Château de Vincennes

Yesterday one of my art history classes took a trip to the medieval castle of Charles V called Château de Vincennes, its the last stop on the 1 metro line. I totally recommend this place (though I'm a bit of an architecture nerd, so it might not be for everyone). That castle is still in amazing shape for having been built in the 15th century, and the site is small and easy to see in an hour or two. It is also home to the church that inspired the architecture for Saint Chapelle, and was the original church to house Jesus' crown of thorns.

What was really interesting (thats a relative term, I found it interesting haha) is how concerned people in the medieval era were about safety and protection. You can see it built into the Chateau. There was not one but two moats and drawbridges! And they had these holes built into the door frames from which they would dump hot oil on people who were trying to invade the castle. Pretty gruesome stuff!

We climes to the top of the main tower, which was where the King resided. It also served as a prison  after the royal family moved to Versailles. 

Look at the views from the top! 

And the interiors were simple but beautiful! Despite being from the middle age they looked pretty modern with all the white stone, high ceilings, and strong simple lines.

There was some pretty classy looking graffiti from its days as a prison

And beautiful sculpted detailing!

I would really recommend taking a trip to Chateau de Vincennes, we went at around 4 pm which was a beautiful time to see it.

Lets Play Catchup

Salut! I hope everyone enjoyed a fabulous weekend, I know I did! And I'm going to tell you allll about it. 

Friday

After spending the morning studying for a test and writing an essay and the afternoon taking the test, I finally finished working at 6. I know what you're thinking time to partayy, no you're wrong, it was time to watch "Bethenny Getting Married". Embarrassingly enough, this is one of my favorite shows. 

I just love how crazy and outspoken Bethenny is.

After a sufficient amount of zoning out my friends and I all made dinner. We had delicious sautéed veggies, fresh bread, and cheese from the fromagerie right downstairs from their apartment. 

Then it was time to party. We went to a club called Paris Social Club.  I have to say it wasn't that great. Maybe I've just been spoiled by going to the likes of Fabric, Egg, and Loop in London but this just did not cut it. It was tiny, there was almost no dance floor, and they were playing bad techno music. I'm now on the look out for a fabulous and fun club in Paris, I'm sure I'll find one. I think Paris Social Club was just more geared to techno music lovers than Beyoncé remix lovers like me.  

Saturday

I woke up to a beauuuutiful morning. My friends and I made plans to go to a famous open air market called The Saxe-Breteuile Market. There's a great link for information on a bunch of Paris markets here. The market was supposed to close at 2:30, but because we're in France it actually stopped at 1:30, but we were still able to get some yummy snacks. 

The highlight was definitely the fruit man (picutred above), he sold the most delicious dried strawberries they tasted like fruit snacks. And, he said there was no added sugar (I'm not sure I believe him though). He sold other things like nuts, spreads, and veggies, but his fruits were the highlight! 

And look at the amazing view from the market:

Inspired by the view we decided to picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower. 

After resting for a while we went out to dinner at a great place in the 14th called Le Verre Siffleur. I highly recommend the chicken skewers, and please please order the chocolate cake. It is so gooey and delicious, we shared one between four people but I could have easily eaten four cakes by myself. 

Sunday:

Not the day of rest for this girl! Today was a very special day for me, if was my first trip to Ladurée this time in Paris. And it was just as charming and lovely as I remember, and their macaroons were fabulous.

I got yelled at for taking that photo, so I hope you all appreciate it. Don't all the deserts look like little gems on display? They are so beautifully crafted! I just wanted to buy them all (but couldn't, 6 euros for a mini eclair! I could buy two bottles of wine for that!). 

I settled on two macaroons, a black forest flavored one and a carmel one. They were both delicious, but the black forest one was especially delicious! 

I'm sure this is just one of many trips here this semester, especially since I discovered that there is one about a 20 minute walk from my apartment. 

I'll leave you all with a picture of my walk home today. Sometimes I just get overwhelmed that my walk home includes a view of the Eiffel Tower, way better than the view of Commerce Bank I use to get when I walked home from high school.

I'm alive part two

Here is why I haven' posted: my internet is horrible. It takes about 20 minutes to upload one photo onto the blog, so please bear with me. I might go to my friends apartment and upload some pictures because its actually brutal staring at the little loading bar that never ever seems to finish loading. 

Yes, I took a picture of it. It makes me so sad. 

So, please be patient with me while I try and be patient with my internet. Today I want to talk about some of the foods I have fallen in love with here. Here is the funny thing about food, I really miss American food. "What?!" you say, "you're in France the land of food! Are you crazy?", and the answer is: probably a little bit. But honestly I just really want a good slice of Pizza, the french are a little confused by Pizza. But, the point to this long rambling about food is that I know there are things I love here that I wont be able to find in America, and when I'm home I will be so sad that I ever said I missed American food. 

1. Bread

The french know what they are doing when they make this stuff. Its just crunchy enough on the outside and warm and chewy on the inside. I have a bakery on my street corner and just the smell of bread baking makes me happy. Pair a nice baguette with some yummy cheese (gruyère is my favorite) and you've got a meal.

2. Pain au Chocolate

Once again, the bakery on the corner of my street sells these for 1.20 euros. How could you say no to that. And they make little baby ones for only .50 euro, I've gotten in the habit of always buying a little one along with whatever else I'm getting there. They are just so cute, and delicious. 

Now up until this point I have been listing things that are pretty stereotypically french, you don't really need to live here to know that the french make good bread and pastries. But this next item on my list just might be the most delicious thing I have found here, and pretty much the only reason I'm making the list to begin with...

3. Lindt Crème Brûlée Chocolate Bars

I sincerely hope that they sell these in the States, I don't really know what I'll do if they don't. Yes I do: fill a duffle bag full of these delicious bars and carry them on the flight with me (no way would I trust the airline to handle such precious cargo). The outside is milk chocolate and the inside is creamy and yummy with little pieces of brûlée-ed sugar. Oh man, these are just the best. The reason I first bought this bar is because I was waiting in line at the supermarket behind this unbelievable chic french girl and all she was buying were two of these bars and cigarettes. And in my mind I thought, "If I buy those bars maybe I will turn into a cool chic french girl too". (Yes, I actually thought that). Last time I checked I'm still American and not very chic, but at least I know about this chocolate. 

4. Café Crème

This is pretty much the closest you're gonna get to American coffee here, enough said. 

5. Ham 

Now I know that this is technically an Italian thing or a Spanish thing. But the French must have stole their idea because french ham is delicious. I actual spent time this weekend with a friend who's studying in Madrid this semester, and she had some french ham and said it was just as good if not better. My host family always starts off dinner with a plate of ham whether it be prosciutto, parma ham, or another variety of cured meat. All the markets sell it here and they slice it fresh for you, and all the cafes make some variety of ham on baguette. And it is delicious, the first baguette sandwich I ate here was ham and butter (I'm always putting butter on my sandwiches from now on). The meat is so fresh and flavorful you really don't need anything else to go with it. Its also great in a savory crêpe with egg and cheese. Yum

I just got so hungry writing this up and all I have in my room is sub par Lindt Chocolate Mouse Bar (it didn't make the list for a reason), I'm off to go eat. And I promise I will post real pictures soon, when I have the patience. 

  

Walking and Eating

That can pretty much summarize my past few days here: walking and eating. I went to unbelievable Indian food last night, pictures were not taken because the food was devoured too fast. 

Today was a great day! After 9:30 class (and two cafés aux laits), my friends and I went to get lunch. We had seen a place called "Bagels and Brownies" a while ago and decided to check it out, I mean what's not to love.

hungryyyy

Let me just say, it was unbelievable! As a true East Coaster I have high expectations for bagels. These obviously weren't as good as a New York bagel, but it really was delicious for a Parisian bagel. I got one with cream cheese, turkey, tomatoes. lettuce, and mustard. We of course couldn't have a bagel without sampling a brownie too. 

After our delicious lunch we decided to check out a cool exhibit in the Marias. It was called "Not for Sale", and it featured paintings donated by galleries that the owners would never sell. Mostly they wouldn't sell them because they had personal relationships with the artist. The art ranged from classic paintings to avant-garde sculpture, it was verrry cool. (too bad no photos were allowed).

We also meandered through the Place de Vosges, a beautiful park in the Marias district. Victor Hugo lived in a building overlooking the park, I can see why. I would love to have an apartment right by that park.

After the exhibit and our walk we needed to refuel, what better way to do so than to eat a crêpe! We shared a crêpe with raspberry jam (crêpe au framboise in case you were wondering). And ohhh mann was it goooood! 

A great Friday afternoon exploring and eating! I can't think of a better way to spend it!

oh and also!

I would like to wish a verrrryyyy happy birthday to my brother! 

look at that handsome fellow!

Camera at last!

I got a camera today! So I can (finally) have some photos of Paris on the blog! 

Thanks for the camera Dad and Mom

I bought the camera at a store called "fnacs", its like a big Best Buy. The store is on Rue de Rennes, which is a great store for big chain store shopping. It also has an H&M, Zara, and other big french chain stores. 

I had class this afternoon. And now I can finally show pictures of my school! Its very cute and classically french. 

After class my friend, Charlotte, and I went for a walk. We wandered around the 6th arrondissement.

The shop in the above picture is a great vintage shop that has really cute designer stuff for not a lot of €€€. 

Any way, thats all for now! A bientôt

I'm alive

Bonjour tout le mond!

I arrived in Paris almost a week ago! But I haven't posted anything because I've been to jet lagged/ busy/ lazy.

So far I've enjoyed reading in the Luxembourg Gardens, getting a lot of sass in a metro stop when I tried to buy a monthly metro pass, and eating (a lot) of creps.

Classes start on Monday, but tonight is a very exciting night. Its Fashion Night out in Paris, an event thats hosted every year by Vogue. They have the same thing in NYC too.

A bunch of stores stay open late and serve champagne while you shop. I'm most looking forward to seeing the clothes at Maje, a french store that I love. I haven't stopped by on this trip yet, so its going to be doubly exciting tonight!