Musing in the Louvre

On Thursday afternoon, I headed straight from classes to Paris' most famous art gallery - The Musee du Louvre. Despite this being the third time I have locked eyes with The Mona Lisa and the fourth time I have ventured into this palace's vast galleries, there is always something new to be discovered. I've heard an old piece of trivia that if you lingered for 30 seconds in front of each work, it would take you about a fortnight to go around - and I can well believe it. 

Once again, it's free for European students from 18-26 years of age - just flash your passport and swan in like royalty. There's no excuse for not paying a visit, but as a seasoned Louvre devotee, here are my suggestions:

1. Beware of pickpockets !

 Imagine the scene: you arrive under the shiny carrousel, and immediately start snapping pictures of the impressive inverted pyramid in front of the entrance. As you fluster over the security gates, a hand slips into your bag- having locked eyes on an easy target as you innocently brandished your camera minutes before. Bam - like stealing candy from a baby. True story - this happened to me the first time I went to the Louvre so be savvy & please don't fall into the trap I did.

    

2. Don't let the mona Lisa get a big head
There are thousands of amazing works of art in The Louvre - so of course prioritise Leonardo da Vinci's most famous painting if you're stuck for time, but I would take a whole afternoon just for the luxury of not having to rush past the equally beautiful 'The Virgin of the Rocks' or some of the other galleries (The Egyptian Gallery is my favourite!). 

3. spend some time in the tuileries Gardens
If the weather is good, step outside and take a promenade in the beautiful Jardin des Tuileries, located just outside. Sit in one of their chairs, admire the fountains and take a peek in the cute Orangerie gift shop on the left hand side by the far gates.

4. Go at an odd time
We visited just before closing, so were able to stroll around without following hoards of mindless tourists filing towards The Mona Lisa. Last visitors are allowed into the the museum at 5.30 on a Thursday, but they have later opening times on other days.

5. Enjoy the art, or making fun of it!
Sometimes the most fun you can have is laughing at a statue with a silly face or finding one who looks like your friend. Just because it's old, doesn't mean it has to be serious!

À Bientôt !

x

Saturday Fun

We left off outside Angelina, where the short queue to get in only serves to build anticipation. There was a table waiting for 3 so we cheekily bypassed the waiting couples and were seated in the slightly quieter area at the back of the salon. The atmosphere is very luxurious with muted colours, thick creamy table cloths and soft pink lighting. Thinking about it makes me want to snuggle up and go to sleep!

Angelina is an experience - sickeningly decadent and very chocolatey. Like roller-coasters and scary movies, you start to wonder what you've let yourself in for, and yet immediately afterwards you'll be wanting to go again.

Despite having been once before and unable to finish either my hot chocolate 'à l'ancienne dit Africain ' or my cake, I of course nonetheless believed that ordering a chocolate pâtisserie alongside my drink was a good idea.  

The result was a serious chocolate overload as I chose the 'Choc Africain' chocolate mousse-y gâteau to go with the molten chocolate drink. Tom more sensibly plumped for a kind of vanilla choux pastry - the "Paris-New York", whilst Sarah got the Tarte au chocolat praline. Find the menu to see them here! The waitress kindly told us that all the chocolate was good for our health due to all the magnesium!

We wandered back through the Tuileries and headed to the Musee des Arts Decoratifs - which I'll have to write about another day.

Sadly, my university books have arrived which means I may have to begin reading them (!)

À Bientôt !

x

Fashion, Flowers and Family

Photo credit to le-21eme.com

You would not believe how excited I was to see my brother and sister. After hanging out with my Dad on Wednesday, Thursday sans family seemed like a cruel interlude. I coped by going over board on table decor, buying a cheap-as-chips pot plant which I carried home from lectures. Accidentally happening upon Paris Fashion Week, I crossed the Tuileries counter-current to a shoal of colourful and bizarrely decked out creatures - namely models, bloggers and the paparazzi dressed up to the nines. Sequins glittered, bulbs flashed and photographers ducked to avoid me, my blue jeans, dunlop trainers and my plastic-bagged pot plant.

Photo credit to hipparis.com

 No matter - I engaged in my own private photo-shoot, over-excitedly snapping pictures of my tiny room transformed into Paris' smallest new pop-up restaurant, where the maître-d' has to sit on her own bed for lack of chairs. Rachel Khoo, eat your heart out.

          

 Finally, jittery with excitement, I went to get two of my favourite people from the local metro station. 

They oohed and aahed appreciatively at my shoddy guided-tour on the way home: "This is an important building, I don't know what it is". 

Brother and sister

Back at mine, it was chorizo rolls from Besniers the bakers, and pâtisseries followed by Madmen.

Chocolate maccaron, Tarte aux Grandmères, Frangipane

More adventures soon!
À Bientôt !
x