The Time We Were Hemingway

I had to miss the class walk on the day I went to London, so yesterday (Saturday) Teo repeated the walk for those of us who missed it. It was nice to be in a smaller group of about 12 students, so we all kept together.
The walk was sort of near Odeon, first to a church that was turned into a meeting club during the French Revolution.

 We walked by the University of Paris, Sorbonne, which Teo said is like the second tier after the doctor and engineering schools. He said the universities are super affordable, less than $400, but everyone has to take a huge merit exam that determines which school you go to. It's funny that in the US, our universities have some of the nicest architecture of the city; here, they just blend in.

 The pantheon is around the corner.

The next stop was the church where Clovis and Pascal are buried. It's called Saint-Étienne-du-Mont; we stopped inside but a mass was going on, so we couldn't venture to the back area. However, this church was actually unique from other churches, as it had gorgeous white spiral staircases in the center that reminded me of bone or shell skeletons.

Since we were near Hemingway's house by now, Teo told us that he used to walk down this street and drink and write in the cafés nearby. All 12 of us sat down in one of the cafés (Le Contrescarpe) and a third-party unaffiliated with UCLA (definitely not Teo) bought us all small beers so we could be like Hemingway. 

(Too bad I don't care for beer, so another student finished mine. It was a cool experience so now I can say I drank where Hemingway did.) 

We continued down Rue de Mouffe as the locals say, where all the stores were open for the market for lunch. This is where our walk ended, but several of us stayed around to look at the bakeries and jarred goods and cheese shops and seafood. I got a sandwich jambon from a popular bakery, which was amazing on very chewy and tough bread (but not stale, of course) with a good helping of mayo. 

The desserts looked so perfect and glazed, but I wasn't hungry enough for one. I was experimental, though, and tried some bits of fried dough with powdered sugar, which I thought would be like funnel cake but were more dense and crispy than chewy and soft. I didn't finish them - I didn't like the bland taste nor thick texture.

 In the afternoon, after a little resting time, I went to Pierre Herme to try their macarons - two of them, Jasmine and Chocolate/Passion Fruit, to be exact. Laduree and Pierre Herme are the best macarons in Paris, so you have to have a taste-off to see which you like better. 

The verdict: Pierre Herme! Though I liked Laduree's tea flavored macaron, the textures were better at Pierre Herme. They were slightly chewy with more quantity of creamy filling. The chocolate/passion fruit was my favorite of all (read: about five places) I tried in Paris - a little sour but rich and sweet too, like other fruit/chocolate combos you can get in the US.

 Tonight was our class's formal dinner, so we all went to a restaurant near the Seine by Notre Dame at 7:30. Walking from the metro to the restaurant was a gorgeous scene - the light an hour before sunset was golden. The beams that reflected off the river were blinding as we all walked in our semi-formal attire to fit into a 40-person room.

 After the entree of salad, we got our pre-ordered plat between vegetarian, fish and duck. The duck comes in a huge pot of four servings, bathed in a tasty prune sauce. There were chunks of plum skins and duck skins in the broth, oozing flavor. It was so tender and went well with the great, soft (almost soggy) French fries.

 It was hot in the room with 40 people and no air conditioning, but I still enjoyed the meal. I talked with two girls about how there are so many different personas of Paris when we hear the name. You can think of the Paris that's stated under the designer labels, or the Hemingway idyllic Paris, or the more city-like cosmopolitan Paris that we live in. The connotations when someone says "Paris" are so varied, but I want to understand them all. But I digress.

The chocolate tart dessert came with like a melted vanilla ice cream - some people thought it was too much chocolate but there is no such thing. We ended dinner with the story of how Teo met his wife, to conclude a wonderful night in the city.

The Time I Climbed 1,091 Stairs

Yes, 1,091 stairs in one day because Notre Dame has 387 and the Tour Eiffel has 704. But apparently 387 + 704 = 2 amazing views.

Today we got up extra early to leave at 9 am for Chateau de Vincennes, a medieval castle! It was like a fairytale castle, except the real thing in its antiquated state. The color was very faded, with many tones of yellow or brown or beige. 

We had tickets to cross the bridge over a field of grass (like a mote) and go up into the tower. There were spiral staircases here, too, as we climbed up to see the small rooms and chambers. No furniture was present, but merely rooms of brick and old fireplaces. A balcony was on the other side of the little bridge, where we could see the grounds. The building across from us (which we didn't go into) kind of looked like Versailles on the outside. This medieval castle was never taken during the wars.

Across the castle towers was a church, which was as white and clean as the Chartres Cathedral. The stained glass never comes out as radiant in my photos, but I really enjoyed sitting in the bright church with those common arched ceilings.    

For lunch, we walked around the back of Chateau de Vincennes to a park-like wooded area on the other side of the street. It was a really nice park with dusty gravel paths and even a pond with lilypads. Teo had brought us sandwiches, so I ate a curry chicken one with avocados while sitting on the grass among the flowers. 

After the picnic, Teo led an optional walk to Canal St. Martin, so I went along to see it. Though the area was perhaps a little grimy and grungy and not as nice as the Seine, I liked seeing people hanging out around the canal with the water so high.

At one point, we saw a boat coming up the canal so we waited to watch. Since the canal is tiered, they have a special process to open the canal and let the water levels equal out, raising the boat, so it can sail through. Here is the blockage when it's closed, but we watched it for about 15 minutes while it opened.

We also met up with one of Teo's old students who gave us each a slice of a fruit tart that was brilliantly flakey. After this stroll along the canal, I branched off with two girls to go to Notre Dame, since we embarrassingly have been here over two weeks and have not gone inside. The line in the front was about 30 minutes to get inside the church. 

It was really similar to every other church we've been to, to be honest, with arched ceilings, stained glass rose windows, and gothic details. However, I was surprised by how dark it was inside, with very little light shining through even with several chandeliers and candles around. Posters described the history of its construction, and I could see what Teo was talking about when he said that it was built over such a long period of time, adding other styles to change it.

Another line greeted us outside, this time an hour long wait to pay to climb the 387 stairs to the top. I'll repeat: waiting in line to pay to walk up stairs. That's right. Despite the winding spiral staircases, it was worth it. We stopped at the first level to see the complete 180 degree view of Paris in front of us, with the array of gargoyles and rooftops of Notre Dame behind us. Really stunning, even on this cloudy day. In fact, it started raining while we were up there but oh well. 

 (The view is so breathtaking in person, seeing all the perfectly Parisian buildings and all the landmarks that we can now recognize.)

We walked up more stairs, first to the bell tower to see the giant bells and then to the top of the left tower. We had five minutes at the top, but you can even see the Arc de Triomphe from here, though much of the view was the same as the first level. I was so glad I went to Notre Dame - I can never get over these aerial views of Paris.

Once we wound back down the stairs, we stopped along the bridges nearby to look at art for sale. There are a lot vendors here drawing caricatures or selling paintings or prints of Paris. I LOVE these artworks because they try to capture the fleeting nature of this city, so it makes sense why the impressionists loved Paris. It started to downpour, so I quickly bought a little impressionist painting of the Eiffel Tower, but every stand I passed had wonderful pictures. Wish I could collect them all. 

For dinner, I went to the grocery store Franprix to get cheese-filled pasta. I'm discovering little hidden foods of Paris in these markets that aren't exactly famous Parisian but that I enjoy. For example, there's this fig and nut cheese that has the texture of chunky cream cheese and a salty and sweet taste. And there are these sodas called Oasis (not oasis like the desert, but pronounced oh-ay-sees). They will correct you on your pronunciation if you say oasis. Anyway, I've had both raspberry and tropical flavors, the latter of which is the best soda here. I don't think these are even French things, but I've never seen them at home. 

Post-dinner a group of us decided to climb the Eiffel Tour because it was one girl's birthday (yes, another birthday!). We left around 10 p.m. so we could see it sparkle starting at 11. However, apparently we should've gone earlier because they said that once you walk up the stairs to the second level, you have to buy another ticket to ride the lift to the very top and it might close soon. 

So we tried to climb the tower really fast, but I actually ended up losing them for a while because I stopped on the first level to look at the view. Then I spent a long time just looking for them, climbing the next set of unbearably endless stairs. It's really cool being inside the tower at night, when it's lit up so you can see the intricate metallic weavings illuminated. 

We didn't make it in time to buy tickets to the top, but the view from the second tier is still amazing at night. I especially love the northwest view of the Seine.

And, as always, at 11 p.m., the tower sparkles for five minutes, which was unbelievably neat to see from right there. The lightbulbs just flicker on and off and create weird shadows when you're up there. It was great, other than the part about losing my group for 20 minutes. 

So, all in all, like I said - 1,091 stairs at Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. Even more if you count Chateau de Vicennes. But, it was a day of breathtaking views as well. 

The Time One Market Closed, Another Opened

I'm sitting at my computer, looking outside my window towards the Eiffel Tower. Yes, I am back in Paris. Yesterday was our last day in London. Apparently everything is closed on Sundays in England - as was the case with Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral, both of which we'd hoped to visit. My travel buddy just stayed in our residence all morning (she said she'd seen it all) while I took the bus to get one last look and wander around.
I began in Trafalgar Square. The concert equipment from Friday was taken down and it was raining outside, so I felt like I got to see London in its natural habitat. I liked the square more in the sun because the fountains looked greener, but it was nice to sit on a damp bench and watch people. I even saw someone with a UCLA sweatshirt!

Our big bus tickets expired at noon, so I jumped on one to take to Buckingham Palace at 10:30. My goal was to see the Changing of the Guard ceremony at 11:30 a.m. (it happens at this time every day) so I arrived at 11. It was insane how many people were crammed into the roundabout outside the palace. Probably the most people I've ever seen in one area, except at concerts. Jammed behind every railing, piles of people peek through the gates.

 (My view of the band marching. Can't see it without tip toes, eh?)

Even though I arrived a little late, I was able to line up in the third row, but I still stood on my tip toes as the procession of guards in a marching band came through the streets. It was really difficult to see - at one point, I watched the ceremony through the screen of someone's iPad they held up.
While it was interesting to see guards march around the front of the palace in unison, I wasn't really that impressed. It's something maybe that you're supposed to see, but something that didn't really matter to me and wasn't worth the throngs of people. Eventually, some people left and I was in the front row, but even then they were tiny soldiers far away.

I left a little early, once the guards switched places, to walk along the sidewalk outside St. James's Park towards the tube. I ended up just walking to Westminster to catch the tube there to London Bridge, where Borough Market is. Big Ben made one final appearance before I went underground and I said goodbye!

Naturally knowing my luck, most of the vendors in Borough Market are also closed on Sundays, which I learned after I reached the street. It looked like it would be a cool fruit and vegetable market, though, with green booths in a dark street under some sort of bridge. A few prepared food vendors were open, so I got some saffron rice just so I wouldn't be hungry.

And just so I could say I did something unique today, I stopped into a coffeeshop called Costa that I've seen all over London. I assume it's a chain they don't have in Los Angeles, so I figured I'd have to test it out. My Belgian chocolate cooler tasted like a chocolate frappuccino. 

Once I rejoined my friend in Camden, where we were staying, we pretty much packed up our stuff. Before we went back to Paris, however, we realized we still needed to explore Camden a little bit. Our host was shocked that we hadn't been to the Camden Market yet, and luckily we went for an hour or two. It was popping with tons of people everywhere. I'll say it again: Europe has markets galore!

It was filled with fresh orange juice stands, jewelry, dreamcatchers, wool scarves, photographs, and one area with tons of street food. All cultures and cuisines were represented - Colombian, Peruvian, Italian, hamburgers, mac and cheese, game meat, quinoa, Mediterranean, etc. We dove into the sea of foodies, looking for a place for lunch/dinner and finally found a wonderful stand in a handmade pasta cart. One guy would greet everyone and take orders, while slicing off chunks of dough from a huge roll, knead it, roll it through a machine several times, and then slice them into noodle strips. The girl next to him would collect the money while grabbing the pasta dough, cook it fresh, and then marinate it in the sauce she'd make. The only other two employees in the back would plate it all.

It's such an efficient process and amazing to watch them make pasta right in front of us with buckets upon buckets of flour everywhere. Not only that, the employees spoke English, Italian and Spanish and would often speak Italian to customers - so that's another reason we knew it would be good. And it was! Fresh pesto pasta with a caprese salad - probably the best pasta I've ever bought because it was a perfectly chewy texture with rich creamy sauce and strong, fresh flavors. I still like homemade pasta that my mom makes, but this was probably more authentically Italian and chewy.

I ate my meal along the Camden Lock canal, which was actually very beautiful and cosmopolitan, with its bricks and graffiti surrounding a bridge with willow trees. Teo had recommended that we walk along this canal, and now that we found it, we could see why - it's a very pretty spot in the middle of a crowded street area. It was a surprise treat that we didn't realize our London experience was missing until we got to the lively neighborhood with air filled with smoke from street carts and loud from shoppers. Camden had seemed quieter and more intimidating until we saw this bustling market and realized we were in some sort of hub.

(View from a little bridge)

We picked up our luggage and went to St. Pancras station after that (and also walked around the corner to see King's Cross from the outside, because Harry Potter). We're so used to needing to get to the airport three hours early that we did the same for the train, just to be safe. Neither of us felt we could enjoy sight seeing two hours before our train, but when we got there, we realized we were indeed really early. Luckily there was no fee this time to move our train to a earlier time, so we just did that and left an hour before planned.

The sunset was amazing during our train ride. The only hitch was at one point when we had to stop at another station for a luggage check, where the crew went through every coach and identify everyone's luggage. That was pretty scary when they told us we had to do that because we didn't know why. And it set us behind 30 minutes. When we were done, they said there had been a trespasser at St. Pancras so they had to check to make sure the train was safe. Weird!

(I almost cried while listening to American pop music on the train, because I guess I miss American culture)

We arrived back to the hotel around 11 pm. Though it was fun being tourists in London, a city I've always wanted to visit, we are glad to be back "home" to a place that's familiar and more relaxed. For no specific reason, I was super happy when we got off the train - maybe because of the scary luggage check or just because I missed this city. Teo said earlier that the point of the long weekend is to feel like Paris is home. If you leave for the weekend, you're glad to return, and if you stay in Paris, then you get to know the city very well. He was right, of course! I love the city of lights and I'm ready for more.

The Time of the Ironic 4th of July

This morning we set off to one of Teo's London recommendations - Portobello Market in Notting Hill. It was about a 40 minute bus ride, but so worth it when we got there to see the adorable little town houses with colorful doors and paint. It was a lot more quaint and local-esque than central London.

 (Hi Mom, this is a blue door in Notting Hill just for you ;)

 (At the entrance of the market, there were people pretending to be Alice and Wonderland characters. And this was no cheap make up - this was detailed with a set and props)

The market was an excellent recommendation, as blocks upon blocks of little stores had vendors outside selling silver goods, bags, scarves, antiques, souvenirs etc. It was a wonderful market; I'm learning that markets here do not usually mean food. I really enjoyed the crowds of people looking at these items for sale even though it was a little overwhelming deciding what to buy.

I ended up getting my sister an English straw hat and my mom a little flower-patterned English creamer. 

At about 11:30 a.m. we set off walking towards Kensington Palace. This is an illustrative example of one annoying part of London: everything is called the same name. For example, we initially got lost at our residence because there's a Camden Market, Camden Station, Camden High Street, Camden Garden, and Camden Town. Kensington was similar. Imagine us walking from this market without Wifi or directions, aimlessly following street signs to Kensington Palace. Then the streets are called Kensington Garden, Kensington Terrace, Kensington Garden Terrace... you get the idea. Which one do we take?! 

Eventually we did see a fancy gate that we assumed went on their street. Photography wasn't allowed, but all the houses were white and gorgeous, until eventually at the end we saw the red bricks of the palace. Kensington Park had some dead grass but was otherwise cheerful. The set of gates facing part of the palace displayed flowers, happy birthday balloons and signs and pictures of Diana. I'm assuming her birthday is near. 

Next up on our itinerary (which, by the way, we planned last night and used Google maps at our residence while we still had wifi, so pat on the back to us for that) was Harrods. We took a bus from the sidewalk near Kensington to Knightsbridge and turned the corner to see this huge store that had to be Harrods. Little green overhangs trimmed the bottom floor - the store in general reminded me of Macy's in New York City or something because of how big and beautiful it must be at Christmas time. 

I can't even explain how confusing the layout of this store is for me. It's open, with pathways walking through stores instead of closed off rooms with doors, and elevators at the heart of this nightmarish maze. They have employees all over the store with gold sashes (like in beauty pageants) just so you can ask them where to go. Designer stores, suitcase stores, housewares items... it was like every store packed into one. Finally we made it to the Tea Room, which was one of the top things I wanted to do in London. 

We only had to wait in line a little bit, and then they sat us down against a green cushion in a bright yellow room. Everything is served on Wedgwood - a pretty strawberry pattern - and made me feel super fancy. I ordered "The Wedgwood" tea meal, which includes a tea (I chose the 1849 blend from India), scones with jam and butter, finger sandwiches and a dessert choice (I chose salted caramel sea salt). 

The scones were not as rough-textured as in the US, but looked more like giant cream puffs in shape and were tasty with the thick white butter and strawberry jam. The baby sandwiches were cream cheese and cucumber, cream cheese and salmon (delicious despite my usual indifference to salmon), and a roast beef bleu cheese I gather. My dessert was wonderful (of course it has to be my favorite) as it was a layered cake-like pastry with a dense chocolate bottom, soft caramel custard in layers and lighter chocolate cream, adorned with chocolate candies. It was so rich I absolutely couldn't finish it! 

I'm very glad I could have this experience while in England - what other way can you eat lunch here? Eve though I think it's supposed to be a dish in between lunch and dinner, oh well. 

We hoped on the tube (our first underground experience) to Westminster to catch our free boat ride. Luckily our voucher allowed us to skip the long line of ticket-buyers and we boarded a huge boat on the Thames. Don't know if I mentioned it, but this river is so much dirtier than the Seine. 

Our boat tour lasted almost 30 minutes as our funny guide pointed out famous landmarks along the way. He joked about one of the alternate languages on the headset guide being American. 

(London Bridge finally- the fifth one in 1,000 years!)

Our ticket enabled us to go by boat all the way to Greenwich, but we got off at the Tower of London since Greenwich would apparently take another hour and we wanted to see some other sights. 

I'm learning that everything touristy in this town costs 20 pounds. The Tower was no different, and it was closing in an hour. Yet the museums are free?! What. 

So anyway, we admired the castle-like brickwork, watched the Tower Bridge be lifted, and went in line to see the crown jewels. 

The line to see the crown jewels was unreal (not actually that bad, I'm learning some can be worse) but the entire exhibit was a dark room with an assembly line of being in a school of fish moving to see a gold scepter. We stepped on a flat moving escalator, like those in the airport, to see the crowns. The diamonds were so beautiful and the crowns emanated power. We noticed the christening items were gone and had signs that said "in use" because of Princess Charlotte's christening tomorrow, we presumed. Despite the ushered crowds in the dark hallways, I did like going in these castle towers to see gems. No pics allowed inside, unfortunately. What does my money buy me?!

We had time to go in the white tower, too, to see knight armor, cannons and an indian headdress. 

Once the tower closed, we took our new best friend, the tube, to St. Paul's. It was stuffy inside the tube, even though it's perfect summer weather here. Breezy and sunny! However, once we got to the cathedral, we saw that not only is the admission 18 pounds, but also that it closes at 11:30 a.m. every day?! What?! New theme of London: "What?!"

And we learned that it's closed for sightseeing on Sundays, so sadly I won't be seeing the inside for myself. I guess I've seen a good amount of churches in Europe thus far. The outside was still nice...

Below is the bonus pic of the day: classic Brits, watching an outdoor screening of Wimbledon in a square outside St. Paul's Cathedral. Can you get any more English? Maybe add some tea and a union jack. 

By crossing a bridge (which was featured in the delightful Harry Potter films), we walked to Tate Modern which (thank God!) was open and free - we lucked out there. 

However, unfortunately, the main gallery in the center of the building was under construction. I remember hearing that usually the whole room is a modern art piece, but this time it was just empty with a sign saying it's changing soon. The information desk said an exhibit is only here six months of the year; we left, but I was still glad we attempted to see it - nothing we can do about that. And it was still very big and open.

By walking along the south bank towards the London Eye, we scouted out where we could eat. Eventually we just went into a random bar/restaurant/something and I had fish and chips because in England, French fries really are called chips so I had to. A lot of restaurants advertise fish and chips in huge print, so I figured it must be a popular choice here. 

(I found humor in the ratio of vegetables to all other food. Sadly, this is more vegetables that I've been having in Paris and London. How are people here at all fit?)

The fish was actually probably the best fish and chips I've had, because it was crispy and not soggy, and wasn't separated from the fish but actually cooked onto the fish well. 

To end our evening, we caught the night tour bus near Westminster Bridge after hurrying from dinner. The last tour begins at 8:30 p.m. even though the sun is barely starting to set. It was very beautiful because it had a different route than usual, through the west end by the Marble Arch, Soho, Oxford Street, Piccadily Circus, etc. 

 (Marble Arch - old entrance of Buckingham Palace)

I thoroughly loved this night tour, because I love cities at night - especially with dazzling lights. This area was described as the young area that stays open late with shops and pubs and squares. It reminded me of Times Square because of the lights - and I savored the view from the very top of the decker bus. I could've ridden it all night!

(This is blurry on purpose because I'm artsy...)

We got off the night tour early because we didn't want to be out late in the dark, going back to the residence on the bus and walking back from the bus stop. But we did stay to see the sunset in front of Big Ben. 

That's it for now, London! You're growing on me, though sometimes you're overwhelming. People are much stranger here - they have dyed hair and piercings and like skulls and books. I can't believe I came into this country without a real plan and sometimes without direction and managed to survive. I was definitely lot more independent and responsible here because it was just me and my friend navigating this cosmopolitan capital.  

The English are a lot more eccentric than Parisians, but it is also exciting watching specks of people on the street hanging out at night in Trafalgar Square or in side streets. Happy 4th of July, from the country we declared independence from - très ironic.