Outdoor clothing market on a sunny day

Me, Monica, and our friend Mariel have been dying for some time now to go check out this market in the north of Paris called le marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen, that sells clothing and accessories for reasonable prices, so we went this morning. It turned out to be really fun (once you get past the guys who get up in your face to try to sell you a fake D&G belt), and some of the prices were amazing. I saw real leather boots for as little as 5 euros!

I didn't know this before, but it turns out that this market is one of the major tourist attractions in Paris because of its size. There are about 1000 vendors selling clothes and artisan products, and around 2500 vendors selling antiques! Most of the clothing I saw catered to the younger, more urban Parisian crowd (think references to rap artists and baggier clothes), and the antique section looked like a huge garage sale. As for the artisan crafts, I saw a lot of cultural products from Africa and Asia, like hookah pipes and tribal masks.

And I saw a LOT of tourists. Lots of cameras and "I (heart) Paris" t-shirts.

But here's something odd: there were several vendors selling leather clothing like leather jackets, leather pants, leather hats... and it's almost summer here! Why anyone would be tempted to buy leather right now is beyond me, especially since today it was a sweltering 80-something degrees outside. Just seeing all the leather made me sweat more.

And as for me, I ended up leaving with a new pair of shades and a cute pair of black flats! :D



After we finished shopping at the market, we headed down towards the center of Paris to grab some lunch and relax by the Pompidou Center. I forget sometimes that even though it's a Sunday, there are still plenty of people who go outside to window shop or let their kids play around, so the city stays pretty active. Plus, with tourist season gaining momentum here, the shops are staying open to cater to them too.

And after that, we walked around Paris towards where Monica lives to check out some more shops. We're also thinking about going this Wednesday to check out another market that sells clothes wholesale, since there might be some good deals there too.

So lots of walking today. I recently got back to my apartment, took a cool shower, and now it's time to relax and get some schoolwork done. Stupid Sciences-Po...

Bisous XOXO

Hunting through Paris! ... Day 2 (bikes and Versailles)

Like I said before, I had something special planned for Hunter's visit for his second day here: I took him to Versailles! But the best part was that I found a really good bike rental company by the Eiffel Tower that gives bike tours throughout the city and to Versailles- so that gave me the idea to rent the bikes for a day and take them to Versailles ourselves! I've already been to Versailles before and I'm fairly familiar with it, so there was no need to pay for a tour. I figured we could find the bike paths ourselves and ride around wherever we wanted!!

But first I had to take Hunter to the Bastille Market!

If you know anything about my boyfriend, you probably know how much he likes vegetables. I would go so far as to say he might be obsessed with eating them (I call him Popeye sometimes because he eats sooo much spinach). And since the Bastille Market sells fresh produce for really cheap, I'd be a horrible girlfriend to let him leave Paris without seeing it!

So we went, we bought a LOT of veggies (including that round zuchinni that my mom thought was cool while she was here), and went back to my apartment to drop it all off.

Here's a video of us walking back from the market:


Did you see that he got me flowers?? It was adorable... right before he asked me how to say he wants to buy something in French, and then he disappeared for a while and came back with beautiful red roses! He's such a romantic!

And I was obviously really happy about it!

Here's Hunter carrying the fresh veggies and wearing his Parisian scarf that I gave him last Christmas. He's also wearing his new jacket that he got here in Paris on Day 1. I helped him pick it out. I think it looks so great on him! :)

Here we are in my apartment getting ready to go rent the bikes!

I was still happy about the flowers!

Then we went to the bike rental place! While we were trying to find it, we must have seemed lost because a French woman came up to us and asked if we need help finding the Eiffel Tower. I said no, we're looking for the bike rental place. She said "Oh, les Américains?" and pointed the way. And that's how I found out the bike place was an American company, ha ha.

If you happen to be reading this and travelling through Europe now or soon, I definitely recommend using this company to rent bikes, especially now that the weather is getting nice. Just look for the Fat Tire Bike Company online and browse around the site for the rentals and tours. We had so much fun using them!


Like I said before, the office was really close to the Eiffel Tower, so we rode by that on the way to catch the train to Versailles!

Me on my bike by the Tower!

Hunter and me by the Tower!

Getting through the train station with the bikes was slightly difficult for me since my arms aren't strong enough to carry the bike up and down stairs. So Hunter had to help me by carrying my bike for me. Poor guy having to work so hard...

Don't laugh, it was heavy!!!

Soon after, we were riding the train to Versailles!

Here I am looking out the window!

Yea! Bikes on the train!

Hunter: "I can't believe you made me carry your bike up and down those flights of stairs!"






After about half an hour, we made it to Versailles!

Picture by the train station!

Riding the bikes to the château!

Having fun on the bike path!

We found out that we couldn't ride the bikes in the same area as the château, so we had to ride around the perimeter of the gardens to find a way in. I never realized this before but the actual city of Versailles, excluding the château and tourist areas, is really pretty!

Hunter on his boy bike riding inside the gardens!

By the way, these bikes reminded me a lot of the bikes in Amsterdam because they looked a bit old-fashioned. My mom had a bike that looked like that once too. If I ever buy my own bike, I think I'll get one that looks like that too. I really liked them!

Me by a sheep! They still maintain a farm on the château grounds.

Me on my bike! Hunter was the only one who could ride a bike and take pictures at the same time, so we ended up with a lot of pictures of me on my bike, ha ha.

In fact, here's a video he took of us riding by the Grand Trianon, or Marie-Antoiette's private residence:






Then we saw the château! Here's Hunter at the front gates trying to seem unimpressed.






I love this picture! Hunter was fumbling with his camera and accidently took a picture of us holding hands!

Hunter presenting the château.

Thumbs up for Château de Versailles!

Before we went inside the château, we decided to check out the gardens behind it first...

Here's Hunter with his "I'm cold, stop taking pictures" face.

Hunter made it to the top of a really big staircase!!!

Now for some fun with panoramic shots!

The 3 sides of Hunter!

The 3 sides of Samantha!

Hunter's roundhouse kick in action!

(actually this is Hunter's way of telling me it's 1pm)

Hunter gazing at the gardens.

Me jumping for joy in the distance!!

I actually don't remember what I was doing here, ha ha...

Then we went inside the château! It's been a while since I've seen the inside of the château, and I forgot how opulent it is. Each room looked like it was dripping with excess wealth, and I can't even imagine what it must have been like living here during the 18th century.

The ceilings were probably the best part in my opinion just because they were so ornately decorated.

Here's a relief of Louis XIV by the Hall of Mirrors.

I liked the marble floors too!

We got free audioguides when we entered the château!
(And I put on my glasses so I could see all the details in the decor.)

We heard some organ music resonating through the halls, so I took a video:

Picture of us in the château! (See how cute Hunter's face is?) :D

Hunter standing around in the king's apartments.

Portrait of Marie-Antoinette.

Portrait of Louis XVI.

One of the rooms in the king's apartments. And I found some extra Hunters wandering around.






Part of a ceiling. The painting is of the Greek goddess, Artemis, who governed the night.

Hunter by a window overlooking the gardens.

The Hall of Mirrors! This is probably the most famous room in the château, and with decorations like these, it's obvious why visitors like it so much.

Again, I love the ceilings!

We heard on the audioguides that this room was used as a ballroom and it was meant to show off the wealth and power of the French monarchy.


It's called the Hall of Mirrors because there are obviously a lot of mirrors on the walls, making the room look bigger than it already is.

Here's a reflection of myself and Hunter!

And here's a video I took of the room (don't mind my dancing and humming- I had the Six Flags ad song stuck in my head):

This was the King's bed chamber.

And this was the king's view every morning when he woke up. The view looks out over the kingdom to the east so that the sun would shine directly into his bedroom. It made sense since Louis XIV was called the sun king.





Here I am standing in front of the chapel. This is where the organ music was coming from earlier.

Me and Hunter standing in one of the massive halls!

Another long hallway.

Really tall staircase.

Here we are in one of the rooms.

I tried to imitate the attitude of the statue...

This is one of my favorite sculptures in the Louvre! (The one here is a replica.)





Since we bought the late tickets to enter the château (they were discounted), we had to leave soon afterwards so they could close the château. I managed to get a couple videos as we were leaving though:








We left Versailles just as it was getting dark outside, and by the time we made it back to Paris, it was completely dark outside. We rode our bikes back to my apartment, but made a few stops along the way to check out the scenery:

Here's a picture Hunter took of the Seine.

Here we are posing in front of the Bastille monument.

After we got back to my apartment, we changed and went out for a French dinner of moules marinières et frites, which is a pot of mussels cooked in a white wine sauce and served with french fries. I think Hunter liked it, too! Then I took him to Saint Michel, which is close to Notre Dame, and bought him some gelato for dessert ( we tried dark chocolate mixed with cherries). After that we met up with some of my friends, including Monica.

Amazing second day!! :D

Bisous XOXO