A Day in the Marais

Greetings! I hope everyone's weekends have gotten off to a good start! This morning I woke up to very sore feet. 5 hours in heels last night put the last nail in the coffin - my feet are a-hurting. I am in bad need of a pedicure, so that is first on the agenda when I get back to MSP. I can just imagine the barrage of Vietnamese (or whatever language) comments I will get when they see my feet. I have worn pretty comfortable shoes so far, but have stayed away from wearing my running shoes - they don't exactly look good w/ anything but jeans or running shoes, and I really don't want to see the sites of Paris in either wardrobe... but today, well, I gave up & am wearing my comfy Mizunos (the best running shoes for women, in my opinion).

Dinner last night was an absolute blast. I met up with Anna and her roommate around 10:30 last night. Parisiens in general eat later; truth be told, I'm usually in bed by 10:30! But, you know, when in Rome... This trip has been good for me as I am a bit of a creature of habit,. so it's been good to mix things up a bit. We met up at a metro stop & luckily recognized each other right away (Yulia had given me a picture of her). We took a short walk to the restaurant, Kong. For those SATC fans out there, this is the restaurant where Carrie meets Alexandr Petrovsky's ex-wife, Juliette. It did not fall short of any expectations I had! The restaurant was on the 5th floor & then you went upstairs to eat dinner - it sort of had a globe-shaped, glass roof, so the views of Paris were wonderful. I had a dish I would never order in the US - Duck - and it was wonderful! After dinner we headed back down to the main level of the restaurant which turns into a Discotheque. They pretty much only played American music, from hip hop songs that are popular to now, to Thrilller.... for those of you that were at Ashleigh's wedding, I did NOT do the Thriller dance here! :) I lasted until about 2 am which is about 2 hours later than I usually last!

This morning I went on a walking tour of the Marais area. This is a district that is located on the Right bank. It has a rich history as much of the court of the royalty lived in this area. It's also where the Jewish population seems to be concentrated. I was here briefly yesterday when I had my Falafel, and from my brief encounter then, I knew I was going to love it. I met up with the walking tour at 10:30. I am definitely glad that I did a guided tour as I learned way more than I would have if I had just done it on my own.

Our guide talked alot about the history of the area, especially the 'Hotel des Particular' which are basically huge mansions that housed friends of the Royalty & some of their staff. The 'Hotel' usually has a huge courtyard & a garden. Each one seems to have its own interesting story. One that we looked at was the residence of the mistress of one of the Kings of France! Since most marriages in that time were political, it was pretty much standard practice for the King to have mistresses. And they definitely took care of their misstress and her husband! I guess the husbands profited from this close relationship to Royalty so tended to just turn a deaf ear to what was going on! After touring this area, I am interested in reading more about the history of France. I read one history book before coming over here, but will definitely be doing more reading.

This is what a garden of one of them would look like. The residence was usually sandwiched by a courtyard & garden so that the residents would feel like they were waking up in the country!

If I ever were to move to Paris (not going to happen... love it here but I couldn't leave my parents or nephews!) I would most definitely live in the Marais. It is how I imagined Paris looking. Lots of narrow streets lined with 16th-17th century buildings. You can't walk very far without running into a Boulangerie or Patisserie, there are outdoor cafes everywhere, and lots of neat little shops to pop in & out of. Of course, this 'chic-ness' comes with a hefty price tag. It is a really neat area, though, and is by far my favorite area of Paris that I have seen.

On our walking tour, the guide took us by a bookstore that sells books in English. Being the booklover that I am, I had to go back to check it out after the tour. The lady who owns it is originally from Canada and has lived here for 18 years!! I picked out a few books to purchase (I just couldn't resist!!) and she chatted with me about what it is like to own a business in France. The French are infamous for their bureaucratic ways - especially when it comes to employment. In my World Econ class this spring, we talked quite a bit about the rigidity of labor markets in Europe, and France definitely has one of the most rigid ones in Europe. The owner said that every time she hires someone, she has to work with her lawyer to complete all of the necessary legal paperwork. Talk about a hassle. Last night, Anna spoke about how hard it is to find a job here; I can understand why if the business owner needs to work w/ a lawyer everything they hire someone!! It's times like this that I appreciate the simplicity of America's Labor markets!

Our tour ended in Place des Vosges, which is where I am currently blogging from. It's a beautiful park w/ a few fountains and a Satue of Louis XIII. People are sprawled out all over the grass, taking in this gorgeous day. I am guesstimating that it is 80? So the warmest day since I arrived. There are lots of groups of people sitting on blankets, eating bread & cheese, and sharing wine. So it strikes me as an authentic Parisien hangout!

I've kind of had a busy couple of days so have decided to spend my afternoon here, reading one of my new books, and basking in the sun. I figure with all the running around I've done, today is a good day to relax. This evening I plan on checking out the Montmatre Area & going to the 10 pm Mass at Sacre Couer. Today is Fete de la Musique, and that gets started off around 6-7 so I am really excited to see what sort of music I encounter!

I depart for Lyon tomorrow, so today is my last day of real 'vacation' time. I have no idea what to expect for a work load for my classes in Lyon. 2 years ago it was fairly lax & a student complained about it being too easy - so last year they made it ridiculously intense! So hopefully this year they don't make it too intense as I feel one of the most important aspects of studying abroad is to take in the culture of the city you are visiting. So we'll see what happens. I have no idea how easy it will be to have WiFi in Lyon. We are definitely spoiled to have such easy, free access to it in the States! So hopefully the library or school has wireless access.... we'll see!

Au Revoir from Paris!