Slept at Liv's Thursday night (which was really more of a nap) so that we could wake up early to go on our art history tour in the morning. The morning started off rough but I ended up being very pleasantly surprised.
Street Art and Graffiti Tour of Belleville: Our art history professor hired a tour guide to tour us around the 10th/11th arrondissement Friday morning to take a look at some of Paris' street art - which to be honest I didn't really realize exist. Our guide was very knowledgeable and could recognize artists' work that appeared to be the most random pieces of graffiti. But it turns out all of the really good street artists have common themes that they paint like little robots, toilets (bizarre I know) certain letters, certain figures, things like that. Rue de Belleville was the coolest part. It was a small cobblestone street covered in bright graffiti done by many different different artists. There were references to famous artists such as Picasso, but also a lot of original work. There were also a lot of little diaramas that people made in the windows with what seemed to be a lot of random objects but I'm sure was something meaningful. It was a sunny (albeit chilly) morning so the art was very bright and beautiful. Our guide was also saying how you could visit that street a month later and it would look completely different. That's what's so cool about it - that artists just keep painting over it and it evolves. Then our guide took us up to Parc de Belleville which I had never heard of but was BEAUTIFUL! It was on top of a hill and had a beautiful view of Paris. It reminded me of the view from Sacre Coeur but without all of the annoying crowds. The park was also beautiful and the leaves were changing colors. There was a really interesting building (?) it wasn't a building but more of an artistic overhang type thing. There were beautiful mosaic trees near the edge and on each pillar the artist depicted cartoons of children taking off from the ground and disappearing in to the sky (following their dreams etc. etc) It was a beautiful hidden gem of Paris that I really loved. Also shoutout to Liv who took pretty much all these photos cause she's artsier than I am.
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| Parc de Belleville |
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| Rue de Belleville |
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| View from le Parc de Belleville |
Café Pinson: After the street tour Liv and I wandered around the Marais in search of Stan Smiths for me (to no avail :( ). Then we met up with her friend from england at Café Pinson for lunch. It's a healthy food type café with a cute atmosphere. Reminded me of a brunch place out of New York City. I got "L'assiette du jour" which was some type of birdseed/grain falafel with raw vegetables, potatoes, and a tzatki yogurt type sauce. And I got a juice! Those are rare in Paris haha. We got some madelines for dessert which were pretty good.
Friday night I had a glass of champagne with my host family to celebrate Christelle passing her masters!
SATURDAY
L'Anticafé: Pretty well known study café in Paris. You pay per hour and they have unlimited coffee/tea/snacks. Was a good idea but CRAZY crowded on Saturday. So I didn't really get anything done. Maybe I'd go back on a more random day.
L'Atelier de Parfum: EDUCO organized a perfume making class for a few students through this company "L'ABC du Parfum". We went to this woman's really nice apartment in the 16th and she had tables set up with lazy susans filled with bottles of different scents. There was everything from roses and peonies to raspberries and melon to almond wood and "sweet musk". She gave us a few sheets with examples of what scents go well together and told us about how to balance out different scents and what to put together if we want a "fresh" scent or a "sweet" scent and things like that. But mostly it was just up to us to put some things in a bottle and see if it smelled good! My nose was numb by the end and I was a little light headed... but I miraculously managed to make a good smelling perfume! Still thinking of a name so lmk if you have any ideas.
Le Relais Odéon/Chez George/Crêpe D'Or/Showcase: I hit a lot of big things with Courtney saturday night haha. We wandered around the Saint-Germain area for a bit then met up with Liv, Evan, and Ben for dinner in the Odéon area on the cutest street in Paris. It's a tiny cobblestone alleyway right near the Odéon metro stop. Then we went to Chez George which was fun per usual - but really crowded I guess since it was a Saturday. Then we moved the party over to Showcase (but not before stopping for a quick crêpe at crêpe d'or). Showcase per usual only played weird techno music but made some french friends and overall had an awesome night with court!
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| Court @ Chez George! |
SUNDAY
Marché du Raspail: Wandered over to this food market again Saturday morning since it's so close. Such a fun lively environment! I got some cheese to picnic with along with some trail mix. I was eying these potato/cheese/onion pancake things they had cooking up but the line was far too long.
Spent the day Sunday wandering around the Marais with Courtney and her friends. I splurged on a scarf which is like a blanket for my face and is the best thing ever (and so necessary). Then we went to Berthillon (of course). I got pistachio ice cream and apricot sorbet which was actually an amazing combo.
Le Germain: Super trendy modern restaurant in the Saint Germain area. Went here with Natalie and her friends who were visiting. Food was actually really good (though my salmon wasn't what I expected (cold) everyone else's was good!). And then we finished up with a lil speculos crepe on the walk home. Natalie and Ben are obsessed with speculos so I've found myself being naturally attracted to it and incredibly happy whenever they have it somewhere. Even though I had never had it before haha.
Speculos=bae bye!
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