Two things I want to give you a heads up on: The Musee Carnavalet in the Marais and a gorgeous little Parisian bar by the name of Le Rendez-Vous des Amis in Montmartre.
The Musee de Carnavalet is situated by metro St Paul in the centre of the Marais, and is reportedly the second most visited museum in Paris following Le Louvre. It hosts a variety of rooms in two old town houses (the first dating from 1548), to which a beautiful array of gardens in pristine condition are attached. The museum focuses on the history of Paris. It's free, so I wasn't too disappointed when I learned that the rooms of the Revolution were closed on the day I went as I will go again, although I have to admit that glimpses of Parisian life directly before and after the Revolution of the 18th century was its main appeal. The variety of artwork on display was refreshing, ranging from archeological finds to the death masks of Napoleon and Voltaire (see photo).
The famous Chat Noir cabaret sign from the 19th century can be found there (the photo in this case isn't mine but googled), and there are many grand rooms with grand paintings and impressive stair cases which lead you between them. If you're only in Paris for a short while but want to get a brief overview of Parisian style and history then this is the place to go - the Louvre may be the largest museum in Europe but its size can sometimes become infuriating (when trying to find the Sortie, for example).
St Martin's Canal in the "Paris vu par les peintres" section
Yesterday was the leaving do of one of my friends in Paris, she's moving back to good old Angleterre after living here for almost two years. She chose the aptly named Le Rendez-Vous des Amis on 23 rue Gabrielle by metro Abbesses. It was a charming little place with live jazz as background music and where a lot of red wine and cheese was being consumed. I couldn't stay long due to having to work the next morning and the long ride of the RER, but it was a good evening and also a good find, I will be going there again. The 18th arrondissement is one of those rare places in Paris which remains genuinely Parisian, although the lack of overcrowding tourists does result in the odd drunken weirdo (or two) but who am I kidding: this is Paris and there are plenty of strange people, it just so happens that this is the area where it's not so funny when travelling on your own, but you get used to it and after all, c'est la vie! Montmartre is one of favourite places here, so what does that say about me...?
Today was the first of April, and therefore the "Poisson d'Avril", the national day of the year that small children stick pictures of fish (yes, fish) to your back seemingly without your knowledge and giggle uncontrollably throughout the process. After asking my host dad why a fish of all things was chosen for this honour, he explained that as it is the time of Le Careme (Lent),it is fish that Christians eat whilst avoiding the luxuries of meat. A little French fact for you!
Tomorrow I'm going somewhere incredibly exciting, but I'll leave that for my next post....
Bonne Nuit xxx
No comments:
Post a Comment