It was raining this morning so I hoped that I could study and wait for the rain to subside. Something about the grayness outside really dampened my mood. I was really in no mood to go out, but I had an adventure to accomplish. Today I planned on going to Montmartre to see Espace Dali, and I was going to make it happen despite the bad weather.
I got on the one and transferred to the 12 at Concorde. To my slight dismay, my directions were wrong. There is no direction "Front Populaire", but I saw the stop Abbesses on the the directional sign while still walking towards it. Even the trains were fairly empty today. I got off the train, and immediately saw the street that I was supposed to follow. Though it was supposed the be raining (hence indicate to a Californian that it's cold outside), I began sweating within moments due to the steep hills. The constant staircases that I encountered didn't help the matter.
I got to the center of town and couldn't find the street that I was looking for. I did, however, see a non-standard sign (street signs pointing to a place are either brown with white lettering or white with black lettering; this sign was some kind of temporary sign) that pointed away from the center of town. I followed it up and down the hills and several staircases before I realized that I was getting nowhere. I hiked back up to the sign and followed the other street that it could be pointing to. I found the space shortly afterwards.
The it cost me 6,50 to tour the small space. It was as weird as you would think. There were mosly Dali sculptures with a few of his paintings, drawings, and 3D works. There were also paintings that were inspired by Dali that might have been more disturbing than the Dali works themeselves. Part of the space actually sells Dali paintings and sculptures which I thought was kinda weird. I had heard of the space through metro advertisements and it claimed to be an exhibition, but the space seems to be entirely dedicated to Dali all the time. I did like the Dali that referenced a Velasquez painting Las Meninas, but the other works I found a little too weird for my taste. I also liked that there was part of a cathedral in the space; it was either a section of a real cathedral or was a recreation, but it looked very real to me. This was my first time seeing a Dali. I don't feel the need to see a Dali again.
One of the pieces they're selling
I was only in the museum for about twenty minutes or so, and I couldn't come to Montmartre and not explore. The town isn't huge, but I decided to look around anyway. The weather was still bad (and very humid) and the hills were really dampening my adventures. The other major thing to do in Montmartre is to see Sacre Coeur, but my class is going to go there in a few weeks and I didn't want to ruin it. I just walked around the outside and took a few pictures. The church is beautiful and the plaza outside has one of the best views in Paris. The rainy haze made it even more beautiful.
Sacre Coeur
The view from the plaza at Sacre Coeur
After seeing the church I went back to the metro following the same path my class took when we visited a few weeks ago. I got on the metro and got off at Bastille so that I could see if Monoprix had a cheaper photobooth than the metro. I was thinking about getting a navigo pass considering that I've been traveling a lot, and refuse to spend 5 euros on five pictures when I only need one. I have since decided against getting a navigo and will just continue to pay as I go.
On the way home I stopped at Franprix to get more potato chips and cake for breakfast. I have spent the rest of the day inside sleeping and watching tv. I did manage to paint my nails for my lunch date tomorrow with Caroline, wash my dishes, study for French, and listen to the required reading for my pop class. Here's the playlist if you're interested:
Sylvie Vartan and Frankie Jordan, “Panne d’essence” (1961)
Sheila, “L’ecole est finie” (1962)
Françoise Hardy, “Tous les garçons et les filles” (1962)
France Gall, “Les sucettes” (1965)
Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot, “Bonnie et Clyde” (1968)
Jane Birken and Serge Gainsbourg, "Je t'aime, moi non plus” (1969)
I also got to talk to mommy! It's here birthday tomorrow and she's spending it in Montecito without me :( We also talked about my upcoming holiday.
Maybe tomorrow will be better.
and i just burned my popcorn. What an omen.
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