Une Amy In Paris

I was SO excited for my friend Amy to come visit me from L.A. The story of our friendship is a strange one; I met her about a month before the first time I went to Paris, and when I returned two months later, we worked at PS260 together for a few months, after which she moved to L.A. and became a superstar in the bluegrass world for her blog, The Bluegrass Situation. But though we've only ever been in the same town for a few months at a time, whenever we get together it's like no time has passed. We are so similar (she even worked at her local PBS affiliate in college!) that we just understand each other.

The evening she arrived, we went back to my apartment and I asked her what she'd like for dinner, if she wanted me to make anything for her. "Whatever is fast and easy," she said. "Um, could we just... have cheese?" I knew we'd have a great week.

We spent the whole evening talking on the balcony and catching up and drinking wine and listening to music. The next day, she just wanted to walk around Montmartre, so off we set, wandering the neighborhood. We got some Coca-Colas, because it was that hot out, and found the recent marketing for French Coca-Cola was serendipitous.

 

It was so hot out I felt like I was in a Coke ad. AHHHH, refreshment!

We wandered around the neighborhood and I pointed out locations from "Amelie," and of course we ended up at Les Deux Moulins (the café from the film) and had a beverage. I tried on Amy's shades and felt pretty bad-ass.

We walked up the hill again and had lunch at some little place that I went to with Kerri, and have passed a million times, and I still can't remember the name. Anyway, it had a nice view. We had some cheese, prosciutto and melon and Amy kept saying, "This is all I have ever wanted for my life."

Amy gave me a pretty Chanel lipstick she'd gotten for free, which she said looked better on me than her. I used a window as my mirror.

We stopped by La Maison Collignon, the fruit and vegetable shop from "Amelie," and Amy actually got some fruit.

It was a beautiful, golden day.

We wound around the Sacré Coeur and got caught in the rain, but it was nothing a little shelter at a café with an espresso couldn't handle. Then we made our way back to my apartment, stopping at La Maison Rose to split some spaghetti and wine. I have always wanted to come here, and I've shown the place a million times on this blog, but it was the first time I ever sat down at La Maison Rose. They were very nice, and the food was very good (and not expensive).

 

I took her past the only vineyard in Paris.

And this is how I know Amy and I were meant to be friends. I took her past Au Lapin Agile, the Montmartre cabaret where Picasso used to come, and she freeeeeeaked out. Not because of Picasso, but because it is the location of a Steve Martin play called "Einstein and Picasso at the Lapin Agile." Which is a play I saw with my drama club in high school, which is why I freaked out the first time I saw it too.

That night she insisted we watch the romantic comedy "French Kiss" and just hang out, which was totally fine with me. The next day, I took her to get her first macarons, bringing her to all the spots on my "macaron hunt" tour (six pâtisseries).

We brought our macs to the Jardin du Luxembourg and had a taste test, which is one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon.

Then we walked over to Shakespeare & Co.

We walked along the Seine back toward the Métro and talked about... just about everything.

That night, we met up with Elsa and "the gang," as Elsa always says, and had a picnic, walked all around Paris, and ended up beside the river. As with most nights out, I was too busy living to take more photos than this.

Amy liked the area (Le Marais) so much that we went back the next day to wander. That evening we had a nice dinner out with a friend of hers who happened to be in town from Nashville, then the three of us hung out at my place listening to music and talking about feminism (too bad for her friend, a guy... though he claimed to be enjoying the discussion). There were a lot of moments all week that went unphotographed, but we were just too busy enjoying to worry about it. I had such a great time with Amy - she was a very easy house guest. And during her three entire days here, we didn't catch sight of the Eiffel Tower even once.