What Lasts

La Grise (the grey) has settled in nicely in Paris these couple of days. Usually I would be really depressed when it's rainy all the time, but the cloudy sky created the perfect thoughtful mood during my visit to the Montparnasse Cemetery today. Serving as the final resting spot for many of France's brightest minds and most well-known characters, I paid homage to composer Camille Saint-Saens first, while listening to his music, then Serge Gainsbourg.

As I went searching for other luminaries, along the way I found many beautiful, eccentric tombstones, if you could even call them that.

LEFT: Dedicated simply to "Ricardo, our big friend," this mosaic cat made me smile. 
CENTER: Resting spot of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, perhaps two of the best-known philosophers of the 20th century, also lovers.
RIGHT: Sculptor Leopold Kretz's own work; stone reads "My work is my prayer."

LEFT: A soldier of World War I, for whom "Credo" is very fitting.

CENTER: One of my favorite poets, Charles Baudelaire, who said, Always be a poet, even in prose. I couldn't agree more.

RIGHT: Bettina, whose red filigree tombstone stood out amongst the gray.


LEFT: Playwright Eugene Ionesco, who wrote some of the funniest plays in any language.
CENTER: A startling discovery, because first, this tombstone in Chinese and second, it says "Family of [my last name]." Made me quite contemplative.
RIGHT: Another surprising tombstone, a pelican. I would have liked this man had I known him, I think.

There's a certain peace you feel walking along all the tombs, certainly not from being alone.

THE French Bag...

...is by Longchamp, but it isn't that shiny black one. (Also, when I was in the Cafe de Flore, it did not look like that).

Which of the little cartoon people from the Longchamp website is holding the bag that every French woman loves?

Number four! The affordable Le Pliage bags from Longchamp are the most representative bags of Paris, not the Louis Vuitton Speedy or Chloe's Paddington. Who can afford those things?? Food already costs an arm here, one does not want to give up another appendage for an expensive bag.

The Pliage bags are durable, easy to clean, lightweight and simple. EVERYBODY has one here, it's like Rainbows in California. If you buy Longchamp in Paris it's like 25% cheaper than in the U.S, so I bought a large tote for my mom for Christmas! God, these bags are so versatile!! They fold up into tiny little self-packages, hence the name Pliage, so they go everywhere.

You can bring one on the airplane:

You can carry school stuff in one:

You can walk around the city with one:

Basically do anything.

Say Cheese

Four of us went cheese-tasting at Fromagerie 31, right near our school. I must admit, I was a little worried when we walked in and a pungent wave of fermentation went into my nose. Umm, am I going to smell when I walk out of here?
We ordered the 12-cheese tasting plate and a bottle of Brouilly. The cheese was arranged in a circle, in clockwise order of mildest to strongest flavor. The avid note-taker I am, I whipped out my cahier and dutifully recorded the names of the cheeses. Unfortunately, they were not easy to spell, like "swiss," "cheddar," or even "harvati," so of course I looked really stupid asking our server to spell out the words! The circular cheese with a gray rind is the first and mildest.
1. St Maure (good minus weird gray thing around it)
2. Crotin
3. Valencay
4. Delice du Morvan (yum!!)
5. Echourgnac (very soft)
6. Morbier (did NOT like, tasted like fish in the bad way)
7. Comte (thought it was emmental)
8. Camembert (really good!)
9. Morvan (weird mushroom aftertaste)
10. Livarot
11. Pont-l'eveque
12. Bleu auvergne (did NOT touch due to fuzzy blue fungus thriving throughout)

My roommate!

Strikes, Christmas, and Hot Chocolate

Well, speaking of strikes, that reminds me of one lecture we had in Economics my senior year of high school where my teacher discussed how the French strike constantly for less work, etc. when the hardly work compared to us over here. haha. (remember Tenny?...I think it was in Econ :] ) Anyways, I second your opinion that we should strike more over here.

On to happier things. We completely ridiculously decked out our suite for the holidays here and it was SO exciting. We have a six foot tall tree with 56 presents under it! And we get to open them tonight! I can't wait :) I feel like a little kid going near the tree trying desperately to sneak a peek without getting caught.

I'm also drinking hot chocolate right now and I have to say I am very disappointed because I bought this box because the cover looked deceivingly yummy but it is quite bland. The hot chocolate in the picture above, however, looks delicious.

OH and as I was looking on style.com earlier, I came across someone's lookbook of a collection of things that can be worn day-to-day from different designers (things that weren't TOO runway-ish) and I fell in love with this Donna Karan ensemble. I especially like the bracelet that she wore with it because it's simple, yet adds so much to the outfit

La Grève

The poor Louvre on strike.

I get in to the Louvre free because I'm an EU resident under 26 years old, so I go there often. Thank you, socialist party. Yesterday, I got to the Louvre, and it was on strike. And apparently, the entire museum/monument system is on strike in Paris. Versailles, Centre Pompidou, D'Orsay -- they're all striking some time soon. I was disappointed, except for the fact that it was funny to complain and shake heads in disapproval with an old French man.
But then, I shouldn't have been so surprised. French people love their grèves, or strikes. In the short time I've been in Paris, I've seen so many strikes, each strike is like a little cultural tourist sight. The second day I got here, there was a strike on education in front of the Hotel de Ville. There's been like ten strikes by metro employees, each time forcing me to walk. People in my French class are 20 minutes late every strike, and the professor is so used to strikes she doesn't care if you show up an hour late. There's gay rights strikes, farmer strikes, postal worker strikes that delayed my package like three weeks...all kinds of strikes. Which makes me believe we need to go on strike more. Hello, we have way worse problems than they do.

Sonia Rykiel for H&M debuts in Paris

Last night, the Paris launch party for Sonia Rykiel for H&M saw the Grand Palais transformed for around 2,000 guests. And while I was not one of those guests, it's still good to know I was closer [proximal!] than usual. Yes!--I was writing an essay just twenty minutes from the party! Can we please celebrate that? Apparently it was a "magical," "so French" gathering that made some Colombian designer forget about the economic crisis, so it must have been good. See the extravagance for yourself in the video, which was streamed live during the show. And no, that is not the real Eiffel Tower.

Sonia Rykiel is a beloved French designer known for her quirky, colorful knitwear and her whimsical sweaters. A lingerie collection is coming out December 5 worldwide, and the knitwear collection, which I am more excited about, will debut in February 2010.
Sonia Rykiel has been called the Queen of Knits. Plus, she was the first person to put seams on the outside of a garment, and to print words on her sweaters -- both genius ideas that we take for granted. She famously printed the word "OBAMA" and his face on garments in a 2008 collection. Ahh the French, always one step ahead.

Vogue Covers and Interns

Look at the three people in the middle right -- don't they evoke the three Goldilocks bears walking in synchronized steps?

So I realized I was talking more about food than fashion, and this is Fashionably Yours, not foodily. So, Vogue has a huge presence in France, more so than in the States. Walking along the Champs Elysees, I came across an outdoor exhibit of classic Vogue Paris covers. They were definitely more creative with the covers back then than they are today. Still, at least French Vogue uses models on their covers. The American edition's use of celebrities is getting old and boring. Who needs to see Sienna Miller featured three times? Not me.

There are always Vogue interns or editors walking (teetering) around, running errands. The other day I was buying bread at Eric Kayser, and there was an intern there complaining on her phone, "I can't believe she wants us to check all these stores and run all these pages by tomorrow!" I wonder which of the mean editors she is referring to... In my experience, these interns can usually be identified by a)nice shoes, usually Louboutin, b)well-coiffed hair, and c)a Vogue tote, probably carrying portfolios, photos and copies. I sneakily snapped a photo of an intern along Rue de Rivoli below; note all three qualities have been met.