falafels in the marais

arguably the best falafels in paris, it's a muuuust to get them when here. rue des rosiers, located in the jewish quarter of paris, is famous for its falafels. there are about 4 or 5 different places, but the best is by far are found at l'as du falafel. no, it doesn't mean "falafel ass" or "donkey falafel"...but rather "the king of falafels" - and rightly so.

stuffed inside a warm pita is sun-dried tomato, grilled aubergine, courgette, mayo, super spicy spices & those delicious falafel balls. omnomnom. we sat down on the cobble-stone, pedestrianised street and gobbled up our wraps...and it's safe to say that we enjoyed it down to the very last falafel-filled bite...

with comfortably full bellies, we wandered through the lanes & alleyways of le marais, the quarter of paris renowned for its shopping. stopping every 2 minutes at friperies (second-hand/vintage clothes shops) and entering hidey-hole shops jam-packed with clothes in every colour, shape, pattern & style possible. i managed to nab a pair of leather boots, a couple of leather belts & a silver "owl" brooch. mmm i love paris shopping. there's really nothing quite like it.

xo,

S.

cal got a bit bored of shopping by the end...

musée d'orsay

a museum/gallery housed in the old gare d'orsay, the old beaux-arts railway station. the station was put into disuse in the 70s before being transformed into the musée d'orsay a few years later. the original glass ceilings & walled arches are still the original, however its train-tracks & platforms have been removed & replaced by little galleries - to house some of france's most celebrated impressionist & post-impressionist artworks.

the musée d'orsay has a crazy number of monet, cézanne & renoir pieces - it was such a surreal feeling (as it always is) to see the real originals before my eyes. ahh! normally there are van gogh works on display, but the gallery was being renovated at the time, so i didn't get to see them. having visisted the van gogh gallery in amsterdam however, i wasn't too devo.

annoyingly, the museum has that irritating 'no photos' rule all throughout the gallery. i managed to snap a few sneaky shots, to capture the beauty of the architecture...but in front of the artworks, if the museum workers even see a camera they chivvy you on your way.

i'd been meaning to get here for months, and (unfortunately) eventually came during peak summer: hundred's of people lining up to get in. i went to the nearest tabac (our equivalent of a milk shop) and managed to buy a ticket there instead, and got to enter through the side door of the museum straight away. saved myself a good two hours of lines - life is sweet!

a quote written down in miniscule writing next to one of monet's pieces has stayed with me: "everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand it, as if it were necessary to understand - when it is simply necessary to love".


à toute,




S.

the exterior of the museum - the original railway station

the original, ornate clock from the railway station is still there in the museum

cimetière du père lachaise

with the au pair kids off to the grandparent's house in the south of france, i'm on holidays for a couple of weeks. two weeks with a free house in paris. life could be worse.

some friends from back home, anna & kate, had just arrived in paris after doing volunteer work in ghana & cambodia. it was so great to see them both & swap stories of our travels so far in 2011 ...and being on holidays meant that i could spend more time with them. fabuleux!

we decided to pay a visit to the cimetière du père lachaise. it's probably the most well-known of paris's cemeteries. it still seems strange to me that a cemetery is akin to a tourist attraction these days...but strangeness aside, it's a very peaceful place to wander around. the père lachaise cemetery is in belleville, the east of paris, and is so huge that you can pick up a map at the entrance, with street names, divisions & "prominent people's graves" all marked on it.

we visited the doors' jim morrison - resting-in-peace with flowers, photos, candles, letters & other things left by adoring fans. next to his grave is a big tree - covered from top to toe in the doors' lyrics & loving messages to jim, as well as dates, names and countries of all the people who have come to this place. i actually found this tree more interesting than the grave...aaah oops.

we also found marcel proust, edith piaf "la môme", chopin & a whole section of the cemetery dedicated to the victims of the holocaust. this last part was the saddest of the entire visit, with detailed plaques & really strong messages. it really gave a scope for how many concentration camps there actually were during the war...

our last visit was to oscar wilde's grave. i wanted to see it after watched this scene from the film "paris je t'aime". being a poet, his grave is covered in his own words, as well as in red lipstick. kate & i  figured we couldn't leave without adding an extra two pairs of red kisses. i wonder how long they will last..

we easily whiled away a good 3 hours here, without realising. i definitely recommend a trip to père lachaise if you're in paris. it's not a sad place, but a peaceful one...full of fancy engraved stone and intricate ironwork graves. 

bisous,

S.

"their hope is full of immortality"

there are 100 divisions in the cemetery. it's huge

maps. came in handy several times (every 2 minutes)

jim morrison

the road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom

tributes to jim morrison covering a tree next to his grave

won't you tell me your name?

we went boot shopping

minimilist grave??

proust

crematorium

oscar wilde

keep looking at the stars

my kiss

edith piaf