Today was a great day. I mean really great. It was one of those self-reflection, learn some shit type of days.
The day started off with me not getting up early at all. It was a lazy morning, and while some may think that a waste of vacation, I stayed out today for nine solid hours, so in still feel good about not wasting the day. Plus, sleep is amazing too! It makes my brain a happier place to live.
First on the list, and the largest part of the day, was the Centre Pompidou. I'm staying literally one small block away from this place, and I was saving it. I finally got there, and I absolutely love it. It may be my favourite exhibit that I've seen in all of my European travels. Bold statement I know, but look at the stuff I took pictures of, and it will make sense.
This is the exterior of the building. I won't take you through all of the art that follows, but it's sure to be sprinkled with comments here and there.
This room was all chalk drawings from visitors. Only five people allowed in the room at once, so once the space was clear, I went in.
That little blue thing in the middle there is what I drew. It's a little bear face that my mom taught me when I was a kid, and I still remember it. That's what I left behind in the Pompidou!
This was some odd tiled room thing that was odd but caught my eye.
There was just one tiny piece, maybe 6" x 8", and then a huge, huge wall covered floor to ceiling in the wallpaper.
I obviously love this!
This was a huge wall full of globes that had been covered and altered with packing tape, etc., I believe as a social commentary on how war and destructions are eroding and changing the shape of the earth, both literally and figuratively...?
I mean... I'm likely not correct, but that's what I got from it.
The room where dreams go to begin.
Spheres from small to large.
And from large to small.
This was odd. The room was full of this stuff, but the chairs flailed around like absolute lunatics. You can see they're in movement in the shot. It was loud in there, some storm soundtrack with grumbles, and the lights went on and off.
I don't know...
That's a bottle of protein powder at the top. So... use protein powder at your own colour blob explosiony risk?
These are all bottle caps!
This is a nail in a piece of wood on a wall.
So... this exists.
This I am obsessed with! Obsessed.
Uhhh... all I have to say about this is that as I stood there one of the empty fingers of the glove fell down. It creeped me out and then I walked away.
The next few are just fun!
Sculpture made of wound metal, making jazz hands, anyone? YES PLEASE!
Then it was time for lunch. I walk into this place, and soon realize that I am NOT cool! The woman at the front desk welcoming people was hot as hell, and wearing a knit dress with three vertical mesh bits from top to bottom in the front, through which you could see her underoo's (proof of cool lack right there). I mean, live it up, do your thing, but it made it pretty clear that this is not a place that I would usually frequent. And not because she was showing me her underpants, but because that takes balls, like, uber-confidence!
Also, I have never seen so many good looking men in tuxedo's in my life, and they were the waiters! I'm just saying, my eyes were not in pain during my meal.
And either was my stomach, this club sandwich was perfection!
Then I bought a ticket (special exhibitions aren't covered by the museum pass that I have) for the Marcel Duchamp exhibition. They didn't allow many pictures, but these two fun things were allowed to be photographed. One is Duchamps, and another is a different artist, I believe. And no, the urinal wasn't there.
After rocking some of that fun stuff, I decided that I had no clue what I wanted to do for the rest of the day. I was in there for four hours! I'd run out of time to get to the other two museums (Rodin and Musée d'Armee), so it was free time, time! I walked east instead of west, and north instead of south, and found myself in super-fun territory.
It was time for dinner, so after walking along for about an hour, reading menus, I decided to go here, to Au Caveau. I've just looked it up, and it apparently means The Vault. Sure!
All I know is that it was delicious, and the woman who worked there was an absolute dream! We chatted for a bit, as I was the first one in (you're insane here if you eat dinner before 8pm... it was 6:30pm. Ooooh well!).
It's so lovely and cozy inside. And then I did something I really didn't think I would do, and I ordered...
The FROG LEGS!
You guys, they were really good! I ate them all! They were kind of like a calamari texture mixed with a sole texture mixed with chicken texture. They were fried with garlic and butter, so they were delicious.
And because it took a slight amount of convincing to order them, the lovely woman I mentioned earlier insisted that she get a picture of me eating them to prove it to everyone. It was a good idea, the picture of the frog legs could have belong to anyone!
So here I am, posing for a picture, something you all know I love doing so much. (Look how adorable and excited the woman is taking the picture in the mirror. What a delight she was!)
And then there were the lamb chops, and cheesy scalloped potatoes.
You guys. Wow. Those potatoes were the BEST, and the lamp chops, man... I literally think I'm going to go back for dinner there again before I leave, and I only have two nights left.
And as with every night, then came the time to figure out where the hell I was from all of the random walking I had done. As I tried to find my way, I found this guy. He was for sure a little nuts, but aren't we all?
He had his whole set up, including self-made lights, a water fountain that worked, some prayer sheets, a personalized flag, a rug and a music stand. The greatest thing was that he was reading poetry with so much passion, I stood there and listened for ten minutes. I had no idea what he was saying because it was super-French, but it was wonderful. There were about eight people who'd actually just sat down on the street (closed to cars) and listened to him.
It was just so damn enjoyable. This is why I wanted to go to Europe. This type of thing is the experience I wanted, and I have been so lucky to have the feeling that I had watching this, many times over the past month.
When he finished his book it was time to find my way home. I was able to spot Notre Dame, and I know how to get "home" from there, so was good to go. But not before I took some pictures of Notre Dame lit up.
This is also the reason I wanted to go to Europe. You guys, in person, this is so breathtaking, I can't even come close to describing it. The lights, the shapes and shadows, the gargoyle's. It's too much for my brain to manoeuvre. I took so many pictures, it was just too much perfection all in one place.
And that was the day. I have to say, it was one of the best days I've had on this trip. I don't think it can be compared to most others, as they were all so packed with amazing, but maybe that's why it stood out. It was calm. I did what my gut told me to, and ended up having an amazing afternoon, followed by an even better night.
Tomorrow I'm hoping to experience more surprises and excitement, but with both of those museums I mentioned tucked in as well.
Until then!
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