Nocturne & Josie

Nocturnes au Louvre- "Que vois-tu?" (What do you see?)

So, last night I finished my second of two nights at the Louvre presenting the Poussin painting (here) and it was absolutely amazing. I told about four different people that they had to take pictures of and for me- so once I receive those from in the next couple days I will share my night in detail. I had so much fun though, and it was made even more special because I had a friend there! Josie, a friend from high school who is studying in London, is visiting me for the weekend and got to take part in the evening. She even got to meet all my ILCF cohorts and my professor. During/after the Louvre program, I got to introduce her to my friends here. We ended up in one of our favorite brasseries- nice, cosy, and perfect for good conversation.

This morning Josie and I woke up, had a French breakfast of café au lait in bowls and baguette, and then headed down to meet my friend Megan at the Marché aux Puces (flea market) at Porte au Vanves. We spent quite a while there perusing the antiques and oddities. I came away with some awesome postcards. The only downside to our choice of activity was the cold. It's hard to gracefully and respectfully go through bins of antiques when your gloved hands are quite clumsy. We were there until around lunchtime, and that when Josie and I took off for Saint Germaine and the Marais. We started in the Saint Germain/Saint Michel area and slowly made our way across the islands and the river over to the 4th arrondissement- the Marais. Josie's been to Paris before, so there was no pressure to go and see all the monuments in one days, so we got to take the city slowly and explore some areas unknown to both of us. I'm in the Saint Michel area for school, so I'm vaguely familiar with it, but I was so happy with the market streets we came across. We grabbed lunch at a corner café and we're treated to a four piece band across the street providing a soundtrack to our meal and some funny sights.

Bar du Marché- croque madames and fine music

After our nice relaxing lunch, I took Josie over to Shakespeare & Co. The famed English bookstore in Paris- popular hangout for artists and authors (like Hemingway, the Fitzgeralds, Ezra Pound and James Joyce). It's a great two story bookstore that's fun to explore and imagine some great people enjoying time in. We were there a while before heading over the Seine and through Île Saint-Louis to the Marais. And there we had so much fun following the streets, window shopping the chic stores, and discovering hidden student art galleries (again my camera died- so photos to come!). After the cold got to us, we stopped again for coffee and pastries at an tiny  boulangerie.

As it started getting darker, we decided that we would walk back along the river, zigzagging back and forth over every bridge. It was such a beautiful walk home. Not only that, but I had such a great person to talk with and share the city with. Our only detour before hitting my neighborhood was over to Place de la Concorde where a giant Christmas tree has just gone up. Our very, very long walk ended back in the 16th, where we stopped for dinner supplies and more bread before coming home for a very informal meal and hours of conversation. Even with all this travel and all these visits, we still go to school- so we're staying in tonight to try and get things done. That and we're exhausted after the last two days and our feet could use a rest. Bonne nuit à tous!