A Taste of Paris

A Taste of Paris Part Duex

            Paris in October is a beautiful time.  The trees are turning into their golden orange and yellow colors, and the air is crisp and clean.  Everyone puts up their shorts and sandals for boots and jackets.  The holidays are coming up so there is a bit of an exciting panic all over the city about decorating and shopping.  It is a wonderful time to go out for strolls and site see!

            During the fall many trend forecasting companies host events to show off their predictions for the falling season.  At Trend Union, Lidewij Edelkoort, the world’s most known forecaster help a remarkable gala to portray her vision.  At their headquarters many important fashion people gathered around to see what she had to offer.  They had a man making all different types of breads that smelled absolutely amazing and tasted even better! While at the event everyone had a chance to watch a video of the trends.  In this video there were many different types trends in one big one.  All of the trends revolved around the color white and were and were very hands on nature.  The video was very tranquil allowing the watcher to feel the full effect of the trend.  The Trend Union office is very plain and white, creating a blank canvas for the forecasters to work.

            The Orsay museum, built in an old train station, is home to many great paintings and sculptures.  There are lots of impressionist work from artist like Monet and Manet.  Van Gogh also has a few of his paintings in there as well.  The museum is set up like a treasure hunt.  The middle is filled with lots of sculptures creating somewhat of maze.  In order to see the art work you must weave from room to room in order to see everything.  This creates an excitement of anticipation for what will come next.  The Orsay has an amazing gift shop in side with lots of wonderful prints and books.  There is also a children’s book section that has wonderful things for children to read and get excited about famous art!  The building where the Orsay calls home is a huge building with large clocks on the outside.  These are from the days when it was a train station.  If for some reason you miss the clocks, you can recognize the museum by the huge iron sculptures of animals on the outside.

            Another wonderful museum can be found at the end of the Tulleries gardens.  The l’Orangerie is a wonderful museum where one can find themselves lost in Monet’s water lilies.  There are two rooms with floor to ceiling paintings of lilies.  Monet glued these masterpieces to the walls of the museum in order to assure that they would stay there forever.  The atmosphere of the museum is very peaceful and is a wonderful place to meditate.  The Tulleries Gardens are very beautiful.  They lead you from the louvre museum to the Place du Concorde, where Marie Antoinette and several others were killed during the revolution.  Throughout the gardens are pretty statues and fountains.  It is a wonderful place to bring your friends, dogs, or just yourself for a lovely afternoon in Paris.  

             Directly across from the Place du Concorde is the Champs-Elysees.  This long strip features many stores and restaurants.  At the end of the Champs one will find the Arc di Triomphe.  This large monument represents the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.  Every year on July fifteenth the French celebrate Bastille Day, or Independence Day.  There is a parade going all the way down the Champs-Elysees and ends at the Arc.   This holiday is very important to the French and going to the parade is a wonderful way to celebrate with them.  On the Champs-Elysees are many different shops.  One of the most famous would have to be the Huge Louis Vouitton store.  This store is four stories high and is massive.  They sell all different kinds of Vouitton products and even have a bookstore.  As you move further down the champs you will find Ave Montaigne.  This street is filled with many famous designer stores such as Chanel, Dior, Gucci, and many more.  The Dior store is the biggest in the city and is a spectacular place.  As soon as you walk in you are met with hydrangeas and the essence of elegance that is Dior.  There they sell all things Dior including china and silver.  On the same Avenue there is the Hotel Plaza Athenee.  This elegant hotel is known for hosting many celebrities.  The HBO series Sex and the City was filmed there on its last episode ever, where Carrie Bradshaw looks out her window and screams because she has seen the Eiffel Tower.  This is a beautiful street that helps make up the golden triangle, which consists of three streets with designer shops and elegant restaurants and hotels.  The whole area near the Champs-Elysees is very spectacular.  It is hard not to fall in love with this place, especially if you are a girl who likes to shop!

           

            The Luxemburg gardens can be found in the Latin Quarter.  This is a lovely place for a jog or just a walk in the park.  The Gardens are huge and houses the Luxemburg Palace, once the home of Henry IV’s widow.  There are many different types of gardens throughout the whole place filled with sculptures and fountains.  Benches can be found almost everywhere so it is a wonderful place to read of chat with friends.  There are vegetable gardens and floral gardens that change with season.  Luxemburg is a wonderful place to be in the fall because the leaves on the trees are so beautiful as they change colors and cover the green grass!

            Another wonderful place in the Latin Quarter is the Notre Dame cathedral.  This gothic style church has beautiful architecture and amazing gargoyles.  Inside the church is a beautiful Catholic cathedral with lots of tombs and mosaic art.  Only four hundred steps stand between the ground and climbing the top of Notre Dame.  There you can see the whole city from the panoramic view.  Everyone who climbs to the top of the cathedral gets to see close up the old bell.  This bell tower is famous for being Quasimodo the hunchback of Notre Dame’s home.  Outside of the cathedral and along the Seine River there are street vendors selling artwork, old books, and posters.  These are great places to buy presents and genuine French souvenirs. 

            Paris is still one of the prettiest cities in the world.  Its charm and beauty always takes breaths away!  Once someone has experienced this wonderful city it is impossible for them to want to leave and inevitable that they return!