Bonjour tout le monde!
J'ai eu une journée très intéressante aujourd'hui. I discovered just last night that there is a once in a lifetime show currently at the Grand Palais near the Louvre showing the biggest collection of Monet in one place the world has ever seen. The exhibit has brought more people to the Grand Palais than any exhibit has ever drawn in visitors for decades in Paris. It has been running non-stop since Friday and been open to the public around the clock. As soon as class was over, I jumped on the metro with a few friends in hopes to stand in line and get into the exhibit.
It was an utter madhouse of people waiting outside in the rain for the final glimpse of the Monet exhibit that would close at 9pm that evening:
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| Grand Palais from a distance |
After less than a half an hour of waiting, we were told that the exhibit would close before we would even come close to reaching the front of the line...did I mention we were there at 4:30?
So onto the next.
We walked around for a while since we were already in such a beautiful area. We even saw a wedding!
Two friends I was with recommended trying a favorite cafe of Coco Chanel as well as many other celebrities called Angelina's across the street from the Louvre. As our menu informed me, "Angelina's remains a unique setting in which to savour the famous hot chocolate and the unmistakable Mont-Blanc whose secret recipe is still closely guarded after one hundred years." Both of which I successfully did. Abby and I decided to split a hot chocolate and Olympe--a macaroon filled with jelly, custard, and raspberries and one of the best desserts I've had since being in Paris.
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| Olympe--bigger than it looks! |
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| Real and best whipped cream with the chocolat chaud! |
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| For 9 euro, you could take home a whole bottle of the most delicious/richest hot chocolate EVER |
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| Abby, Lesley, Natasha, et Sydney |
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| Abby et moi |
After the long but relaxing trip to Angelina's and the sugar overload, Abby (also a 3rd year at UVA) and I decided to at least attempt to walk the 3.5 miles home. We found ourselves home with sore feet two hours later but the walk was well worth it. There is nothing like Paris at night. Our walk took us by the Louvre, Notre Dame, and we could see the beautifully lit Eiffel Tower for much of the walk as well.
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| Louvre at night! |
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| Notice the top of the Eiffel Tower very very small in the background |
Although the day did not go as planned, it was still absolutely incredible and made me feel so thankful to have chosen to come to Paris and to be lucky enough to live in this city for an entire semester. I can't imagine I will ever get used to seeing the Eiffel Tower lit up at night or the immense size of the Louvre. Il a été 2 semaines et je suis tombée en amoureuse avec Paris. How will I ever leave?
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