Muji - school supplies/paper products

Since I mentioned Moleskine in my last entry, I'd like to point a few people to the Muji store. There is one very close to the St. Sulpice plaza and it is a really good place get school supplies like pens and notebooks. Before finding Muji, I bought notebooks from Monoprix, but they had really weird annoying lines on them - which might be supposed to serve as training wheels for writing. Whatever. The notebooks @ Muji are pretty cheap, but also very pleasant. The paper is a little spongy so your pen sinks in a little deliciously while writing - very satisfying. (For comparison, the moleskin pages are hard causing an antagonistic little resistance). On the other hand, for those who find writing to be a solely 2D endeavor and not engraving, you may prefer the harder pages. I'm sure everyone has their own little quirks and requisites in regard to writing utensils. :) Or others may not care or not notice. This is also a possibility (in which case I would advise you to focus more attention to small joys like cushiony paper).

I realize Muji is not very Parisian - so if you want to have an 100% Parisian experience (whatever that may mean) just enter a small papeterie. They're virtually everywhere and are hard to miss: they specialize in notebooks, papers, pens etc. Just look for these products in the windows. Expect to pay more though. :)

Moleskine Paris

For the fans of moleskine, you should know that they have a mini moleskines for cities, including one for Paris. It has little maps of the city, a metro plan, blank pages like a regular moleskine for "creating your own guide of the city" and other little tricks. Personally I haven't bought one (generally I find moleskins to be expensive & overrated) but a few classmates of mine have them and love them. The city notebook idea is really cute though, and practical, and would probably make a really good gift for someone preparing for a Parisian voyage.

http://www.moleskine.com/catalogue/city_notebook/europe/city_notebook_paris.php

Also, you should know that Parisians love moleskines. Even more than the stuffwhitepeoplelike.com demographic, if that is possible. They're virtually ubiquitous around the city - you can find them at Fnacs, bigger/fancier tabacs, papeteries etc.

Macarons, macarons!

What is a macaron: They're not pasta, first off. They're these annoyingly addictive little deserts, akin to a cookie, that come in an assortment of colors and flavors. At first I was a bit hesitant, as I am used to the variety of flourescent, possibly even glow-in-the-dark American boxed treats, which all pretty much taste like crap, and yet.... you still eat them. (And then you keep asking yourself why you eat these things. But then you eat them again. Like candy corn, for instance. The Americans, hungry and ingenious as they are, have discovered that you can make anything not just edible but even tempting by pouring a box of sugar on it). So in the US, the ratio of gram of dessert to gram of sugar is about 1:25 (magic I know), and the ratio of color to crap factor is one to one. All in all, these French macarons did not have a good precedent set out for them.

A few months later, as the macarons were recommended to me by locals over and over again, the time came to risk a toothache and dissapointment for possibly another guilty pleasure. We headed to chez Pierre Hermé, and were genuinely spectacularly surprised. Biting into a well made macaron is, as all fancy french things go, an experience to be had. The outside is a soft merengue-like shell, and inside there is an incredibly perfumed soft creme, which tastes exactly like the flavor it is supposed to represent. The raspberry macarons taste like raspberries, not like red. They're like no other little dessert I've tasted, they're the cookie every cookie envies. And for the sweet-teeth out there, completely unmissable on a Parisian trip.

Artsy plus: macarons are extremely photogenic, great addition to your food-porn collection.

Where to find them:

Laduree
This is the most famous of the macaron makers, and the inventor of the double-decker macaron, which is the form that is popular today. Avoid high-times as the lines are very long; try weekday mornings and afternoons. In my opinion, they have the best pistachio macarons.
http://www.laduree.fr/

Pierre Hermé (not to be confused with designer Paul Hermés)
Situated on the same rue as Laduree but farther south near St. Sulpice, the Pierre Hermé patisserie competes (in my opinion) with Laduree as the place to indulge in these colorful delights. The macarons here are a bit sweeter, which is a minus, but far more creative. While Laduree's macarons are made in the usual chocolate, pistachio, vanilla flavors etc. the Pierre Hermé macarons include interesting combinations: chocolate and cassis, white truffle and hazelnut, matcha and marron (green tea and chestnut cream). Yum! There are new flavors introduced every couple of months. Sitting on a bench in the St. Sulpice plaza is an added benefit to this macaron experience.
http://www.pierreherme.com/index.cgi?cwsid=5876phAC194316ph9528736

Almost every patisserie/boulangerie anywhere
Of varying flavors and quality. I would highly recommend trying the above two places, but going to a simple boulangerie may do the trick for a craving. Also, it is easier on the wallet.

Le Grand Epicerie
Sevres/St. Placide. If you're a foodie you should visit this place for the sake of wandering around food wonderland first, not for their macarons, but you can always try macarons here as well. Though not as creative as the two macaron houses, they're pretty good. Generally anything you buy here will please.

And as a little note of advice, always stick to the small macarons rather than the big ones. They tend to have a better consistency (for whatever reason) and you can try multiple flavors in one outing. :) Happy macarons!

Wiki-travel

It is your friend.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Paris

Metro - Cheaper to Buy Pack of 10

Since I live in the 6eme which is very centrally located, I can walk to school (very easily) and pretty much anywhere in Paris. I prefer walking because I cannot afford a gym membership,* and running in the snow for a half-Floridian doesn't seem amusing. It is also necessary to emancipate oneself from the result of endless croissants, pain au chocolat, and macarons that somehow magically find their way into your system upon entering the great delectable country of France. Really I have no idea how that happens. They just... one second I'm looking through a boulangerie vitrine, then I pass out, then there are very suspicious croissant flakes all over my shirt! How did that happen!? I did not approve this beforehand!

But, I digress. Point is I walk. Since I take the metro so rarely, I haven't bothered getting a Navigo pass or a student pass. I used to just buy tickets every time - not smart.

If you're going the ticket route, do yourself the favor at least and buy a pack of 10 at a time (carnet de dix tickets). It costs 11.60 euro. If you were to buy them individually, at 1.60 euro a pop, 10 would cost you 16 euro. See? Also, the tickets work for buses! And they're also cheaper than paying the bus fare itself. Happy transport!


*(and neither can most Parisians from what I gather - there's no gym culture here like the US, space is limited and prices are exorbitant)

Upcoming entries:

Paris Guides in general
Gibert (used books)
Fnac(s)
Saving money (ongoing topic)
Studying French - Alliance Française
Shakespeare's & Fusac

Do Not Throw Out Your Metro Ticket

... until you have exited the metro station at your destination.

DO NOT THROW OUT YOUR METRO TICKET (until you're out of the station)!!!

Very rarely, they do metro ticket checks and if you've bought a ticket but threw it out at a platform in a connecting station, or lost it, you'll get fined like you never bought a ticket in the first place. The fine is 40 euro... that's $60 with the exchange rate folks, so hold on to your tickets.

Of course, the only time I went through a ticket checkpoint was when I happened to throw out my ticket. Literally, I threw it out in a trashcan at the bottom of the stairs, then climbed up the stairs... and to my horror saw the metro police or whatever verifying tickets. What luck! Not even 2 minutes had passed before making what I then thought was a good decision (so my apartment would not be full of used metro stubs) to paying $60. I even dumpster dived for it (gross), but bonne chance finding the right metro ticket in a sea of expired ones and unmentionables. So I payed the fine on the verge of tears.

The verge of tears/anger that I felt (as I was already having a bad day) I would not recommend. If you do lose your metro ticket, they might let you go if you calmly explain that you're a foreigner and you don't know how these things work. If you speak a little French, try saying "Je suis desolée, mais je suis Americain/Americaine/(insert nationality).* Je ne savais pas que je devais garder mon ticket." If you don't speak any French, try at least saying "Je suis desolée (I am sorry)" and show them your passport or any other foreign ID.

Good luck, but if you have the choice, just don't lose your ticket!


* It's a good idea to find out how to say your nationality in French before embarking on your trip! It may come in handy from small talk to stuff like this. Note: the pronounciation for masculine/feminine nationality is different (m. "Americain" ends in a nasal "a" sound / f. "Americaine" sounds like "Ameri-Ken"), so you want to memorize the right one... but above all... if you're a newbie, remember that the French warm up when you most of all put an effort to speak their language, even if you mispronounce at this level.

L'Officiel - Art Gallery / Museum Guide

If you're into art and you're in Paris for a week (or more) I would highly recommend purchasing a little magazine called "L'Officiel - Galeries & Musées." You can find it at tabacs or possibly even bookstores like the Fnac (I'll double check this next time I go). Right now it costs 3.50 euro, and it spans two months - worthy investment, I think, but you can always do the flip-through-and-jot-things-down if you're short on change.

It has a pretty exhaustive listing of the galleries in Paris and maps for your gallery-hopping needs. Towards the end, you'll find a complete listing of art museums and their ongoing expositions (including addresses and opening times of the museums). I'm pretty excited, I just bought the first today... think I might indeed absorb some art this weekend.

The website of the magazine is also here:
http://www.officiel-galeries-musees.com/web/

In fact, now that I'm looking through the website it looks like they have all of the information posted (minus the articles in the front) so it might not even be worth buying unless you want a handy guide to take with you on strolls. :) But do look out for it!

First Entry (Explanation)

Hello! Welcome to my blog, if you happen to find yourself reading! :)

To introduce myself, I am 22 years old of dual Romanian/American nationality, spending a year in Paris after graduating. I wanted to start blogging bits of advice and recommendations for traveling and living in the city, as I stumble upon them. I am no experienced Lonely Planet writer, but whatever little Parisian discoveries I make throughout the year through trial and error may be helpful to another foreigner either vacationing, studying or living here by chance, as I am. There may be some reflective pieces in here as well, but mostly I'd like to focus on practical advice! :)

PS - Feel free to comment to add to or possibly correct whatever information I post. :D