . . Love, Meeme
Wow! That sure was one action-packed week. Enjoyed this entry very much. You shouldn't think of the long entries as LONG, they are just more descriptive. :) ~ Andy
Felt like I was there w/ the two of you! SC
Post a Comment
<< Home