Breakfast in America

One of the many things I have missed from home now that I live in Paris, is breakfast. Good old fashioned breakfast, with eggs, toast, bacon, pancakes, syrup, juice, The Works. I get up and try to scrounge around my kitchen at home for any food, not just breakfast related, but anything (my host mother has problems stocking her kitchen, and often jokes about not having any food around or feeding her children even though she is a caterer.) After not having found a single thing to eat, not even plain yogurt or a piece of fruit, I go to work. On my way to my job, I pass by the corner Boulongerie, or bread/pastry shop. I might buy a personal sized omlet or a croissant, but it is never what I want. Its weird but I'm sick of eating French pastries all the time. Ah! All I'm really craving is some eggs.

Its has gotten so bad, that I convinced my friends to come with me to "Breakfast in America" and then to another breakfast joint called "Coco & Co"or now known as "Eggs & Co". Both boast breakfast as they do it in America = EGGS.

First we went to CoCo & Co. The cutest little place ever. Each chair is personalized with a name. It has egg-themed everything (which I adore) and is a pale blue color.

After breakfast we went and did our individual excursions. We went to Saint Julien le Pauvre - a church and Rue Galand - a street. Saint Julien le Pauvre was rebuilt in the 17th century and used to store animal feed during the revolution. St. Julian the Hospitaller is the patron saint of this church dating back to 1165-1220 being one of the oldest in Paris - along with the church St. Germain des Prés.

Rue Galand was home to the rich and chic in the 17th century and was famous for its taverns. Now it seems like there is nothing to see, other than the little boutique knickknack shops.

 After seeing these two sights, we headed North off of Metro: Courcells, to go to a Sweedish choir concert. The other night, while out at a bar salsa dancing - or trying to learn - we ran into a huge group of Sweedish people. They ended up being a choir, who were in Paris to preform for the weekend. They invited us to go see them, so we did! They were fantastic. They sang a couple Sweedish songs and then ended up "Double Double Toil and Trouble". It was interesting to see a different side of Paris.

Cimetière du Montparnasse

I went to the Montparnasse Cemetery before class the other day. It was planned by Napoleon to replace the old, cramped small cemeteries within the old city due to hazard health conditions a the turn of the 19th century. Like most French cemeteries it is divided into rigidly align paths forming blocks. It was opened in 1824 and is now the resting place of many famous personalities.

In the center is a statue called Génie du Sommeil Eternal - meaning the angel of eternal sleep, created in 1902 by Horace Daillion.

We stopped by and saw the graves of the famous existentialist couple, leaders of the post-war literary scene, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir - who are buried together.

 This is a moss covered grave that I thought was understated and unique, it isn't anyone famous but it is simple and beautiful. The other photo is of a sculpture in lieu of a headstone.

 This is Sergre Gainsbourg's grave, decorated with flowers, photographs, and other trinkets left by fans.

 We also saw Charles Baudelaire's cenotaph - a monument to the great poet and critic who died in 1867, author of the Flowers of Evil.

Harry's Bar - Famous Bloody Marys

This morning I went to Harry's Bar - on 5 Rue Daunou. Its actually a very interesting story, and tons of famous people have visited. It was started by the former American jockey star, Tod Sloan in 1911. It started in by dismanteling a bar in Manhatten and shipping it off ot Paris. Sloan hired Harry MacElhone, a barman from Scoltland, to run the bar. At this time in history, it became a favorite hangout of the ex-pats. I guess American tourist were showing up in Paris, and this guy, Sloan, decided to capitilize on that and make a spot that would feel at home for the expatriates.

 We went there for the Bloody Mary - which by the way costs 12.50 Euro! It was good, I had never had a Bloody Mary before, so I'm glad for my first one I was able to try "the original". I have to say, it was like drinking watered-down marinara sauce. It wasn't bad, but I think they're the original becasue it's literally the bare minimum of ingrediants. I feel like the Bloody Mary has evolved into a much better and multi-faceted drink. 

I realize my eyes are closed, but whatever. I have a Bloody Mary and Katie has a Mimosa.

The walls are adorned with old photos and drawings as well as College's flags (or Pendants or whatever they're called.)

Harry's is famous for having their "Ivories" piano bar in the basement where, apparently, George Gershwin composed An American in Paris. Its also the birthplace of the Bloody Mar, French 75, the Side Car, The Monkey Gland.

Other famous people who have frequented Harry's are, Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, Coco Chanel, Jack Dempsey, Rita Hayworth, Humphrey Bogart, the Duke of Windsor, Bill Tiden, Primo Carnera, Romon Novarro, and Aly Khan.

It was a cute little place, expensive drinks, but the atmosphere was nice.

My Homestay Situation...

I live at 12 Passage de la Vierge. In a house, with a woman named Charlotte, she's a chef, her three triplet children - 1 girl and 2 boys, who are 14 - and 2 cats - Mousha and Bazzumi (I have no idea about the spelling but they both mean cat, in Arabic... and some other language that I don't know).

Anywho, I live in a house on the 5th floor, in a loft-like dwelling. Its very nice. I have my own bathroom and a little terrace with plants.

 

So far its been pretty good. They speak English. She's from North Carolina and such, the Dad is a Parisian so the kids speak both French and English. They are all very nice. She's a bit of a space cadet but its not an issue. Its freezing cold here already - for some reason when they said Paris still has winter I didn't believe them, and now I'm stranded without a jacket or warm item of clothing to save my life. I'm hoping that I can hit up the infamous flee markets and buy some warm things to cover myself with.

Versailles and the Murakami Exhibit

I spent the day at Versailles with Victoria. On the train ride out to Versailles, we happened to be sitting next to an American couple from Virginia who had been traveling around France for the past 3 weeks. We get to talking - loving it because both Victoria and I have a newfound love for America and all things English - and immediately the Husband starts talking about "we're the kinda people who have the ipods, ipads, the iphone and all that jazz, but we get here and we end up buying a GPS (shows us the GPS device) for only 60 euro, called Mappy. Let me tell you, this thing knows its shit. If we're about to drive off a cliff it'll tell you - go right - and literally to your right will be a dirt road foot path - but it knows that! it's just amazing. I mean we rented a car - only have to fill her up 4 times - and it only cost us around 1,500 euro. Can you say what I deal." Victoria and I had a nice chuckle afterwards about American's and their love of silly technology and talk of money and prices.

Due to the Greve (strike) that Paris is so loved for, they RER C - the train that you take to get to Versailles - wasn't stopping at the Versailles stop, but one a bit farther away. So we had a nice little walk through the town, on a beautiful fall day up to Chateau Versailles.

 After we go to Versailles, we went out to the gardens to eat our picnic lunch - yogurt, baguettes, lunch meat, cookies, tabouli, cheesy snacks called 'ghosts', and other such deliciously unhealthy things.

We walked around the gardens, intermittently soaked by scattered rain showers, and then walked out to Marie-Antoinette's Hamlet and the Petit and Grand Trianon. 

Grand Trianon

Marie-Antoinette's Oak Tree

Versailles is a huge complex, so it took us like 2 hours to walk from the Chateau out to the Trianon and back again. The huge reason we wanted to go to Versailles was because of Takashi Murakami. He's a famous Japanese artist who had an exhibit in Versailles.

His statement is as follows: "For Japanese, myself included, the Chateau de Versailles is one of the great symbols in Western history. It is emblematic of an elegance, sophistication, and artistic ambition that most of us could only dream of. We understand of course, that the fuse that sparked the fires of revolution led right through the center of the bulding. But in many ways, it all comes across as a fantastic tale from a kingdon far, far away. Just as the people of France might find it difficult to recreate in their minds an accurate image of the age of the Samuri, so too does the story of the plalace become one that is, for us, diluted of reality. Thus, it is likely that the Versilles of my imagination is one that my mind has exaggerated and transformed until it has become a kind of surreal world of its own. It is this that I have tried to capture in this exhibition. I am The Cheshire Cat who greets Alice in Wonderland, and chaters on as she wanders around the Chateau. With my playful smile, I invited you all to the Wonderland of Versailles." - Takashi Murakami.

Here are some of his pieces:

1. Tongari-Kun

2. Oval Buddha Silver

3. Kalkai & Kiki

4. Pom & Me

5. Jellyfish Eyes - Saki
Jellyfish Eyes - Tatsuya
Jellyfish Eyes - Max & Shimon

 
7. Yume Lion (The Dream Lion)

8. Miss ko^2

9. Flower Matango (d)

10. Superflat Flowers

11. The Simple Things

12. J

13. The Emperor's New Clothes

15. Untitled (wallpaper)

16. Kawali - Vacances - Summer Vacation in the Kingdom of the Golden

17. Flower Lamp (Red)

Flower Lamp (Mulit-colored)

18. Untitled (Carpet)

19. Oval Buddha

That was Murakami's show, it was fantastic to see it. Getting out of Paris for the day, smelling the fall air, and having gardens and land to walk was such a treat. We stayed for the musical water show, where they play classical period music and turn the fountains on. Here are some of my favorites:
The Water Parterre:

 The Down Fountain:

 The Water Parterre:

 The Bacchus Fountain:

 The Saturne Fountain:

Latone Fountain and Parterre

We also looked at the gardens - from the Orangerie (which kind of reminds me of like a hollywood film set?)

The South Parterre:

 The Apollo Fountain which looks down the Grand Canal:

I had visited Versailles before, but something about this day was different. Maybe the weather, the company, the mood I was in; I really appreciated the gardens and fountain show. Although we were soaking wet and freezing cold, it was a beautiful day - we saw horses and sheep along Bailly's Pathway towards the Trianon, we saw weird Euro-couples sharing a tomato over a plastic bag catching all their spilled juices, we go to walk through beautiful gardens and smell the fall air. All in all, a very great day out of the city.