I found myself this week saying things like, "I better do this before I leave," and "I better see that before I leave." Those three little words "before I leave" are the scariest of them all. Especially because as I say them, I realized that my love for Paris is greater than ever before and I cannot imagine parting ways with the city that has become my own. Now what will really be scary (and I shriek at the thought) is when I begin asking myself, "Is this the last time is do this, that and the other?" That will come all too soon...
But FORTUNATELY, I have FIVE weeks to fill with Parisian lovin' and soak up every last second of being here. PLUS, my brother comes to visit next weekend (LOTS of surprises in store for him, which I cannot disclose on my blog--don't worry, you'll find out about it post-surprises) AND I am planning a two week trip to Spain when my program ends on May 8th. On the itinerary: Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla, Granada and Málaga! Time to start dusting off that Spanish-speaking ability that is buried so deep in my brain. I would bet anything that I will be speaking French for the first two or three days in Spain before my Spanish comes into full swing. Anyway, more on that later as I gear up for that outstanding vacation.
Suffice it to say that this weekend was yet another wonderful dream of a week in good ol' Paris.
Firstly, Passover began Monday night and thanks to the wondrous generosity that is Chabad, I attended a seder chez Chabad both Monday and Tuesday nights. It was definitely the interesting experience. The first night was held at a Chabad that was hosting more families than students and was quite disorganized and rowdy. The second seder was a lot smaller and we sat at an entire table of American college students, but the experience felt quite rushed (the seder didn't begin until 10!!) and still didn't feel 100% like a Passover that I am used to. It did the trick, but it really made me miss my family and my rabbi back in Boston, who would have led an incredibly inclusive, insightful and entertaining seder--not to mention I would be hanging with his wife Chani who is like my second mom, and their five youngest daughters. However, all that matters is that I got my butt to some seders here in Paris and have been a good girl about avoiding French bread like the plague! (Get it--plague! Passover! Man, I'm lame.)
{fashionista party-goers, nbd}
Later in the week, WWD sent me out on my second potential assignment, this time to go a party in place of my editor who was unable to attend. (Like, are you for real?! Could this job get any better??!) The party was a 20th anniversary celebration for European store/brand LOFT design by... at was held at their Saint-Germain-des-Près store location. The event featured lots of drinks, tables overflowing with cheeses and meats, fashionistas galore, French celebrities, a DJ who goes by the name Cherry Bibi but is really an awesome bag designer by the name of Eveline, and a French rock band by the name of HANGAR who sounded like an old school classic American rock band with French vocals.
Needless to say, the band was my favorite part and I felt no shame in rocking out hard core, as I've yet to do in the tame land that is Paris. But don't think I was only at this party to drink champagne, eat some snacks and rub elbows with the beautiful people... I was there to work! I had to ask a door woman and camera man to tell me what VIPs had shown up (you think I know who French celebs are?) and had to chat with Miss Cherry Bibi and the boys from HANGAR to find out what was new with them and how they got involved with LOFT. Yes, in French. Woot! Cherry aka Eveline was super sweet and I might even end up writing a small story about her and her bag company, and the lead singer from HANGAR whom I interview was sooooo cute. Yum yum yum! Well the party was a blast and Gaba, who came with me as my date, said it was one of her best nights in Paris yet!
This weekend, I spent my afternoons walking the entire city and slowly but surely checking things off my to-do list.
{check out that raclette, baby!}
Saturday, I woke up late and decided to try and get to a market for fresh produced before it closed. Unfortunately, by the time I got there at 2:15, the vendors at the marché Port Royal were already packing up. Bummer. My new plan of then day then became fixing my phone which was so frustratingly not working all week and I could not for the life of me get through to anyone that could help me. FINALLY, I found a guy at The Phone House who fixed my phone service like it wasn't a thing. Hallelujah! I also met some cute Jewish boys working at another phone store who couldn't help me fix mine but who asked me my preferences in American cities and about my last name, which is not Jewish. They also offered me some matza, which they snacked on as they worked. I spent the rest of the day shopping for necessities (bras, toothpaste, another striped shirt, 2 new scarves--oops!). I also had forgotten my map and left my fate in the hands of Paris, who so kindly guided me to Rue Mouffetard, a bustling street in the Latin Quarter that I had been meaning to check out. Again, by the grace and kindness of Paris, it turned out that Rue Mouffetard had an excellent produce market! I was able to get my tomatoes, potatoes, carrots and fruit after all! There were also a bunch of fromageries (cheese shops) and picked up two new cheeses to try on matza (my snack and breakfast of choice all week).
After strolling through the Latin Quarter, I ended up at Jardin du Luxembourg, which I swear gets prettier every time I go. Especially this time because the trees were FINALLY turning green! I sat on the edge of the park's fountain for nearly a half hour just watching the kids racing boats on the fountain's water. When I finally decided that it was time to stop photographing little children, I met up with Olivia and our friend Arielle (visiting for her second time from London) for a dinner of raclette. What is raclette you ask? Let me explain: You get a flat sheet up metal, under which is a flame heating it. Then you get a plate containing long wide strips of raclette cheese and a bowl of cooked potatoes. You take the strip of cheese, place it on the hot metal plate and wait for it to melt. Once it does, you pour the melted cheese on your plate and mix it with the potatoes that you've already cut into bite-sized pieces. Then, you eat. Um, could that be any more delicious?! And I could even eat it on Passover = BEST PART!
After dinner, when I recovered from my monster cheese stomach ache, I pulled myself together and went out. Olivia had a friend in from Dublin who was traveling with a posse and the club we tried to go to, called Le Cab', wouldn't let us all in-- their explaination: "C'est ça." AKA "That's just how it is." I had other friends in town who were waiting for me inside, so I ambitiously talked my way into getting in alone. 20 euros and a handful of pride later, I made it into the club where I found my friend Jess, also visiting from London, and her roommates Kira and Isabel. The club was hoppin but all we really wanted to do was talk. In the end, however, the club ended up being worth it (money wise) because I got a glass of champagne with my entry ticket and punished myself for paying that much on entry by taking the night bus to Port d'Orleans and then walking the 15 minutes back to my dorm. In heels.
Yesterday, Gaba and I geared up for another day of Parisian exploring. The itinerary: Berthillon ice cream on Île Saint-Louis and exploring Canal Saint Martin. The chocolate ice cream from Berthillon was baaaaaangin and the little île itself was precious! We stopped in a bunch of tchotcka shops and then walked next door to Île-de-la-Cité where hoards of people were gathered around Notre Dame. It was basically a party over there, considering it was Easter. Just around the corner from Notre Dame, we found market that just sold pets and pet supplies! There we saw the most gorgeous tropical birds and the biggest rabbit in the whole world, as well as chickens, fish, rodents, beautiful bird cages and flowers. On our walk to the metro to head to the canal, we found ourselves caught in the craziest hail storm I've ever experienced. The pea-sized ice balls were shooting from the sky like beebee pellets and kept getting stuck in my hair! It was so loud and everyone on the street was bugging out! It was quite the site.
Once the weather chilled out for a minute, we dashed onto the metro and when we emerged, it was sunny and beautiful again. (That's pretty much the weather pattern here in Paris.) We spent the rest of the afternoon bopping in and out of cutesy boutiques and walking along the Canal. Gaba picked up a pair of killer vintage shades from an eco-friend store called Bazar Éthic and we stopped at this delicious café called Sésame for lunch. Gaba was so excited that they served real live bagels there and although it was Passover and I could only order salad, I was quite excited for her as well. We also walked over to check out the famous Boulevard de Belleville, which was interesting and diverse, but not nearly at interesting as its history makes it out to be.
We did see a cool church though! Afterwards, Gaba and I split and I took the metro over to the Eiffel Tower where I met up with my lovely friend Barbara who was in town from Madrid with her boyfriend Austin, who is in London. I surprised them with a GINORMOUS cotton candy that we snacked on on our way to dinner at Odéon with Barbara's best friend from home and her friend who are studying in Siena. I took them to the restaurant that I ate at with Shiran and Sam and I ordered a bowl of pumpkin soup, which I had been craving ALL day! Yummmmmyummm! Dinner was so much fun and we sat there for hours telling stories about car accidents and learning about Wiki-races. (Yes, Wiki as in Wikipedia.) After dinner it was time for me to come home and get seriously thinking about a paper that I have to write that is due tomorrow.
So that's where I am now. Sitting in bed. No work today as it's Easter Monday in France-a national holiday. Getting my blogging out of my system before I pull a 6-page French research paper out of my butt. What a shame on such a gorgeous day :( At least this is my last painful assignment of the semester, and then I'm free! Sort of.
Paix, Amour et Néon,
Marisa
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