1) It was Les Journées du Patrimoine, which is one weekend in France where all of these cool buildings that aren't normally open to the public are (like L'Assemblée Nationale, L'Hôtel Matignon, Ambassador's houses, etc.) There are also a lot of museums that are free to the public so it was a great weekend to be in Paris. Though the lines were absurd for the very high profile sites so we ended up going to some of the less famous ones haha.
2) Maddie and Willie came to visit!!!
18 Septembre
I went on a long run this morning and ventured over to Le Marché du Raspail which is another food market not far from my apartment. This one was very similar to the one in Ambroise and I loved it!! So many cool vendors - most notably a lot with interesting nuts and dried fruits (perfect for my trail mix cravings). The market is on every Friday and Sunday morning so I will definitely be visiting it frequently.
Kozy Café: Natalie and I spent most of the day studying at this café near Rue Cler in the 6th not too far from our apartment. It's an awesome study space and the coffee was very good! The waiter even gave us free shots of espresso.
The Louvre: I met up with Willie here Friday afternoon! I surprisingly hadn't been yet, but I know I will be going back. The Louvre is huge and overwhelming. You definitely have to do some research to figure out what you want to see before going. But we had fun just wandering through and looking at all the paintings and sculptures. Most notably: The Mona Lisa (very overrated, but still cool, check it off the bucket list). Finished up the Louvre visit with some Berthillon ice cream of course.
Dirty Dick: Sorry Mom and Dad, I promise that this is a perfectly acceptable well run establishment despite the name. It's a funny little place that serves fun tropical drinks in the 9th. You can get bowls of wild looking cocktails to share and they light them on fire (oooOOOooo!). Apparently cinnamon is their trick for lighting the drinks on fire because the bartender got cinnamon all over my jeans. Fun place to sit with a few friends and hang out before going out!
19 Septembre
Résidence de l'Ambassadeur de Russie: This was a random stop but my host family recommended this stop to us for les journées du patrimoine and it's very close to my apartment. So Natalie, Ben, and I just walked right in and it was really pretty and elegant! The castles I have seen in France so far have been amazing but this was cool because somebody actually lives and works there. And it still looks like something out of the 18th century with the ornate wall decorations and grandiose chandeliers.
La Fondotion Louis Vuitton: Before visiting this I had no idea what it was but heard it was really cool. I still probably couldn't explain to you exactly what it is but it is the COOLEST building I have ever seen. So interesting and well designed. Frank Gehry was the architect and he also designed the Guggenheim in NYC. There were lots of people there but the traffic flow was so well orchestrated that it felt like barely anyone was there. On the ground floor there was a pond that was partially covered alongside a kaleidoscope of mirrors which was incredibly trippy. Inside there were lots of little rooms showing short films made by a variety of artists. For most of them I think you probably had to be on drugs to understand them. But there was one which was portraits of young people dancing by themselves. The artist asked each person to dance to their favorite club songs but it was just them in front of a white wall. It was very well curated - the room was even warm to make it feel like you were inside a night club. The terraces on the top of the building were fantastic. They were gorgeous open spaces partially covered by these glass sail type roofs, but you could still peak out at the landscape.
Les Jardins d'Acclimatation: These gardens are right next to the Louis Vuitton foundation in the 16th and are free with admission to the museum (but you have to pay 3 euros otherwise which is dumb). However, it is a very nice park - great for kids. There were a lot of little cafés and snack stands so we got paninis from a Mozza & Company truck and the panini was delicious! It was a classic caprese panini with prosciutto but the cheese was perfectly melted and the bread was perfectly crispy. Good work mozza.
Le Centenaire: Restaurant/brasserie in the 11th that we went to dinner at with a bunch of friends. We had a large group but it was a good space for us. They have a great dinner formula as well - but I ended up getting the duck. Though I can't complain because the duck was very well done.
Wanderlust: This is a club along the Seine in the 5th arrondissement. It has an awesome outdoor space with twinkly lights along the river! There were a lot of little booths and tables outside which made for a lively scene. And drinks were good (you can get pitchers to share). They also had a burger stand that opened up late at night which you can imagine was very popular. Music was a little weird but that's just the French. Definitely a fun place for when the weather is nice!
This was also the day that Kate and Matt got married!!! So being face timed in to the wedding at 4 in the morning was definitely the highlight of my whole day :) #wilfelli
20 Septembre
Picnicked with Maddie and Willie on the Champ du Mars this morning! Still one of my favorite things to do here. I picked up baguettes from Le Moulin de la Vierge on my way there and they were still warm (heavenly) so of course I had to munch a little while walking (like a true Parisian). Then we walked through Les Jardins du Luxembourg with Ellie which was beautiful as always.
Afterwards I went on a run along the quai (along the Seine) and discovered Les Berges! It's this really cool initiative going on in Paris for a few weeks where they have all these things for the public along the Seine. Like picnic tables, art sculptures, workout equipment, restaurant booths, museum exhibits, etc. They also have a lot of events like fitness classes and other community activities! I'm probably not explaining it well so check out the website: http://lesberges.paris.fr/ A lot of really good restaurants have set up along the quai for this initiative so Natalie and I went down there for dinner!
Le Flow: This is one of the restaurants I just mentioned. We had a nice chill dinner right by the river with an awesome tart and salade nordique. The sunset was absolutely beautiful and we finished up the evening with a delectable caramel and banana crepe from the Le Breizh crepe stand.
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