It's Been A While...

Finally I am back at blogging. Sorry I have not updated in so long! I can't believe it's already September 20th! I have been in Paris for 29 days! Time has really flown by, I don't know how I feel about that. I miss my family and I miss my friends, but I don't want to leave Paris... so everyone should just come see me. :) okay?? Recently my Haute Couture class had an excursion to a 17th century art museum. I feel like I have learned a lot, but sometimes all that analyzing of art is overwhelming! Melissa and I also visited The Louvre which was beautiful, exactly like what you see in the pictures. This past Saturday, I went to the Catacombes, which was a little creepy, but hey... it was free. Those International Art Student passes are handy. The Catacombes is what was created a long time ago as a place to store dead bodies. France had to resort to this system because they were running out of room. I kept thinking it was Halloween when I was underground, no no no those are real skulls, those were real people... that was kind of a mind blowing thought. My favorite part of the week though, was finally being able to develop my photos at the photography lab. It was quite stressful in the darkroom at first, but after a few tries I managed to get the film at least on the developing roll. A darkroom is completely dark...literally, meaning you do everything in the dark. Yea... that took me a while to get used to. After the dark room, I had to go to the wet room where the film is actually developed, then place them in a heater to dry, and last look at the results on the light table. It was a time consuming process, but totally worth it. I will end here for the day... it is 11:30 at night, don't forget the time difference people! :)

From Paris with Love,

Marcy

Leave Me in Trouville

It's 9:30 Paris time, and I'm exhausted. Today we took a two our day trip to Trouville and Deauville (part of Normandy). The two old sea villages were absolutely beautiful. I told Melissa Trouville was a picture I always created in my head but never found a name for. You can imagine my astonishment when I got to the town and saw that my mind created picture was my reality. Our first stop in Trouville was at a little crepe stand. Supposedly Normady has the best crepes and cider in all of France... so how could I resist? We each ordered a jambon fromage crepe (ham and cheese) and a cafe au lait (espresso with milk). I knew the moment I took the first bite of my crepe, I was in bliss. I ate the crepe so slowly, partly because I never wanted it to disappear and partly because I kept taking in the scenery. Melissa finished her crepe so fast, I can tell she liked it too.

 After an early lunch, we continued strolling through Trouville and came upon the beach. The beach was unlike anything I have ever seen. Along the boardwalk were beautiful houses that looked like  ten of Snow White's cottages combined. After leaving our signature on the southern beach of France, we journeyed toward the shops. My favorite shop was a tiny one on a little pebble stoned street that was managed by the one of the nicest elderlies I have met in France so far. The jewelry selection was limited and in my opinion not the best, but in it, Melissa and I found two great pieces. The next shop we visited, I don't think we will ever be welcome in again. We went into a tiny antique shop that was cluttered from wall to wall. As soon as we walked in I could tell the associate was exuding a strange vibe. Anyone that knows me knows that "looking" to me means touching. Hello... I'm a fashion major, that cotton could actually be cashmere. As Melissa and I were looking and handling the jewelry... with CARE I might add we continued to get what seemed like an insult. Finally after I had realized she was telling us "not to touch" the ice queen had already gotten to Melissa's face, who at that moment was handling the necklaces. The lady started speaking very fast French and raising her eyebrows, as soon as her tone reached a yelling level, we figured it was our que to leave. As we left the store, I said "I don't think we will be welcome back there anytime soon" and Melissa raised her eyebrows in disbelief and said "Is that what she said?" I said "No, I think she was telling us not to touch anything." After a mild rant on how the ice queen was a lunatic, we ended up laughing hysterically at the situation we had just experienced.

After getting some time in Trouville, we walked across town to the other side of the sea village called Deauville. Deauville also has a beach and is most popular for its annual American Film Festival, which happened to be going on the day we visited there. The town is notorious for it's occasional celebrity appearances as well as a holiday retreat for many wealthy families. The town mostly consisted of designer brands in tiny boutiques, posh cafes, expensive restaurants, and a huge casino. We did hang out by the red carpet at the American Film Festival hoping to catch a glipse of a celebrity, but had no luck. 

The day ended with an ice cream cone in hand while sitting on a bench in Trouville. I will never forget this place, I have the picturesque Trouville instilled in my head forever. 

From Paris with Love, 

Marcy