I'll start my day from the end because the end was AAAAmazing!
I hop off the bus at Hotel de Ville - to see the Eiffel Tower shining its bright lights through the Parisien fog, the Conciergerie lit-up and towering over the Seine, Notre Dame in the distance - peaking out above the buidlings, just my usual walk home!
But as I came upon Hotel de Ville - I was overjoyed to see the ENTIRE ROOF SPARKLING, two GIANT Christmas trees, and an ENORMOUS ICE SKATING RINK going up!!
I WAS FREAKING OUT!!
The Hotel de Ville looks GORGEOUS and I loveeee (louvvrree) ice skating in the winter. Bundling up! Taking breaks for hot cocoa! Falling on your butt! I bought skates last year I love it so much! Had I know that there would be a beautiful ice rink steps from my apartement, I would have brought them along! Mais c'est pas un probleme - parce-que I can rent them there. If only Josh was here to skate with me and hold my mitten-clad hand so I don't fall!
An ice skating rink overlooking the Seine and Notre Dame means that Christmas in Paris just got a million times more magnifique!
That was just the fin to my wonderful day! I also went to le grand palais to see the Renoir exhibit which was incroyable!! It was ginormous - and they had so many wonderful works I'd never seen!I also learned so much about Renoir!
He was BFF with so many other important painters! One of which was Pierre Bonnard - who is only important to me because 9 months ago Josh asked me to go to the Pierre Bonnard exhibit at the Met with him, which was our first date! Awwwww! First date at the Met! We are tres cute - and tres New York!
But, I have always loved Renoir, and after seeing the huge collection of photos they had of him - I loved him even more because he just looks like Mr. France. Observe....
tres mignon, non?
My culture didn't end there today! I braved the rain over to St. Augustin - this amazing hybrid gothic/industrial cathedrale where I met my architecture class! It was unlike any other church we've visited in Paris! AAAmazing! Then we went over to Opera Garnier!
You'd think that the 4th time wouldn't be as magical....but if so then you'd think WRONG! Because it is! The Opera Garnier is my favorite (interior) building in Paris. I wish I could go everyday just to wander through the gilded foyer and pretend im in the early 19th century!
I payed a visit to Box #5 before I left this time! To try to catch a glimpse of the phantom of the Opera! Opera Garnier is the opera house where the legend took place! They actually found a "lake" underneath at some point - so who knows! I left singing "Think of Me" and "Masquerade" in my head as I danced into Gallerie Lafayette.
I went because I wanted to see the giant tree - but my intentions changed when I entered and saw the sign directing me towards the Pierre Herme boutique downstairs with all the shoes!
Repetto flats and macarons in the same place! What a bonne idee! I got "white truffle hazelnut" and "passion fruit chocolat" and ooooohhh la la there are not even words. Luckily I had my camera so I was able to capture photos this time! If you don't know what Pierre Herme is - you need to refer to my earlier blog post called "Pierre Herme the God of Macarons".
INCROYABLE!
So I ate my delicate little treats in a frenzy of sugar and happiness - and then proceeded onto Printemps to see their decor! There - I found these tres cool notebooks! They had silver-lined pages and had either a heart, spade, club, or diamond on the white cover!
Hellllo present for Josh! I got tres excited - until I saw the tag said 68Euro and became tres mad! $100 for a notebook! Leave it to Printemps! So, I took a picture instead. Because a picture is worth a thousand words. Or in this case - $100 dollars.
When I left I proceeded to get lost in Opera, taking a series of cute streets - admiring amazing Christmas lights as I went, until I finally ended up at Hotel De Ville where my story began!
I'm very pleased to have checked 3 things of my list today! There is no time to loose! Tomorrow starts my weekend! And I plan to go Christmas crazy! Ice skating, cider-drinking, ferris-wheel riding, present-buying, maybe even some paper snow-flake making!
It's that time of year!
Today I decided that if I could have anything I wanted in the world - I would live on the top of the Eiffel Tower for the rest of my life - and pay for monthly trips for my family and friends to visit me!
And also have Repetto flats in every color.... And a never ending supply of Pierre Herme macarons!
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