AH200- "paris through its architecture"

(Hotel D'Angouleme)

(Place des Vosges)

hm...architecture. its completely new to me but i'm learning a lot. also, there is definitely no better place to take this course than here so voila.
its my favorite class here but one big problem: i swear i don't know why but i tend to be late to the class- very very bad and im trying super hard to fix it. Anyway! so we get a single period lecture every Monday and a on-site walking tour every Thursday for 2 hours. the walking tours are the best part because we just walk around the city and listen to stories of the buildings and the neighborhoods. there is also a fair amount of reading but i'm so glad i'm taking this class because otherwise i would not get to know the history of Paris as well. oh and the professor is just amazing- so is her brain capacity. she's a specialist in the Renaissance art and knows the Kings, Queens, Princes, Princesses and illegitimate royal offsprings like the alphabets.

my point? i just started taking my camera with me to the walks so there will be much more photos of architectures coming.

irresistible

(framboise, rose, fruits rouges, cafe, violette, marrons)

i wish everyone was here to share them with me!!! these are the BEST macaroons. its funny because i never used to like them very much (not a big fan of coconuts) until i tasted these pretty little things during the summer. luckily, i found the left bank Laduree which means i don't have to trek to "the champs" for them everytime. im waiting for Coco to get here so we can get a macaroon tower for afternoon tea.

seeing rainbow

guess what? this little blog has officially been visited over 100 times. thankyou thankyou thankyou. I LOVE YOU GUYS! i feel so loved getting all the comments even though it makes me miss everyone even more. oh and much love to those who don't leave comments but always remember to email/facebook/text/call me to tell me how you love the photos. im so glad you all enjoy the photos because i'm having a blast with the camera. well..snapping away like a tourist ;)

so i've been thinking about going to Les Arts Decoratifs for a while and finally did it today. i took the metro to Tuileries and walked to the museum- 2 minutes away.

There was a great Sonia Rykiel exhibition by the museum's fashion and textile department. the best part was "la femme Rykiel," which is a 40th anniversairy tribute to Rykiel from every fashion designer you can think of.

My other favorite is the permanent jewelry collection, so beautiful. last but not least, the toy exhibit that had all the granparents and kids in there going ohhs and ahhs and oh la la las.

promenade

My obsession? walking& people-watching. This city is built for walks and strolls (minus the extreme cobblestones- try walking around those streets with really thin flats, its like getting a foot massage.) There is just so much to look at when I am walking around. Well, I just started marking where I've been on my map that's stuck on the wall.

I've been trying to venture to new places. Today, i walked along Rue du bac (Rive Gauche), a little street around called Vavin (near Montpartnasse), and another named Oberkampf (North of Bastille).

samedi

This is kind of my first weekend "alone" after a month of craziness. Call me weird, but I love locking myself in the apartment and just spend the day alone. Oh yeah, by the way, locks- I have a three of those on my door! (mom is really glad.) Don't get me wrong, i absolutely adore this city but sometimes I just need to get away from the busy world.

some things just never change.

laptop? check
phone? check
blanket? yep
chocolates? YES! (half gone already)

I had a very "food network"esque Saturday. I made brunch for Ellie and Remy. They had me over to their place for dinner last time and so I thought I'd do the same for them! I hated orientation week but if it wasn't for that terrible week, I wouldn't have met these two. We bonded over the need for 21st century living- washing machine to be exact. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos because we were all starving. I'm going to say the brioche french toast+potatoes combination was a sucess.

For dinner, I made myself a huge serving of stir-fried veggie (kind of healthy?). I need to get myself a sous-chef who can cut and chop for me.

l'orangerie

c'est la vie

still can't believe its been a full 3 weeks since my flight took off from sea-tac.
life on my own can be pretty tough but im doing good- for all of you who asked ;) i still miss everyone very much though.

Paris is great, the French? a little bit harder to deal with but im working on it.
the food here is amazing, especially the sweets- macaroons, tartes, galettes and much much more. chocolate is now my best friend, pieces of it would randomly just show up in my hand and i just eat all of it ;) oh yeah, im also feeding myself a lot of croissants and baguettes for extra energy to walk in the cold. it actually just snowed again last night but its all gone now. the wind here is super harsh but i love walking so i just suck it up and deal with it.

my classes are fine. i like my electives a lot more than the freshmen core classes. plus i get to go to almost all the museums in the city for free because im taking art history/arts, so no complaints.

(click on photos to enlarge)

love,
char

p.s my orange couch is here for whoever visits!