Paris

Last Wednesday I went on a short day trip to Paris with a friend of mine. She just got a job at a cool English bookstore W.H. Smith, on rue de Rivoli (next to the Louvre) and needed to do her required medical exam. So I said I'd join her and we'd make a day of it. First stop was lunch, we wanted to go to a sandwhich place she had talked about but couldn't find it so we went to my favorite Japanese noodle shop. Its tucked in a corner right on a main street next to the Opera but has the best (and biggest!) lunches for a good price. I got a HUGE plate of yakisoba and 5 gyoza for 10 euros!

Then we stopped by her bookstore so we could take a look around... I felt like I had stepped into America! I never realized that French bookstores just have a different feel about them and this one felt like home. It was nice and although expensive she gets an employee discount ;-)

Then we got to do something I had been wanting to do since I was a study abroad student in 2002... visit Monet's waterlilies in l'Orangerie! It had been closed for construction for the last 6 years and finally reopened!










The paintings are stunning and although there are other works of art downstairs I prefered the waterlilies and could have just spent my time there. The rooms that the paintings are located in are oval shaped and there are 4 paintings lining the room which is lit by natural light from a skylight above. It is beautiful and very calming and after 6 years I can say I've been there!









Then we made a quick stop at Starbucks by the train station for some Frappachinos (Banana Java Chip thank you very much!) and cheesecake before hopping on the train to go home.









It was a quick trip but good fun!