(I apologize for being a little behind on my posts, busy busy with school. Finals are next week already!)
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the States!! I was definitely jealous last Thursday thinking of everyone at home being together and having delicious meals of turkey and pies! Obviously, thanksgiving isn't celebrated in Switzerland, so I sat through my Middle East class instead. However, our advisor did invite us to lunch and made an amazing homemade Pumpkin Pie! After class I had a skype date with my whole family that I was looking forward to all day :) I even got to talk to my Grandpa, I think he was pretty amazed that he could actually see me from so far away! Everyone sat around the computer while we chatted. It was so nice to see everyone!
The next morning I had to get up early to catch a flight to PARIS for the weekend. I once again almost slept through my alarm and had to be woken up. Good thing I have such good friends! But Megan, a classmate of mine, and I made it just as the plane was boarding without any problems. We had planned this trip as a Viennese family reunion with my roommate and neighbor from Vienna.
We got to Paris early on Friday and made it to a Marina's friend Kristen's apartment in the 7th District. It's about a block from the Seine, a gorgeous apartment! That afternoon, we walked a few blocks to the Eiffel Tower and we climbed the 700 stairs to the top!! We couldn't go all the way to the top on that day because it was closed the view was amazing! It was sunny and not too cloudy.
We walked down to the Arc de Triumph and along the Champs Elysees toward a Christmas market. They had stands along both sides of the street selling candy, crepes and Christmas ornaments. It was picture perfect. :)
The next day we got up and went to lunch as a sushi place that a friend in the group's cousin owned. Afterward we walked to the Louvre and Megan and I decided to go to the Musee Rodin.
That evening we met up with two of Megan's friends for dinner in Montmarte, the old artist's quarter where Picasso, Giacometti and Hemingway all hung out in the first half of the 20th century. I was in heaven :)
We met up with our group of host and roommates for the weekend at their friend's house on Rue de Bac in the 8th district.
Super nice area. The apartment was unbelievable. From the balcony you could see Andy Warhol's old studio. The man that bought it keeps the light on constantly, apparently wants to be like Andy too.
The next day the group walked around the Jewish quarter called Marais and had falafels. Marina and her friends are all from Dubai, UAE so they were craving some Arab food. The line was a little long but definitely worth the wait.
After walking around Marais and then walked toward the Pompidou Centre, a large modern art museum that I visited a few years ago, for crepes and cafe at happy hour prices. By this time it was dark, so we walked toward Notre Dame Cathedral to see it by night.
Inside they were having Mass in French. The cathedral is stunning.
Our host and tourguide for the weekend, Kristen, was a master at the Paris subways and took us up to Montmarte to see the lights at night. The touristy Moulin Rouge is there. There was also a lights show on the Eiffel Tower which we climbed the top of some steps to see that evening.
After that the group went to smoke Sheesha and have hot tea in a little sheesha bar, another Arab tradition. In the states it's called Hookah, the Hebrew word for it.
The next morning Marina and Aldina and I got up to check out the Cemetery that is home to Gertrude Stein, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Pissaro and lots of other artists and people in history. It was a gloomy day but gorgeous. We walked around and found a few of our favorites.
Oscar Wilde's tombstone, it's a French tradition for girls coming of age to kiss the grave of an influential historical person in their lives. Mr. Wilde is a popular one.
After that we met Kristen at Le Sacre Couer, which overlooks the entire city of Paris. We went on a walking tour of Montmarte and found the square where artists work and sell their work from little stands. We saw the original Moulin Rouge were Lautrec, an artist I love used to hang out and do work from inside the bar. Walking through the city is incredible. I wish everyone could have the experience. :)
The trip was amazing, full of sight-seeing and friends.
xoxo,
Amy
