Bonne Année 2011!

We started the morning off with the almond croissants that we bought last night at Bon Marché...amazing! This afternoon we spent at the Centre George Pompidou, the world's second largest collection of contemporary art. This modern building — with its color-coded mechanical systems highly visible on the exterior — has become an icon of modern architecture. Within, the museum has an impressive collection of French and international modern and contemporary art and design from 1914 to the present, including impressive holdings by Matisse, Chagall, Picasso and the Surrealists. My favorites were the permanent pieces they have on hold located on the second level. The picture below is an example.

Le Centre George Pompidou

The current exhibitions were a little too simple for my taste. After the museum, we made our way home to get ready for the night ahead. Mark's friend from London, Anne-Noël, invited us over for dinner at her apartment, which is located right beside the Panthéon and has views overlooking the bright streets of Paris. As an appetizer, Ramzi put together red pepper crostini with herbed goat cheese and hazelnut oil; as a first course the girls made creme brulée a la fois-gras with roquette salad; as a main course we had mango scallop risotto; and for dessert they bought a cream cake from one of Paris' most renowned patisseries, Le Notre. All in all one of the most memorable meals I've ever had. After dinner we made our way to a house party just around the corner from l'Arc de Triomphe. As the countdown drew closer, we filled our glasses and watched the clock anxiously. Ten, nine, eight...three, two, one...HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Another year gone, and a great one at that. I once heard that the value of the year is measured on how many times you laughed and cried. I think I did a lot of both this year, and I look forward to another great year ahead. Happy New Year, everyone! Bonne Année, a tout!

Love,
Alexis

And so it begins...

It was a beautiful day in Paris. Waking up to the sun shining in our faces, Mark and I decided that we’d better get an early start to the day and take advantage of the lovely weather. First we strolled through les Marais to Places des Vosges (one of Paris’ most expensive real estate locations) and saw Victor Hugo’s old apartment. Interesting fact: In October, police kicked out dozens of squatters who had inhabited a hotel in the area that had not been occupied since 1966 for one year. We then walked for about an hour to the premier arrondissement to Mark’s favorite ramen joint for big bowl of hot ramen. Mark ordered the beef and green pepper ramen, while I had the mixed vegetable ramen. We shared an order of gyoza and kimchi. It was delicious!

Le Louvre

Something that is very distinct to French culture is the notion of “joie de vie” – something that I can already feel as we walk the streets, have a meal, or converse with locals. A simple coffee can take up the whole afternoon and you don’t see people pushing and shoving in the streets because everyone is enjoying their walk and taking their time. Next we made our way to the Louvre that was just around the corner to take a few photos.

Les Champs Elysées

We meandered up les Champs Elysées and enjoyed the carnival-like festivities straight up towards l’Arc de Triomphe. Three more sights down, and I’m thinking to myself that I had better slow down, otherwise I’ll be home within a week! Before we knew it, the sun had set and it was time to head home. We stopped to buy some new DVDs, a bottle of wine and some almond croissants for the morning, caught the 87-bus back to the apartment and relaxed for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow is NYE and from the sounds of it, Mark has plans to keep us out late. Better get a good night sleep tonight!

Love,
Alexis

Welcome to Paris!

I was stuck in NYC for two days, and I am thankful to have had a comfortable place to stay. The sun woke me up both mornings at 6:30AM. Its fiery beams spanned across the morning sky, reflecting off the windows of the surrounding buildings. I don’t do it justice with my description, but it really was beautiful (look at the pic). My days weren’t too interesting, but they were definitely relaxing. I started the day off by getting a coffee from the coffee shop around the corner from the apartment, and then I walked along the Hudson River to the Pier. My favorite thing to do in New York is to wake up early and go for a good walk before the city wakes up. The air is crisp, the city is still, and you notice sounds that you could never hear during the day. The rest of the day I spent reading and watching movies in the apartment – like I said, not very interesting. Tuesday afternoon quickly rolled around and before I knew it, I was off to the airport again - this time in a taxi. Sixty-seven hours since I first took off from Vancouver, and I’m happy to say that it was smooth sailing from there…

It had just gone past noon and I finally made it to Paris! Mark greeted me at the exit gates of CDG and I can still feel the sense of relief that came over me when I saw his face. “I’m finally here!” were the words that kept populating my thoughts. We took the train into the city and then had a twenty-minute walk along the Seine River to his apartment. He pointed out all the well-known sites and areas as we walked past, including Notre Dame Cathedral, la Bastille, the Latin Quarter, Shakespeare & Co bookstore, etc. As I relished in the beauty of everything, we arrived at his apartment on Boulevard Henri VI. At this moment, I realized the advantage of packing light – something that I am to this day incapable of. We tugged, dragged and jerked and my heavy bags up six steep, narrow flights of stairs. Maybe next time I’ll know better – then again, probably not.
Once settled in, Mark and I went to get my first meal in Paris. I had the pumpkin soup with a side glass of white wine. At $3/glass, how could you not? To end the day off, we went to see Harry Potter at the local theater. I think we were both quite disappointed with it, so we grabbed a slice of pizza and headed home for the night. All in all, a great Day 1 in Paris!

xoxo
- Alexis

Living in an airport is NOT fun! … I salute you, Tom Hanks!

To put it lightly, I’ve had better days. We found out yesterday that a blizzard was going to hit New York today, but I hoped for the best since most people said it wouldn’t get bad until early evening. When I arrived, the first thing I did was check out the departures board to see if my flight had been cancelled. It read, “On Time.” I felt both relieved and frustrated. I almost wanted it to say “CANCELLED”, because then I could have just gone straight to Rob’s apartment before the snow hit and had a relaxing day in the city. Instead, I waited in Terminal 7 as the surrounding flights were cancelled one by one. As the snowfall crept up around noon, I knew in my mind that there was no way I would be flying out today. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to leave. Three hours turned into six hours, and by the seventh hour I checked the Departures Board again and it read, “CANCELLED” – aka time to leave the airport! Not quite. In order to reschedule my flight, I had to wait for the Iceland Air representatives who were not scheduled to arrive until 4:30PM. I did my best to kill another 3.5 hours, and I eventually was able to reschedule my flight for Tuesday night.


There was about fifteen inches of snow on the ground by the time I was able to leave the airport. The taxis weren't running and it was starting to get dark so I took the A-line to Chambers Street. It normally takes me ten minutes to walk from the Subway to Rob's apartment, but under these weather conditions it proved to be much more difficult. I had two large and heavy suitcases with me and I wasn't dressed appropriately for the wind and snow. The roads weren't paved so I could barely roll my bags. After about two blocks, I could feel my hands getting numb. The wind was so strong that it blew me over a few times. When I was about half way there, I couldn't walk against the wind any longer so I just stopped, tried to warm my hands as much as I could and cried uncontrollably. Then a miracle was sent to me. I thought I heard a voice, but I wasn't sure. I looked up and there was a family walking towards me asking me if I needed help. They were Canadians and turns out live right by Rob. They helped me pull my suitcases through the blizzard to Rob's apartment. I don't think I've ever been so grateful towards anyone because I honestly don't think I would have made it home safe on my own.
Paul, one of the sons, walked me right to the apartment. I got emotional as I thanked him and gave him a big hug. I was so appreciative of their kindness - I thought of them as my Christmas miracle. I hope to not have another day like this ever again, but this experience has taught me that a simple act of kindness has the power to alleviate a lot of struggle and hardship...something that I hope to pay forward.

xoxo
- Alexis

Happy Holidays!

It is Christmas day. After spending a wonderful week at home with Rob, mom, and dad, I am off again. This time, I am en route to Paris - the city of love, romance, fashion and home to some of the greatest pieces of art known to mankind. I am not sure what I am expecting from my four-month European adventure, but I think what I want is just to relish in this transition period. The next four months represent maybe the last time in my life where I am completely carefree. I would like to take this opportunity to do some (actually a lot of) self-reflection, to learn about and delve myself into a new culture and hopefully try to improve my French while I’m there. Moreover, I want to see how I cope with traveling on my own. I have done a lot of traveling in my life, but I have always had someone there with me. This will be a whole new experience for me and I’m excited to see how I am able to handle it.
I will do my best to write daily entries (with photos) so you can follow me throughout my trip. At the moment, I am sitting on the airplane with an empty seat beside me. We just got served dinner and I had the chicken with steamed rice that was served to me cold. I put it aside and just ate the fruit, bread roll and walnuts that mom packed for me. Three more hours and I should be arriving at JFK. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s entry as I excite you with how I spend fourteen hours in an airport terminal awaiting my flight to Iceland! ☺ Sweet dreams!
Love, Alexis