Maggie Chan Sin Yan
A Letter to Laure
It is great to spend a whole month in Paris (with you). It is a city with wonderful history. I have found and visited different monuments and museums here. I found the most impressing experience in the Palace of Versailles. Although there were all the time many tourists, the palace is just very grand which I can never imagine unless I have been there. I wonder how the Louis family could spend such a huge amount of money to enlarge the palace again and again. I am glad that I finally got there even though I was very disappointed with the complicated RER services.
I have visited the Pantheon too. Although I do not really know how to appreciate the architecture, I found comfortable to stay in it. There were relatively fewer people visiting the Pantheon. Here I have learnt more about the history of France. There were emperors and also presidents. The exhibition explained a lot about what they had done and their remarkable achievements. It was a good chance for me to understand more about France and also Paris.
I have much experience with the museums and monuments in Paris. I have been to Musee de l’Orangerie, Musee d’Orsay, Musee de Picasso, Musee de Carnavalet, the Centre Pompidou, Musee du Louvre, the Palace of Versailles, the Pantheon, Petit Palais, the Invalides, Arc de Triomphe, etc. The displays and exhibitions in these museums are attractive. There were several times when I stayed until the museums were to be closed.
The moon “inside” the Arc de Triomphe.
Musee du Louvre, the day with nice weather.
As I am a vegetarian, I found it difficult to have a traditional French meal in Paris. Most of the meals are with beef, pork, chicken or fish. However, I am glad that I can find many kinds of vegetarian food in the city. There are much more choices and easier to find than in Hong Kong. I have tried the falafel, 4 fromage panini and a salad with Mozzarella and Panama cheese. That was great. I extremely love eating cheese. Mozzarella cheese has a magical match with fresh tomatoes.
In these four weeks, I have attended two major cultural events, the Nomade Festival Culturel and the Fete de la Musique. I joined the Nomade festival just out of coincidence. I was walking around the city and I found there were people performing in the parks. There were also street painters doing Graffiti. Comparing with Hong Kong, you can hardly find so many people in a park, enjoying musical performances. Also, it is kind of illegal activity in Hong Kong to paint on the street walls. It is thus very impressing when I have the chance to participate in these cultural activities. Because I think Hong Kong is a “cultural desert� where citizens are not well educated on arts and art works are not appreciated. I would miss Paris so much. It is full of arts and cultures.
One of the cultural performances of the Nomade Festival near the Musee Picasso.
A Graffiti on the wall outside the Square du Temple, the Parisian park I like the most. I have mentioned it in the test but I cannot remember the name of it.
As I am not from a rich family, fashion and luxury products are never the topic in my life. I know Paris is a fashion city with elegant luxury clothing industry. The day I went to the Atelier Lesage (the House of Chanel) would probably be my first and also the last chance to get in touch with luxury fashion. But in the trip to the factory where the collections were produced, I found that I am interested in making clothes and accessories too. Maybe one day I would like Coco Chanel and create my own fashion brand, HAHAHA!
We have made our own embroidery in the House of Chanel. You should also have a class here. I am sure you would love it.
The garden inside the Musee du Rodin.
A long roof garden (or bridge garden) running from Bastille to Porte de Vincennes.
And one day, I met these guys at the Palais Royal. They were all wearing white clothes, white dresses, white shoes and white accessories. They dinned together in a square. They bought their own tables, chairs, white tablecloths and food on their own. I do not really know if there was any festival. And I search when I back to the residence. I found it was a special event called “Diner en Blanc”, which began 25 years ago when friends gather together to have a chic Parisian picnic. These people were told of the venue through social media sites. They then rushed to gather at the venue. It was quite an interesting experience for me in Paris. I can discover more about the culture but not just visiting the famous tourist spots. Last but not least, I have some feedback on the French culture lessons. I extremely love the lesson about cheese and wine. And I love the cooking class too even though I do not eat meat. The crème brulee dessert was great. It was the most delicious dessert I have eaten in Paris. Others are too sweetie.
Paris is a great city. I enjoy my days here. I would probably come here again. Maybe I would also visit other cities and villages in France next time when I visit Europe. I hope I can purely use French to communicate with people here when I come again. At last, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to you, your lessons are interesting and attractive. I have learnt a lot in these days. I would like to meet you again. Thank you very much. Merci!
And I would like to share with you the view of Paris from the Sacre-Coeur. I really enjoy it. Hope you love it too.