Slowly Catching You Up to Speed

Wow it has been a long time since I last wrote- and a lot has happened since then! The biggest news: I am, as of April 7th, 21!

So real quick, since it's fresh in my mind: I spent this evening at the Opéra Garnier watching Onéguine (Onegin), the ballet. I'm sure you know all about Onegin, but I had no clue what it was. Onegin is a ballet that is based on a famous Russian novel by Alexander Pushkin. It's about young love and rejection and societal expectations and such. I know I just made it sound really lame but believe me, the ballet was incredible. The music was by Tchaikovsky, although it actually is not the music he wrote for his opera Onegin. Honestly, I was expecting some weird modern ballet thing, which suited me fine because I just wanted to be inside the Opéra Garnier. I was extremely pleased to realize that I was getting to see a classical ballet performed by an incredible ballet company to beautiful classical music in one of the most gorgeous opera houses in the world. I loved the idea that I was in the very room where the Phantom fell in love with Christine Daaé. I sat right across the room from the infamous Box 5! Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this evening, and I really wish my family could have gotten to go to a ballet at the Opéra Garnier.

The interior of the Opera Garnier (chandelier, empty Box 5 up on the left, beautiful modern ceiling)

Curtain calls for the Paris Opera Ballet with the orchestra below after a great performance

Just kind of an artsy-fartsy picture

Our Box 9

Ok so I have a lot to cover. I guess I left off right before my birthday. Nikki's parents arrived in Paris on March 28th. Nikki and I have traveled everywhere together and we have gotten to be good friends. So for my birthday and to be able to meet all of Nikki's friends, her parents invited all of us over to their apartment (with an awesome view of the Eiffel Tower) for hors d'oeuvres, drinks and cake on the Wednesday before my birthday.

About half the group at Nikki's parents' apartment for a little celebration (Me, Devin, Sarah, Cathy, Erik)

It was really perfect- it was a beautiful day and almost all of my Paris friends were there. Having stuff like that helped me forget the fact that I didn't get to spend my 21st birthday in Texas with the people I love. The next day, my friend Erik and I wandered through the 14th arrondissement, where we walked through the Cimetière du Montparnasse (Montparnasse Cemetary) and saw the Dreyfus tomb and had apéritifs (Kir), to the 7th arrondissement, ending up at Le Bon Marché (The Good Market), the first department store in the world. Actually, we went to Le Bon Marché to go to the adjoining épicerie (grocery store) which has food from all over the world (as well as other goodies- see below!). I came out with ranch dressing, sharp cheddar cheese, and a macaron (I've fallen in love with macarons, which are not our coconutty macaroons).

Montparnasse Cemetary is surprisingly beautiful- they really honor their dead here

The Dreyfus Family tombstone- as in Alfred Dreyfus, as in the infamous Dreyfus Affair


Now tell me the épicerie du Bon Marché isn't awesome!

On Friday the 3rd, I met up with one of my best friends and roommates from TCU, Andrea, who is studying in Florence and who came to visit me and her other friend in Paris. Andrea wanted to see Paris from a more local perspective (because I'm sooo local), so we spent all day Friday just wandering around Paris- we shopped and ate lunch at Galleries Lafayette, got macarons at Printemps (Springtime; like Galeries Lafayette and Le Bon Marché, but patronized more by locals), saw Notre Dame, and met up with her friend for a nice afternoon on the Champ de Mars under the Eiffel Tower. It was really great to see her and just have a relaxing day while still experiencing Paris.

On Saturday, I went with Nikki and her parents on a bike trip to Monet's home at Giverny where he painted Les Nymphéas (the Water Lilies). We took the TGV to Vernon, where we picked up our bikes as well as a picnic lunch at this huge outdoor market in the middle of town on Place de la République.

Rabbits being sold at the market in Vernon. Not sure if they were being sold as pets or as food...

We biked over the Seine and ate our picnic on a bank next to Le vieux-moulin (the old windmill), a house that was built in the 16th century on a medieval bridge that dates from the 12th century. All you can see of that bridge now are the pillars that once held it up.

Le vieux-moulin, with no moulin

Then we biked from there down a little road past the American Art Museum and l'Hôtel Baudy to Monet's home. The American Art Museum (now called Le Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny) and the Baudy Hotel have an interesting background- apparently some American painters discovered Giverny and really liked it. Then they discovered that Monet was already there and they liked it even more, and they started painting like him. The Baudy Hotel started out as a tiny tiny little cafe, but all the American painters started hanging out there and needed places to stay (because there was, and still is, no where to stay in Giverny), so it expanded some and became a hotel. We stopped by for drinks after visiting the house- they have a pleasant courtyard thing across the little road that overlooks the countryside around there. The countryside is actually what got Monet interested in Giverny, because he could see it from the train.

Turns out the little road we biked down was Rue Claude Monet!

Our tour guide said there are some famous Monet paintings of this hill (help me out here guys!)

Monet's gardens were incredible, and that was at the very beginning of spring. I really want to go back after everything is in full bloom. He planted them all himself and put in a river that runs through the whole thing. His neighbors got mad at him for bringing in Japanese (and other foreign) plants because they thought they would ruin the native plants. Fortunately, he got to keep his plants. However, his gardens were destroyed in World War II. Luckily he had tons of designs of exact species and sizes of beds and how the river worked and all that so the gardens were created exactly how they were before. Half of his gardens are the Japanese gardens with the lily pads and footbridge and river. The other half are more traditional and symmetrical. In both, everything was arranged by color. Even though it was pretty cloudy, I loved the gardens, and I know that my grandmother would have really loved them.

Monet's Japanese Gardens- look familiar?

Monet's symmetrical gardens (there might be a better name for them than that)

Monet's house was interesting because everything was arranged by color in it as well. Each room had it's own color scheme- pale blue, yellow, purple, etc. It reminded me of the spinning teacups at Disneyland. Also, he loved Japanese prints, so they were everywhere. There are no original Monet paintings in his house, because when his grandson died the government of France picked them up in armored vehicles and transported them to Paris. This country really loves its art. Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures inside the house. Guess you're gonna have to go for yourself!

For my birthday, most of my friends came up to the 17th arrondissement where I live to have aperitifs and eat Italian food at this place called Fuxia. It was pretty low key, but basically exactly what I wanted. I had delicious pasta puttanesca, wine, panna cotta and limoncello. Perfetto! Taylor and I discovered Fuxia when he and my family were here. It is right down the street from the apartment my family rented, and every time we walked by it was packed and smelled incredible. So we went there for dinner one of his last nights and had great food and great service for a good price. I think my friends really liked having something other than French food for a change (not that French food is bad, but we Americans are used to every kind of cuisine in the world. Eating baguettes and camambert all day every day is not as easy as it sounds). I also loved the fact that I got to walk home after dinner. I live so far away from everyone else that I usually have to spend the night with a friend if I want to be able to take my time anywhere. Not your typical American 21st birthday, but I'm not really in your typical American place!

Well that's all for the moment. I'll write about my spring break in Barcelona and Florence tomorrow!

Bonsoir,
Ellie