Yesterday Megan and I decided to take a trip to the northern part of Paris...first stop, the Opéra Garnier, which is the place that Phantom of the Opera is based on. I went there the last time I was in Paris, it's absolutely gorgeous because they just finished restoring it a few years ago. There really is a gigantic chandelier, and a Box 5, for those of you who have seen Phantom. And it was pretty cool for Megan and me because the lyre, one of the symbols of Alpha Chi, is a "prominent feature of decoration". We tried to get a picture with one but they were all very high up on the walls...sad. We were unsuccessful in our search for the Phantom, but we did see some very pretty dancing costumes!
Next, we headed to Montmartre. We hiked up the high, high hill (after stopping for some souvenir shopping-I bought scarves! yay!), in the process skillfully avoiding "souvenir sellers" aka potential pickpocket (at IES they told us about a trick they will use, they'll show you a toy that traps your fingers together while they steal your wallet...someone actually approached us with it but we knew better). Eventually we made it to Sacré-Coeur, where there were street performers abounding, from living statues to a guy doing tricks with a soccer ball to a flutist. We walked around the church, then decided to climb the 300 steps to the top. I don't know why I thought doing it the second time would be better than the first time I did it, but never again, lol. 300 tiny windy spiral steps. The view is really nice though--it's much more enjoyable to see Paris from above now that I can identify stuff. So we walked around a bit more, I showed Megan some of the things I saw on my guided tour, and somehow we ended up taking a realllllly sketchy metro station to get to dinner but luckily all my stuff survived.
We went to the quartier Latin for dinner, and for 12 euros got a great 3-course meal (I was STUFFED) afterwards. I chose to try escargots for the first course (figuring I had nothing to lose since I was already saving money by choosing the prix fixe menu). They handed me six snails in the shells and two strange tools. So eventually I figured out how to eat them, and they were so good (once I got over how weird they looked). They were in a garlic and butter sauce, and they were amazing. The other two courses were equally great and we left completely stuffed to go home and watch a movie (a documentary about Marie Antoinette that did not have subtitles, but I think we understood most of it).
Today we woke up and met our friend Amy in the Bois du Vincennes (the woods on the eastern side of Paris) to have a picnic lunch of cheese, bread, and Nutella. It was pretty yummy and it's been gorgeous weather the entire weekend so it was nice. Then we got back on the metro and went to the Château de Vincennes, a castle that I think was built by Charles V and then eventually also used by Louis XIV, and was recently restored. We wandered around the donjon, or keep, and walked around a bit. It was pretty cool. More windy stairs though!!
So now we're at home relaxing before another week of class begins!
Oh, I had my first two dreams in French this weekend! Apparently that's a good sign when you're learning a language.
photo album links:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2053167&l=c788e&id=15805278
(album with Musee de l'Armee, also includes some opera pics)
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2053217&l=aac3c&id=15805278
(opera and Montmartre)
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2053264&l=dbcd7&id=15805278
(ch. de Vincennes)
1 comment:
Isn't the Paris Opera BEAUTIFUL?! And Montmartre too, of course. Congratulations for trying escargot! I'm so impressed that you liked it, and I love that you're writing about all of the wonderful food you're eating in France. Teeheehee. Also, I'm quite jealous that you dreamed in French, I'm still waiting to dream in Italian! I think it's happened before, but not too recently. That means that French is really permeating your subconscious - hooray!
Post a Comment