Ridin' roun town

Source

Reposting this from the old blog because it's still accurate.

I think every Facebook user is familiar to this type of photo by now, but I can't help blogging about this because it really depicts at the same time all the clichés and the reality about studying in Paris. I could go on and on about this topic but in this post, I want to focus on the last picture: "What I actually do". 

I laughed so hard when I first saw this but now that I actually put some thoughts into it, I can totally relate: I've been spending a lot of time running, waiting, hustling for/in public transports such as train, tram, métro and bus ever since I got here. And I believe that is the case for not only students but also working people in Paris. If it takes you less than an hour to get from home to school/work, you are lucky. Some of my friends live so far that they even spend 3+ hours daily in public transports. 

Regardless of the fact that I hate wasting my time in wagons, the transportation system here is incredibly convenient and helpful for moving around and especially for someone who doesn't want to learn how to drive like me (I will very likely be hiring a chauffeur in the future, haha... or be content with walking and biking and riding buses and trains). This is seriously one of my criteria when picking a country to study abroad, to visit or to live. You can easily get to every nook in this city and possibly this whole country. 

Comparing to Singapore MRT, the Parisian métro is way far behind in term of cleanliness. In the south east asian country, you already get fined heavily if you drop litter and it is prohibited to eat and drink on the train and in the station. Here I guess it's just way too crowded to control so I wouldn't say the métro is the best looking or... best smelling place but at least some of the stations have very unique design like Cluny La Sorbonne, Franklin D Roosevelt or Saint-Germain-des-Prés, to name a few. 

To end my blabbing about public transports, here are some tips or rather remarks in order to have a good time riding around town:

• Say "Bonjour!" to the bus driver. 
• Carry a book/magazine/newspaper to read while waiting but please don't get lost in it and blame me for missing your train or your stop. 
• Good music.
• If you're using a smartphone, the SNCF app is pretty handy to check what time your train arrives. Be on the platform 1 minute earlier. Trains here, even buses, are incredibly punctual.  
• Wear something you can run in. But never attempt to run when hearing the doors-closing beeping sound. Be a person, not a sandwich. 
• Admire but don't stare, I know he's cute and her coat is to die for. 
• Hold on tight when standing because it can be one bumpy ride and trust me, you don't want to be pole swinging and end up on someone's laps or in someone's face. 
• "Excusez-moi. Merci!"
• Hold the door for the person behind you after validating your ticket. 
• Be polite and enjoy the ride. 

Quatorze Juillet

Bonjour,

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend, especially those who participated in the celebration of the French National Day: 14th July! As for me, I had a super fun, unexpected outing with my sister and her friends. Sometimes, things don't go according to plan for good reasons. 

Here are a couple tidbits of my eventful Saturday. Made new friends, laughed a lot and life is good even though the wet and cold weather is creeping in again (15°C in July?!). 

View from Alexandre III bridge. Rainbow after the rain.

Uniforms. 

In front of Invalides

Left: Being smiley at Jardins des Tuileries after my 3rd time visiting the Ahae photos exhibition.
Right: Being jumpy in front of Invalides.

Waiting, two hours before the fireworks at 11pm. So glad it didn't rain.

Show time!!!

Disco fever

This year's theme was Disco with a good selection of songs to accompany the fireworks. Sadly the music mixing wasn't very smooth and upbeat enough. The crowd around us was quite calm which made my sister and I look pretty ridiculous screaming while shaking to It's raining men, Can't take my eyes off of you, Survive... Loveee the La vie en rose part but wish it had more french songs though. Ah well,  I still enjoyed it very much, so glad I went out! 

That's it for now, until next time mes amis ;) Bonne semaine! 

Prune and cherry

H&M shirt + thrifted bag, borrowed from sister - Shorts, Nafnaf - Blazer, AA - Boots, Benetton

Wore this outfit to lay on the grass at the Luxembourg Gardens more than one week ago with my sister and her best friend on a dry sunny day but it was still a bit cold so we didn't stay very long. I really like the color of the shorts and the bag, how they surprisingly work well together and with other garments in my wardrobe, how they make this outfit interesting without being too much. Hmmm, new neutrals? Possibly.

Since the whole chill-on-grass plan didn't work out but it was still too bright and nice to go home, we picked up some Dalloyau macarons and sat at a café named Le Rostand near the gardens to chat and people watch. At first, we thought the waiter didn't approve of us bringing food from outside because he looked super serious... until he jokingly stole my bag of macarons and smiled. The three of us couldn't stop giggling after that, especially when we saw written on the receipt ''Votre serveur: Garçon 4''. We're such grown ups, I know hehehe ^.^

At Ralph's

It was the night before I turned 19. Out of a whim, my sister, her best friend and I decided to go café-ing without having precisely any destination in mind. We strolled around Odéon, got distracted every now and then by bustling bars, exquisite chocolate figurines and beautiful vitrines until we stopped in front of the Ralph Lauren store on boulevard Saint-Germain-des-Prés. If my sister didn't come here before for school work, we wouldn't have known about the restaurant hiding behind those big blue doors because at that time of the day, the other parts of the 4-story building were all closed. 

The terrace was beautifully decorated with lots of blue and white cushions on top of the lounge chairs. It gave off a rustic, peaceful atmosphere, like you're going to a family gathering in the countryside. Since it was a busy night and we went there just for desserts, we could only get a table inside. The decoration reminded me of the interior of a castle, with lots of paintings, wood and leather.

Roses in full bloom were on each table, even at the bar, right next to the aureate utensils with other beautiful porcelain and glass wares. 

Ralph's served mostly american food. Our desserts were even accompanied by a bowl of caramelized popcorn which would be too much (+ too much sugar!!!) if we ate it all. Both of the chocolate and carrot cakes were delicious, especially with the sweet wine whose name I cannot recall. I also ordered  some hot chocolate which was nothing extraordinary but neither was it terrible. 

My sister being silly :))

I would return here for the gorgeous settings, the chocolate cake and the lovely service, but not on a weekly basis since it is pretty fancyyy.