More Musées in the 8th Arrondissement

04 Sunday Nov 2012

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After going to the Grand Palais on Nuit Blanche, I knew that I also had to go to the Petit Palais, which is across the street from the Grand Palais in the 8th Arrondissement. We also wanted to go to the Musée Cernuschi, which is an Asian art musée in the 8th. As a bonus, both of these musées are free.

The Petit Palais is definitely a worthwhile musée to visit. The building was built in 1900 for the Universal Exhibition. Today, it houses the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts. The Petit Palais has an outside courtyard and garden, in which you can drink coffee and have snacks. The first floor of the Petit Palais had interesting pieces and sculptures. There is also a painting by Monet of the Seine.

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Montmartre Wine Harvest Festival in the 18th Arrondissement

03 Saturday Nov 2012

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Since 1934, Montmartre has held an annual Wine Harvest Festival at which wineries from all over France showcase their wines. Vendors also sell a variety of delicious food. Mr. Selfish and I knew that we had to attend this festival that was just outside our front door.

We learned a neat piece of trivia – Montmartre only has one functional winery left. It is a small winery that only produces about 2,000 bottles of wine a year and is only about 1,500 m2 (around 5,000 square feet) in size. Nevertheless, this winery is sufficient to warrant a four-day festival and a firework show. Due to the fireworks being set off right in front of Montmarte, the front entrance was blocked off, and everyone was forced to walk on the right-side steps.

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Flashback Friday – A Quick Trip to Pittsburgh

02 Friday Nov 2012

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In May 2011, Mr. Selfish and I took a quick trip to Pittsburgh for his sister’s graduation. Mr. Selfish attended Carnegie Mellon for his Master’s but he never really did the touristy things while there. We took care of that in a short weekend trip.

First, we walked around downtown and went into the Cathedral of Learning. It was built in the Late Gothic Revival style. Also, at 42 stories, it is the tallest educational building in the western hemisphere.

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Disneyland Paris – Part 2

01 Thursday Nov 2012

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Yesterday, we discussed general impressions about Disneyland Paris (DLP).  Today, we’re going into more detail about the rides at DLP.

My favorite thing about Disneyland Paris is that you can go into Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. It is not just a facade like in Magic Kingdom in Orlando. There is magnificent stain glass windows concerning the major scenes in the movie, and you can see Maleficent as a dragon underneath.

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Disneyland Paris – Part 1

31 Wednesday Oct 2012

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Having lived in Orlando for over 7 years, Mr. Selfish and I spent many a days at Disney World. We love all four parks and went quite frequently since most of the time we had some sort of annual or seasonal pass. Disney World is definitely one of the main things that we miss from Orlando, so we decided to go to all of the other Disney parks in the world during our selfish year.

I will review Disneyland Paris (DLP) in two posts. This first post will discuss the general layout of DLP and provide overall impressions. The next post will focus on the individual rides.

I loved all of the Halloween decorations at DLP. Everything was very festive and decorated perfectly for family fun.

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Is Paris the Most Beautiful in the Rain?

30 Tuesday Oct 2012

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Mr. Selfish and I enjoy Woody Allen films immensely. We watched “Midnight in Paris” in the theaters prior to listening to any of the hype. We loved it. Since being in Paris, we’ve recently re-watched it and found it to be just as charming as our first viewing.

However, I do have a point of contention with the film – the dialogue during the last scene in which Gil (Owen Wilson) and Gabrielle are walking on Pont Alexander III and discuss how Paris is the “most beautiful in the rain.”

Gabrielle: Actually, Paris is the most beautiful in the rain.
Gil: I feel that’s what I’m always saying. I couldn’t agree more with you. Yes, it is more beautiful.

I feel that I have first-hand knowledge concerning Paris in the rain since it has rained for many, many a days since we started living here.  I even took photographs of Pont Alexander III, which is between the 7th and 8th Arrondissements, to compare whether Paris is indeed the most beautiful in the rain.

The Rain:

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The 5th Arrondissement: The Panthéon and Saint-Étienne-du-Mont

29 Monday Oct 2012

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Since Mr. Selfish and I have been in Paris for more than three weeks, we’ve walked past the Panthéon in the Latin Quarter many a times. We waited for a sunny day in order to climb it and enjoy the view of the city. That sunny day came, and we purchased our 8.5 euro tickets to the Panthéon.

In 1744, King Louis XV decided that the Panthéon should be built in Paris and modeled after the Patheon in Rome. Due to financial issues, the building wasn’t finished until 1790.

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The Musées in the 7th Arrondissement

28 Sunday Oct 2012

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Mr. Selfish and I visited two wonderful musées in the 7th Arrondissement – the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée Rodin.

We purchased combination tickets to the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie (which is in the 1st Arrondissement). In conjunction with our trip to Giverny, these musées completed our Monet tour of Paris. Unfortunately, photographs are not technically allowed in the Musée d’Orsay, so you have to imagine all of the beautiful Monets in there. In any case, the building itself was gorgeous since it used to be a train station – Gare D’Orsay. Mr. Selfish and I thoroughly enjoyed the Musée d’Orsay – not only because the building itself was elaborate but because the impressionism art collection was quite extensive.

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Cheap Bites in the 4th Arrondissement

27 Saturday Oct 2012

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Mr. Selfish and I have been frequenting the 4th Arrondissement. Not only is the beautiful Notre Dame located there but there is also lots of good and cheap food in this arrondissement.

First, we absolutely adore the falafels from L’As Du Fallafel. They are cheap and delicious! The falafels themselves are plentiful and tasty. Plus, the julienne veggies and the thick chunks of eggplant give the wrap a delicious flavor. They also make them spicy, which pleases my palette. If you’re looking for a cheap and fast eat in this area, you can’t go wrong with L’As Du Fallafel – after all, the sign states that Lenny Kravitz recommends it!

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Flashback Friday – Paris

26 Friday Oct 2012

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I was born in Paris, France. I lived here until I was four years-old, at which time my parents moved the family to good ol’ Hampton, Virginia. This is part of the reason why I wanted to spend six weeks in Paris during our year abroad. Plus, it has been great to be able to visit and get to know my Parisian family – my cousin, aunt, uncle, and grandmother all still live here.

I had scanned in some old photos from Paris years ago from my parents’ photo albums. I was looking through them the other day while in Paris and figured it would be fun to attempt to reenact some of the iconic ones. Here are the results. My current camera lenses and my dad’s old camera lenses are certainly different and I’m a lot bigger now, so the perspective is a little off. In any case, I hope you enjoy them!

Day Trip to Versailles

25 Thursday Oct 2012

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Mr. Selfish and I had both been to the Palace of Versailles previously but we couldn’t resist seeing the opulence again. We waited for a sunny day and embarked. It was indeed as lovely as I remembered. Unfortunately, because the weather had turned cold, the fountains were turned off. It was nevertheless still beautiful.

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Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in the 16th Arrondissement

24 Wednesday Oct 2012

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As I’ve noted previously, Mr. Selfish and I don’t tend to enjoy modern art museums. However, we decided to give the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in the 16th Arrondissement a chance – especially because it is free.

I must say that I was once again disappointed by this modern art museum. According to its website, there are numerous paintings by Picasso and Matisse. I didn’t see any such paintings however. Large portions of the museum were shut down when we visited, so those paintings must have been in those areas.

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Parc Monceau in the 17th Arrondissement

23 Tuesday Oct 2012

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As Mr. Selfish and I were looking for a museum, we strolled through Parc Monceau in the 17th Arrondissement. It was an unexpected surprise since the park was particularly tranquil and serene.

In 1769, the Duke of Chartres purchased the lot on which Parc Monceau sits and sought to built a garden in the English style (as opposed to the French style). The Duke also added random small-scale architectural features such as a windmill, pyramid, and some Corinthian pillars. When the Duke was killed in 1793 during the French Revolution, the park was sold to the City of Paris.

It was a very interesting park, and Mr. Selfish and I were glad to have happened upon it.  Parc Monceau also had the most awesome carousel I’ve ever seen; it looked to be Jules Verne themed.

Disclaimer: There is some dispute as to whether Parc Monceau is in the 8th or the 17th Arrondissement. Based on the map, it looks like it borders both arrondissementsto me. However, since I have tons of blogging material for the 8th, I will consider Parc Monceau as being in the 17th.

Don’t forget to check out my recommendations for the other arrondissements in Paris here.

Two Free Museums in the 3rd Arrondissement

22 Monday Oct 2012

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Mr. Selfish and I were very unlucky to have lots and lots (I mean – LOTS) of rain during our first couple of weeks in Paris. I discovered that one of the best ways to spend a rainy day in Paris is to visit a museum. We visited two very charming and free museums in the 3rd Arrondissement.

The first museum is the Musée Carnavalet, which focuses on the history of Paris. There are thousands of photographs, paintings, sculptures, and other works of art showcasing different time periods in Paris.

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The Twenty Arrondissements of Paris

21 Sunday Oct 2012

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Mr. Selfish and I are spending a glorious six weeks in Paris. I’ve been trying to figure out how to organize my blog posts on Paris and figured that I would do it by arrondissements, which are the different districts in Paris. Paris has a total of twenty arrondissements – each with a different flavor. The arrondissements are organized in a clockwise spiral. The arrondissement of each location is indicated by the last two digits of the postal code.

Here’s the map of Paris’ twenty arrondissements:

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