Saint Malo: B&B from 1715

OMGOMGOMG. I just stayed in the most beautiful, relaxing B&B in St. Malo called Le Columbier. This chateau was built in 1715 and was just recently converted into a B&B. 

The interior is authentic French country/Victorian decor and its stunning.

The grounds are kept beautifully with century old hydrangeas, climbing honeysuckle, a driving range and a pond with a small row boat. There are French country benches and bistro tables speckled throughout painted in fun shades of periwinkle, yellow and green. 

...and an OG Rolls Royce in the drive. This place is incredible. 

Www.chateaulecolumbier.com

Palais De Tokyo: I love giant art

Aurelie and I went to the Palais De Tokyo to share a late dinner and decided to venture into the museum.  Now in general, I am not really a "modern" art fan.  I really don't 'get' drawing a single line on a canvas and regarding it as great, however I do 'get' mass scale art and I love it.  For instance, Anish Kapoor blew me away in Australia.  The massive scale of what he creates is breathtaking and overwhelming at the same time.  Most Americans are most familiar with his Cloud Gate piece AKA "The Bean" in Chicago. However, I actually think its one of his least magnificent. I super encourage you all to google Anish Kapoor and take a look at the images of his work.

photo credit: google images

Palais De Tokyo was showing the Novelles Vagues exhibit (New Waves).  Most of the pieces in this exhibit were large scale featuring 21 international curators from 13 countries.

"Going Away" was my absolute favorite piece.  They were mylar-looking balloons, but they were all latex.  They were affixed to the ground by strings and lifted by helium (I think), but swayed when you walked near them.  Oddly enough, the French are super lenient in most museums and let you walk through, touch and photograph everything.  So Aurelie and I walked in and out of the balloons taking photos and watching them sway with our movement.

"Going Away taps into an innate desire for escape, a jealousy of helium’s ability to leave the confines of our atmosphere while we remain bound by gravity."  http://www.palaisdetokyo.com/en/exhibition/going-away

Going Away

Aurelie playing in the balloons

This psychedelic skate boarding rampy thing was also super fun. I was standing off to the side taking photos when I saw a little boy playing on it, so I kicked his ass off and did a photo shoot of my own!!!

Scram, sucka!

Levatation

The Gordian Knot was another one of my favorite pieces as well. It was totally rad, they took slivers of bark and weaved them into a tree form and married it with some natural beams and some that were created for aesthetics.

"Creating a spectacular and invasive Gordian Knot, Henrique Oliveira plays with Palais de Tokyo’s architecture, allowing a work that combines the vegetal and the organic to emerge. The building itself becomes the womb that produces this volume of “tapumes” wood, a material used in Brazilian towns to construct the wooden palisades that surround construction sites." http://www.palaisdetokyo.com/en/exhibition/monographic-exhibition/Henrique-Oliveira

Henrique Oliveira. Baitogogo 

There were other cool exhibits as well that did not involve mass scale installations.  One that comes to mind was a pair of works that involved headphones dangling from the ceiling.  Aurelie loved the first exhibit, I the second.  The first exhibit had 6 light boxes that you put your entire head into and put the headphones on, depending on which box you stuck your head in, you had either a man or a woman whispering niceties at you.  Now, you can image this was completely lost on me since I don't understand French. It was just someone sounding sexy in my ear, but for all I knew they were telling me I smelled like an ogre. On top of that, I picked the wrong box and got a chick whereas Aurelie got a dude.  Apparently, he was saying "you are beautiful.... you are irresistible... etc." She stayed in that box for a good 5 minutes whereas I moved on, if I wanted chicks whispering sexy shit in my ear that I don't understand, I'd go up to Montmartre and at least accompany it with a drink and a show.

While Aurelie was getting her rocks of listening to some sexy (probably not so in real life) Frenchman whisper sweet nothings in her ear, I ventured over to the other exhibit.  Again, there were headphones dangling, but this time it was over a vintage vanity with a hinged 3-fold mirror in front.  As you sit, you look at yourself, then some man whispers sweet somethings into your left ear.  It is so freaky, its like he's standing right next to you... then you hear footsteps behind you... and then he starts whispering in your RIGHT ear.  Now, again, much of this was probably lost on me since I didn't know what he was saying, but it was super creepy.  It might have been sexy if I could understand him, but instead, it was just creepy.

On my way home, I saw that the Eiffel Tower was sporting a new dress.  Tonight, she was wearing green.

Ballin' in Paris!

More to come...

Bonjour Christine

Importing more friends... Welcome Christine! Can't wait to show her my new city!!

Domain Huet in Vouvray

Can't wait to share my trip to Vouvray with all of you. Hugo and Sarah pulled out all the stops with a full vine, barrel, cave and tasting tour of Domain Huet. Amazing! 

I'll try and pound this post out tomorrow. I love Domain Huet wine!!!

BoHo, oh hell no...

So, on my way out of The Anti Cafe, I walked past the Roy Lichtenstein "Une Retrospective" exhibit at The Center Pompidou.  I must make it a priority to go there before I leave Paris.

What makes it even better is that they were erecting a GIANT ICE CREAM CONE in front!  Um, yes please.

Then I walked by and saw this "street performer" levitating.  Now, I realize that the "cane" in front of him has some contraption on it that creates a seat for him to sit on, but it was pretty awesome.
Shamefully, I did not give him any money, instead, I gave him the courtesy of going behind him to take the photo so it wasn't blatantly obvious (to him) that I was ripping him off.
In my defense:
1. I am also unemployed
2. I am also equally hungry (read Anti Cafe Post below)
3. He wasn't playing an instrument. I usually support those strumming, blowing or singing.  He was doing none of the above. (yes Chip, you can insert your "blowing" joke here...or save it for Facebook as per usual.)

Having narrowly escaped being permanently branded as an asshole, I tried to clear my soul and my wallet by supporting local merchants.  My first (and only) stop was a BoHo shop.  I loved this red boho dress and I am determined to get a pair of harem pants for the southeast Asia portion of my trip.  I was destined to fulfill both needs at this one shop.

However, guess what looks horrible on me?  ANYTHING BOHO.  I am too prissy for BoHo. I looked like a total poser.  Oh, and the harem pants, too. I looked like a total fatty.  Why don't you take the widest part of your body and accentuate it with weaved elastic, then transform 'fit' legs (from hours of tennis, walking and bike riding) into billowy poofs that extend even wider than the widest part of your body?  WTF?  I looked like an idiot. I tried on patterned harem pants and solid ones, it doesn't matter, I looked like a big fat poser.  Literally, a FAT poser.  I can only imagine what I would look like if I strapped on my backpack, and front pack for that matter.  No Thank You.

Is it weird that I really want to try on a head scarf though?  I love, love, love seeing all the African women around Paris with giant scarves knotted and stacked up high on their heads.  Or maybe even a bijab, I'll need something for Dubai, I imagine. Now, I realize that I have the smallest head on the planet. So much so that there is no differentiation between the width of my neck and the width of my head unless I smile, but still maybe.... the French do love scarves, I'm sure I can find one somewhere. And Jette and I did discover "Little Africa" while we were exploring (read: lost in) the North section of Paris...

Since I didn't humor you all with the harem pant tragedy, I will take headscarf photos if I actually do it, I promise.

The Anti-Cafe, Paris

I was told of this cool little spot geared toward writers/workers called, The Anti Cafe, and had to check it out.  What could be so Anti Cafe about a coffee shop marketed toward workers? As I was walking there, I thought maybe it was an 'Anti Cafe' because you were beaten, mugged, and or raped walking down the seedy ass street to get in there or perhaps they didn't serve coffee at all.... OMG, I would die and go to Heaven if it was a hot chocolate only bar!!!

The funny thing is that their "seedy ass streets" are like Detroit's best street on a good day.  

Nope.  However, once I got there, it was so charming.

Front window display... clearly a standout on the shady street

The premise of The Anti Cafe is that you only pay for the time you spend there, not for the food and drink you consume.  Unheard of, right?  I guess that is why it is the Anti Cafe.  They have coffee, espresso, etc that the very polite and English fluent baristas will make for you, but everything else is serve yourself.  There is a fridge with lemonade, juice and pop and bowls of pretzels, carrots, breads, Nutella and fruit that you can just grab as you like.

Kitchen and working area...

The basement was very cool, it was like a cavern.  The ceiling was very low and there were stone archways.  I didn't work from down here because it smelled a bit mildewy and I wanted to people watch.  Plus, I'm a total fatty and wanted to eat and didn't want to leave my stuff in the basement unattended.

Basement catacombs...

This guy took over the whole damn corner and turned it into his own private think tank.  I love that he just idea-scaped on the wall and went to town...

Cavern think box???

Kitschy old decor...

I couldn't really grasp the whole, "help yourself" concept.  I mean, I get it, I'm not stupid. I just didn't feel comfortable doing it.
1. I didn't want to look like a pig
2. I felt like people were monitoring me (which they weren't)
3. I was starving and wanted real food but totally didn't want to look like a greedy American making a full on sandwich
4. What was the etiquette on seconds...
5. The people next to me brought in a full on meal.  Amazing salads and pasta creations, it was like they were having a book club meeting. I kept waiting for them to offer me food.  They didn't.

"Help yourself" kitchen...

So, 3 pretzels, a piece of bread and 3 glasses of lemonade later, I hit the road.  Not too shabby for 7 euros. I got 3 hours of writing done.  Oh, for those of you that are curious, the rates are 4 euros for the first hour and 2 euros for ever hour after that up until 5pm, then its just 4 euros per hour, every hour.

Epic Fail: I didn't realize they had wine until I left.  Shit.  I could have had my usual lunch, Chardonnay.

On my way out, I got a little glimpse of weird on the street corner. I love Paris.

New Friends...

I am tremendously grateful for all of my friends' suggestions and e-introductions to other travelers in Paris.  Quyen passed along a super rad, artsy, ex-lawyer friend of hers that is exploring Paris for 3 months.  She has a super awesome blog of visual stimulation that I am deficient of delivering.  For those of you that are dying to experience the amazing food and scenery, check out her blog at www.smilstein.wordpress.com . It is incredible and has beautiful photos of food and architecture that she has found on her trip.

I knew she and I would be fast friends when she also showed up unshowered and sweaty to our friend date.  We shared a beef filet and a goat cheese/eggplant delicious thingy.  Afterward, we went on the hunt for ice cream, but every ice cream shop in St. Germain des Pres (sorry Janet Jackson) was met with a mile long line.

Emily and Sarah's first date....LOL

 Obviously, I'm not going to bed without a treat and I rode my damn Velib bike 3 miles each way and deserved a treat.  So, I stopped at the Eiffel Tower for a raspberry sorbet which I ordered in FRENCH! "ju vous dre un las glaces frambois"  BOOM!

Raspberry sorbet, oui!

These Frenchies amaze me every day.  Its usually simple stupid stuff like high-heeled sneakers on a business woman or the ability to hold up your normal sized head on a toothpick body or seriously, the most beautiful architecture at EVERY TURN on EVERY STREET.... but today, those Frenchies outdid themselves.  After the amazing Bastille Day spectacular firework show, they lit her up like a multicolored Christmas tree.  She was absolutely stunning!

More Cafe Dernier...

I couldn't help myself, I had to go back.  First off all, the Chatelet train station is like going through time anyway.  There are a million tunnels and airport automatic walk conveyors.  It was nearly rush hour so there were a lot of people traveling through.  I thought these photos were pretty rad though.

So, I love this bar.  I've already counted the ways, but I got some requests from people for more photos of the weirdness, so here you go.  Please, please, please visit this place if you ever come to Paris. http://www.dernierbar.com

There is an outdoor patio

R2D2 greets you at the door

Sci-fi card playing room in the basement

Apocalypse preparation....check!

Gremlins consuming Kermit the Frog on the bar...

An eclectic loft section...

Since they have free wifi, I actually spent a lot of time here, about 3 hours.  No one tried to rush me and I ate a super delicious beef, avocado and onion tartar.  It was served with a side of mashed sweet potatoes and I washed it down with one of their signature happy hour drinks which consisted of frothy red deliciousness and a shit ton of rum and some unidentifiable liquor.