Musee d'Orsay

My friend Leslie and me on the top floor of the museum facing the gallery of statues

The large clock that is on the museum's outside (view from the inside) and that looks over Sacre Coeur

A zoomed-in view of a typical "pointillism" style painting

The iron gates surrounding the metro stop by the museum glamorize it and make the entrance pleasing to the eye (because down there it's not very appealing!)

Christophe Josse: Ecole des Beaux Arts

The finale dress - "the bride". SUCH amazing detail (beading, ruching, etc!)

The finale walk (it's hard to capture all the work on camera from 3rd row, but in person it's incredible).

Second round of finale walkers.

The couturer himself - Christophe Josse

This last show I had the opportunity to attend was so amazing and the perfect ending to my fashion week adventures. I feel that each show surpassed the other, making it such an exciting time. It was also somewhat thrilling to be in "standing" and not knowing if you would be able to score a great seat - which I did a few times! It started with Henrik Vibskov (very unique and bizarre designs but with a vibrant atmosphere and runway), then more menswear at MIHARAYASUHIRO (suits & outerwear with a strange but wearable twist), then onto haute couture with Stephane Rolland (crazy structural and modern designs in basic colors - red, black, white and tan), and the icing on my a la mode cake was Christophe Josse (bright colors inspired by the middle east, immense detail and 3rd row seats). Sadly I was not able to go to Elie Saab this afternoon since I had a field trip for Art History to the Musee d'Orsay. None the less, the invitation was very elegant - as I'm sure the show would have been.

Stephane Rolland: Palais de Tokyo

Models pre-show going to the bathroom.

The paparazzi taking their pics of famous french people I did not recognize.

Model number one (I got to stand right at the end of the runway).

The looooooong runway where the models posed and walked around the screen with animated lips.

The Metro: to greve or not to greve....

So tomorrow there will be a strike (greve) in Paris, but the people are nice enough to give advanced warning. On Monday they announced that on Thursday there would be a nationwide greve, but Paris would be majorily affected, and that there will be a large demonstration in the center of the city - appropriately by Bastille. This will truly be a parisian experience!

All the metro, RER (trains that go to the outer skirts of Paris), bus, hospitals, and schools will be on strike. Since it will be nearly impossible to get anywhere, school has been cancelled. We will have an extra day to enjoy Paris and I plan to take full advantage of that.

The Family Comes to Visit

This weekend my host family had their family over because they usually meet on Sunday's to eat lunch. I got to meet their son Pierre and daughter Lauren. Lauren brought her husband and two kids. They came up the stairs to find me and were confused when I wasn't in my room (I was in the bathroom brushing my hair listening to them). When the little girl opened the bathroom door she smiled - told her brother that she had found me - and grabbed my hand and told me lunch was ready. I loved talking to the both of them because little kids repeat themselves a lot and won't be bothered if you ask them to repeat themselves when you don't understand something. We started with cider and hors d'oeuvres in the "salon", moved to the kitchen to have salad, bread with butter, meat and carrots, spaghetti, bread and cheese, wine and a fruit salad, then moved back upstairs to eat cake and have coffee! Soooo much food I didn't even need dinner.


This is an example of the Villeroy dinnerwear that's everywhere in the house (my host father's family business).

Simeon - 5ish, Rosamé - 3 & a half (as she makes sure to tell anyone she asks)
When I asked if I could take their picture they said yes and Rosamé immediately crossed her legs, haha

Inside Chateau de Chantilly

The ceiling inside the library

Part of the outside garden - very well manicured even in the cold

The "war" room where there were many paintings depicting different battles the French won

An example of the decadent furnature in the building (a small bureau with gold leaf details)

Chateau de Chantilly

The castle from the side where you can see the water filled moat

The very elegant horse barn the Princess of Conde built for her prized horses.
They still hold equestrian competitions there in the spring/summer.

The main entrance gate into the castle grounds.

Me (looking francaise with my beret and rather small) at the castle's elegant and large entrance gate

Front Row at MIHARAYASUHIRO

So I (foolishly) get to the show 15 minutes early because I see people gathering outside of L'Ecole des Beaux Arts in St. Germain-des-Pres. They, like me, are made up of "Seat D" pass holders - read standing room only. We wait patiently outside in the freezing cold (about 25 with some wind) for a good 30 minutes. At 10:15 they start letting people in, but they just move the standing room people to another waiting area inside. As we all watch everyone go in, the crowd of now about 60 people with me got a little anxious that we wouldn't have room.

At 10:40 the finally let us in. It turns out 10 people in the back row of seats didn't show up so we got to sit there (worth the wait!). I spy a seat in the front row but don't dare to move up there as all the ushers are looking at me. The lights dim at 10:50 (mind you the invitation said 10am) and I jump up to that front row seat - I was not going to let it go. The ushers didn't seem to mind as they would rather have a filled seat by a random girl than an empty seat at all. Thus, that is how I got from the bottom of the seating chart to front row...I hope I have that kind of luck on Monday!

MIHARAYASUHIRO 2

The "wall" of photographers at the end of the runway

The runway was made of sand...thus the reason a lot of my pictures are grainy - the models would kick it up as they would walk past me in the front row :)

The seating for the show was on hand-sewn pillows with intricate designs and labels on top

MIHARAYASUHIRO

Tailored suits with a slight twist (i.e. a longer flap in back or uneven front)

Cropped pants and distressed boots were also popular

The finale walk

The designer with the crazy musician

Quai Malaquais - St. Germain-des-Pres

Walking along the calm Seine pre-show at 9:30 am

River boat cafes

Pont des Arts

Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore & Le Marais

This past Wednesday Jihane and I went on a walk around Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore (the "it" street in Paris for all the designer boutiques. Also, it's filled with chic cafes & bars, antique shops (but the kind that's very expensive and collectors items) and art galleries.

Jihane (as of this Thrusday) will be officially interning at the auction house Sotheby's, which is nicely placed right across the street from the French Whitehouse - Le Palais d'Elysees. I have my interview on February 5th with Lanvin so keep your fingers crossed they don't change their mind! They haven't had anyone intern there through my program since 2005, so I hope I make a good impression. Both of these places are located on this street, so we'll have luxury of getting to see amazing window displays (as posted below).

Yesterday I went on a walk around Le Marais, which is the jewish quarter of Paris. The streets are lined with craftsmen shops (jewelery, furniture, etc) and kosher restaurants. The narrow streets are paved with cobblestone and it's the only place in Paris that stays open on Sundays. I went with a good three hours to get lost and wander about before the Henrik Vibskov show. Le Marais is also very close to Hotel de Ville - if you start on the eastern end and go west, the streets basically spit you out in front of it - and the art museum Centre Pompidou.

Chez Chocolatier

Chocolate layer cake made to look like chess boards, with white and dark chocolate pieces to match :)

Chocolate balls and other decorations made entirely with chocolate pieces

Leche-Vitrines (a.k.a. window shopping)

One of the windows at LANVIN

Chez LANVIN - they were all made to look like street benches around paris (pigeons and all!)

Chocolate on display at the famous Laduree

CHANEL window display at 31 rue Cambon (the main store)

Hotel de Ville

Hotel de Ville from the main street
(hotel means "mansion" and this is the home of the mayor of Paris)

Hotel de Ville plaza (a merry-go-round & a public ice skating rink)

Me & my umbrella - which has been handy these last few gloomy days