More Paris Adventures: Louisa and Elle visit!

I had my first quiz at a Parisian university this week eep!

Monday was kind of a wash, wasted the day away in Arobase studying for macro which I guess was worth it cause the test was pretty easy... but the test was pretty easy so it was pretty unnecessary. I got the white chocolate berry crumble though! And my salad came with a warm mini bagel which was cute and toasty. Oh I also chatted with my new french friends after class (the ones who asked when Bill Clinton was president). I would use the term friends loosely since we've talked twice, but apparently that qualifies for a double air kiss on the cheek goodbye. Yes french people do actually do that. I was caught off guard...

Some cool street art I spotted next to arobase

Tuesday we had our test then celebrated with a good old bateaux mouche lunch after. They had some weird french version of hushpuppies which were actually very good. Then Natalie and I dragged Ben to Galleries Lafayette (big french department store) to do some shoe shopping with us. Then I had class and ran and watched orange is the new black which is a weird show but good I suppose. Then Liv and I met up with Louisa and Elle and their friend Gary for dinner!

Bateaux Mouche food

Le Refuge des Fondues: This is the super touristy restaurant in Montmartre that serves wine in baby bottles. It's a funky little place. There are two long tables and writing all over the walls. If you're sitting up against the wall the waiter helps you literally climb over the table to get in to the booth. It's a set menu with cheese or meet fondue. They start you out with a little aperitif and some olives/cheese/charcuterie I guess you would call it. Then the fondue and wine, followed by some weird foamy dessert that looks like ice cream but isn't. Everyone talks about this place so I had been wanting to go but to be honest I don't feel the need to go back. It's fun for a silly dinner with friends but it's a little grody and you definitely don't go for the food. But still glad we went.

After dinner we walked up to Sacre-Coeur which was BEAUTIFUL. We got to see Paris all lit up at night it was amazing. Highly recommend a trip up there at night.

Crêperie de Josselin: On Wednesday I met Louisa, Elle, and Ben for lunch after class at this awesome crepe restaurant in Montparnasse. Ellie had raved about it and Pauline had recommended it so I suggested it to give them a classic french crepe. We got the lunch formula which consisted of a drink (rosé for me), a savory crepe (ham, egg, and cheese), followed by a sweet crepe of your choosing (honey and lemon for me). The crepes were SO good! We were very full after but it was worth it haha. Also a cute homey environment but it gets really busy so go right when they open. I want to go back to try their smoked salmon crepe.

After lunch we walked around a bunch and went to La Durée where I got a mini almond croissant. Not the best I've had but it was good, not very almondy.. maybe that's cause it was mini. Then we walked past notre dame and shopped around the Marais!

I had an art history tour at centre pompidou instead of class which was awesome but kind of sucked cause the tour was of the exact rooms we went to visit by ourselves earlier in the semester. And the tour guide was kind of boring/repetitive of all the things we talked about already in class.

This is what I have to do my art history presentation on tomorrow........

Le Perchoir: This is a trendy dinner restaurant/bar in Bastille. You go down this sketchy side street and there's no sign for the restaurant. It looks like an open door to some old warehouse or apartment building but there's a bouncer sitting there on a stool so you know it's the place (~hipster~!!). Then you go up an elevator to the 7th floor where there's a rooftop bar with an amazing view of Paris! Unfortunately though it was cold, rainy, and a weeknight so no one was really there. But we had dinner in the restaurant which was right under the bar and it was SO good. We got fun cocktails (mine was called Le Shakespear, shakespeare but it had pear juice in it lol play on words) It's tapas style with a bunch of really interesting dishes, we couldn't pick our favorite! There was some beef carpaccio, and a poached egg with mushrooms, cod, roasted potatoes, yummy pasta, burrata, you name it. The waiters were also so nice. And it definitely wasn't touristy since it's hidden. Very french and the waiters gave us a digestif to finish our meal for free to thank us because we ended up being the last people in the restaurant just hanging out and talking. Would be a really cool place in the summer.

Thursday I slept in and ran and went to Cojean again. Sometimes ya just need the health food. And everything I've gotten there I've loved and makes me feel good so I keep going back. I also figured out the wifi which is tight. There's a cool photography exhibit/some weird tent sculpture things along the quai again so here are some photos of that.

After class I did some shopping on rue de rennes :) I have window shopped there for a long time so I was very happy to get some things that had been on my list haha. I got black booties at this store called Texto which were so cute! And they were actually very well priced. The sales woman was SO nice she made the experience so much better. She spoke to me in french the whole time and was teaching me new words and phrases about shoes like "le sommeil" for insoles, or "trop haut" for too tall.. things like that. Then I used that snazzy coupon I got from Yves Rocher to buy some red lipstick (so french!) and new mascara that I'd been needing. I asked the saleswoman to pick a shade for me and she picked bright red. I was like "something a little darker maybe..?" and she was all "oh no no no with your eyes you need something bright". So I rolled with it. And got a free tote bag which was cool.

Secco Bakery: Stopped here for an almond croissant during my shopping! Heard it's a really good bakery and the croissant did not disappoint. But I do think all pastries are probably better in the morning when they're fresh.

Had dinner with the host fam and we shared my cheese finally! Background story on the cheese is that I bought it from le marché du raspail the other week for a picnic with courtney but never used it and I was getting self conscious cause it was STINKING UP my host family's fridge. But apparently my host mom didn't notice and I asked her if the cheese was still good and she looked at it and was like "oh yes yes of course!!" and was pointing out these indicators on the cheese to me that it was good and such but I don't remember exactly. But I do remember she said to leave it out for 30 minutes at least before eating to maximize the flavor. Dinner was prosciutto and some polenta green bean purée thing (I have no idea and I didn't ask but it tasted good). We also had soup to start. Margot kills the soup game.

Get ready for red-lipstick Kelly!

Jk I've worn it like twice.