I hope everyone had a splendid Friday! I have had a very busy week traipsing around a bit of Europe, but today was my last full day on the continent! As much as I've enjoyed it, I'm ready to return to London tomorrow. I've been notified of some formatting issues on my blog and I apologize, as I've been blogging from my phone while on the continent. There is nothing I can do to fix it at the moment, but will attend to formatting when I arrive. Until then, I will try to compensate with better content!
Yesterday my boyfriend and I spent the day in the Louvre. To prepare for our adventure, we bought water and bread at the market for lunch to avoid ridiculous food prices in the museum. When we arrived to the Louvre, I carefully studied the glass pyramid housing the entrance and was skeptical of this structure in the courtyard of the Louvre. Initially I didn't appreciate it, as it seemed very out of place and somewhat irreverent to the history of the Louvre, which I later learned to be untrue. The large, glass pyramid is both structurally and functionally practical. The pyramid acts as a secure entrance and exit from the museum, as guarding the many doors became impractical. The glass pyramid structure was designed and constructed in the 1980's, which was erected in a manner to frame the building of the Louvre. The architect was very intentional when decided shape and material, and wanted the pyramid to frame the Louvre so that it looked like it was displayed in a museum, which is actually genius. The one difficulty I had with the structure was that it was a major conductor of heat and made waiting in line for tickets miserable. It was a sunny 60 degrees Farenheit yesterday, so standing under the this pyramid in the sun made me feel like an ant being burned my a school child's glasses. Aside from that, I came to appreciate the pyramid.
My boyfriend and I invested in audio guides, which proved to be a worthwhile expense. The audio guide was a Nintendo 3DS which had a GPS that told you where you were in the museum, would give you routes to different rooms, and could essentially answer any question you could have in addition to commentating on many works. We saw the big works: The Mona Lisa, Wedding Feast at Cana, The Crowning of Napolean, etc. I could write a dissertation about a few of my favourite pieces, but I will spare you that. My favourite painting was Liberty Leading the People and favourite sculpture was Venus de Milo.
After hours upon hours of art and walking, my boyfriend and I headed to dinner on the Champs Élysées. We ate at a sandwich shop, which was delicious. I had a smoked salmon and soft cheese sandwich on a baguette, frites, and a diet coke (oh, how I'd missed diet coke). For dessert I had a Nutelle crepe, which was amazing.
Today my boyfriend and I woke up early to catch a train to Versailles. We arrived around 10:00 CET and began our tour at Chateau Versailles. We spent our day exploring the estates, gardens, Grand Trianon, Petite Trianon, and Mary Antionette's Hamlet. I enjoyed photographing the buildings, gardens, and swans in the grand canal. We spent all day at Versailles and had our last dinner in France at a restaurant beside the Grand Canal.
There are so many details I have omitted from my trip to Paris, but I could go on for days about the window displays in the Hermes boutique, the man who brought a karaoke machine and sang on the metro, and crepes. While on the continent I took over 2000 photographs, which I look forward to editing when I return.
Taking a week away from getting dolled up everyday and roughing it a bit was a healthy change of pace. I wore trainers and the same coat everyday. Most days I wore no makeup, though had to apply foundation today to avoid being sunburned (only I would get sunburned in Central Europe in March). I focused on exploring Brussels, Bruges, Paris and Versailles, not my outfit or makeup. I love photographing these cities and getting down on the ground for the perfect photo. Despite the amazing time I've had and all the incredibly sights I've seen, I'm homesick for London. I miss the flowers in my kitchen and the stack of fashion magazines on my desk. I miss my enormous case of makeup and my heels. I can't wait to paint my nails, curl my hair, and get dressed up for afternoon tea on Sunday. Above all else, I am glad I took the opportunity to remind myself that I can live out of my bookbag for 9 days but also never tire of wearing a great pair of courts.
I challenge all of my Fashionators to do something different this weekend! If you never get dressed up, wear a nice outfit for no reason and take yourself shopping or to a nice dinner just to remind yourself that you're worth it. If you spend most of your days in a suit or dress in an office, throw on some trainers and go on a hike or go biking. Whatever you do, ditch your smartphone, tablet, laptop, pager (back to the 90's), and all other electronic leashes at home. The past 8 days, I have only had access to wifi when I returned to my room at night, which left me unconcerned with my 5 email accounts, 2 twitter accounts, Facebook, Skype, Kik, Snapchat, Instagram and Blog for the majority of my day. It was healthy to distance myself from all of these connections and to focus on my experience instead of focusing on putting my experience on social media. I encourage all of you to consider this the next time you're out and about!
xo
BJordan
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