Merry Christmas!

I really can't believe how amazing my Christmas turned out to be. I thought this year I would have the worst holiday : far away from my family and friends, alone, and broke. Instead, I have to say that I experienced a real Christmas miracle.

At the last second, I found out that a friend from Cornell would be in town and needed a tour guide. Then, a family friend invited me for a home-cooked meal on Christmas day. C'était vraiment génial!


Christmas Eve - My friends and I cooked dinner. They made a Spanish omelette, and I made peppers stuffed with beef and rice. Red wine to accompany it of course.


It was delicious!


The day before we checked out the Louvre (my fourth visit!)


Holy merde, look at all these mecs around the Mona Lisa... or "La Jaconde" as everyone else calls her.


We also stopped at the Galeries Lafayette, a beautiful department store that still has the art nouveau decor from its olden days.


A girly Christmas display.


Starving, we stopped at a boulangerie for some bagged lunches. Haha we felt a bit like school children, sitting on the sidewalk and eating from our brown paper bags.


I then showed them Montmartre and Sacré-Coeur. The stairs are amazing exercise.

Of course we gained back all the calories by finishing our dessert on the steps.


Mine was a framboise tarte, with confectionary sugar on top.


A dark chocolate buche de noël. It had gold flakes on top... one of those "too-pretty-to-eat" things.


After night, we strolled into Pigalle and saw the Moulin Rouge.


Christmas lunch with friends! It was incredibly cozy... We practically took siestas after this gigantic meal.


Appéro : ginger-spiced wine. Entrée : oysters, foie gras, and champagne. Plat : Veal with cranberry sauce, chestnuts and shallots ; baked parsnips and carrots ; green beans ; stuffing ; curried sweet potatoes and parsley ; red wine. Dessert : Blue cheese, minced pies, coffee...

Are you drooling yet? How that all fit in my stomach is a question for the ages.


After coming back to the apartment, I skyped with my family (haha my mom always wears this Christmas sweater).

Amazing company and conversation. Incredible food. Coziness. And walking through the streets of Paris in the fresh air... Prepare yourself for a real corny-sob of a entry : I felt so lucky this Christmas.

I'll post a terribly depressing and sarcastic entry next time to make up for this mushiness.

Merry Christmas!

Wintry Notre-Dame

I have a few friends staying with me for Christmas. I've been showing them around this city and it feels great to be tour guide... I feel like I've really gotten to know Paris. Today, we went around St. Michel and stopped by Shakespeare & Co. (of course), and finished up with Notre-Dame. We stopped for crepes, stood on Point Zero, and then got some dinner at a local brasserie... All in all, another great day.


Some festive lights hung over a cobblestone street.


The view of Notre-Dame from a cozy spot in Shakespeare & Co.


Detail on the architecture.


Votive candles inside of Notre-Dame.


More St. Mary candles...


There was a giant glass cube filled with "Letters of Peace."


You can write a "Message of Peace" and drop it into the glass cube.


A GIANT CHANDELIER. Look at all those candles!


Vivid colors on the walls and ceiling of one chapel.



End!

Being a Tourist. Part 3. "Day at the Museum"

Yesterday was Alice's last full day in Paris... She just left this morning. SO upsetting... although, we did have an amazing past few days being 100% tourist. These are a few pictures from yesterday's really busy itinerary as we tried to live it up one more time.


We dragged ourselves out of bed, and headed down the street to the Mosquée de Paris, the muslim temple. There's a beautiful garden oasis in the courtyard and a tea saloon in the back. For a fixed price, one can also use the hammam (Turkish baths), get a massage, smoke hookah, and finish with peppermint tea and middle eastern snacks.


There's still some snow in the courtyard, but it still looks charming.


We found the tea saloon, which had breathtaking moroccan décor.


The ceiling with the lamps.


A warm cup of peppermint tea really hit the spot.


We were transported to Morocco.


Detail on the ceiling.


Sleepy from waking up so early... but ready for the day!

We started walking towards the Seine and crossed to the Right Bank... that's Notre-Dame in the background.


Ended up at a La Perla, an amazing Mexican bistrot, for a quick lunch... Quesadilla with freshly made guacamole.


The plat was spiced chicken, mexican salad, and rice.


After that, we wandered over to the Louvre... Day at the Museum begins...


We stumbled upon the Egyptian exhibits, probably my favorite part.


EGYPTIAN JEWELRY.


Necklaces, pins, rings, bangles fit for Cleo.


Unbelievable detail on the charm bracelets. The first one from the bottom has fish and lizards on it.


Bracelets made of gold and ceramic beads.


More gold... I want...

18th Century panel paintings. It made me think of something Marie Antoinette would have in her dressing room.


I'm resting my tired feet from all this walking...


It looked like a delicious breakfast... Beignets, muffins, apples, and a glass of milk.


It's a painting of the Louvre, within the Louvre...


Cherry red wall.


Haha catchy signs.


We left the Louvre and attempted to visit Père la Chaise but zut, it was closed due to the ice and snow. Instead, we hopped on a bus and ended back on Rue Mouffetard for some Chrismas shopping before dinner.


Can you spot me? ha


The whole street and square are decked out in Christmas lights.


We stopped at Jeff de Bruges for some fancy chocolates.


Alice checks out some goods for her Dad.


Death by chocolate. The store smelled like heaven.


Gold-wrapped truffles...


Salavating right now.


Chocolates wrapped up like Christmas presents.


After shopping around, we went back to "freshen up" (lol) before taking the metro to Café du Marché, our number one, favorite brasserie near the Eiffel Tower.


Here's us at a cozy little table, black-and-white style.

The best thing about this place is that the food is good AND inexpensive. I think it's one of Paris' best kept secrets and I would never have found it if Roger, a fam friend, introduced it to me.


A glass of wine with dinner is perfection, though we were already giddy from our champagne-vodka appéro's.


I decided to keep it all-American and get "le cheeseburger" since I'm staying here for another month.


Alice : Confit de canard. We had this before, and it became her obsession to get it one more time before she left.


After dinner, we made it over to Oberkampf for a Christmas party of a friend. We ate, drank, and made merry before calling it a night.

What a last day!! I miss Alice already, but Im determined to make the most of the rest of my time in Paris... Updates to follow...