Miss Dior

Today was the final day of a two-week-long Miss Dior exhibit at the Grand Palais. To my new knowledge, Christian Dior had a deep and well-established relationship with many artists. Before he became a designer, he ran an art gallery and knew all kinds of cool artists like Salvador Dali. Miss Dior, a fragrance inspired by love and romance, is arguably Dior's best perfume and represents all things girly... so naturally, I love it. The exhibit showed the work of many modern artists all inspired by Miss Dior, representing what it means to them in their own art style. Here's some of what happened:

The Show

Miss Dior ads on repeat

You could get inside this thing

les lumières

As I've mentioned before, Paris is in full force Christmas mode. There are decorative, elaborate lights everywhere you go in the city - it's beyond charming. In my last post I said I was looking forward to having a relaxed week/weekend and I'm proud to say that's exactly what I did! We celebrated my roommate Minh's birthday Wednesday with a fun fondue dinner out in the Latin Quarter and the following day, we saw the lights turn on at the Champs Elyseés. Now the long strip is covered with shiny, sparkly colors and decorations. (I don't have a picture because my phone died while we were out). The rest of the weekend consisted of having a look around the famous Operá Garnier, trying  the delicious Pierre Hermé macaroons, getting to taste the new Beaujolais wine and hanging out at home a lot. The Beaujolais wine is a huuuge deal apparently because the night it debuted, everyone was celebrating with music and at almost every restaurant or wine bar, they were promoting it. Anyway, now I'm relaxed and ready to go for this weekend: A Parisian Thanksgiving and fun with my SF friend Ryan!

Ferris Wheel at Place de la Concorde

Tempting Treats at the Christmas Market

An example of there being lights everywhere you go

chi chis! (churros)

The best macaroons EVER from Pierre Hermé

Le Operá Garnier

Inside the Opera

View of charming Paris from inside the Opera

The new Beaujolais vin!

Mid-November?!

How is it already the middle of November? Time is seriously flying by. Since getting back from Greece two weeks ago, school has been super busy. I had two midterms last week and two oral presentations today. I also had a friend visit this past weekend so I'm ready for a low key week. The past two weeks have been really fun and filled with all my favorite things - good food, good friends and fun times out in this wonderful city. Paris just keeps getting better and better... and exponentially more Christmas-y. Since they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, Christmas is in full mode already. It's fun though and makes the cold feel a little more appropriate. My roommate Minh's birthday is this week so I anticipate a nice celebratory week/weekend and then next week I have another friend visiting! Exciting stuff. I'm keeping this short and sweet.... Another update soon but for now, here are some photos. (Blame my iPhone for the lack of clarity).

Natural History Museum

Before braving the cold for a night out

Eclair Heaven!

Louvre

Musee d'Orsay

Love Lock Bridge

Best Burger in Paris - Le Camion Qui Fume Food Truck

Macaroons at the Christmas Market!

Cool Clouds at the Christmas Market

Sacre Coeur

Notre Dame Made of Chocolate....

Greece: Part 3

When I got back to Athens, I took the liberty of exploring on my own a bit more before my roommate was to arrive the next day. I strolled the streets of Plaka, the tourist center of Athens plus one of the oldest parts of the city, looking at souvenirs and of course getting a gyro and gelato for dinner. At that point, I felt that if I consumed one more gyro I would actually explode but I pushed through, for the better of myself and everyone looking at me.

Super early the next morning, Minh joined me in Athens and we started right away our fun filled day. First, we headed to the Monastiraki flea market which was super packed with people and random treasures, old and new. It was definitely the weirdest flea market I've ever been to - as if everyone just brought the stuff they were over (a broken hair brush, a used toothpick, a typewriter with no space bar) and tried to sell it. I'm obviously just being harsh - it was really awesome to see cause it's a really big weekly event but I didn't find anything worthy of haggling with an old Greek lady for. Minh and I made our way over to the Acropolis after the bazaar to check out the most beautiful part of Athens.

The Acropolis was seriously incredible. The view was amazing, the weather was perfect and the history there is more than you could ever fully understand. We got pretty lucky cause for whatever reason it was "you-get-into-everything-for-free" day so we didn't have to pay to see the Acropolis, Ancient Agora or Temple of Zeus. More money for gyros! After enriching ourselves with historical landmarks, we walked around downtown more, checking out a super lux fashiony area (what economic recession??) and getting dinner on a nice hillside. My favorite part of the day was going to a rooftop bar after dinner just after sunset and watching the Acropolis light up. It was truly magical and the bar had an awesome ambiance.

The rest of my time in Athens just consisted of walking around, taking in everything going on in the busy, old, awesome, dirty city. Greece was unforgettable, not only because the beauty was so captivating but because of all the awesome people I met along the way. (Oh, and the food, if I haven't mentioned that yet). Everyone we stayed with (again, huge fan of Airbnb) was sooo generous and helpful, making our trip worry-free. I can't wait to go back to Greece one day!

Walking down to Monastiraki Square

So much...... stuff..... at the Monastiraki Flea Market

PANOS! My Greek great-grandfather's name :)

Acropolis!

View from Acropolis down to Temple of Zeus

happy happy happy!

Athens

Coliseum 

Ancient Agora

Temple of Zeus 

View of the Acropolis from an awesome rooftop bar

The Alice Inn!

Last moments in Athens spent on the balcony of my room