And yet another couple of weeks passed in Paris

These last few weeks have been insane. Work, work and more work. And then a little play as well. On the 11th of October I went to the Fêtes des Vendanges de Montmartre which is the celebration of the harvest of the only remaining grape field in Montmartre. I met up with Isabella and Kamuy at the exit of the Anvers metro and we went to this great salon de thé at the bottom of hill. The crêpes were delicious and I will definitely go back to this place. Afterwards we went to find a good place to photograph le gand defilé and decided on staying near the top of Rue Lepic. However hard the conditions for getting great shots were, I actually managed to get some decent ones. After the defilé ended we made our way to Rue d’Orsel were we went to this “depot-vente” shop, which is basically a vintage shop were people get paid for the clothes they have brought when other people buy them. I found a very nice dress, tres sexy. Also in rue d’Orsel we admired the windows of a great art gallery before we made our way to another great shop in the area, where I also found a dress. I don’t remember the name of this shop, but I will have to go out and search for it, since I definetely want to go back there also. They had lots of lovely dresses and tops, some from the spanish brand Lavand which I have just fallen in love with now. After shopping there we returned to rue d’Orsel having discovered a Russian restaurant there which looked very interesting. And it was indeed very interesting. Chez Svetlana gets my best recommendations. It is a very relaxed place with a nice atmosphere which is cotributed to by the kitsch décor with old black and white pictures of famous Russians and red walls. After that we highjacked places outside a café at the bottom of the hill to Sacre Cæur for a perfect view towards it when the great fireworks were on at 11 pm.

On Sunday that weekend I went with Isabelle to watch the French version of the Grease Musical. Quite entertaining, but some things are definitely lost in translation. Especially when you don’t manage to understand all the translation. However it was nice finally to go to the theatre again. And Theatre Comedia is a very nice theatre, apart from the fact that there is not enough room for your legs. If you’re higher than 1.75 or have long legs for your height you will simply not fit in, at least not in the balcony seats.

Since then my existence has pretty much evolved around work, the week after the active weekend in Montmartre and in the theater I worked 48 hours. Most of them in a gigantic three-day meeting which seemed to never end!

This week I had Wednesday off however, so I finally managed to buy some boots. Had to turn to my love for (almost) everything German and buy them at a Gabor shop between the Louvre and the Opera Garnier. And then I could not go home on the Rue de Rivoli without buying just a bit more, so I found three lovely knitted dresses or long shirts, depending on your definition and not least, how good your legs are ;-)

And tonight my lovely boyfriend is just about to arrive and therefore I will end this cursory overview of the last few weeks here!

Street lamp outside my window

A very productive day

Yesterday was a very productive day. First I worked forever in the office and then I went to the night opening of Louvre. I visited the section on Italian paintings from the 16th and 17th century. There are really a lot of pictures portraying motherhood in this section. I like the one on the photograph above in particular. I love that it is circular and the way the beatiful blue and red colors stand out. You get the feeling that if you were allowed to touch it then you would actually be able to feel the fabric of her dress, which is exceptionally well painted.

If you want to go for the weekly Friday night opening of the museum and want to visit the sections anywhere near Mona Lisa I would advise against arriving later than 7 p.m. as these sections tend to become really crowded. I escaped the museum just about that time having decided that I really ought to go and get myself a winter coat since it has become very cold here. Only about 12 degress celsius during the day. And I actually managed to find a very pretty one on the Rue de Rivoli on the way back to my appartment. Indeed a very productive day!