Being a Tourist. Part 2. "Hanging with Hemmingway."

The answer : yes.

Yes, Shakespeare and Company is all that : floor-to-ceiling shelves, stuffed with reading material. There are old books in between new ones; childrens' books; archived copies of The Economist and other magazines; classics; plump armchairs; and best of all, the feeling of being in the same place where great writers also cracked open a book, lounged around, or wrote a note. It was a good decade to be in Paris...



The top floor of Shakespeare & Co. had a drawing of Alice and Wonderland on the wall.




Alice writing a note to post on the wall.


A wall of notes, photos, confessions...


Ditto.




A love letter / fan mail to Hemmingway?


I'm sitting on the childrens' velvet-covered nook, curled up with a good read.


Wall of notes in the childrens' nook.


There's an actual typewriter you can use... "Why, yes.. let's see how will I begin my next sonnet?"


Alice composes the next great American classic.


Well, that was quick. She titled it America the Beautiful. You would.

Will be making many more trips here... it's packed on a Saturday night! Folks reading everywhere...

Being a Tourist. Part 1. "Let Them Eat Cake... Versailles Day-trip"

Today was my roommate's second-to-last day in Paris before she leaves for the US... It's so bummer. This week has been full of sendoff's and awkward good-bye's. Instead of moping around the apartment, we decided to take full advantage of this city and squeeze out it's last drops of "connaissance." So with that carpe diem attitude, we set off for our "Being a Tourist" adventure... Part 1 : Versailles Day-trip!



It was off to the metro, around 1.00pm to get to the RER train. I never really wanted to see the frivolousness of the Versailles castle... but Alice convinced me the town was pretty "quaint" for just wandering around in... Here she is in an impersonation of her favorite Bon Marché advertisement.



Gah... Two more minutes until the metro. I will miss this handy piece of technology. NYC subways need an upgrade.


Waiting around for the RER train... I promise I did not decide to look like a geisha today. There's a weird flash thing going on here.


Versailles rives-gauche here we come! 1.30pm.

We stopped for a quick lunch at a chinese delicatessen. Yum... The hot jasmine tea did wonders for such a freezing day.


Typical artsy fartsy looking gallery.


I devour those macarooooooons.


Impromptu Sartorialist-style fashion shoot in a cool-looking alley.


We spotted the gold gates of Versailles! "Is that real gold?!"


Alice's sexy profile. Yes, it was mighty chilly today... Look at all the snow! "Ahh yess eeet ees so rare in pareee." "Seriously?"


Photography skillz... look at the seagull I captured!


The gates of Versailles.


So important looking.


We caught a breathtaking sunset over the Versailles gardens.


Moi and the gardens... all covered in snow!


I spotted the Sun King...


Winter wonderland...


We popped a bottle of bubbly, and headed back into town.

Perfect day :)

First snowfall in Paris

Pheuf. I just finished my last final exam... I nearly missed it; my roommate and I both woke up 15 minutes before the test was supposed to begin. To make things worse, we looked outside to see Paris' first snowfall...

I have one more class today, and I can't bear the thought of dragging myself out into the slushy streets again (I already wiped out in front of a group of tourists this afternoon). I'm cozied up in bed, and I just want to eat soup and watch funky guidos and guidettes on the Jersey Shore. HAHA.

Momentary Interests ...

I'm kind of obsessed with glass / clear / see-through lamps. It's like a light bulb, screwed onto a light bulb. Isn't that cool? Ya? This one is from Ikea.




No words needed. NEED NOT WANT.



So comfy.



Katy Perry - Actually, I just watched a few clips of a live show she did on MTV, and was shocked to learn about her background and mad skillz. This girl can really bust out some soulful notes. She's here in Sonia Rykiel, one of my favorite Paris designers... Rykiel actually just did a lingerie line for H+M...


Lust - Oscar de la Renta chandelier earrings. Probably worth more than my college tuition.



A few street looks that I'm digging.



Must find these tights.

Five euros and antique china

"Five euros!" I yelled, in French. The crowd turned around and looked at me with interest, as I was promptly handed a ticket stub. Moments later, I was the proud owner of an 18th century collection of blue and white china.

Aaand that was my first auction!

My grammar class today took a trip to one of Paris' auction houses, called le Drouot. I was grumbling the whole time because I had to wake up early on a Saturday morning and listen to a random lady lecture about antiques. Between bites of fig cake and sips of café crème, I complained about how I thought auctions were sad and capitalistic.

Of course, that all changed until I saw explositions of vintage Hermès bags and scarves, as well as cases and cases of blinged out jewelry lying on black velvet. As I drooled over one exquisite statement necklace, probably worth my life, one of the clerks asked if I would like to try it on. My jaw dropped to the floor. She opened the glass case, carefully took out the necklace, and fastened it around my neck. Oh, the necklace? Precious stones, gold, and pearls that went down past my navel. The weight of it felt like I would have a permanent hunchback after wearing it. I was in bling-bling heaven...

Yeah, it was probably the most expensive piece of jewelry I have ever worn. I had my 2 minutes of fame, then back it went into its spot on the black velvet, in the locked glass case.

After ooh-ing and ahh-ing at some more expensive things, we finally made our way to one of the auctions taking place. It was JAM PACKED. As the crowd whispered to themselves, an eldery man with snow-white hair was pounding a gavel, crying out, "20 euros, 20 euros... 30 euros, any one for 30 euros?" The prices were ridiculously decent. We were in shock. What surprised me was that so many antiques were being auctioned off at dirt-cheap prices. Not only that, but they sold them by the CRATE. They showed us crates and crates of random bric-a-brac, paintings, records, books, vases, pottery... A few of my friends were wondering if we should join in on the auction... and before I knew it... they were showing a crate for 5 euros, with pretty Dutch china, and a cloud went around my head : I saw myself raising my hand and yelling out a number, as all my classmates and friends turned and looked at me. I had just bought an entire collection of antique china for 5 euros. FIVE EUROS.

I left the auction with a huge bubble-wrapped bag, as my friends patted my back. "Chrys, that was... unbelievable... You just bought something at a French auction... I wish I did that.. that was, wait, that was so spontaneous."

I just stared at my new things. "But. How am I going to bring an entire collection of antique china all the way back to New York?"

Story to be continued...

Gypsy?

My roommate got me the scarf with the gold sheen in Prague! The other one is my own.

OH, France

Today was a very frustrating day. As well as Yesterday. And the day before that. This whole week. You know what : make that the whole semester! Of course, it's not frustrating every minute of the day, but there are definitely moments when you want to tear your hair out and howl, "MERDE!"

For example, you don't just TAKE the metro.

You have to - first - walk down those six flights of stairs because OH: someone is working on the elevator and neglected to put up a sign. So, you wait for maybe 20 minutes for the elevator... that never arrives. Brushing it off, you climb down the stairs into the street. Now you must get to the metro station. After crossing a number of paths (because every street in Paris is winding, curving, or crooked) you almost get run over by a SmartCar because pedestrian traffic lights give no warning when changing from green to red. Awesome.

After that, the middle-aged lady with her baby stroller that always seems to appear on-the-dot when you're in a rush, pops out of thin air. As well as a crowd of really. really. slow-walkers. I get that I'm a rush rush New Yorker at heart, but come on, Parisians have to be the most absent-minded slothy walkers in the universe.

After finally making it into the metro station, and untangling your metro pass from the mess of your purse, you realize that the metro train is arriving. MERDE! You spring through the crowds of old women and slow Parisians, and as you aproach the shutting doors, some mec (dude) gets in your way. WHAT THE POUTAIN, you curse. As all the Parisians aboard the train give you a pitying (pitiful?) look as they ride away, you see a stupid French thirty-something give you a scathing look for raising your voice above a whisper. You plop down on a bench, and as if on cue, a young Parisian couple throw themselves next to you and start making out, soft porn style.

Finally reaching your desired metro station, you need to change to another line (because no metro line in Paris travels in a logical uptown-downtown, crosstown direction). You are confronted with police who inform you that the line is down and that you need to Prahlagrelignesilvousplay!!! Huh? Quoi? After getting a few stares because they think you are mentally challenged, you walk feebly away. Not knowin what to do. Being swept along a crowd, you follow them to "legreligne" that the police was talking about before. Ok, fine. This will work. For now...

And that's called "Taking the metro."

OH, France.

Chill Day

Creamy fettucine

I've spent practically the entire weekend... in bed. Yesterday, I left only to buy a few groceries and a baguette. Then, I promptly jumped back into my pajamas and climbed back into bed. The weather has really turned into a demon these past few days. Howling wind, torrential rain... Mother Nature de Paris has given us an action-packed show.

Today, upon waking to another blistery day, I snuggled deeper under the covers and woke only to make tea and soup. This weekend, I've indulged in chick flicks. I've cooked a plate of the creamiest, most fattening alfredo fettucine.

It's been quite a pleasant weekend, but I've got to get the motivation to begin this week. And I doubt I can use the weather as an excuse anymore :(

Happy Turkey Day!

These are pumpkins from my weekend in Signy-Abayes... I stayed on a farm with a french family. Yes, it was as ridiculous as it sounds.

It's Thanksgiving over here already... I was worried that I wouldn't have anyone to celebrate with... but where there are friends, there's sure to be a lot of eating, drinking, and being merry. A friend's family is taking us out to a fancy schmancy restaurant tonight. Maybe I'll remember my camera this time to capture the food glory. I didn't do my last few dinners justice. It's been a gooood eating week (she says while chewing a baguette with ham).

Rainy Day in Paris

Bundled up today in dark colors, the Parisian way... It's been rainy and getting dark around 4pm. I ran around doing a bunch of chores today, bought some groceries, and went back home to... do work? That's a joke - I've lost all motivation for work. Especially on dark cozy days like today. Instead, I've been writing postcards; my roommate and I have been researching for our trip to MOROCCO in January; I'm going out for dinner tonight and champy on the champ de mars...

Old Glamour

Paris is definitely making me feel old glamour lately. I found this leopard-print scarf at a vintage store for ONE EURO. Paired it with a silk blouse, thigh-highs, and some red lipstick... It's so comfy.

Hm... I must pay better attention to this website. I haven't done anything to it since summer... unacceptable!

Reflections at the end of summer

As I finally have time to reflect back upon this summer, I've realized a number of things.

Number one. I have very little money to my name. And although I've unearthed several clever (I think) ways to go about living the way I do and still enjoy the little things... it's clear that money does have meaning. More meaning than I would like it to have. But I guess that's why humans created this invisible form of self worth? Whether it's clothes or food, or trips here are there... everything can be broken down into george washingtons. We all want it... i'm jostled up to a slick businessman and a panhandler in tattered nikes - they both want it. You scream, i scream... we all scream for ice cream!

Number two. People. There's something ingrained in us people that makes us needs closeness. And I wonder about strangers- who they're close to. Who fills those random knick-knack hours which exist between our errands, work, and social times? Who do we grant that pleasure? We've got odd hours to fill, and fill them we must!

That brings me to Time. Time is so important. Probably even more important than money.

And about other things - I've discovered that those who are happiest spend their times outdoors. It's so sad a majority of our life is spent in a fishbowl.

Being happy? What's that about anyways?

So many unanswered questions and I've already had twenty years on this planet...

Work has taken over my life.

As I sit here munching on my salt and vinegar potato chips. I wonder... is this a sneak preview into my twenties life? It's lookin dismal. But there's still hope!!

Taking control of recklessness!

At the John Jay College Library right now. Libraries are like hair salons - they look, smell, and feel the same wherever you go. There are always the same types of people hanging around... and you come out feeling either more empowered, or more disappointed.

Hopefully, I will come out empowered not disappointed. I am turning a new leaf in my life! Inspiration directly stemming from this economic disaster we're in... and the need to adapt. So, I'm deciding to handle my finances, 200 xs better... any advice?

I'm going abroad next semester, so I need to start saving. I'm going to keep a detail money diary of everything I purchase over the next week and how much I have. I'll also detail the amount of my bills, other fees, etc. Then... the financial diet will have to commence. Keep you posted on this experiment.

Wizardry!

Exhausted from work again, but I've got new-and-improved hopes for a publishing career! Maybe someday I'll be one of those impeccably well-dressed power women, gliding through the revolving doors in my stuart weitzmans. Or maybe not.

Egads! (this is a real word. why does spell check not think so?) I'm now working 7 days a week. Do the math. that means every day!

Monday - Chemistry (to improve my attitude towards chem let's name it something more interesting... In honor of the harry potter premier this summer, we shall call it wizardry! in any case, the concepts in chemistry might as well be wizardry!)

Tuesday - Internship

Wednesday - Wizardry (wizardry wednesdays!)

Thursday - Work at boutique

Friday - internship

Saturday - boutique

Sunday - boutique



I have Wizardry tomorrow allll dayyy longgg. awesome!

Here comes summer!! (part 2)

Spending tons of time on this futon lately.

Someone told me that my previous entry was really depressing. So, I'm determined to lighten things up a bit. Summer wooooooooo!!!

Okay, time to get serious. and less sarcastic.

I've been feeling very confused lately. I have no idea what I want. What I used to deem important, no longer seems so. The future looks hazy. Panic attacks frequent my dreams. Is this the time in my life when I get hit with a reality check?

I went for a run today in beautiful weather. Down by the Hudson, I went into complete runner's zone: a place where I can lose track of everything and just concentrate. I seem to break down the emotions with the physical aspects of jogging. It's so important for me to go with the flow. I hate running in pain, and I'm an easy quitter. If I feel like stopping and contemplating, then I do exactly that. I'm probably a helluva annoying runner, too. I like making obstacles, and I weave in and out of trees, park benches - sometimes I jump onto park benches or over rocks. I'll do form drills or try to run only stepping on the cracks in a pavement. Weird right? Running is more of a mental than physical exercise for me. But I'm afraid it didn't so much clear my head, as give me a shot of endorphins, today. I left just as confused as I felt before.


Going back home to Poughkeepsie this Friday. My sister's SENIOR PROM is this weekend - and of course prom drama needs to be sorted out. Damn teenagers (+ housewives).

Yeahhh Summer 09.

I have to think about some new "stay-positive" techniques.