Paris, Day 23: Père Lachaise, Vogue Café and the Last Walkabout

There was no time wasted on the last day in Paris.

After the final exam, we went to Père Lachaise, the cemetery where several famous people were buried--Colette, Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison, and Gericault to name a few. It was amazing to see how old the cemetery was and how large many of the graves were.



Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde's grave was built by a woman who was in love with him. The tradition for many years was to kiss the statue with lipstick...you'll notice that the grave is surrounded by a protective barrier to protect the stone...

Edith Piaf

The grave of Gericault. His friend, Delacroix, made sure that his grave was taken care of and well done. Unfortunately, when Delacroix died, no one returned him the favor--he's buried in an ordinary style grave nearby.

Apparently Gericault still has admirers

Colette

We went back to the FIAP together and had our last lunch at the dining hall. Everyone planned to go to Opéra Garnier afterwards, but since I had already gone with my home university, I went to the Vogue Café at the original Printemps department store, then met up with my friend Jim to give him a mini walking tour of Paris. 

Jim and I started at Opéra Garnier and went through Place Vendôme, Place de la Concorde, Les Jardins des Tuileries, Le Louvre, Pont des Arts, Pont Neuf and ended at Boulevard Saint Germain. It was a good realization that I could comfortably walk around the streets of Paris without getting completely lost.

I met up with the everyone at Linda's apartment on Île St. Louis by Notre Dame for appetizers and dinner. We had invited our professor to come as well, so she joined in on the fun with her students. Linda made reservations at a restaurant down the street from the apartment and treated us to a delicious "last supper" in Paris...

Gnocchi and Gorgonzola sauce

Last night shot of Paris...

Paris, Day 2: Jardin du Luxembourg et Palais du Luxembourg

It was the first time using public transportation today--we took the bus to the AIFS study abroad office for orientation, then took the Métro and RER from Luxembourg to get back to the FIAP for a walking tour of the 14è arrondissement.

A view of the fountain at Boulevard Saint Michel



We grabbed lunch at a café off a side-street of Boulevard Saint Michel before running to the Luxembourg Garden. The weather was perfect to be out and about enjoying the Garden, there were even students eating lunch on one of the park benches--hardly an activity possible back in Newport where it's below freezing temperature.

I ordered a three-course express lunch: une salade verte, des moules, et la mousse au chocolat

AIFS had arranged for the group to get a walking tour of the area surrounding FIAP by a FIAP affiliated tour guide. During the walk, we learned a lot of history about the area we were staying. Frédéric, a native Parisian, was very knowledgable and gave us good insights about places we wanted to go or things we wanted to do. 

Apparently not all métro doors open automatically, we had to unlock a hitch on the door on this métro

After orientation, we walked up and down the Boulevard Saint Michel. Even though there were several clothing stores that looked cute inside, I contained the urge to go inside because les soldes, the sales, in Paris start tomorrow and last through the end of January. 

One of Paris's well-known landmarks is right around the corner from the FIAP--the Catacombs are only a few steps away from here on the street nearby

The Rose Line, the meridian that runs through Paris. Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, anyone?

The only pre-Haussman male loo left in the city...