Parisian Post Cards, Macaroons, Notre Dame & The Metro

I took this picture from within the bus and through the bus window. Unlike so many of the other pictures I took that way, there is no glare or dirty pane clouding the view. As for why I took the Boulanger pic - what gorgeous color for a bakery and sandwich shop!

Here is one of my artistic guilty pleasures, taking pics of postcards. I know it's wicked, but I'm not reproducing the pics for mass resale. Honestly, I purchased around twenty postcards throughout the whole trip as it was, since the postcard is the 'poor man's/lady's souvenir'.
Parisian Postcards

From the moment you arrive into Paris, you cannot avoid the delicacy of a Pâtisserie. A Pâtisserie is a French bakery that specializes in pastries and sweets (unlike the Boulanger which specializes in bread and sandwiches). In France, it is an official title that only bakeries that employ a maître pâtissier (master pastry chef) may use. The pâtissier is an artist who wants his or her creations to be as individual as they are, which is the reason for so many variations in French pastry shops and in pâtisserie recipes. However the mother of all (in city center Paris) I discovered is a shop called Laduree which I will most likely come to in the next post. The above pic is of macaroons which are extraordinarily more delicious than they even look!

Notre Dame Cathedral!!

Notre Dame cathedral is a Gothic cathedral with amazing examples of stained glass. The entrance sculptures include reliefs of the last judgement. I loved the composition of the Notre Dame candles with the sculptures.

Here we are (Gregg & I) in some courtyard we know not the name of in Paris on our way to the Louvre museum. Gregg is standing in front of a stamp store, apparently the same one that was featured in the Alfred Hitchcock film, Charade (the original Truth About Charlie).

Click to see!

Here are some of our students in that very same courtyard beginning a 53 american student take over of a totem public art piece.


Click to see larger.

What do you think this is? Well, a lot in Paris is done by competitions. For example, when they want a new look for the metro (subway) station they hold a competition. What you see here was a winner! I'm not sure if it was an art 'student' competition or a professional art comp. I wish I could tell you the designers name. Either way, it yielded some pretty interesting results! I don't know why, but as into innovation and originality as I am, I still kind of like the art nouveau classic metro-station pictured above. Still, I wouldn't say no to jewel of a station like this! So stay tuned next as we hit the Louvre, the best macaroon ever in Chartres, Laduree, Versailles and who knows what else before we take the night train to Munich! I hope I'm not boring any of you! Keep letting me know what you think, your comments have been FANTASTIC and they keep me charging ahead.