Lyrics: " I find it magical, I feel like I'm loving you in 1963" - Rachael Yamagata The first weekend in November was a four-day holiday in France, in honor of the religious “All-Saints,” which is a much nicer thing to celebrate than Halloween. My body was still adjusting to the new time zone, but I put forth my best tourist effort. The highlights of the weekend were, in no particular order:
1. Seeing the Gustave Courbet exhibition at the Grand Palais with Elana [friend from high school]. I knew very little about Courbet before, but seeing the range of his works, and especially glimpsing several of his renowned canvases first-hand, solidified my respect for him. Courbet was quite the bad boy of the times, it seems. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
2. Ladurée: prior to seeing the Courbet exhibition, Elana and I had a three-hour lunch at Ladurée on the Champs-Elysees. Ladurée is a “luxury” bakery, pastry shop, tear
oom. Call it what you like, I was there to try the double-decker macarons which are now a staple of Paris, but which were originally invented by Ladurée chefs. Lunch was not too expensive, but it was absolutely worth every penny. The macarons, in particular the ones with pistachio or black currant, were mouth-watering, melt-in-your-mouth sugary pieces of heaven on earth.3. I saw everything there is to see on Ile de la Cite, the island on the Seine where Paris began as a small village before Caesar conquered it. I was lucky enough to sit in on mass in Notre Dame! After, I enjoyed a nutella crepe at the beautiful Jean XXIII square behind the cathedral, surrounded by rows of yellow-leafed trees around an elaborate fountain. Following this, I went to the Memorial des Martyrs, a minimalist memorial commissioned by Charles de Gaulle to commemorate the deaths of the French men and women who were deported to Nazi concentration camps during WWII. I then walked to the year-round flower market in the area, briefly checked out the Palais the Justice, and spent a long time inside Sai
nt-Chapelle, mesmerized by its thin columns and magnificent stained glass windows. It’s been hailed as one of the great architectural masterpieces of the Western world and I could see why: you literally felt lifted towards the sky. I also visited the Conciergerie, which housed over 4,000 prisoners during the Revolution. Both Marie-Antoinette and, ironically, Robespierre, saw their last days here. I ended the day by crossing Pont Neuf to St. Germain des Pres, a different area of Paris and, after walking around for a short bit, setting up at Les Deux Magots, a famous café that Simone de Beavoir and Hemingway used to frequent. I sat outside, as dinner alfresco is one of my favorite things [there were also outdoor heaters], enjoyed a small meal and a fabulous dessert, sipped two glasses of white wine, and read Dostoevksy. I was alone, surrounded by the clinking of utensils, the laughter of those crowded around small tables around me, the fast walking of people by the restaurant – sometimes, it’s one of the best feelings to see yourself alone in the masses, to be caught somewhere both far away and a touch away from life. In 
short, it was a splendid couple of hours.4. Elana, Farryl, and I attended the BNP Tennis Masters finals! I arrived early to (masterfully) scalp cheap tickets, and enjoyed the game, despite its early end. Rafael Nadal lost in two sets, which, for someone who has seen him play on televised matches on multiple occasions, was highly disappointing from me. Disappointing is probably a euphemism. And he wasn’t even injured this time, like when he lost at the US Open to Ferrer. In any case, he came in 2nd, so I resigned myself and enjoyed the experience.
5. I had a dinner with a friend from Geneva that turned into sexual harassment. No need to delve into this highly unpleasant and angering experience, but allow me to point out that the food was incredible, and one of the only times that I would have beef in all of November.
6. I visited the Pompidou with Nina, one of my roommates. I walked through only one floor and rather leisurely, because I do not want to rush myself when it comes
to museum exploration in Paris. I want to catch the smaller things, to be able to remember them. Modern art is not exactly my favorite area of artistic exploration, but there were certain pieces I really loved. One of them: http://picasaweb.google.com/nmartinez17/LeapOfFaithNovember/photo#5129866370530737010
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