New sites, new experiences...

I had a pretty fulfilling weekend... went to the Louvre on Friday night (since I've decided that I at least want to try to see it all) and then was invited out for drinks and a Parisian apartment party by my friend Tory.

First, we went out to a bar called La Perle in le Marais (3rd arrondissement). Apparently, that's where everyone hangs out because I don't remember the last time I saw a bar that crowded (not counting Forum, of course). Then we headed over the apartment party.

At first, I was a little uncomfortable because I was afraid that I would stick out like a sore thumb due to my blantant American-ness (is that a word?) and my serious lack of the French tongue. However, everyone was extremely nice and hosts were very inviting (not to mention the fact that everyone pretty much spoke English, though I still felt bad that I couldn't speak to them en Francais). Fast forward through a few hours of dancing, drinking and chatting, we headed home. I ended up sharing a cab with a Swedish girl who lives right up the block from me, so... potentially a new friend!

Today, I did my new thing of taking a weekly long walk. Today, I chose to walk around the 5th arrondissement, so I took the Metro to Gare d'Austerlitz and took a walk through the Jardin des Plantes and past the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Then I walked up to the Pantheon and actully went in this time. I checked out the crypt where all of the famous people of France are buried (Braille, Zola, the Curies) and thought it would be pretty cool to be honored by being buried there (granted, you're dead, but it's still a nice honor).

Finally, I took a seat in the Jardin du Luxembourg, where they had a band playing near the fountain and I read for a little while. To top off my night, I'm headed over to my aunt's apartment for dinner and some drinks.

Mister Norlander or Monsieur Norlander?

This week a certain Mr. David Norlander came over to Europe... first I went to Munich for a meeting (of COURSE I had a beer while I was there - it's Oktoberfest for god's sake!). Then I met Dave over in Stuttgart.

We had a great meeting in the morning and on my way out, I chatted with one of the cute Sales Reps... hmm, I may need to spend some more time in Germany...


Then Dave and I met back up in Paris and did some sightseeing. We started down by the Louvre; we didn't have a chance to go in, but we walked around outside and through the Tuileries. I found a cute restaurant through Zagat's that had been serving French food there since 1919 (right).


Then we walked over to the Notre Dame, but made sure we were over by the Seine at 10pm sharp so that we could see the Eiffel Tower sparkle. The last part of our evening tour took us to the steps of the Sacre Coeur where we watched a guy playing with fire (you know, when they spit at a torch with some sort of alcohol)... I think we were both waiting for this guy to burn himself...

Here are the pics-- enjoy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfed/show

P.S. today we went to La Defense-- that's where the last 3 pics were taken-- you can see from the La Defense Grand Arche to the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre's Pyramid (if you can see that far...).

A walk in the 9th

I took a nice long walk in the 9th arrondissement today... that's the area that I live in. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the Ile de Paris, it's broken up into 20 sections, or "arrondissements." Check it out here:


<------- I'm up here in the middle








My walk today took me past

• Notre Dame de Lorette - a sadly run-down church named after the Italian city of Loreto
  
• the Gare St. Lazare - many famous artists, including Monet and Manet, lived near this train station-- the 2nd busiest in Europe-- and put the building in their works
• the Church [l'eglise] of Madeleine - originally a church, whose present form is a temple celebrating the glory of Napoleon's army
• the Galleries Lafayette - of COURSE I stopped there-- it's a department store... and a super cool one at that. The store is a very old building that is open in the center under its dome. When I went through, there was a fashion show / dance show going on in the middle of the store-- very cool!
• Opera National de Paris (aka the Opera house) - needless to say it's on my list to actually take in an opera-- I've never seen one, and I think it will be really cool!

Maybe next time I'll bring my camera on my walk and take some pictures :-)

feeling quite french...

I went window shopping...

I don't leave the apartment without a scarf...

I ate croque monsiuer...

I made ratatouille...

I drank a cafe creme at a cafe on a warm afternoon (got a tan too haha)...

I have Serrano ham, Goat cheese and Camembert in my fridge...

and of course, and open bottle of wine...

Une semaine a Paris avec Sarah (see! I'm learning!)

Sarah (as she pointed out, the person I have been to the most contintents/countries with) came in last Sunday... we both worked during the days, but had some fun in the evenings including:







The Louvre:
The Louvre is the world's most visited museum in the world. Nearly 35,000 pieces are spread out across 60,000 square meters (that's 650,000 sq feet-- and 1,300 times the size of my NYC apartment). Construction of the Louvre began in 1190, but was not completed and open to the public until 1793. The history behind the name "Louvre" is unclear-- it could be one of three possibilities: 1) L'Œuvre, meaning masterpiece 2) rouvre, meaning oak for the place that it was in the forest that was once there 3) leouar, meaning castle.


Eiffel Tower:
The Eiffel Tower is the most visited monument in the world, with over 200 million visitors since it was built in 1889. When Gustav Eiffel had the structure built, it was only meant to stay up for 20 years before the City of Paris took ownership, then could take it down. However, they decided to keep it and it was used during WWI as a viewpoint, and it took on a new meaning as a victory statue.


The Pantheon:
This neoclassic building was completed in 1789, which was the beginning
of the French Revolution. The building was deemed to be used as a burial ground for great French citizens. Here are a few examples: Victor Hugo, Louis Braille, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Marie Curie, and Emile Zola.




A bunch more pictures... check them out here: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=8iofsxj7.6z76ozq3&x=0&y=-6wx6pf&localeid=en_US

La Rive Gauche

Today I headed over to La Rive Gauche (the left bank of the Seine). Actually, I got off the Metro at Cité, which is located on Île de la Cité. I saw the Notre Dame Cathedral, took a walk around inside and took some pictures (it said no cameras, but everyone else was taking pictures, so I figured I wouldn't be the first one to get thrown out). Did you know that it took them 185 years to build Notre Dame?

Then I walked along the Seine towards the Museé D'Orsay, and had some lunch along the way, but decided once I got there that since it was late in the afternoon and there were long lines, that I would just keep walking. I was extremely tempted to buy some original art pieces that vendors along the river were selling, but I figured I would have plenty of time to do that.

I ended up at the Eiffel Tower and just sat and took some pictures there. I can't wait to go up it again, but I figured I would wait until later this week when Sarah is here!

I can't wait to insert some of my own pictures into my blog, but currently my camera's USB cord is in the U.S. Perhaps my Aunt Sue will loan me hers one day? :-)

Thankfully the rain held off so far and I was able to get in another nice day of sightseeing! Going to have dinner with a new friend (I hope) tonight.

Here was today's route - a solid 3.3 mi/5.31 km (click image to enlarge):

A Beautiful Day in Paris

Today was my first real sightseeing day in Paris... well this time around anyway. I decided since it was such a picture perfect day, that I would go out and take pictures. I took the Metro down to the Louvre and once again, marveled at it's size. I decided to walk on the Seine-side of the Louvre, heading towards the Tuileries (biiig garden-- probably not doing it justice-- check out the pics, if I ever get to post them).

Along the way, I saw the Place de la Concorde (which used to be called Place de la Revolution-- aaand the guillotine used to be there) and the Obelisque (given to France by the Egyptians).

Then I headed down to the Champs-Elysees and scoped out all of the stores that I'm going to take Sarah to next week, had a cafe au lait while people watching and of course, saw the Arc de Triomphe.

Check out my route - 2.7 mi / 4.35 km (click on the image to enlarge):

1st evening of sightseeing

For my 1st night of sightseeing, I decided to stay close-- I went to the Sacre Coeur Basilica... well worth the short walk, as I will probably make the steps in front of it my favorite spot to hang out when I don't feel like sightseeing elsewhere.

The Sacre Coeur was built on the highest point of Paris so when you're up at the top, you can see all of Paris (and Jen Lash tells me that the view gets even better in winter when the trees lose their leaves and you can see the Eiffel Tower). The most interesting fact, in my opinion is the following:

Sacré-Cœur is built of travertine stone quarried in Château-Landon (Seine-et-Marne), France. This stone constantly exudes calcite, which ensures that the basilica remains white even with weathering and pollution (Wikipedia).

Oh the little things you learn everyday...

For dinner I had a Chevre Chaud Salade (yeah that's salad with bread and heated cheese-- COME ON, it's like combining two awesome things-- grilled cheese sandwiches and salad!)-- I foresee myself getting addicted...

DAY 1

I think I'll blame it on the lack of sleep, but today did not go as smoothly as planned... the broker was late (by an hour)... then after showing me around the apartment, he mentioned that I hadn't paid anything to his company or the landlord, but we did wire the money! So after being reprimanded for about 45 minutes, the broker finally left (albeit empty-handed).

The good news is that the landlord found the transfer so we are on our way with that (at least he doesn't think I'm a total deadbeat)

I did manage to get the internet (and the router) to work, which a nice accomplishment for the day... next step is to send out some last minute emails, then take a realllllly hot shower and watch a movie that will make me laugh before I completely pass out.