paris is my life

Paris is my life
So where did I leave off...so much to tell about our few 
days in Paris. Action 
packed and such a blast. When we first got 
in and settled into our new 
apartment, we were exhausted and slept for a few hours. 
After feeling quite at home 
and utilizing our host's espresso machine 
(he has a frother machine too) I 
forced the sisters to venture out to meet my 
friend's brother and go out on the 
town. We got dolled up and went to the meeting spot 
which was a cafe that, to our surprise
 was all boarded up and no 
longer existed...so we had a glass of wine 
next door and Smyth chased down our 
friend when he rushed by headed for the 
abandoned restaurant. He was a kind of 
awkward hipster frenchie but seemed nice.
 We went to a bar with his friend ( a 
cute smart ass fellow) Jean-Baptiste, 
called Carmen. It was very chic, in an old 
redone building with oversized birdcages
 for people to sit in. Girls were 
drinking huge champagne cocktails and there
 was a lot of dancing. We all drank 
and chatted until they wanted to head to
 the next club, La Rouge- an electro 
dance club. When we arrived they tried to cut
 the line and we were sadly 
rejected to the back of the long queue. 
After about 15 minutes it got old and 
the only way to get in was going to be
 bottle service. Smamed asked if we were 
in and after a lot of hesitation they convinced us. 
But then there was another 
huge line when we got inside. By
 that time it was three something in the morning 
and we were over it. I tried to tell our 
friends and they just seemed pissed 
which only made me more annoyed....so 
after an awkward and semi-rude exchange, 
we bailed 
and tried to find a cab. They were 
not happy. We totes pissed off some Parisians. 
But we met some nice guys outside and 
they helped us get a cab! Pasta and 
chatting ensued in our apartment 
                               until after 4am :) 

The next morning was Sunday in Paris! 
Our neighborhood (Bastille) had a huge 
open air farmers market and we got a huge loot 
for the week!!! Fruits and 
veggies and bread and most importantly French 
Spike to crack infuse all of our 
creations. O and wine of course, 
delicious French vin rouge!! A nap was in order in the
 afternoon due to our late night adventure and after we
 recharged we decided to get some sightseeing 
in. Sunday is great for walking along the 
river because the street is closed to cars. 
So we moseyed along with bikers and 
strollers. We stopped to see
 Hotel de Ville, the Norte Dame Cathedral, 
Pont Nuef bridge, and the Luxembourg Gardens.
 The gardens were my favorite! It was as if 
we had stepped off the busy streets of Paris
 straight into a Jane Austen novel. 
When the rain came we went back to the apartment,
 cooked some of our delicious 
fresh market food and conked out.

Sooo, after catching up on some much needed 
sleep from our Parisian club escape, 
Monday was to be activity day! We made
 breakfast at our humble abode...fruit, 
soy lattes, and madeline cookies 
(left from our wonderful host Beaumont) Side 
note...we feel as if we now are best 
friends with Beaumont. He gave us a clear 
instruction manual, left us cookies
 and plenty of espresso, has Sex and the City 
DVDs...introduced us to a new book series Luxe,
 has a clothing rack clearly made 
for my dresses, is into Asian culture, 
we are 90% positive he is gay...basically 
we love Beaumont (haven't met him just to 
clarify). Anyway, after breakfast we 
head out to conquer my clearly mapped out itinerary :)
 First was a walk along the river to 
the Louvre. It is such an amazing building
 and although sooo crowded, every 
annoying tourist is worth going there.
 The Italian painting section, where the 
Mona Lisa is displayed, was crazy 
crowded but was my favorite section. I was 
surprised at how much I liked the Mona Lisa
 because I really didn't care to see 
it all that much. I fell in love with a 
The Wedding Feast at Cana, painted by Paolo Veronese.
 The museum is so big it is hard to see everything 
but we hit Greek sculptures next, where 
Smyth started a sassy statue series. 
We would find some funny faces and pretend 
we knew what they were thinking...clearly 
we are mature adults here. Next was 
French paintings and the Napoleon Apartments
...which were amazing! Such beautiful 
architecture and design everywhere you look!
 After several hours of wandering 
and admiring art we ventured to the
 gardens outside the museum and read our 
books in the sun.  Whitney's French 
friends told her she had to go to
Angelina's for hot chocolate and it was
 close by so we walked there. Whit and I 
split hot cocoa and I got a macaroon. 
Literally the best things I have ever put 
in my mouth. The cocoa was like drinking 
chocolate lava cake! We were both in 
heaven! Next, we walked through the ritzy 
shopping streets (passed Chanel and 
Tiffany's ...drool) to the opera house. 
I had to see where the Paris Opera 
Ballet performs! There was a big sign outside 
for the ballet and as I was 
snapping a pic one of the dancers walked 
through the stage door. Smyth said my 
face lit up like a child getting a lollipop.
 She looked just like any one of my 
ballerina friends walking out of rehearsal
 :) Whitney commented "Oh she already 
lit up her lunch"...everyone smokes here...I 
swear I saw a 6 yr old puffing on a 
cig. Anywho...it was afternoon nap time.
 Food, sleep, and get ready for round 2. 
It was Eiffel Tower picnic night. 
We cooked up some cous cous and veggies, 
poured some wine into my sigg bottle and headed 
out to see the sunset. The Eiffel 
Tower was beautiful! When we arrived
 we were haggled to buy bottles of wine and 
champagne. I knew we would need more 
so Smyth and I were able to sweet talk the 
vendor from 20 euros to 5. Holla...pros!
 We noticed one side of the lawn seemed 
to be designated for the degenerates 
and there were already drunken groups 
singing and playing. The other side 
was dominated by strollers and 
families...can you guess where we headed?!
 Once the sun is down they light up 
the tower and every hour for five minutes 
it sparkles. It really is stunning and 
I guess I'm a romantic but it made me 
so happy. And there was wine :) and my 
sisters. We laughed and begged for 
baguettes from the shady wine vendors! The 
night would have been perfect except 
for our gypsy attack. We made a new friend 
and as he was chatting with us we were
 bombarded by a father and child ramming 
maps in our faces asking for directions. 
It was so confusing and we tried to 
wave them away. A bit later we discovered 
both Smyth and Whit's phones were 
gone. Stolen by gypsy children! A huge bummer. 
Smyth's brand new iphone...and most importantly all 
of their pictures from the trip gone :(

 

The next morning we tried to get over the stolen 
phones and make the most of the 
day. It was very cold so we didn't last long 
walking around. We took the metro 
to the Montmartre area (bohemian central) 
we got off near the Moulin Rouge...it 
is not all that big and kind of a let down. But we
 walked up the street and saw 
the cafe in one if our fave movies Amelie. It was 
cute and really close to some 
great pan and fromage shops! It was definitely
 bread day...I think I ate 2 whole 
loaves by myself. We got a baguette and 
Whit picked out a soft cheese with 
raisins. We sat and ate before trekking up a huge 
hill to see Le Soucre, a huge and majestic church. 
It is a gorgeous cathedral that has a 
panoramic view of the entire city! Very 
beautiful. Next we headed to a boutique hotel 
from an article in Bon Apetit 
(thanks Sarah). It was adorable and had a
 covered outdoor terrace where we had 
afternoon red wine, more bread and 
French fries (had to get them once in 
France!). It was very relaxing and afterward
 we headed back home so Whit could 
pack and we could go out later. We watched some
 Sex and the City, made espresso, 
cooked a vegan feast, and chilled! Later
 that evening we walked to the St Martin 
district (definitely a hipster trendy area) for 
Whitney's last night in Paris. We went 
to a tiny, hidden bar also recommended by 
Bon Apetit called L'entree des 
Artists...can you guess why I picked that one ?!
 It was dark, quaint, had a very 
interesting menu of libations and played 
rad music! It was the perfect setting 
for a mellow sister night out. A couple 
of cocktails and a frommage plate later 
we were off to bed. Smyth and I sent Whitney 
off this morning on the metro to 
the airport :( sad but she is ready to see her 
baby Aven! We continued to the Pere 
Lachaise Cemetery where many famous people 
are buried. It was gorgeous to walk 
through and many of the graves were
 elaborate family plots with beautiful 
sculptures and engravings. We sought 
out Jim Morrison's grave as it is the one to 
see...but it was nothing extreme compared 
to the rest of the marvelous 
headstones. Now we are getting ready to 
say goodbye to Paris, well France 
entirely, and hello to Italy! Off to the 
night train...au revoir Paree!!