le quartier latin : à la mode de carmela + gene || the latin quarter : carmela + gene style

on friday after french 202, a group of us decided to do another walking tour, this time of the latin quarter.

after eating another delicious falafel (yes, i had falafel two days in a row, and no, i am not ashamed) on rue de rosiers, we headed to our starting point at fontaine saint-michel.

as we were crossing the seine just before notre dame, an older couple was walking beside us and turned to me. they said, "are you american? where are you from?" i told them i was from california, but was in paris through a study abroad program with brigham young university. they said, "you must be voting for mitt. that's okay." i laughed. they asked what we were doing, and i explained our walking tours class to them. gene then asked me if they could join us. they seemed friendly and we were in a group, so i said, "why not?"

gene replied, "well thank god for brigham young and his students!"

and thus began our adventure through the latin quarter with carmela and gene sheridan of "boston. well actually cape code, but we're originally from new jersey, if you can't tell from our accents."

(oh, and it was raining so there won't be many photos...sorry guys!)

so after our stop at fontaine saint-michel, we headed to le théâtre de la huchette. it's such a little hole in the wall theater, i might not have noticed it unless i was actively looking for it. um, la cantatrice chauve and la leçon have had more shows than cats! or les misérables. did anyone even know that? because i haven't heard of either of those plays...i feel uncultured. but i didn't feel too bad, carmela didn't know them either.

after that, we we saw the narrowest street in paris, rue du chat-qui-pêche || fishing cat. gene took a photo of carmela here. i think this was about when they gave me their card.

then we found ourselves heading to l'église saint-séverin. this church is an awesome example of gothic architecture, not just because it has rose windows, pointed arches, and higher relief carving. it shows the transition between classic gothic to flamboyant gothic. i actually do have a photo of this to show you what i mean.

not a great photo, i was planning on just using it for myself to study. ha.

flamboyant gothic is the super duper fancy gothic - it was designed to look like flames. everything starts out larger and then decreases as it rises up, a technique to raise our eyes and also look like flames. awesome. in the first set of arches (left), you can see classic gothic. in the second set of arches (right), you can see flamboyant gothic.

from l'église saint-séverin, we headed down cour du commerce saint-andré to see le procope, the oldest café in paris. we took a group photo here. carmela took it for us. then she took one of all of us with her group camera. it cracked me up.

le procope. excuse the awkwardness that is my shirt. photo stolen from annie.

we got a little turned around and missed out on going to the recommended patisserie in the walk...but have no fear. i plan on finding that place and trying their chocolate religieuse.

then we browsed by some small art galleries on rue de seine for a little while until we found l'ecole des beaux-arts, the most prestigious fine arts school in france. it reminded me that i still needed to buy a sketchbook (which i ended up doing today, but that's another story).

then we found the institut de france, which houses l'académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, l'académie des science, l'académie des beaux-arts, and l'académie des sciences morales et politiques. it also housed the academy française, which strictly maintained the french langauge for years.

we also explored the pont des arts, a bridge across the seine onto the île de la cité. it was a nice spot for viewing the île, but it was rainy and we were all tired so we moved on.

then we got to walk along the stairs and see pont neuf || new bridge, which is actually the oldest bridge in paris, dating back to 1606. it was completed under the rule of henry iv. the original was melted during the french revolution to make cannons, so this was recast in 1818. when we walked underneath it, we all made a wish. including carmela and gene. i will not be sharing my wish, because as we all know, that ruins the fun. :)

pont neuf. photo stolen from sage.

it was so fun getting to know carmela and gene. i think that was my favorite part of this walk (don't get mad, dr h!). they told me all about their children and their 19 year-old granddaughter (who had her passport stolen in paris last summer, dontcha know?). i learned about their bed and breakfast, and how they had been in paris only once before, and only for half a day. they were finally back for three weeks as a 25 year anniversary celebration. ("it's actually our 26th anniversary, but we're pretending we made it in time." i hope you're reading these quotes with a super thick jersey accent because that's how they definitely need to be read.) they were the sweetest couple! alicia and i are planning on sending them a postcard, for sure!

as for the latin quarter, i loved it. i loved the winding streets, the little shops, the art, and the vibe there. i'll definitely be back for some in depth exploration. i have my eye on a couple vintage jewelry shops that i'd like to play in!