Before I went to Europe, I promised Caiqian to visit her at least once a month. That means that I've been to Paris at least five times since I arrived in Europe, even though I've only done two Paris posts. So here I've summated my experiences from all the other times I came to the city of love. It seems like an appropriate way to conclude the series of cities I've visited.
I'd like to start by saying that Caiqian's apartment is small. Really, really small. Remember this?
Above: Caiqian's Apartment.
Here was the confined apartment where I lived for weeks, and Caiqian for months. To give you an idea of how small it is, I've marked in red the parts where I could not stand up straight.
Above: Red = Land of a Thousand Headbumps. Green = Stand-Uppable Area.
Fortunately her apartment had a fantastic location. It was right in the heart of Paris, and close to a main subway stop. Also, there were cool stores nearby like Pierre Herme and this place that had a huge, nested Russian doll.
Above: 67 Russian Dolls. Yes, I had nothing better to do with my time than count.
The best part of her apartment was seeing Caiqian's parents go bug-eyed when they first saw how small it was. Her parents are very funny, nice people. They were so nice, in fact, that they treated us to the Louvre!
We're at the Louvre!
The Louvre was one of the first main tourist attractions I visited in Paris. I'm very grateful that Caiqian's parents gave me the opportunity to experience such a treasure trove of human creativity.
Above: Bryan in front of the Louvre's Pyramid.
Inside it was covered sculptures, paintings, and archetecture. After Caiqian's parents decided to explore the Louvre on their own, Caiqian and I had fun posing in front of some sculptures.
Above: Bryan and friends are having a rough day.
One piece of famous art we saw was the a headless angel called Winged Victory.
Above: Winged Victory.
I particularly enjoyed Caiqian's attempt at posing as Winged Victory.
Above: Caiqian's posing as the headless angel.
Finally, we couldn't visit the Louvre without at least trying to see the Mona Lisa. What shocked me most was how crowded the Mona Lisa room was compared to the rest of the Louvre. I didn't even try and get front-row seats.
Above: The Mona Lisa crowd.
Instead I went in at a side angle to take a picture of the security system. Considering the painting's extensive history of thefts and damages, I was curious to see how far they could keep people away from the painting. Turns out, they can keep people pretty far away.
Above: They've stepped up security impressively for this painting.
My favorite art piece in the Louvre wasn't actually the Mona Lisa. Instead, I loved these curvy, 3-D sculptures made by Tony Cragg. They fascinated me because I could imagine reducing each sculpture to a single, beautiful equation, and plotting them in Mathematica. Doesn't this look like a 3D plot?
Above: Tony Cragg, Red Figure, 2008.
He sealed the deal as my favorite artist when he had one wooden sculpture that had contour lines. How perfect. I could write an algorithm to find every minumum and maximum on his sculpture if I wanted to.
Above: Local minima! I'm so happy.
All of his works had a similar theme, but the complexity of the shapes kept me fascinated. I'm glad I found at least one artist in the Louvre that really spoke to me.
Above: I think I could graph this.
We left pretty soon after the Tony Cragg exhibit. But before I left the Louvre I couldn't help but capture this incredible elevator.
Above: Sweet Elevator.
The Louvre wasn't the only famous monument I went to see in Paris. Next I went to see the original Moulin Rouge. I've watched the musical movie Moulin Rouge at least twenty times at UT, and I was very excited to see the iconic night club of courtisanes. I was actually surprised to find that the modern Moulin Rouge still featured the red windmill that the original had.
Above: The Moulin Rouge.
We didn't go into the club, but there were some neat pictures and displays near the entrance. For example, here were some of the glamorous objects Moulin Rouge dancers wore.
Above: The Sparkling Diamonds of the Moulin Rouge Girls.
There were also pictures as well as displays. A lot of the pictures... let's say... reminded me of Amsterdam's red light district. But here was one of the more tasteful classic Moulin Rouge posters.
Above: Because We Can Can Can!
Caiqian led the way for the final monument we visited in France. When we finally found it, her eyes lit up. Can you guess what it was?
Above: Hint - you can see it in the sunglsasses.
That's right, after visiting Paris on and off for five months, I finally went to see the world's largest and most iconic tourist attraction, the Eiffel Tower. What surprised me about the tower was how massive it was. The Eiffel Tower is easily larger than Big Ben, and I always thought it to be the other way around. How wrong I was.
Above: Finally at the Eiffel Tower. Took me long enough.
Caiqian and I had a wonderful time laying in the grass in front of the Eiffel Tower. We played cards, ate macarons, and retrieved this one little kid's toy balloon about five times. There's nothing like playing cards in the shade while munching on the world's most delicious macarons with the Eiffel Tower in the background.
On the topic of food, I've compiled my favorite Parisian foods and where I got them. Some of the food was French, and some of it was not, but all of it was great.
Me and Caiqian's List of Recommended Parisian Foods.
My first memorable plate was a Chinese dish Caiqian said I had to try. It has no easy english translation, but it roughly translates to The Eight Treasures Tofu Pot. The "eight treasures" refer to eight different types of protein in the pot. I believe the dish has chicken, beef, scallops, squid, octopus, pork, chinese mushroom (which I actually enjoy) and lots of delicious tofu. What's truly remarkable about this dish is that all these very different meats and veggies go well with one, delicious pot sauce. I don't know how they found one sauce to go with so many different proteins, but it was savory and satisfying and it made this dish unforgettable.
Above: The Eight Treasures Tofu Pot from A Corner of Paradise.
I had several Frech onion soups in Paris, but none compare to the graciously-sized bowl at Peres et Filles (Father and Daughter's). The mozzarella is perfectly toasted on top of submerged bread floating on top of a savory, hot onion soup. Peres et filles also had a killer scallops rissoto. The risotto was mouth watering and the scallops were seared on the outside but still dissolved in my mouth. It was such a good meal that Caiqian and I came back just to enjoy it again.
Above: French Onion Soup and a Scallop Rissoto from Bistrot Peres et Filles.
Caiqian and I tried out a very local restaurant ran only by two chefs. We had some very delicious food there, but what I'll remember forever was the chef's Pompadour-style mashed potatoes. Calling it mashed doesn't give the dish justice though. When I first put my spoon in the dish, the potatoes were so soft the spoon went in without effort, like scooping room-temperature butter. Normally it'd be weird to include mashed potatoes as a must-eat, but this dish was so good I can't imagine not including it.
Above: Pompadour Mashed Potatoes from Christophe's.
If you want the best crepe restaurant in Paris, then you're not going to find an answer. But you'll hear a lot of people mention Breizh Cafe. Breizh Cafe is a cafe creperie that has achieved fame as one of the best creperies in Paris, and Caiqian and I thouroughly enjoyed a full dinner and dessert there. Their savory and sweet crepes are excellently prepared and presented. I enjoyed my caramel crepe with burnt sugar, caramel drizzle, and a scoop of caramel ice cream. If you like caramel, then you would have loved this crepe.
Above: Caramel Crepe from Breizh Cafe.
If I told you that one of my favorite desserts ever was bananas flambe from a Korean Barbecue in Paris, would you believe me? Too bad, because it's true. This dessert came completely out of left feild and rocked my taste buds. The dessret consists of two long slices of banana that were breaded, fried, and sugar coated. They then add some alcohol and ignite it so that you can eat it while it's on fire. Every bite of the banana flambe had several steps, which made it immensely enjoyable. First you taste the sugar on the surface, followed by the crunciness of the fried breading , and finally enjoy the hot, soft banana inside. The biggest flaw of this dish is that there isn't enough of it.
Above: Bananas Flambe Korean Barbecue.
I can't mention desserts without ice cream, and Caiqian and my favorite place to get a cup was at Amorino's. Amorino's has a wonderful selection of flavors, really nice staff, and is affordable if you go with the largest cups (which Caiqian and I always do). We liked the ice cream so much, that on several occations we brought tubs back home so that we'd never be ice-cream deprived.
Above: Ice cream for Amorino's.
Now if money was no object, there's one place that had better ice cream than Amorino's, or any ice cream parlor really. Berhillon's ice cream is the top of the top when it comes to flavor, texture, and presentation. What's truly amazing is their vanilla, which has changed forever the way I view vanilla ice cream. The only problem with Berthillon is that they make a set amount of ice cream for any given day, and they run out a lot because of that. So every time Caiqian and I went there, over half the flavors on the menu were usually crossed off. Also,three scoops of Berthillon costs over nine euros. If that's too much, there's always an Amorino's right down the street.
Above: Ice cream from Berthillon.
I can't talk about French desserts without discussing macarons. Here's where Caiqian's apartment truly shone, because it was within two blocks of the two best macaron shops in the world, Laduree and Pierre Herme. Caiqian and I, curious which was the best, did a thorough comparison test by eating all the flavors from both stores. After extensive tastings, we made a decision. Pierre Herme won hands down. To be fair though, Laduree had several flavors that Pierre Herme did not offer. For instance, we enjoyed the green apple and vanilla macaroons, two flavors that Pierre Herme did not have while Caiqian and I were in Paris.
Above:The Vanilla and Green Apple Macarons from Laduree.
But the true king of Parisian desserts is Pierre Herme. Each macaron is a delicate, crafted piece of art. Art you can eat. Caiqian loved the desserts at Pierre Herme so much she bought his dessert book, even though it's written entirely in French.
Above: Ispahan, Infinite Vanilla Tart, Caramel Macaron, and other macarons from Pierre Herme.
I'd recommend buying every flavor of macaron they have if you ever get the chance. I enjoyed every flavor except mogador, because it had a passion fruit flavor which I didn't like.
So there you have it! That's a complete list of the foods I enjoyed most in Paris. This is also the final city that I was in before returning back to Austin.
There are some people I'd like to thank for letting me enjoy everything Europe had to offer. First, I would like to thank my parents and family for funding me and motivating me to catalog my adventures in this blog. Next I'd like to thank Caiqian and her parents for keeping me massively entertained and for being with me as I traveled to so many countries. I'd also like to thank Sara and Jordan for taking me along their wacky adventures and showing me so much of Scotland. Lastly, I'd like to thank anybody who has ever read my blog and joined me during my experiences. It's always good to feel appreciated.
Goodbye Europe! I'm coming home!
