This past weekend I spent in Paris, France with a couple of the girls.
I’ve always wanted to go just to test out my skills from French classes over the years. Apparently the Parisans speak more English than they do French… I’m not sure if that was a good or bad thing for me. I’m not that good at it anyway so it’s whatever.
The three days we spent there were glorious(ly expensive). I’ve never spent 20 USD on a meal just for myself but that happened in France. Here’s what I got:
– 3 blueberry pancakes
– 1 ham and cheese croissant
– 0 drinks!!!!*
Nonetheless, it was some of the best food I’ve ever eaten. Can I ever step into a La Madeline ever again? Probably. But now I know what real French food tastes like.
AND THE PASTRIES, they are the best things I have ever ever ever eaten in my life — I think I can eat them every single day and not get tired.
Enough about the expensive + delicious food, let’s talk about the things I saw. Our first stop was the Louvre. I really wanted to go because of its extensive history (thanks Art History class) and also that one Lorde song — I was seriously humming that song the entire time going through the exhibits.
I wasn’t really interested in most of the art that was in there but the Egyptian and Islamic Art exhibitions were my favorites. What I enjoyed most about the Egyptian exhibit was the colors they used in their emblems, trinkets, pots, etc. I also liked seeing their furniture pieces. They were innovative in all of their work with precision and small details which is crazy to see because they lived so long ago. As for the Islamic art, I think I would want to do more research on their art and style because it’s very unique and inspirational. They had these mesmerizing patterns, used beautiful colors and incorporated nature into a lot of their work.
Also, I did see the Mona Lisa, she is really small and the experience was kind of underwhelming because she’s overhyped.
The highlight of my trip was the Louis Vuitton Foundation. The building was built by Frank Gehry — one of my favorite architects. What was cool about this location was that it was both a dedication towards the process of making the building as well as an exhibition for art. I most enjoyed seeing the plans of the building and the different functions of spaces that were noted and executed. The background of the building was split into five key elements.
PARIS + CONTEXT + DESIGN + MATERIALS + CONSTRUCTION
All of these components explain why PARIS was chosen as the location, the relationship between CONTEXT, Frank Gehry’s process and reasoning behind the DESIGN, why certain MATERIALS were used and the CONSTRUCTION methods. All of these things helped me understand the design process behind architecture better and I could appreciate Gehry’s work and thoughtfulness more.
I really would like to go back and experience France in a longer amount of time without any complications… I’d like to just relax and have a good time next time around.