Non-Edible Paris

I fear the cleverness of my last blog's title was lost on a number of people believing I have a spelling problem, so I decided to keep this one simple.  Contrary to popular belief (including my own), it turns out that we did do things other than eat in Paris, evidenced solely by the few photos I have exhibiting non-restaurant scenes.   This one, to be fair, is at a restaurant, but we did not eat a thing there, I promise.

Letizia swung us by Pompidou Center and I got to see the Stravinsky Fountain with all its colorful and imaginative sculptures for the first time.  I was most delighted by The Firebird, a piece of art extremely reminiscent of UC San Diego's Sun God statue, and while many other UCSD graduates have probably already made this connection, I did not realize until researching this post that they are in fact by the same artist, Niki de Saint Phalle, and now my mind is officially blown by the connectedness of the world around me.

I looked through my own photos to find one of UCSD's Sun God, but the only one I have is marred by a prosthetic penis that graced the statue's loins on the day of the festival named in his honor, so I googled y'all this one instead.  Brotherly love.

Much time was dedicated to strolling, and we strolled right through Notre-Dame, over a series of bridges, and past cooky street musicians placed too closely together to distinguish terribly well any one song.

I got a little intellectual with a Frenchman at the famed Shakespeare & Co. (ooh la la), walked through the Flower Market on Ile de la Cité which I remember vividly visiting with my mom and tia, and bought a couple baguettes (along with paté, cheese, and veggies) which we would later devour at Leti's place when the rain and the urge to be in sweatpants both became too strong.

I only visited a few hot spots this time around, including the Musée d'Orsay, the Conciergerie prison, and the church of Sainte-Chapelle.  I tried to balance revisiting my favorite sites with trying some new ones, but one place I had to return to was the d'Orsay, which is wonderful not only for its impressive collection of impressionist art (and then some), but also for its architecture, as it is hosted inside an old train station that retains many qualities of its previous life, including huge clocks that are still keeping travelers on time after all these years.

While I enjoy the gothic churches in Paris, Sainte-Chapelle has to be the one to have left the biggest impression on me, with its spectacular stained glass windows and vaulted ceilings, so I decided to return there as well.  

Here's a collection of non-edible photos from our night out with Cecelia.  After dinner we contemplated going Everywhere, but instead we went up to Place du Trocadero to catch a glimpse of the Eiffel Towel lit up at night.  A particularly cheesy love scene was being filmed with the tower backdrop, in which a couple repeatedly got engaged, gave each other chocolates, and spun around in mushy-gushy kissy circles. 

 

I told Letizia that I'm not returning to Paris until I have a special someone myself, because that city is too damn romantic to spend it acquiring random stalkers and being hit on by obnoxious immigrants.  So while I'll surely see Letizia before then (she's coming to California this August!), au revoir, Paris-until we meet again!