Paris, Day 4
We spend today in the Marais district of Paris, which has lots of interesting boutiques, cafes, and shops. I twas fun to stroll around and look into all of the stores, which had some really hip, design oriented merchandise. I was tempted to buy many things ( a pantone color chip mug, a ceramic crate of six eggs that were salt and pepper shakers, creamer, sugar, and toothpick holders...so cute) but had to content myself with just pictures, as those are the easiest things to carry with me for the next two weeks in a backpack! Below are pictures from a few of the shops in the following order:
1) Fleux on 39 rue Sainte Croix de la Bretonnerie (visit them online at www.fleux.com, their online catalouge is awesome!)
2)Pylonnes shop on 13 Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie (We used to carry alo tof their stuff at Toy Joy - they have very colorful, cute household accessories)
3)Izrael Spice Shop on 30 rue Francois-Miron ( an amazing spice and condiment store that is like an outdoor market inside - my favorite thing was these giant candied clemintines! Yum!)
4) I didnt remember to get the name of this awesome vintage design shop, but they sold wonderful kitchy vintage home decor/objects, including a sweet snow white and the seven dwarves tea set and two large, beautiful white peacocks that stood on a golden bar (i dont think they were real, but it would be awesome if they were) They were a bit prickly about pictures so I took one from outside of this fancy lady and some vintage fruit cookie jars.
We then ate lunch at L'As Falafel, which had been recommended to me by my friends Stephanie and David. The spot was super packed with a line that stetched down the block! It was totally worth it though - my brother and I both agreed it was the best falfel we had ever had! The pita comes stuffed with salad, cabbage, and sauce, and there was a delicious red sauce that I also poled onto my pita. Thanks for the great recommendation!
After lunch we stopped for tea at my favorite place in all of Paris, Mariage Freres. This wonderful tea shop has been around since 1854, and offers over 600 varities of tea. When you step inside you are overwhelmed by the delicious odor of tea, and the servers there measure looseleaf tea out of giant jars lining the wall for you to purchase. In the tea room, the waiters contunue the tradition of wearing two piece white linen suits, and present you with a thick menu of all the hundreds of teas you can choose from. It is so, so wonderful.If you ever find yourself in Paris, this is the #1 thing I would do! I went many times when I was studying aborad in Paris and really enjoyed it - unfortunately it was super packed today so I had to content myself with just the shop and not the salon du the.
Last stop of the day was the Palais du Tokyo, a very avant garde art museum. the Current exhibit was titled "Chasing Napoleon" and "brings together eighteen artists whose works also read as instruction manuals on how to withdraw into seclusion and take refuge in the limits of the visible." (quote taken from the Palais du Tokyo website)
Some of the most interesting pieces on display were a wooden cabin built in a room (that you could not enter, I wish you could, I think that would have been a really interesting experience space wise) a pile of euros eternally on fire, a photo series of over 33,000 pictures cataloging all of the houses from one city in Iceland (forgive me I cant remember the name) in two separate two year periods set 20 years apart (but done by the same artist) and finally, my favorite piece, titled "For the Dogs", a musical piece first composed in the 1910s by a musician, and then recorded in 2002 by an artist, who then was able to create a new recording of the piece at a certain pitch frequency that is audible to humans but able to be heard by dogs.
Oh! and one last thing! i had my first crepe today! but i am getting kicked out of the internet room so pictures later....
Alright alright. So bone marrow is not your thing but falafel!!! David and I succeed there! Happy new year and we both miss you dearly!
Posted by: Steph | 12/31/2009 at 11:16 PM