18. Grands Boulevards Walk

I have seen a lot of Haussmann's work throughout Paris and I really like. It may be only to do with streets but everything that he has done has opened up Paris so that there is more space for parks and views. So I really like him. We went to the shopping area Printemps and it was really amazing. It was so beautiful and unique. Shopping areas normally don't look so classic and timeless, all of the designers were so nice as well but I thought that there was too much Black.

We then went to the Paris opera house where "Phantome of the Opera" was based. It was truly breathtaking and remarkable. We talked to some Security guards and they said that building really is built on a pond. We then tried to sneak down but failed. Along with this failure my camera died right when we started to take pictures but luckily my friend Bart who is a way better photographer took some really good pictures of it. So enjoy...thank Bart.



We then saw some more Napoleon monuments...which contributed to another Napolean overload for me. The walk then ended with a church that I had already seen in the Madeline walk. I really loved this walk because of the nice shops, beautiful opera house and amazing decore. I am going to miss Paris and I feel like I saved the best walk for last when I did this one.

7. Marais Walk 1

First stop was Hotel de Sens, I didn't think this was anything special since it looked like all the pther buildings but it was nice to see it. This was built for the archbishop of Paris who needed a nice private residence to stay in. We then walked down rue Charlemagne where we saw a piece of the wall Philippe Auguste built to protect Paris.

We then made our way to the l'eglise Saint-Paul Saint-Louis. It was a pretty church that had some nice paintings. We then made our way out and went to Hotel de Sully which was completed in 1630 for the minster of fiance for Henri IV. Sully was really pretty and it was nice to be in a smaller museum/ really cool home. We then made our way over to the Place des Vosges, a pretty park. We didn't stop to smell the roses since there wasn't any and it was freezing, but it was still a nice park.

We then headed to Hotel Carnavalet which was a lot like the Sully museum. It was another nice small museum that had good vies of gardens and great interiors. Thats how I felt when I went to the last Hotel d'Angouleme. I liked this walk but I felt like Marais 2 and 1 over lapped too much.

21. Get lost the "Anti-Walk" walk.

So for my get lost walk I decided to Explore the town that I live in which is Coissy. It is a small town that is filled with estates but, in recent years most of the estates have sold off pieces if their property so there will be 2-4 homes behind one gate now. Coissy is located on the seine river and it the place to be at dusk. Everyone walks along the river at night when the sun is setting so that's where I started my walk. On the seine they will have pictures of impressionists art that was painted at the exact part. It is really cool to where the painters did their work.

One of the paintings.


Homes on the Seine.

I also explored the Coissy park which has really beautiful trees and flowers everywhere. After relaxing in the park I went through some some streets and tried to see some of the homes. The gates in front were all to tall but I could see the tops and tell how big and pretty the houses were. I love seeing old french homes where people really live in these homes that have so much history even if they are falling apart.

One of the pretty homes.

I then went through the town and wondered around. I saw some really pretty design shops but was too intimidated to go in. Once I was done with the town I realized I had gone far from home and after an hour I was finally home. I really enjoyed my walk because I got to see my town that I have been living in for the past 3 months.

14. Eighteenth-Century Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous.

I did this walk on a Thursday when most of Paris is at work or at school so it was really nice and quit. The walk started out with Jacquemart-Andre Museum. The museum was pretty small and cool. Every room looked good but I don't think it compared to Versailles so I didn't feel that impressed. We then made our way down Boulevard Haussmann and noticed that all of the buildings only had 6 floors. I couldn't remeber how many floors buildings normally have but I think what made this so unique was that every single building only had 6.

Outside of the museum


Notice the 6 floors?

We then made our way to the Monceau park which was probably my favorite park. There were children everywhere enjoying their recess for the day and many joggers. It was obvious that we were the only Americans/tourists there. This park was so beautiful and relaxed, we stayed on the bench for so long and it was lovely. After the park we headed to the Musee Nissin de Camando.

Flowers being planted, making my spring dreams come true.


I love the willow trees.

This museum is one of my favorites of the trip. I loved it so much, as a designer I was able to learn a lot. It focused in the King Louis and Marie Antoinette styles which are my favorites.

Claw foot Bathtub.


I loved the colors.


A mint green room.


All of the paintings were really pretty.


A rare black stove from the 1900's.

13. Seizieme Arrondissement Walk

Our first stop was a long artificial island on the Seine it was a pleasant stroll with great views. The weather was perfect which also helped with the walk, I really liked this because there were no tourists so it really did feel relaxing and not rushed. At the end of the little island we came across a small scale statue of lady liberty. It almost felt like home for about .05 seconds.

The statue.


Great view.

We then made our way through the quit streets and into a cafe that the book said was really unique because if its ceiling. We were of course disappointed with it and quickly left the tiny cafe. We saw another Classic art Nouveau building. I have studied art Nouveau a lot and I really don't like the look of it. We then went to see the Turkish Embassy but of course only could see from the outside the beautiful gardens.

Glass ceiling cafe.

The famous Nouveau.


Turkish Embassy

We then made our way to a lovely little park that would let us on the grass. Wanting to take full advantage of this opportunity we rested for 20 minted and soaked up the sun. After much needed rest we made our way to Musee Marmatton; a nice little museum that houses many different painting including Monets water lilies. But because I have seen the water lilies in 20 foot painting I was not so impressed with these painting or anything else in the museum. After we left we expected so see many more things on this walk but soon found out we were just supposed to walk. This was was long and tedious...not one of my favorites.

Perfect park.

10. Playing Hooky in Le Quartier Latin

This walk started with a beautiful fountain that was of Saint Michel slaying a dragon. Then we went to a theater that housed the production of La Lecon in 1957. This show is still running today.

The Fountain.

The theater that has been running for 53 years.

We walked down a pretty narrow street that had so much eye candy and ended at l'eglise Saint-Severin. It is a small church that has really intresting glass windows because they seem to be like an 80's modern pattern. I thought that it was really cool and a nice change. I also loved how they put really pretty flowered branches over the cross.

Cool 80's window.

Amazing lighting.

We then went through another old street in Paris and saw the oldest cafe in Paris. We then ventured to the a famous pastry shop that the booked talk about with high reviews but sadly it was not there any more. So we made our way to rue de Seine which was filled with galleries left and right. They were all really nice to go and explore in. Some were amazing photography galleries and others were masterful modern art galleries. Also off this street is the best fine arts school in paris that many legends have attended. It was closed so we couldn't wonder the halls but it was nice to see the artistic gates.

The cafe maybe old but its still in tact.

After maneuvering through the tiny streets we walked along the Seine and saw all of the different street vendors. They all seemed to see the same stuff but it was still fun to look at. The weather was so perfect and it made this walk perfect. I really enjoy being in the Latin quarter.

5. Place de la Concorde Walk

I veruntrued out on the Concord walk on a perfect spring day in Paris, which made this walk so realxing and nice. Our first stop was Seeing the Theater Magriny which was designed by Garnier in 1853. Garnier also designed the Paris Opera house. We then walked along the Palais de l'Elysee which is the French white house. You could easily see the home from the sidewalk which surprised me since I would expect the President to reside in a house that has about 50 acres around it. This home was built in 1722 and houses visiting foreign leaders along with the President.

The guarded gates of the Palais de l'Elysee.

the best Part about the street Faubourg Saint-Honore was the amazing window displays from the different high end designers. There were so many different stores everywhere and they all were really dramatic and cool. We then went and saw some of the nicest hotels in Paris; Hotel Faubourg and Hotel de Crillon. They looked very tucked away and were hard to spot but, I guess that's what makes them very exclusive. We then stoped in front of the U.S. embassy, surprisingly though it was very discreat. We didn't see any Flags or any indication that it was the U.S. embassy.

The Discreet U.S. Embassy.

Next stop was the Luxor Obelisk which was a gift form Egyptian Governor Mohammed Ali to Charles X. It is from the Luxor Ruins and is over 3,000 years old. The last stop was the best stop of the walk; the Tuileries Gardens, it has been in Paris since 1564. In the garden is also the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel which was built to celebrate Napoleon's Victories.

The Luxor Obelisk


The Gardens filled with tourists.

The view of it all.

Culture Events

1. Notre Dame organ concert.
Every week Notre Dame has Oregon Recitals, so I decided to jump on the opportunity thinking it would be like the Oregon from the conference center. When I arrived I went and sat next to the front so that I would have great seats for the show. When the show started I could not see the Oregon player anywhere. I was so disappointed in this. The Oregon is such a complicated instrument that requires so much focus and precision that it is one of my favorites to see played. Another down side was that the Oregon was all the way at the back of the church and the pipes were kind of small so they didn’t reach to far. I was really taken back by this because I am used to Oregon’s that are small and played in small venues or huge Oregon’s that overpower a whole congregation. I enjoyed the concert but I would not go again.

2. Percussion Concert
I had the great opportunity to go to a percussion performance in a cool venue in Paris. I felt like a true Parisian since there were only a small group of Americans and I was one of them. It was a dark night club that had powerful spotlights on each performer so it was all you could see. One of the cultural differences is that when someone is performing the French are very quit and respectful, they don't make a single noise. It is a nice change from chatty, loud American performances.

3. Musical Fireside
Another one of my favorite cultural events was a musical fireside that I attended. It had a violinists, 2 harp players, a piano player, a flute player, and a singer. It was all on french and really beautiful. It was the only time that I didn't feel lost at a church event in 3 months because I just listened to the music. I really enjoyed this fireside and thought all the songs were top notch.

4. Siddharta Ballet
I did ballet for 9 years and spent a lot of time studying the art form but surprisingly I find it really hard to watch. So I was dreading going to a ballet at the Bastille but of course I ended up really enjoying the dancing and hating the music. The choreography was really pretty and didn't seem repetitive at all which is hard to do with a ballet. The music didn't seem to go along with the dancing and that really bothered me. The music ended up giving me a headache but I was so happy to see a Ballet in Paris.

5. Jazz restaurant
I decided to go to another jazz show since the last one I attended was so entertaining and relaxing. It was at a cafe called Universel, when we walked in the whole place was completely empty except the performers setting up and one server. The whole place had black and white strips everywhere, which made it quite trippy but gave it a really cool feel. There was a piano player, a singer, a bass player and a drummer. They were all well aged which came through with their years of experience while they played. The singer was pretty awful but the instruments and atmosphere made up for it.

6. Syphony Fantastique
Symphony Fantastic: Symphony Fantastic was the first symphony I have been too other then the Idaho Falls symphony. I really enjoyed the Idaho Falls symphony and thought it was great but, it didn’t compare to this show. I loved the whole performance and really enjoyed knowing the back story behind the piece. It made it a lot easier to understand and appreciate the music and sound a lot more. I would love to go see another symphony because of this performance, it really broadened my horizons.

Time Travel, Tricks, and Treats around Saint-Sulpice

This was a walk I had been waiting to do the whole time and couldn't find the perfect day. Luckily I did and I am so happy I did this walk on a spring day in Paris because it was so delightful and delicious the whole time. The first adventure we embarked on was seeing the Hotel Lutetia. This hotel was really pretty and nice, we were to scared to go inside because it was obvious we didn't belong. We then went to see a statue by Cesar, it is made of almost all scrap materials and it definitely shows.

It was a little strange for my taste.

We then saw the famous Theatre du Vieux Colombier. It has been closed and opened twice but now stands strong. It is most famous for the production of No Exit, a Jean-Paul Sartre play.

It is small but bigger inside.

The next stop was my favorite part of the day, Pierre Herme. This is a delicious Pastry show that originated in Japan and has made its way to Paris, it is so delicious. I had to have some so I bought the most chocolately thing I could see and it was out of this world delicious. It was so rich, silky, light, and sweet. I will never forget it.

I was sitting and eating so no one could tell I was a tourists.

We then went into Saint-Sulpice which is the second largest church in Paris. It was featured in the best seller " Da Vinci Code" which has made it a new tourists attraction. It was a typical church and a good place to relax and enjoy the music. There were a lot of Parisians paying their respects in many different ways. Some were kissing the feet of the different saint statues and some were singing with a lot of movement.

Half of the Exterior was under renovation so I only got to see half of the exterior.

The interior was really big and clean.

I then made my way to an English book store named the "Village Voice". It was really nice to see and hear people speak English, next time I am in need of a book I am happy I have a place to go. The last stop was the Abbaye Saint-Germaine Tower. The building has different styles , it also was used as a prison, and a storage facility for gun powder. It then had a fire which was obvious from the Exterior.

Overall I enjoyed this walk, it was in a really nice area and on a nice day. It started to rain as soon as I finished the walk, I was really lucky.

Marcher Le Nez Au Vent: Sight and Smells Around the Madeline

This walk was really fun short, and sweet. The madeline area is one of my favorite places to go because it is always nice and clean here. The first thing that we got to see what the Flower stalls, they were all so beautiful and lovely smelling.

Our first stop was another great church knows as the Madeleine Church. This church was surrounded with Corinthian columns. The columns are supposed to evoke the glory of the ancients. This is a catholic church that was last remolded by Napoleon to be a dedication to the French Army. Then Louis XVIII ordered the architect to transform the monument into the Catholic church that it is today. It doesn't look like many other churches in Paris because it has the look of a government building instead of a Gothic church. The church also had a good pipe organ but it didn't compare to the one in Salt lake.

Now it was time to enjoy the tastes of the Madeline so we stopped in the Laduree, a pastry shops created in 1862. This shop is where the famous Macarons were invented. These are the french cookies that you see in every pastry shop but non compare to the ones that Laduree makes. I was really excited to try these and they did deliver. The flavor I chose was chocolate and it was so gooey and yummy. I also bought other pastries to see what else Laduree could do but then didn't compare to the Macaron.

The last stop was the perfume museum, it was about to close so we had to rush through on our own but we got to see and smell many different kinds of perfumes. We tried to find the Perfume family's but found it a little confusing. It was really fun and beautiful. Every bottle was so unique and different, it almost made me consider product design for about 2 minutes because I started to love the bottles more then the smells. I smelled a scent caller Vert and it was horrible that it ruined the smell of every one I tried after that.

I really liked the Madeline are, there are really nice chops to see like Louis Vuitton and Coco Chanel. Its a nice area of Paris and I nicer area to be in. I would recommend that everyone checks it out and gets lost in the amazing shopping.

Parisian Necropolis: Cimetere

This walk was going to the famous cemetery of Paris, I was kinda scared to go because I am not a fan of walking through any kind of cemetery but I did enjoy this because it was really beautiful. Some of the cemeteries dated back to 1700 and some were from 2001. The range never ended and we tried to see what the oldest and newest dates were that we could find. There was a sculpture done by Paul-Albert that was really pretty. It took the artist 10 years to complete and it was huge and remarkable. It represented the pass to the other side that men women and children go through.

Then we saw the very large tomb of the infamous lovers Heloise and Abelard. It was big and beautiful. They were two lovers that had many years between them so were seen as very disgraceful. But they still stayed together and were ultimately buried together.

Jim Morrison's grave.

We then made our way to Jim Morrisons grave, it was of course modest and in a tiny place but that didn't stop tons of people trying to see the grave. One lady stood on another persons head stone to get a good picture. We then made our way to Kardec, It was covered with flowers everywhere and their were people paying their respects. He is considered to be the founder of spiritualism. After going through many other monumental graves we came across Oscar Wildes grave and gave a kiss to his tomb to pay our respects.


The wild red lips for Wilde.

Chopin's grave.

We then walked through the cemetary and saw other famous graves along with monumnets dedicated to the holocaust and other events where many people have been lost. Every grave site was different and some we no longer in tact but still all those people were once someones Brother, Mother, Father, Sister and so on. So in the end I am very happy that I went through and saw all them.

One of the Holocaust monuments.

Follow the Money

It all started with some beautiful window shopping in the nicest area of town. I saw the Marc Jacobs handbag store, a beautiful glove store that had really cool window displays, and a Burken bag. Then I made my way to the black and white sculptures done by Daniel Buren. They appear to be random and don't really fitt in but thats what makes them so unique. They also light up at night.
The next stop was the French Library. This was a place that provided many research tools. They would not let us in at the time but we walked the grounds and got to see the building. It was typical french style that was filled with rich History.

Then we headed to the French Stock exchange. It was obviously a business area because everywhere you looked there were men holding brief cases and on their cell phones. We then walked through the glass covered passages that shops throughout. The shops were all really oriental looking. They were also a lot of foreign restaurants that crowded the small streets. There were people every where in these tiny passageways which made it pretty fun and exciting.


French Stock exchange.

The crowded shopping streets.

Marais Walk 2

I did this walk with two of my friends from the States and it was really fun because they were so excited by everything. Now that I live here I forget to enjoy every last bit of it but they brought back the excitement that I had my first month here. The first stop was the synagogue designed by Hector Guimard. It looked like a an open Torah scroll in art Nouveau style, it was really unique and executed perfectly for what Hector wanted.

Rue des Rosiers was a really pretty street that we turned on next and it got its name because Rose bushes used to go along the street. The shops were also really nice to see. They all had great window displays. We then stopped and had some delicious Falafel and one of the Jewish restaurants, it was of course delicious.

Our next stop was Hotel de Soubise, it is one of the most lavish mansions in Paris today. It has some of the best examples of Rococo and it was best depicted in the dinning room. The dinning room was really elaborate. The paint was really cool because when the light hit it it looked blue but when the room started to get dark the color looked green. It also had white decorative trim everywhere and it was super elaborate, but that was about it that really stuck out because it had no relics in the whole museum.

This was outside the museums.

This was the Dining room that I loved. The detail was the elaborate throughout the whole room. Also the room was a circle shape to it was really fun to spin in.

This was the ceiling of one of the Salons.

The next stop was the Musee Cognacq-Jay, it was a simple museum compared to others. It focused on eighteenth-century paintings. The next stop was the Picasso museum but it was closed until 2012. That was really dissapointing but that just means I will have to come back.