Bonjour!
Today was our last day in Paris - the time has really flown by! We started off the day with my favorite Parisian cereal and headed via the Metro to see the Centre Pompidou. Despite the times listed in our trusty guide book, we found out that the museum actually opens at 12, not 11. Lucky for us, it there was already a long line, and it was snowing. Hooray! So we waited in line for 45 minutes, freezing our tushes off, and then finally made it into the museum.
The center consists of a giant library of 7 floors and also a modern art museum. We wound up wondering around the library for a while before finding the museum. When we went to purchase our tickets, I handed the ticket man my International Student Identity Card. Showing this at the Musee d'Orsay granted me free admission as a student of the European Union. Unfortunately, this ticket window official bore striking resemblance both physically and in personality to the snooty waiter in Ferris Bueller's day off, who refuses to seat the teenagers at a fancy restaurant. When I slid him my card, expecting my ticket in return, he raised his eyebrows at me, and in a French accent said "vhat iz zhis? a geeft or zumsing for me? vhat am I supposed to dew vis zhis?" When I explained my experience at the museee D'Orsay, he said "vell, zhis iz not ze Musee d'Orsay, Madamoiselle. I vill need a card from Spain. Veddy sorry." He did not look sorry. After a few minuets of useless persisting, we paid 9 Euros a pop for our tickets.
The museum was architechtured so as to create the maximum amount of space for the artwork inside. So the pipes and the stair and the escalators for the building are all located on the outside of the building. Needless to say, it is a very unique looking place. The art itself was also pretty unique. The first floor was filled with dresses made out of Kleenex, kitchenaid mixers, videos of girls smashing bookshelves and giant blocks of hay. It was pretty out there. I'm not sure I had an artistic enough mind to grasp the purposes of the majority of the pieces. On the sunsequent floors were Picasso, kandinsky, Pollock and other modern artists, which were much more my taste.
We were pretty museumed out by mid-afternoon, so we strolled by the Louve. I offered to take a picture for a couple of Asian girls who were posing with the camera outstretched in front of them. I did not know what I was getting myself into. I would up taking a mini-photo shoot of the two of them in various spots around the outside of the Louve building.
After the Louve was my favorite mini-adventure in Paris so far. With a recommendation from Rachel's professor, we searched for Angelina's cafe so we could try the "best hot chocolate in the world." We were expecting a Starbucks set up inside, but we were seated to a nice table for two, with wine glasses to drink our water out of. We ordered hot chocolate for 7 Euros ($10.50) a cup, and an African Chocolate mouse pastry. The hot chocolate tasted like pure melted Hershey bars. It was unreal. It was served along side a bowl of fresh whipped cream, to be dolloped atop every sipful. It was the most rich thing I have ever tasted....until they brought out the pastry. The mose chocolate fudge cake was delicious. It was only about half the size of a deck of cards, and we split one between us, yet me and Rachel had to force feed ourselves by the end. It was unbelievably filling, but by far one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted.
I also successfully used my first full French sentence. "Excuse-moi, ou sont les toilettes?" He answered me in French, which I, of course, did not understand at all, but I was so pleased with myself for pulling off a full French sentence that I just wandered around the cafe until I found it.
After that we just enjoyed a nice evening at the apartment and some pasta. We are all packed up for Spain tomorrow and are anxiously awaiting our arrival! We leave at 11:30, and hopefully we can get Rachel's baggage situation straightened out before we leave. She is holding out ok - we just bought her some emergency clothes today after our museum-ing.
Today was our last day in Paris - the time has really flown by! We started off the day with my favorite Parisian cereal and headed via the Metro to see the Centre Pompidou. Despite the times listed in our trusty guide book, we found out that the museum actually opens at 12, not 11. Lucky for us, it there was already a long line, and it was snowing. Hooray! So we waited in line for 45 minutes, freezing our tushes off, and then finally made it into the museum.
The center consists of a giant library of 7 floors and also a modern art museum. We wound up wondering around the library for a while before finding the museum. When we went to purchase our tickets, I handed the ticket man my International Student Identity Card. Showing this at the Musee d'Orsay granted me free admission as a student of the European Union. Unfortunately, this ticket window official bore striking resemblance both physically and in personality to the snooty waiter in Ferris Bueller's day off, who refuses to seat the teenagers at a fancy restaurant. When I slid him my card, expecting my ticket in return, he raised his eyebrows at me, and in a French accent said "vhat iz zhis? a geeft or zumsing for me? vhat am I supposed to dew vis zhis?" When I explained my experience at the museee D'Orsay, he said "vell, zhis iz not ze Musee d'Orsay, Madamoiselle. I vill need a card from Spain. Veddy sorry." He did not look sorry. After a few minuets of useless persisting, we paid 9 Euros a pop for our tickets.
The museum was architechtured so as to create the maximum amount of space for the artwork inside. So the pipes and the stair and the escalators for the building are all located on the outside of the building. Needless to say, it is a very unique looking place. The art itself was also pretty unique. The first floor was filled with dresses made out of Kleenex, kitchenaid mixers, videos of girls smashing bookshelves and giant blocks of hay. It was pretty out there. I'm not sure I had an artistic enough mind to grasp the purposes of the majority of the pieces. On the sunsequent floors were Picasso, kandinsky, Pollock and other modern artists, which were much more my taste.
We were pretty museumed out by mid-afternoon, so we strolled by the Louve. I offered to take a picture for a couple of Asian girls who were posing with the camera outstretched in front of them. I did not know what I was getting myself into. I would up taking a mini-photo shoot of the two of them in various spots around the outside of the Louve building.
After the Louve was my favorite mini-adventure in Paris so far. With a recommendation from Rachel's professor, we searched for Angelina's cafe so we could try the "best hot chocolate in the world." We were expecting a Starbucks set up inside, but we were seated to a nice table for two, with wine glasses to drink our water out of. We ordered hot chocolate for 7 Euros ($10.50) a cup, and an African Chocolate mouse pastry. The hot chocolate tasted like pure melted Hershey bars. It was unreal. It was served along side a bowl of fresh whipped cream, to be dolloped atop every sipful. It was the most rich thing I have ever tasted....until they brought out the pastry. The mose chocolate fudge cake was delicious. It was only about half the size of a deck of cards, and we split one between us, yet me and Rachel had to force feed ourselves by the end. It was unbelievably filling, but by far one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted.
I also successfully used my first full French sentence. "Excuse-moi, ou sont les toilettes?" He answered me in French, which I, of course, did not understand at all, but I was so pleased with myself for pulling off a full French sentence that I just wandered around the cafe until I found it.
After that we just enjoyed a nice evening at the apartment and some pasta. We are all packed up for Spain tomorrow and are anxiously awaiting our arrival! We leave at 11:30, and hopefully we can get Rachel's baggage situation straightened out before we leave. She is holding out ok - we just bought her some emergency clothes today after our museum-ing.
Bonjour!
ReplyDeleteHave a great trip to Espana! Sounds like Paris was amazing!!
XOXO
What no baguette? Crepe suzette? Soup du jour?
ReplyDeleteJust hot chocolat?
Hi Lizzie, Sounds like you packed in quite a bit of sightseeing in your week in Paris. I hope Rachel's luggage catches up with her soon! Now, I wonder, what will be your greatest achievement in Spain, since you already know how to ask for the bathroom in Spanish???
ReplyDelete