Eiffel Tower

So I finally went up the Eiffel Tower!

The gilded dome of Les Invalides - Napoleon's Tomb

Ecole Militaire

The Statue of Liberty

 À Bientôt !

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The Tourist Trail: the 15th arrondissement

 

Neil and I continued our whirlwind tour of the City of Lights with a visit to Paris' most iconic sight: the Eiffel Tower. At the base of Trocadero, we enjoyed the view, lulled into relaxing silence by the fountains rush and splash into the pool below.

Neil et moi ont poursuit notre circuit express de la Ville-Lumière avec une visite à l'attraction la plus iconique de Paris: Le Tour Eiffel. À la base du Trocadero, nous avons apprécié la vue en profitant du silence relaxant, tandis que les eaux de la fontaine jaillissaient et éclaboussaient à nos pieds. 

Someone else seemed to enjoy the water display just as much as we did - having a little snooze on the grassy verge! 

Next on the tour was to see....the Statue of Liberty? From one famous sight to another more unlikely one, it seemed like we had jumped from Paris' skyline to New York City in the space of a 15 minute walk. The sculpture was of course designed by a Frenchman, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, and gifted to The United States as a symbol of goodwill and fraternity after the Third French Republic was established.

Le prochaine arrêt était...la Statue de la Liberté...? D'une attraction connue à une autre, c'était presque comme on a sauté de la silhouette Parisienne à celle du New York aux États-Unis dans une quinzaine de minutes. La sculpture était bien sûr créée par un Français, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, et donné aux États-Unis comme une symbole de bonne-volonté et de fraternité après l'établissement de la Troisième République Française.

If there are two countries that I associate with the idea of liberty, it is The USA and La France, so the uniting allegory of "Liberty Enlightening the World" seems entirely appropriate. Even the futuristic buildings behind us seem like they would be more at home in Manhattan than in Paris.

S'il y a deux pays que j'associe avec l'idée de la liberté, ce sont les États-Unis et la France, donc l'allégorie unissant de "La Liberté Éclairant le Monde" me semble totalement appropriée. Même les bâtiments futuriste semblent plus New-Yorkais que Parisiens !

There is another Statue of Liberty to be found in the Jardin du Luxembourg, which I discovered in this post here. At the base of the statue is an outdoors gym, which had everyone from pensioners to children stretching out their limbs and cracking into childish smiles!

Il y a une autre Statue de Liberté dans Le Jardin du Luxembourg. Au pied de la statue se trouve une gymnase "en plein air", où on a vu toute sorte de personne, des retraités aux enfants s'étiraient leurs limbes et esquissaient des sourires !

 

À Bientôt !

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Joyeux Noël Paris !

Just a couple of sparkly, magical photos from my last nights in Paris before coming home to London for Christmas!

J'ai voulu te montrer des photos un peu magiques et festives de mes dernières nuits avant de rentrer chez moi à Londres pour fêter Noël avec ma famille. 

I took a short walk from home to The American Church in Paris, as I was curious to see the building that I'd heard so much about, and more pragmatically because a friend is searching for accommodation here and the church advertise up to date offers of rooms and flats for a reasonable price all across Paris. If you're desperately seeking somewhere to live, give this a try! It's worth seeing this towering gothic building too which looks so out of place by the Seine, like something whirled away from a bleak English heath and accidentally landed in the country of Haussmann apartments and white stone.

En promenant près de chez moi, j'ai suivi un petit détour pour voir "The American Church in Paris", car j'étais curieuse de voir un bâtiment dont beaucoup de monde m'a parlé, et pour des raisons plus pratiques à cause de leur affichage où ils mettent des annonces pour du logement pas cher à Paris. Si vous êtes à la recherche d'une chambre ou un appartement, je le recommande. Ça vaut le détour aussi de voir ce bâtiment imposant gothique qui semble de n'être pas à sa place au bord de la Seine, comme il devrait être dans une lande désolée en Angleterre et pas dans un pays des grands boulevards Haussmann bâtis de pierre blanc.   

I wanted to go iceskating with a friend at Trocadero, but it was closed for the evening to celebrate some kind of cultural event called Trocadero On Ice. Instead, we saw a magical ice-show and the mayor of the 16th arrondissement being filmed with the famous Bogdanoff brothers for TV1. 

J'ai voulu faire un peu de patinage à glace mais en fait, avec une amie, nous sommes tombées sur une soirée à Trocadero organsié à l'initiative du Comité des Fêtes et des Oeuvres sociales 16ème arrondissement et son Maire. Il y avait un spectacle sur glace impressionnant et le soirée a été présenté par les célèbes Frères Igor et Grichka Bogdanoff.

Christmas chez Dior. 

Christmas trees in my building and at Malesherbes.

Finally, Blogger created some magical snowy pictures out of some of my blog photos!

Keep following my blog for some Christmas adventures in London!

Continuez-vous à suivre le blog pour des aventures à Noël à Londres!

À Bientôt !

x

Yousuf Karsh

On this chilly, non-descript evening where I'd been cooped up too long in my room (to the point where I was lumbering around, bleary-eyed and questioning the meaning of my existence after having read 3 Samuel Beckett plays in as many days), I decided that enough was enough and ventured out for a spot of culture.

Too...much...existentialism....

I'd been wanting to go to the "Icones du XXe Siecle" exhibition at the Mona Bismarck Center (featuring photography by Yousuf Karsh) for ages, and the perfect opportunity arose in the form of the international students' event. Entry was free and we were promised a cocktail on the house. Even with a test looming the next day, I couldn't resist!

The Eiffel Tower doing its thing on the way there! Hooray for the light show :)

On arriving at the gallery we were treated like V.I.Ps, ushered inside and invited to begin our own private tour of the gallery. Instead of taking a programme (like everybody else!) & reading the histories of each model as we went along, my friend and I guessed at who the famous faces were.

It was fun to see how many we could recognise and put some famous names to faces - I had no idea what Andy Warhol looked like before! Bill Clinton's real name is William? ...Oh! 

This turned out to be a much more fun decision, leading to a lot of giggling over botched biographies and crazy stories of where we'd come across each name. 

Definitely a bear rowing a man in a boat....(not an old man with a beard)!

Next we headed upstairs for a free glass of wine, nibbles, live music and a dance show. My friend took more photos upstairs so I'll pop them up on the blog when she puts them online.

 

We couldn't stay long for the entertainment, but a big round of applause for a completely free event run by students at The American University in Paris! It seems like the Mona Bismarck Center runs this as an annual occasion, so by sure to check the events calendar here next time you're in Paris! Nearest metro is Alma Marceau.

I hope this inspired you to make the most of a boring evening! Carpe Diem!

À Bientôt !

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