Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Today was much better. Rested and started off great. We took the metro today which was very easy to navigate but everyone else seemed to have a hard time with it. We went to the Yves Saint Laurent Foundation adn tho the Linen Dream Lab. Both were very interesting. Then we went to lunch-pizza.
Then off to buy tickets for the Moulin Rouge (which was sold out) and on the way I learned that my Uncle Todd passed away this morning. It is so very hard to be away from everyone right now. Mom is flying out tonight to join Dad and the memorial service will be on Friday. I lit a candle for him when we went to the Sacre Couer at Mont Marte today and said a prayer for him.
Mont Marte (which means Mountain Market in French) was lovely but all of Paris is very tourist-y to me. Chntal and I got crepes and a little caricature drawn.
Inside Yves Saint Laurent, pictures were not allowed, but all of his old famous works were beautiful. I got several of his posters that he designs yearly. At the Linen Dream Lab we learned all sorts of new developments like stretchy and waterproof linen fabric. We also met an up and coming designer Alex Mabille. He designed underneath Dior for 10 years and then started his own house. Here is his website. He was quite full of himself, but apparently he is talented.
The Moulin Rouge was different than I thought. It was obviously in a red light district (which when visited by day was mainly touristy, although some places we walked by were XXX) but it was not as "old red windmill-y" as I expected. And the tickets were actually sold out until next February. A sketchy walk and metro ride were not worth it.
And it was hard to be away from home and everyone else when Uncle Todd died.
The Mont Marte was beautiful. To get up to the little village and chapel, Sacre Couer, there was a steep incline of endless stairs. There was also a trolley but it cost 6euros to ride and after a day spent on expensive food, we all took the stairs. Bad idea, but I did lose 4 pounds on the trip and 3.5 of them could be attributed to those stairs.
Sacre Couer was simple and beautiful. Mont Marte was hilly and touristy, but had a beautiful view of the city. It also had fantastic crepes and sweet little ivy covered houses.
My small group that we had to find when we did things like get on the metro
The YSL Foundation
A cool door near YSL
Gina, Amber, Chantal and I
Just me
At the Linen Dream Lab waiting for our meeting
Designer Alex Mabille
Le Moulin Rouge
The windmill it is famous for...just wasn't as cool.
The stairs up to Mont Marte. You can only see some of them.
But here is the view of Paris once we made it up.
The chapel of Sacre Couer.
Chantal and I on Mont Marte
A funny picture of the devil pigeons that had no fear in Paris.
Me and Mont Marte. I've shed layers of clothing by now because we expected it to be cold and it was not.
One of the many boulangerie's (bakery) on Mont Marte.
Chantal and I had our caricature done like true tourists. Ha.
Strolling the little mountain market streets.These were my favorite houses. I wonder who gets to live here?
Eating a nutella and banana crepe I'm sure.
La Masion Rose (the Pink House). Some restaurant patrons waved when they saw me take pictures.
By the market's square
Finally, this is a picture of some of the graffitti we saw making our way back down to the metro. Paris is covered in graffiti, which could be interesting and cool, but it is mostly amateurs. These were the best looking we saw. Sad really.
Always,
Hannah
