Greetings, Peasants: A Day at Versailles

Versailles!!! 

The endless lines of peasants to get into the château

It got more elaborate and more ridiculous (in the best way) as we went along

Some of the Reasons Why I'm not Allowed to Own a Castle:

1. This would be an endless ballroom hallway full of ribbons and ziplines to hang-glide from

2. The windows would probably be trampolines

3. There would be free pony rides out front and a carousel

4. Sock slides would happen too frequently

5. I'd get lost, so I'd need a beanbag in the corner of every room so I could just sleep wherever I ended up at night

Lavandar chandelier

Angelina is known for serving the best, most decadent hot chocolate in Paris...I can confirm that this hot chocolate fits in with the rest of Versailles--it's insanely rich and overwhelming. It kind of felt like my teeth were going to fall out after drinking this tiny cup of pure melted chocolate syrup.

We were going to jump in the Hall of Mirrors, but that might've made a few chandeliers fall

I thought this was a pirate duck, but it's actually a children's book version of Louis XIV

Even the macarons are gold! 

La Promenade Plantées and (plus de) Pastries

Took a break from essays, college applications, and other homework (school gets in the way of everything!) to go for a walk on the High Line, *ahem*, I mean the Promenade Plantées in the 11th arrondissement. 

Standing above the city and looking at all the old buildings of Paris was a strange sensation. I'm so used to seeing towering metal skyscrapers and the Hudson. The Promenade Plantées was constructed long before the High Line, but I still can't help comparing them. They're both built along old elevated railroad tracks, and they both offer incredible views of their cities. 

And a few strange sightings, of course...

There were bamboo forests, pink blossoms, and tiny white flowers in bloom. I'll have to make a trip back when it's bursting with color and life. At the moment, though, it offered a clear view of the rows and rows of the old yellow buildings with trapezoidal gray roofs and Parisian balconies.

We figured the walk was enough exercise for the day, so we made up for it with a dessert quest. We stopped in three different bakeries/pâtisseries. This macaron was passion/basilic flavored (passionfruit and basil, though I did not taste the basil). It had a gummy fruity center, and the meringue cookies were crisp and light.

The displays were deliciously stunning, as always. 

These macarons glittered

Chocolate shoes

We completed the endless sweets-streak with unbelievable vanilla croissants. Each layer was flaky and the inside was soft. The very center was hollowed out for a strip of a thick vanilla cream and honey.

Museum Madness: Musée d'Orsay, des Passages Couverts, and le Musée des Arts Décoratifs

Spent the early morning in the sunny Tuileries, playing hide-and-seek with the statues hidden in the maze of carefully clipped bushes.

The sun and the Seine

Fortunately, today my back-to-back classes took place just across the river from each other.

After talking about "Paris Pairs," or writers and artists who "work together," we compared Cézanne's fruit to Hemingway's concise writing; Manet to Proust's impressionist ramblings (sorry, Swann's Way is long); and Picasso to Gertrude Stein's cubist experimental writing. 

It was interesting to see the variety of the student groups who came through the museum: elementary aged kids on field trips, high schoolers taking scribbly notes, art students sketching the statues. One large group of French students sat on the ground next to us, furiously typing away on their tiny laptops, while their teacher lectured about Cézanne's paintings. Our teacher spoke in loud English next to theirs, the French entering my left ear and the English entering the right. I felt sufficiently confused. 

My second class took a walk through the passages couverts in the first arrondissement. They are hidden outdoor covered shops, galleries, and bookstores. 

I must make a trip back to see what's inside this flying pig bookstore!

Headed back to the Tuileries in the rain to get to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, which had an opening of the exhibition "De La Chine Aux Arts Décoratifs" (AKA Fake Asian art). This was another trip courtesy of the host grandma, which was kind of her, though not exactly appealing to me. The museum is part of the Louvre, and tonight it was packed. 

I would love one of these carriages...