A Promise of Sunshine

Things are good. Things are in motion.

This weekend I went with my philosophy class to Versailles and our professor took us around the gardens--when I had been there before we didn't get a chance (or really, we just didn't know) how big the grounds were, especially concerning Marie Antoinette's Petit Trianon. Sophia Coppola's movie hadn't yet been made, so we didn't know her area of the garden even existed (totally my favorite part of the place).

But it was nice walking around with our professor, who really did know every single part of the garden--every single sculpture had a metaphor and political story behind it, every single tree was carefully placed to follow the plan. And what was so interesting was that almost every one of them had to do with Ovid's Metamorphoses, and he used those stories to convey some political agenda that, when the story was told, seemed so blatant that Louis XIV was practically shoving his warnings and ideas down your throat. My favorite fountain is the Encelade Fountain, which depicts the myth of the fall of the giants who were buried because they threw rocks at Mount Olympus, trying to dethrone Jupiter. These rocks were similar to France's Fronde (the word in French means slingshot), which was the upheaval of the nobles when Louis XIV was young. This caused Louis XIV to distrust the nobles and basically had them shut up in court, distracted, useless, and spending all their money on gambling. The message: If you try and overthrow the king, this is what happens.

Another fun fact, this picture is taken from the bottom of the stairs where Louis XIV would come down and reveal himself to the public. From the bottom of the stairs it would look like he's basically coming down from the sky. And on August 25th, Louis's namesake day, the sun is positioned directly above the canal, which shines into the hall of mirrors. The planners positioned the building and the canal, etc, just for this. Basically, so he can show that he controlled the world, as well as the sun.
This tour lasted a good five hours--at least. I don't even want to know how many miles we walked, but we pretty much walked through the entire garden. It was un petit froid, but the sun was shining and the sky was epic for pictures. I'm hoping to go back with Natty when she comes to visit because they turn the fountains on in April and the trees will finally have leaves.

After that adventure in Versailles, David came to visit! It was nice seeing him and having him meet everyone, and it made me miss New York a little bit. Not exactly miss it in terms of homesickness, but just realize some qualities about the city that I love and can't wait to get back to in September. His visit also made me realize that I can't leave immediately after finals. I have to be able to enjoy the sunshine and perfect weather without having classes take up the time I should be lounging during a picnic on the canal. I'm currently working with Student Universe to change my flight without spending a fortune--cross your fingers! I'm planning on staying with Emily in her apartment for the final weeks of May and try and soak up as much Parisian sunshine as possible before being forced to board the plane back to Boston. I want to go back to the US, I do (sort of...but only to see family), but I'm realizing that I have no idea when I'm going to be back here. Last year, as I was leaving Florence (was that really only a year ago?), I must admit that I had a sneaking suspicion I was coming back again soon (although of course my parents didn't know about that). But who knows if I'll make it here after graduation. Let's hope I stick to my new plan.

While David and I were wandering around the Marais, waiting for time to pass until we could go to our dinner reservation (more on that in a bit), we heard music coming from the Place des Vosges. We ended up walking in, curious as to what was going on, and found ourselves in this courtyard where French college students dressed as hipsters were playing live polka music. So random! The courtyard appeared to be part of a dorm of some sort, and they were selling homemade food and hot wine (one euro). So we grabbed a glass of vin chaud and sat down on a doorstoop and listened to the music. You can't plan these things.

Something that we did plan, though, was dinner. I had read about this amazing place called Breizh Café that makes amazing buckwheat crêpes on all the Paris food blogs (especially our idol David Lebovitz) and realized I had to try it. The owner is from Bretagne (the birthplace of all things crêpe), so everything was legit. But I read that I had to make a reservation, something that requires the use of speaking in French on the telephone. I caved to cowardice and had Beatrice make us a reservation. The restaurant was tiny and there was only one other waiter--the owner and his wife were the main ones who served everyone. I got a buckwheat crêpe with egg, onions, gruyere, and some mystery meat that ended up being delicious. The photo isn't of my actual crêpe, but taken from D.L's site. Then the four of us (Emily and Meaghan joined) split a dessert crêpe, much to the confusion and surprise of the owner who couldn't believe we Americans were only going to eat one. But hey, we're cheap Americans. A nice conclusion to the meal was when we were leaving the restaurant and Meaghan said "I love you" to the owner behind the door. She thought he couldn't see her, but he was smiling when we passed by. So we'll definitely be invited back there...

One thing that I do miss, however, is cooking. Okay, well maybe not cooking per se, because we all know I'm not very good at it, but I sincerely miss the idea of cooking. As in dinner parties. And looking on food blogs for recipes, and planning. So I'm basically using Meaghan for her kitchen (I don't exactly want to catch Beatrice's on fire), and we're going to host a dinner party this weekend. So it's starting to feel a little bit like normal. Except, you know, we're in Paris.