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.

Mosque!

After many, many tries, I FINALLY made it to the inside of la Grande Mosquée de Paris!! I have been wanting to go FOREVER but on my fourth try, I finally came at a time it was open! It was absolutely beautiful- if you've ever seen "Paris, je t'aime," it's in the scene with the Muslim girl who gets made fun of by those boys near the Seine.

So like I said, this was far from my first attempt. I kept coming at just the wrong time (it's closed everyday between 12 and 2, it closes at 6, they're not open Fridays....) BUT luckily all these failed attempts to actually get into the mosque meant more trips to its gorgeous tea room!

ENRIQUE IGLESIAS

Last night, in a park in Issy (a suburb of Paris), there was a free outdoor concert with Kylie Minogue headlining with ENRIQUE IGLESIAS. It was totally awesome.

ENRIQUE ENRIQUE

Here's Kelsey displaying the sign, and then the group (minus Bianca and I, we couldn't all fit)!

Also, on a somewhat unrelated, but interesting cultural note:

On the way to the concert, while we were riding on the bus through Issy, a man in the street set off a huge firework (I'm not sure why). It was just interesting to note the differences in our reactions:

-My (the American) first thought was some kind of terrorist event.

-Emma (the South African)'s first thought was it was a gunshot.

-The Australians' first thought was a car backfired (aw, they're so cute).

It's just funny to compare how different our inital reactions were- I think it really speaks to how different the tones of each culture are.

Les égouts de Paris

This morning, I went on the SEWERS TOUR! I have been

wanting to go here for a while, but to be honest- I was more grossed out than anything. At first we all thought it was so cool, but about 30 minutes into it, it just got more gross than anything. Plus I'm kind of terrified to ever drink water in

France again.

Viaduc des Arts/ Promenade Plantée

On Thursday, I went to this cool strip of stores called the Viaduc des Arts. It's an actual viaduct that they converted into stores along Avenue Daumesnil, right near my house. It was only about a 15 minute walk.

BUT my favorite part is on top of the buildings it's actually a rooftop garden called the Promenade Plantée. If you've ever seen "Before Sunset" (PS I love that movie!), remember towards the beginning when Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are walking through the garden? That's the Promenade Plantée. It's 2.8 km and I forgot about the km to mile conversion so it's roughly (really roughly) a mile and a half and I got really confused when it ended so soon. But it was gorgeous, and like I said, it's SO close to my apartment so I'll definitely be going back soon.