If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.
Ernest Hemingway
I’m studying Hemingway in two of my courses in Fribourg and have become a huge fan. Paris was just that to Hemingway – a moveable feast that he took with him every place he went. No place compares to Paris. It is absolutely wonderful and beautiful in completely unique-to-Paris ways. This was my third time to Paris and I loved it even more than the first and second times. I just can’t get enough of the city of love and lights. Paris is amazing enough on its own, but it was even more AH-MAZING being there with a group of friends that mean so much to me J I hope I keep a little piece of this weekend in Paris with me at all times.
I don’t even know where to begin in describing this past weekend. I had the most amazing time spending my birthday with friends from Ole Miss in PARIS! I left Fribourg late Thursday afternoon by train, with one switch in Lausanne. The whole trip, including a layover in Lausanne, only took 4.5 hours! So easy! I arrived in Gare Lyon and took the metro to Place d’Italie in the Latin Quarter, where we were staying. Lee (studying in Norwich, England), Kimberly (Bilbao), Leah (Bilbao), and I were the only ones staying together Thursday. I got in first, checked in, and was waiting in the lobby of the hostel when I heard Lee scream, “JJJPPPPP!” You would think we hadn’t seen each other in years – I think we made quite an American spectacle J Lee and I sat outside a café for a few hours catching up and then went back to the hostel to meet Kimberly and Leah! It was amazing to see Kim and Leah – SO surreal all of us being in PARIS together!
Leah, Lee, Kimberly and I woke up Friday and were getting breakfast downstairs when Emilie and Ann arrived! Emilie is studying in Angers this semester and had stayed with a family friend in Paris the night before. Ann is studying in Paris this semester. We started off towards the Pantheon and then towards the Seine and Shakespeare and Co. I could not wait to see Shakespeare and Co. Along the way, we wandered through local street markets and oohed and ahhed at everything Parisian. It was so great wandering around Shakespeare and Co. – I felt like I was in a piece of history, but not a piece of history like a monument or a museum, but a piece of history that continues to live today in literature. The authors that spent nights reading and writing in the tiny, upstairs rooms of S. and Co. continue to move readers today. I guess that is one of the perks of being an accomplished writer – you leave behind such wonderful works of art for future generations to read, discuss, dwell on, and interpret for themselves in their lifetime. I bought a secondhand edition of Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not (with the official S. and Co. stamp on the inside cover J). It was our very own Square Books, minus the Bottletree leftovers and coffee. We walked along the river for some time and then decided to have lunch in a little nook we found. I had moules-frites J We walked to Notre Dame and then to La Tour Eiffel! After climbing the tower, we went to Chartier (ah-mazing!) to meet Susan, Courtney, and Tyler for dinner. Tyler and Susan just got engaged!! At Versailles! We were SO happy to celebrate with them – plenty of champagne toasts!
Samedi – my birthday! My friend, Ann Kirk, is teaching English in Metz, France for the next year and came into the city – it was SO great to see her! We had breakfast downstairs and then got coffee at Starbucks J Guilty… I know I can have this anytime I want in the States, but the caramel latté was just as good as I remembered it to be and was so worth it! We went to the Galeries Lafayette, where they had me close my eyes and surprised me with a Longchamp bag of my choice! I was sooo surprised and couldn’t have asked to spend my birthday with a better group of friends J We had lunch on the roof of the department store and had the best view of the city! Afterwards, we walked to see my FAVORITE building in Paris: Palais Garnier or the Opera House! I had my first ever chestnuts roasting on an open fire! Lee and I got them from a street vendor. They were so tasty! Later in the afternoon, Ann Kirk, Ann, and I got café au laits at a cute café and then headed back to get dressed and ready for the night. Lee had made us reservations at Le Café Marly in the Louvre courtyard! It was beautiful! We sat outside at the most comfortable table with heaters above us and the best view of the Louvre pyramids lit up against the dark sky. We had the best time at dinner – such a great way to end the best anniversaire. It wasn’t near to being over yet though – it was a Nuit Blanche in Paris! Nuit Blanche is a celebration of contemporary art – from 7pm to dawn. The installations are available and free to the public all night long. Lee and I had so much fun wandering around the city into the wee hours of the morning. We were nowhere near to being the only ones or the selected few out – they were thousands of people on the streets! It was so cool to see the streets so lively and active that late at night and early into the morning.
Sunday morning, Leah, Kimberly, and I woke up and went to the Musée d’Orsay – my favorite art museum in Paris! We had the BESTTT dejeuner at a café on the Place d’Italie, near to where we were staying!
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