Versailles... PARTDEUX!

Bonus points if you got the VH1 reference in the post title. Sunday, I decided to head BACK to Versailles to complete my chateau experience. The last time I went, we only visited the chateau because it cost $$$ to go to the other parts and we wanted to wait until it was nicer weather since the rest was mostly outside. And then last weekend I realized this was my last chance to see it- CRAZY! So South-African-Emma, Australian-Louisa, and I headed back to see le Hameau de la Reine, the Queen's Hamlet. So if you don't know the backstory, all the opulence of Versailles made Marie Antoinette feel really out of touch with nature (kind of a shame it didn't make her feel out of touch with the French civilians, since if it had, it might have saved everyone some trouble).

So she had this little retreat built for her, complete with its own farm. It had 11 buildings, all for Marie and her posse, including the Queen's House, a Billiards Room, Boudoir, Dairy, Refreshments Room... there was even a Reheating house to ensure all food served would be just the right temperature. Ridiculous? Yeah, a little. But either way, I'm really glad I ended up going (I was planning on skipping it altogether because of fundsss issues).

While we were there, we also the Petit Trianon, the Grand Trionon, the Grotto, the Queen's Theater, and the temples, but the Queen's Hamlet was what we really wanted to see.

It was a good day, and a nice way to spend my last Sunday in France.

FIFA Fan Fest

So before I start... Brighid, the picture on the left is for you. Look, it's Laura pushing the Eiffel Tower!!!!

So, you might have heard that the World Cup is going on (lolololololololol) and in Paris there's this really awesome set-up called the FIFA Fan Fest, where they cover the pond in front of the Trocadéro- a viewing platform to the Eiffel Tower- and then project the game onto a huge screen. Apparently they do this in a couple cities around the world (Berlin, Mexico City, Rio, and I don't remember the others...).

We watched the USA vs. Ghana game. It started off pretty tame but WOW Ghana fans got crazy by the end. When they scored the second goal in overtime, the Ghana section started dancing and singing and didn't stop until the game was over. It was a neat experience, though.

The picture on the left has the red blow-up guys that would go up any time someone scored.

I finally found MY PEOPLE. Check out that patriotism! Oh, and I am happy to say I FINALLY got to participate in a "USA! USA! USA!" chant during my time in Paris.

This is a video of the Ghana fans after their team scored. Crazy! (Oh and I just watched it- you can definitely hear Laura talking the whole way through it. hahahah listen for her cute little accent!)

Paris Pride

So, to be totally honest, this is kind of a fake entry because I didn't actually go to Paris Pride. However I DID wander through it on my way somewhere else (which was awesome because I was like 20 minutes late to begin, and then tried to make my way through swarms of crazy dancing people). I think it was celebrated in different parts of Paris (?) but the part I stumbled into was in the Bastille circle. It was CRAZY. There were rainbows everywhere, and there was this huge stage set up with this wild DJ. People were dancing really out-of-control, too. It was a little much for me but it looked like people were having a good time.

Umm yeah this kid was definitely no older than 14 or 15, and he had "entree" written on his back with an arrow pointing down. That's what I mean by Pride being a little much for me. PS has anyone gone to Philly Pride? Is it this crazy?

Oh, and also really funny- I saw these three men in uniform and I thought they were supposed to be sailors (you know, like the Gay Sailor thing) because of their cute little hats... and then I saw they had actual guns and were just policemen hahahaha

Bercy/ Festival Mondiale de la Terre

Saturday afternoon I went to Bercy, which is in the SE corner of Paris, although not too far from where I live. I wanted to go to Bercy Village, a little shopping center built into what used to be wine storehouses. Also in Bercy is a garden I wanted to see, and the Palais Omnisports Paris-Bercy, which is a huge concert/show venue (kind of like the Wachovia Center in Philly).

But first I stumbled onto the Festival Mondiale de la Terre (Worldwide Earth Festival) which was like an environmental fest with music and sellers and stuff.

So I kept wandering (Bercy Park is huge) and came across the Marche Nordique Decouverte, which is this huge walk where everyone uses those pole things.

I didn't watch for long but I did get to see the kickoff!

Then I found the Jardin Yitzhak Rabin, which is this LOVELY garden named for a Nobel Peace Prize winner from France. It's cool because there used to be trains running all through Bercy and you can still see the tracks. Like I said, Bercy Park is huge and I also ran into this cool fountain/pond thing where little kids were swimming.

So finally I found Bercy Village, which was SO cute! I actually couldn't stay long because I was running late on plans (comme d'habitude), but it was such a nice, sweet little shopping area. I was really glad that I'd ended up seeing Bercy; it'd been on my list for a while, but I thought I wouldn't end up seeing it. It was lovely though and if I had more time I'd definitely go back!

Oh and I saw some pirates.

Musée de la Vie Romantique

Thursday I went up to Montmarte to visit the Museum of Romantic Life, a small but really sweet museum. The Ground Floor holds all the personal items of George Shand, and that floor was neat although I don't know too much about her. The first floor (oh PS fun French fact- the first floor is what we would consider the second floor. So, for example, the family lived on the 4th floor in their old apartment, but up 5 flights of steps). The second floor was, apparently, the art of Ary Scheffer... HOWEVER, shockingly enough- France was striking on Thursday! I know, right?! So the museum was way understaffed and the only man working there had to shut off the upstairs because he couldn't guard both. But it was still a nice little museum and I'm glad I got to visit (it's been on my list for ages)

Guignol

So Wednesday was Moving Day for the family, so I was with Luce allllll day. I had seen a while ago that they have puppet shows in the Jardin du Lexembourg. SO off we went... it was actually not a puppet show, per se- it was a marionette show i.e. a guignol show! I couldn't actually remember the significance of the guignol but we definitely talked about it in french class in high school (and also my french class here, but it was all in FRENCH so I missed a good bit of the point). But when I ran the idea by Corinne, she was like, "I don't really like them but they're from Lyon and you really should see one because it's so French." But it ended up being kinda lame- mostly because I hate puppets. The humor was a lot of pushing each other/ hitting each other. This was a really long post for a puppet show... but it wasn't just any puppet show. It was the most FRENCH.

Also, RIGHT as I took a picture, Luce pulled up her skirt. Hahahah so funny. She was in such a bad mood but even SHE started laughing.

The second is a slightly more ladylike one... Luce was super grouchy (the nap thing) so I had to take this picture on the DL or else she'd yell, but she kept doing this cute thing where she'd pull her skirt up high and call it a dress. Also, I put on a video of her from later (bus on the way home from dance) but she was singing in french- ADORABLE.

Fête de la Musique!

Oh, this was a fun one! Every year on June 21 (the first day of summer/ the longest day of the year), all across France they celebrate la Fête de la Musique. Everywhere you go, there are people playing music on the streets. Some groups, like the one in the first picture, are big, official groups. I took this picture at the Mairie of the 11th (it's on the end of my block), and performing then were students from the same music school Luce goes to. But mostly it's just anyone who wants to play, plays. It was fantastic! You could pick pretty much any neighborhood in Paris, but we went up into Montmartre. It was SO crowded (even by Montmartre standards) but SO fun! We had drinks outside of a restaurant that had a band playing out front- sooo funny: you can't really tell from the picture (the second) but this little boy was JAMMING to the band playing there, it was adorable. So it was fun but loud, so we just kind of wandered around the neighborhood and it was great.