Samedi, Janvier, 19

I had to get up a little earlier than usual because we had to be at school at 8:30. We (the girls in my apartment) had been told that we needed to be at school at 8:30, but the email we had received said 9. I figured it was better to be early than late. We ended up being early but I was able to get a hot chocolate. We left at 9 to go dress for the Sonszio menswear show. When you are a dresser in a show you get to the venue about 2-3 hours before the show is scheduled to start. Most of the time is spent standing around waiting until they actually need you which is about 45 minutes before the show starts. So we wait, wait, wait, and then when the shows starts we rush because we may only have 5 minutes to undress and dress the model. While we were waiting to be called backstage there were some appetizers that were in one of the rooms so we each had a small snack. There were three girls that left to go dress for another show. We were finally called back stage and waited there for another 20 minutes. The models were all very tall and thin. Their hair had been slicked back and had been sprayed orange for the show. My model’s name was Rafa and he was really relaxed about the whole thing. When one of the stylists and I had been trying to pull on his one shoe for a while he stopped both of us and said “Stop, take a deep breath” then we started pulling again. We were finally able to get the shoe on, but it took a lot of pulling. The shoes were all super tight and took about 3-5 minutes to put on. There was one model that didn’t make it on for the finale because they weren’t able to get one of his shoes on, there about 4 stylists trying to get his shoe on. After about 25 minutes it was all over. My model shook my hand, said thank you, and then left. We all headed home and got back to the apartment at 1:30. Several of the girls were planning on going ice skating that evening at 6:30, I decided that I would join them. Christy and I took the metro over to the ice rink and met Emily, Katrina, and Vanessa there. We made it through the line and got our skates. The rink was a popular place to be since it was fairly crowded. We had skated for about 15 minutes and then the zamboni came out to clean the skating surface. It took about 20 minutes to clean and then we were able to go out and skate again. We only skated for another 20 minutes because we were all getting cold. By the time Christy and I got home it was 8:45 and Kate wanted to get one last pizza from the place right next door. I went downstairs and ordered the Regina pizza which had ham, mushrooms, and oregano. La pizza is a very small restaurant and it was crowded that evening which makes for great business for the owner. The owner is a very nice man, he’s always happy to see us and wants to know if we’ll be back the next day. After eating the pizza we all headed to bed.

Vendredi, Janvier, 18

I got up at 8 and started getting ready for the photo shoot. Our group was the first one in line for the photo shoot which started at 9. It was held in this really beautiful room, but it was set up with a gray screen for the background. Each person got about 10 minutes to model as many pieces that they could fit in the time. It was really cold and I’m hoping that they can photoshop my goosebumps out of the pictures. haha We had about an hour before our smocking class started. This was our last day of class at PAA. I was both excited and sad at the same time. From 11-1 I just worked on finishing more of the smocking swatches that I had started in a previous class. After our hour long lunch break, I did more smocking and also learned more beading techniques. This was our last class with Martine. I really liked having class with her. Halfway through class we heard a crash outside, Martine went to the window and then started saying something. Most of the students gathered at the windows to see what happened. A motorcycle had crashed. There is a one way street in front of the school and motorcycles either have their own lane or they weave in and out of traffic. As far as we could figure out the motorcycle had slid on some of the ice and slush(it had snowed a little the evening before) that was at the side of the road. By the time I made it to the window the guy that was riding the motorcycle was already up and limping around. Several cars stopped to see if he was okay. One of the people that had stopped, helped him get his motorcycle back up. He was back onto his motorcycle and off again within 5 minutes of the crash. Near the end of class, I was talking to Madeleine and Martine about a Poire Belle Helene which is a dessert that my mom had told me about before my trip. Martine’s eyes lit up when I asked her about it and she started telling me about it and also saying that I could make it at home. I also talked to Madeleine about coming back to PAA. We finished class at 4 which was 2 hours early. Later that evening we made couscous for supper and then headed to bed.

Juedi, Janvier, 17

Our whole day could have been free, but we had the option of having another class with Mr. Pinabel so that we could put feathers on our hat base. I chose to go to the class because I really wanted to dress up my hat base. The class didn’t start until 3 that afternoon. In the morning Kate, Natalie, and I went back to General Diff to buy our fabrics. I bought a half a meter of the black mohair fabric. It was 20 Euros more per yard than I thought it was at first. I have several ideas about what I would like use it for. Natalie bought a knit fabric that had rhinestones printed on it. After we had finished at General Diff, Natalie wanted to get 2 other fabrics from Tissue Reine which was about 10 minutes away by bus. She found the fabrics that she wanted right away and at about 12:15 we headed back to our apartments. We got on the #85 bus that would take us straight home. After we were about halfway back, the bus kicked everybody off because it was finished for the day. We checked the sign to see when the next bus would be coming and it said it would be an hour. This is really unusual for the Paris bus system while I’ve been here I think the longest I’ve waited for a bus is about 8 minutes. So we waited at the bus stop for about 5 minutes waiting to see if the sign would change, but it never did. Several #85 buses went past but they were all ending at the stop we were at. Since there wasn’t an easy way to get home without transferring many times we decided that we’d go out for lunch while waiting for the next bus. We found this small restaurant right down the block from the bus stop. We chose to get 2 pizzas for lunch (cheese and pepperoni) along with some hot chocolate to hopefully warm us up. We asked the waiter about how big a pizza was and he stretched his arms out wide and said “well...just kidding”. They were a medium size pizza and we wanted to make sure we would have enough to be full afterwards. Both of the pizzas had a thin crust and were amazing! We finished with about 20 minutes to spare before the next bus was scheduled to arrive. We walked outside into the brisk wind and started looking for a metro station just incase there was one nearby. After failing to find one, we headed back to the bus stop and got there about 5 minutes before the bus arrived. We checked to make sure that the bus would be going to the stop that we needed and it was so we got onboard. About 10 minutes later the bus stopped and kicked everybody off again right in front of Bourse. There was a demonstration going on in front of Bourse. I wasn’t able to read the signs that everybody was holding so I’m not sure what this one was about. This time we looked at a map and decided to walk to the next bus stop and hope that that bus would be able to bring us back to our final destination. I was getting a little nervous that we weren’t going to make it to class on time since it was 2:20. We waited about 5 minutes and got on the next bus headed for our stop. Amazingly this bus made it all the way back to the stop that we needed. We even had about 10-15 minutes to spare before having to go to class. We only had about 8 girls that came to the class, but Mr. Pinabel was happy to see us again. He had really enjoyed working with us last time and made time in his schedule to come back just so we could add feathers to our hat bases. He even brought some more expensive feathers from his own collection for us to use. We learned a new word that afternoon. Mr. Pinabel was talking how much time we had left in class and he said “we have an hour of class left, but don’t flapper”. I’m sure we all had confused looks on our faces and we asked him what he meant. He explained to us that it basically means don’t worry. I was able to finish up my hair piece, it has some bright colors in it compared to my last feather piece. We said thank you and goodbye since this was that last class we had with Mr. Pinabel. I went back to the apartment and relaxed for about 2 hours. Since we were going to have a photo shoot the next day Kate and Christy needed some clothes to go with the pieces that they had made they wanted to go shopping. We head out at about 7:40, by the time we got to H&M and Zara they were already closing for the evening (most of the the stores in Paris close at 8). Kate said the H&M and Zara on the Champs Elysees were open until 10, so we headed over to go shopping. Kate and Christy both bought some clothes from H&M for their photo shoot, they also got some makeup from Sephora. There were some really good sales going on at a lot of the stores. I planned on wearing all black for my photo shoot which would match with all of my pieces. By the time we got back to the apartment and cooked our really French dinner of chicken nuggets and fries it was 11.

Mercredi, Janvier, 16

I was so thankful that I could sleep in until 8 before having to meet at school at 9. We had an hour long presentation on the Louvre and some of the artwork that is on display there. We all took the bus over to the Louvre Museum and had short lectures about many of the pieces of artwork. We walked underneath the pyramid and through the medieval ruins of the castle that used to stand where the Louvre Museum is now. Our guide Agnes knows a lot of history about many of the places that we tour, so she will tell us interesting facts about specific rooms or works of art. I was able to see many pieces by Rembrandt, Leonardo de Vinci, Michelangelo, and many others. I was able to see the Mona Lisa even though there was a very large crowd to get though. After the tour we headed to all of the restaurants that are near the Louvre to eat lunch. I had a chicken sandwich for lunch along with some macaroons. We headed over to the George Pompidou Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art after lunch. Instead of taking the bus over, we walked the 10 minutes. This museum was very interesting, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had the Louvre Museum. After the tour several of the girls and I just wanted to head back instead of staying for the Dali exhibit. I had worn heels which wasn’t the best choice for walking around museums all day. So we headed back and stopped in some shops along the way back to the bus stop. Natalie wanted to buy a nutella crepe if we found one on the way home, but since we didn’t find one I invited her over for dinner and told her I’d make some nutella crepes for dessert. So Natalie came over at about 6 and we had ham and cheese crepes with nutella crepes for dessert. We conversed for several hours after dinner.

Mardi, Janvier, 15

We got up at 5a.m. to get ready to leave for Antwerp at 6:30. After eating our doughnuts we left from school and took the RER over to the train station. We had a mix up while handing out the tickets, Xavier had handed us the tickets for the return trip, but we got that taken care of right away. Our train left at 7:30 and it would be a 2 hour trip. Part way into our trip Xavier looked over our knitting, he gave me some suggestions for my hat. After some time the conductor announced over the speakers that because of the weather (mild flurries) we were running a 1/2 hour late. About an hour and a half into the trip there was another announcement made, this time because of technical difficulties we had to transfer trains in Brussels. After all of the delays, we made it to Antwerp, Belgium at 10a.m. Karin, our guide for the Mme. Gres Exhibit, met us at the train station and then we had a small breakfast. For breakfast I had coffee and a chocolate croissant. The whole group then walked about 20 minutes through the snow and slush to get to the museum. On the way to the museum Karin showed us the best places to get Belgian waffles, fries, and chocolate. She also told us that there are 2 different types of Belgian waffles, one is puffy and the other one has sugar in the middle. We finally got to the museum and the Mme. Gres exhibit was amazing!!! We were allowed to take pictures of the garments. After seeing all of the exhibit, we walked another 10 minutes to a restaurant that was basically a hole in the wall. The restaurant only had one room into which all 29 of us squeezed. Even as we walked in I could smell our lunch cooking. The first course was a broccoli soup, it reminded me of a similar soup that my mom makes. Our second course was a bowl of noodles with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes. Both courses were delicious! After lunch we had free time until 5, which gave us about 3 hours. We stopped by the chocolate shop (I bought some to bring home), several boutiques and stopped by one of the waffle restaurants. Kate and I shared a dessert, Kate also bought a Belgian waffle. We went into Comma, Princess, I Am and Desigual on the way back to the train station. We got back to the train station in time for me to buy one of the waffles with sugar in the middle. I got one one that was covered in chocolate and peanuts. It was the best waffle I’ve ever had in my life!!! We left Antwerp at 6:30 and there was another weather delay, so we got back to the train station in Paris at 9. We still had to take the RER back to school so we got back to the apartment at about 9:30. It had been a long day so we all were glad to jump into bed that night.

Look...snow, something we don't see much of in Paris. 

The Antwerp Train Station.

My coffee and chocolate croissant.

 

One of the Mme. Gres draped dresses.

A beautiful passageway.

Broccoli Soup.

Pasta with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes.

The best chocolate shop in Antwerp.

Mmmm dessert.

My favorite waffle!!!

Lundi, Janvier, 14

Our last free day came way too soon. We decided that we wanted to have a whole day dedicated to fabric shopping. We took the bus over to the fabric district at about 11a.m. We were able to look around some shops that we hadn’t made it into the last time we had visited. I had a lot of fun being surrounded by yards and yards of fabrics. Several of the girls ate lunch at McDonalds but I ate later that day after we got back to the apartments. We also went into the store with all of the buttons and ribbons. I found 2 types of buttons that I really liked. I bought 3 of the one and 5 of the other, I’m not sure where I’ll use them. Maybe I’ll just keep them at home and take them out every so often to look at them ;) Since it was a fairly clear day we decided to take the elevator up the hill to get another view and more pictures of the city of Paris. After returning to the bottom of the hill we went into a souvenir shop because Christy still had to pick up a few gifts for some friends. We headed back towards our apartment and took a detour to stop by the General Diff fabric store that had the beautiful black mohair fabric that I would love to have. We got there at about 15 minutes before closing time only to find out that they had closed early that evening. We got back to the apartment at about 6:30, made supper and headed to bed early so that we would be able to get up at 5 the next morning to catch the train to Antwerp. 

My breakfast.

A fabric lined street.

The city of Paris.

Dimanche, Janvier, 13

We slept in again until about 10. Kate wanted to go to the international mass at Notre Dame which started at 11:30. We took the metro over because we would have had to wait 20 minutes for a bus to arrive. We got there at about 11:20. Notre Dame is beautiful and the architecture is amazing! We sat down and waited for the service to start. After sitting there for about 5 minutes everybody started leaving so we followed, all the time wondering what was going on. We headed over to the information desk to ask why everyone was leaving and then I looked at the time and it was 11:30. We had caught the end of another service. So we sat down again and the service started. Now even though this was an international service the only thing that was in English was part of the bulletin, the whole service was still in French. The service lasted for a little over an hour. There was one thing that I didn’t like about the service, while the service was going on people were taking pictures and walking around. I felt like I was on display. After that service was over we took some pictures of the inside of the Cathedral. We headed to a souvenir shop on the way back to the apartment so that I could pick up some gifts for people. As we got closer to the apartment there was a mass of people walking down the middle of the street. They had signs and flags and they were playing music and chanting. We tried to figure out what some of the signs said but we checked on Google Translate to see if we were right, which we were. There were people marching towards the Eiffel Tower from all parts of the city protesting the president’s decision to legalize gay marriage. So all of the signs were pro-marriage. An online source said that this could be the largest demonstration in a decade. After relaxing back at the apartment for a couple of hours several girls wanted to go shopping in the Marais district of town. We looked in a few boutiques and ate supper at a small panini shop. We headed back to the apartments to get ready for our last free day.

One of the gorgeous stained glass windows.

Inside Notre Dame.

Outside Notre Dame.

The Pro-marriage rally.

Samedi, Janvier, 12

We all slept in until about 9, caught up on some much needed rest. Sewing is hard work, especially when you have some 9 hour days. But I love it! We decided to head to the Champs Elysees and check out some more shops that we hadn’t gotten to before. We took some pictures of the Arc de Triomphe in the daylight. Then we headed shopping. We went into Louis Vuitton again, Lancel, and Kusmi Tea. After eating our lunch at a restaurant on the Champs Elysees we went shopping at Disney, Massimo Dutti, and Zara. I picked up a really cute black short sleeve top from Massimo Dutti. I also picked up a keychain from the Disney store. As we were finishing up our shopping we found this amazing patisserie called Laduree. One of the girls had heard that they have the best macaroons in Paris. We all went inside and bought a few macaroons. I bought a large, coffee flavored macaroon. It was delicious! I really want to bring some macaroons back with me. We decided to head home and relax a little before going out again in the evening. After Kate and I ate dinner, Christy decided to go with us to the Eiffel Tower and see the light show. We headed out at about 7:45 p.m. on the way there I finally got all of my postcards sent out. We took the bus and the metro to get to the Eiffel Tower. We got on a train that was only going halfway to where we needed to go and so we had to wait another 10 minutes for the next train. We made it to the Eiffel Tower with about 15-20 minutes to spare. We took pictures and walked around  it to get a better view when the light show started. The light show lasted for about 5 minutes. It was so hard to capture the beauty of the moment and all of the lights with a camera but I tried. Christy still needed to eat supper so we all decided to go out. We went to a restaurant called Le Petit Pont which is right across the Seine from Notre Dame. Kate and I had our dessert while Christy ate her supper. I had a Chocolat Leigois which was Chocolate ice cream in a cone with chocolate syrup, whipped cream, an orange slice, and a slice of kiwi. The dessert came to the table with a sparkler stuck in the orange slice. The dessert was delicious! When we were close to finishing our dinner the young man from the table next to us asked us (Kate in particular) if we would do something for him. They must have been played truth or dare at their table because he asked if she would kiss him on the cheek. She told him no, that she was already married. By the time we got back to the apartment it was about 11p.m. So far this is the latest we have stayed out.

By the Arc de Triomphe.

Laduree.

Look at all of the sweets :) YUM!!!

My coffee macaroon from Laduree.

The Eiffel Tower all lit up during one of the light shows.

My Chocolat Leigois.

Vendredi, Janvier, 11

Our first couture project went from 9-12. Our professor Brigitte taught us how to make a welt pocket. Making the welt pocket was very similar to making a bound buttonhole. We had an hour for lunch and then we went back to class from 1-4. In the second class our professor Muriel taught us how to hand pick a zipper into a bias cut fabric. After getting out of class we decided to head to BHV to look around a little more. All of the sales started on the 9th and run until the end of January. I bought a belt that was 50% off. Tomorrow our 3 day weekend starts!

The beginning of my welt pocket.

Juedi, Janvier, 10

Our shibori dying class began at 9a.m. this morning. The professor, Sharon, is a really nice lady from the U.S. She flies to Paris twice a year to teach the students at PAA shibori dying. The technique that she taught us this morning was called Arashi. This afternoon we had an hour and a half for lunch. Kate wanted to have a sandwich from a bakery around the corner and I decided to have tomato soup. I picked up a pistachio macaroon for dessert after my lunch. It was delicious!!! The class at 1:30 was with the same professor but she taught us how to nuno felt. We made a reversible collar. After getting back from class at 4:30 I worked on my hat design. Kate and I headed to the laundromat since we couldn’t figure out how the one in the apartment works. After we were finished there we headed back to the apartment and then went to the grocery store to pick up food for the next week. We cooked some pizzas because it was getting late. After getting back from the store Kate realized that I had picked up a six pack of seltzer water instead of regular water oops. Only one of the four girls in the apartment likes it so I guess she can have it all :) I did drink some of it mixed in with orange juice, it doesn’t taste as bad that way. Tomorrow we work on some couture projects! 

The original color of my scarf.

 After wrapping it on the bottle.

After discharging the color. 

Almost finished, it just needs to dry.

My pistachio macaroon!

One side of my nuno felted collar.

The other side of my collar.

Here's how it would be worn.

Mercredi, Janvier, 9

Class started today at 9a.m. and we learned 3 different smocking techniques and also 4 different beading techniques. Our professor Anne Bizet is French but speaks English so we didn’t need a translator in class. Our schedule was changed this morning in class. The original plan for the afternoon was to work on smocking and in the last two hours of class we would go to the Sacre Coeur and then go to the fabric district and look around. The new schedule for the afternoon was to go right to the Sacre Coeur and then have the rest of the time to go fabric shopping. After eating lunch, Kate and I headed to the ATM to withdraw some money and then to the PAA where we were meeting. We left the school at about 1:15p.m. and too the bus which went right past Sacre Coeur. We took the elevator up the side of the hill to get to Sacre Coeur. The view from the hill was amazing! I could see a lot of Paris even though it was misting outside. The interior of the Sacre Coeur was beautiful! We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside. We also went into another church that has been there since the 12th Century. We were allowed to take pictures inside of that one and it was just as amazing! Right across from the church there is a square where many painters sit and paint pictures of the city and the people. It was really neat! It had started raining a little harder so we decided to take the elevator down again instead of the stairs. The whole group met up at the bottom of the hill and Anne showed us where the fabric, yarn, and accessory(buttons, ribbon etc.) stores were located. We were given about an hour and 45 minutes to look around then we could meet up and head back home. Kate and I went into the Chatmaille yarn store and I bought a really neat thick wool yarn. Many of the yarns that are sold here are the same ones that you would be able to find in the U.S. We also went into several other fabric stores two of them had several floors. The fabrics they have here are amazing! We headed back to the apartments at 5:30. We stopped at the boulangerie/patisserie right next door to pick up some bread to go with supper. We made tortellini for supper. I also picked up a framboise for dessert. I’ve been working on my knitted hat design all this evening. Tomorrow we do shibori dying all day. 

The fashion design students at Sacre Coeur.

They city of Paris and I. 

The three smocking techniques I learned.

The cathedral from the 12th century.

My Framboise.

An amazing fabric store!

My super bulky yarn.

Mardi, Janvier, 8

Today we had an introduction to some of the Paris museums. We started out for the bus at about 9:15a.m. and headed towards the Musee D’Orsay. The Musee D’Orsay is in what used to be an old train station. The interior of the building was beautiful. I wish I could have taken pictures but they didn’t allow you to take pictures in either of the museums that we went to. There were many beautiful paintings in the Musee D’Orsay. I saw some by Degas, Van Gogh, Gaugain, Renoir, and Monet. After our tour was over we headed to an area nearby that had several restaurants. On the way over we happened upon a photo shoot with a model in a wedding gown, the model, gown, and scenery were gorgeous. After eating lunch, several of the girls and I headed to the bookstore in Les Art Decoratif Museum. There were some really neat books on fashion on the bookstore. We went through the Fashioning Fashion exhibit from Los Angeles County Museum of Art that is in Paris until April. The clothing in the exhibit was from 1700-1915. I got some great ideas from the clothing in the museum. After our tour, one of the professors suggested that we head over to the fabric district since it was nearby. Two professors and five student all walked over to the fabric district. It was chilly outside and it was probably about a 10-15 minute walk to get there. We walked past so many bakeries on the way there...every time I look in one of those windows my mouth starts watering. Walking through the fabric district was amazing!!! Almost every window you look into has bolts and bolts of fabric stand against the walls or piled on shelves. We went into the Fabric store call General Diff, which had been recommended to us by someone from PAA. The owner of General Diff buys the fabric from the couture houses after they are finished with that season.  The shop seemed small when you walked in but it also had a downstairs and next door upstairs. Many of the prices were very reasonable. The owner lead us upstairs where the expensive fabrics were kept. Some of the fabrics that we saw were from Hermes, Lanvin, or Chanel. I loved being able to touch some of the fabrics from the couture shows. There was one fabric that was 200 Euros per meter, but he told us that it wasn’t expensive because to buy it at the regular price it would have been 2000 Euros. At that rate we would be getting a deal! I found a beautiful black mohair for 100 Euros per meter. I might have to go back and buy just half a meter to use for a small part of a garment :) After going into a shop like that I wish that I could just live in a fabric store :D Hopefully on our free weekend some of the girls will be going back there. I did buy some fabric. I came away with 3 meters of a gray wool with stripes of sparkle in it for 12 Euros. Not a bad deal!!! As the owner was cutting my fabric he was telling me that he has clients from all over the world, he started listing several countries. I definitely believe him! Before we left the shop he said that he had a gift for all of us, he went upstairs and came back with pieces of black lace. He told us that the lace was from Lanvin’s 2012 collection. I can’t wait to use my piece :) We headed back to the apartment and had couscous for supper. Tomorrow we get to learn smocking! 

The Louvre from afar, we get to go to it next week.

The amazing fabric store we went to.

Another fabric store!

Lundi, Janvier, 7

This was the last morning of working on the half bustiers. Class started again at 9 and our Professor (Sandi) told us that we would have to be in the afternoon class. I was kinda bummed because I had hoped to explore the city a little bit more. After about 10 minutes she said that there had been a change of plans and that if we felt that we needed it we could take the afternoon off to rest and look around. We didn’t have a translator in class today because today was her first day interning at Chanel. But class went fairly smoothly. I was able to finish my half bustier and also sew some pleats on it using the Madame Gres techniques. After doing that I have decided that I want to use that technique on one of the dresses that I make. We were fed more chocolate and cookies again today, I swear they are trying to fatten us up :D Sandi told Madame Picco and Martine that we weren’t allowed to have food or drinks in our classrooms at home. They said that they usually don’t allow food in the classrooms either but it was a special occasion so they were letting us snack. We were let out of class at 1p.m. and had the rest of the afternoon off. I had seen this really neat resale shop on several of the tours we had taken of Paris and I really wanted to check it out. It was right by the Bastille. We gathered a group of 12 girls that wanted to check the shop out and we decided to meet at 3 and head over. I found the directions which would have been a 45 minute walk but because we took the bus it only took about 20 minutes max. Well there must be 2 Come on Eileen stores in Paris because the one that we went to wasn’t the one I wanted to find. They had really neat clothes and most of them were designer names. I found a Chanel petticoat for 100 Euros, a Christian Dior leather pencil skirt for about 120 Euros, 2 Louis Vuitton purses and a pair of shoes for 700 Euros :/ I had fun just looking! After looking around in that store we split up and the 8 people in my group decided that we wanted to go to the Champs Elysees. We took the metro and got off on the stop that was halfway down the Champs Elysees. We walked underneath the Arc de Triomphe and took some pictures. It was getting to be about 6:30 so we decided to split up for dinner. Half wanted to go to Mcdonalds and my group decided to go to Bistro Romain. My meal was amazing!!! I had Prawns and Mediterranean Scallops with Pesto and Chocolate Macchiato. I splurged a little for this meal but it was well worth it and I would definitely go back again. After the meal we walked around a little bit and went into Louis Vuitton, Zara, and Morgan. After window shopping, we decided to head home at about 8:30. We took the RER on the way back and made it home to running water!!! 

My Supper.

Look! I'm holding up the Arc de Triomphe.

My half bustier.

My dessert.

The Louis Vuitton store.

The restaurant we ate at-Bistro Romain.

Dimanche, Janvier, 6

We started out at 9 a.m. and continued working on our half bustiers. The chocolate was brought out by 10 that morning. We kept working at it until noon and then they gave us 15 minutes extra for our lunch break so we didn’t have to be back until 1:15 p.m. Kate and I decided to make some hard boiled eggs. We didn’t get them done in time for lunch, but we saved them to have with supper. We headed back to school and then didn’t even start class until about 1:30. I got quite a ways on my half bustier in the afternoon. I had to wait for a while because there were some students that were lagging behind, so I used that time to write some of the postcards that I need to send. Tomorrow if we are able, we hopefully will get out of the afternoon class and have some time to relax and enjoy the city. Kate, Christy, and I went to the Catholic Church down the road because they had a evening service. The service was in french so I wasn’t able to understand much if any of the service. We headed back to the apartment and I worked on my knitting design for class. I think I’ve finally figured out a little bit of what I want to make. I am really enjoying the process of figuring out how to design a knit pattern. I finished writing my postcards before heading to bed.

All 25 of them :)

Samedi, Janvier, 5

The day started at 9a.m. with a presentation Madame Picco on the life and couture techniques of Madame Gres. Madame Picco only speaks French so we had an interpreter in class. The presentation went until about 11 when started working on our couture half bustiers. Another lady named Martine came in and helped us work on the bustiers. Both Madame Picco and Martine had worked for Madame Gres in the 80’s. After our lunch break we went back and continued working on the bustiers. The two ladies had brought chocolate for the whole class to snack on, I think we had at least 3 pieces by the end of class. We still didn’t have the bustiers finished by the end of the day. By 6 in the evening when class ended everyone was drained so we went back to the apartment to rest up for another long day the next day.

Vendredi, Janvier, 4

My first class today was from 9-12. It was a presentation on fashion trends by Philip Fimmano and discussion on developing a trend report project. I learned how trend research companies pick colors and use key words to describe how one season is different from another. Trend research companies work about 2 1/2 years ahead. For lunch I made some couscous. After our 2 hour lunch break we headed back for the next lecture. The afternoon class was on developing a fashion image and who’s who in fashion with Fabien Guyon. We learned about many of the people behind the big names in fashion. He also told us how to set up a photo shoot to display the pieces that we have made here in Paris. We won’t have the photo shoot until January 18th. I can’t wait! Since we class got out at 4 we decided to go and explore the city a little more in the evening. One of the girls had gone to BHV (a department store) and bought a pair of tights in the wrong size so she wanted to go back and exchange them. So we (Kate, Natalie, Christy, and I) decided to take the bus over to BHV. I read the map wrong so we walked past the road that we need to take. After wandering around the area for about half an hour and asking one person we finally found BHV. The BHV department store has 7 levels and has many things that a department store in the U.S. wouldn’t have. BHV carries yarns, buttons, and trims while also carrying purses, shoes, and clothes. On the way back from BHV we stopped at a roadside stand that was selling scarves for an amazing price. After picking up a few scarves we headed back to our apartment around 9:30p.m.

Jeudi, Janvier, 3

I got up at 6:30a.m. and started getting ready for our all day tour of the Versailles Palace. We headed to the metro at 8 and learned how use our metro passes. The first part of the day we walked around the palace. We got to see the Louis XIV, XV, and XVI’s room, dining room, drawing room, their wives rooms and finished at the Opera Royal. We ate lunch in the cafeteria at Versailles. After eating lunch we went to see the gardens and then walked to see The Grand Trianon which Louis XIV had built for himself to escape the pomp of living at Versailles. At the end of our tour we also saw the place where Marie Antoinette lived for many years. We headed back to the metro station and on the way I found a store that was offering 20 postcards for 3 Euros which was an amazing deal considering I found some by the Eiffel Tower cost were 7 for 10 Euros. I’m so glad I waited and bought them later. We headed home to work on our projects for school. Several of the girls hope to get some shopping done tomorrow (4th) and maybe even make it to a yarn shop and fabric store.

The Versailles Palace.

The Versailles Gardens.

The Hall of Mirrors.

Two different rooms in the Palace and Grand Trianon.