Return to Paris

We booked a round trip ticket to Serbia, so after our week there we returned to Paris.  The first day back, Monisha was feeling pretty sick, so we hung out at Erica’s apartment for a while before heading out to get Mexican food. We know California has amazing Mexican food, but we’re not going to be there for another month(!) so we decided it was worth it for a bit of guacamole.

That night we went out for Indian food with Erica.  The waiter was really fun.  He played a game with us and offered us the prize of a second free desert. If we lost the game, he said he would come out and eat it in front of us instead. The goal was to guess where he was from starting with the continent and moving to the country. He gave us several hints, revealing that he had no intention of letting us lose. After he mentioned hyperinflation, Nolan guessed correctly: Zimbabwe!

The next morning we went on a little food hopping tour down Rue Moffetard (the cute little street near Erica’s).  We bought a juicy pear, had a bowl of squash soup, drank a coffee at Dose, bought a small loaf of olive bread, and finished off with a round of student-discounted Vietnamesse food.  Somehow, despite Monisha taking pictures of literally every meal on this trip so far, she forgot to take pictures of the first two of our stops.

  

  

We spent a while that day relaxing in the Luxembourg Gardens, mostly sitting on a bench and talking.  Then we got incredibly good 5€ Lebanese wraps before heading to the Louvre. Since we got there after 6pm on a Friday, and we’re younger than 26, entrance was free!

The Louvre actually was all it’s cracked up to be. This place is huge. Really huge. It’s important to be comfortable with the fact that you won’t be able to see everything in one visit. We walked through hallways and hallways filled with classic art, ancient statues, and ornate decorations. Our favorite sections were the Greek and Roman statues, and the hallway of Italian painters. Below are some of our favorites.

  

  

Of course, we also visited The Mona Lisa. Nolan had obviously never seen it before, but remembers people telling him that it’s a pretty big letdown to see in person. People often complain that the painting is really small, and that it isn’t actually all that special.  With the stage set for disappointment, Nolan was actually not letdown at all!  The painting is a pretty standard size for a portrait, and it was pretty cool to stand in such close vicinity to such a famous object. The experience was improved even further about a half our later. We were standing in the hall of Italian paintings looking at a couple of Leonardo de Vinci’s other works.  Nolan pointed out that he liked to use sort of alien landscapes for backgrounds of his portraits. “Take the Mona Lisa for example,” he said, beginning to pull his phone out of his pocket to bring up a picture of the oh-so-famous painting. “Oh wait, I have a better idea.” Instead of looking at the painting on a small phone screen, we turned around and returned to the room with the real Mona Lisa. There really is a pretty crazy landscape painted behind her.

  

The next day we made a fancy fall brunch with Erica and her friends. Erica gets sad when fall begins so she needs fun fall-themed events to keep her autumn spirits high. We made a meal centered around chanterelle mushrooms. Monisha and I decided to make a bowl of mashed sweet potatoes with cinnamon and a cooked apple mixed in.  Erica’s roommate and friend chipped in to make chanterelle eggs benedict. Everything was delicious. It made a wonderful introduction to fall (right before we head off to much warmer climates…hehe).

After brunch, we headed to the airport and flew to where we are now: Porto Portugal. Stay tuned!