I woke around 9:30 am today in my queen-sized bed that I was sharing with Harry. Lying on a mattress on the floor next to us was Dylan. Some people had made plans to start the day super early, but judging by the fact that everyone was sleeping, I imagine these plans were delayed.
We had to check out of the Airbnb by 12, but I was in no rush. I laid in bed for a while just checking all my social media accounts. Soon everyone was up, and Jonathon and Nick started cooking a bunch of eggs for everyone. We wanted to eat a lot this morning and had bought about three dozen eggs.
Here’s a short video of Jonathon and Nick cooking eggs while oldie are blasting in the background.
After eating a bunch of eggs, I packed up all my clothes and took my last stand up shower for a while. Tomorrow it would be back to sitting in the tub while showering. Once the apartment was fully cleaned up and everything packed away, we split up into different groups to go explore Paris once again. I headed out with Nick, Jonathon and Katie and Harry. I was really not looking forward to carrying my now even heavier duffel bag throughout the city.
Our first destination for the day was Sacré-Coeur. This was one of the many old and beautiful churches in Paris. We chose to go to this one because it was really close to where we stayed and the whole area of Montemartre was supposed to be very cool. After walking for a bit and going up a bunch of stairs, we made it to the church. I took this opportunity to put my heavy bag down for a moment and take in the views.
The Sacré-Coeur in all its glory.
Around the corner from the church was an area called Place du Tetre or the artist’s square. This is an area where everyday a bunch of artists come and set up easels. They paint and try to sell their paintings. It was definitely a cool area to check out and see the artists at work.
Here’s a picture of the square, a cool print I saw, and a delicious croissant I got for a euro.
After the artist’s square, we started to head in the direction of the Louvre. We figured this was a must see for our last day in Paris. We took our time getting there though and stopped in a bunch of stores.
We eventually got the Louvre and I was immediately impressed. I didn’t realize how big the palace it was housed in was. It’s crazy to think that people used to live there.
Huge and Impressive, and this is just a section of it.
We entered the inner courtyard and saw the famous glass pyramid that the Louvre was known for. Despite the cloudy weather, everything was still very pretty.
Nick taking the opportunity to be taller than Jonathon for once. Plus a picture of the pyramid.
We entered underneath the pyramid and were able to get in for free with our student visas in our passports. Also to my luck, they had free bag and coat storage. I gladly dumped my 45 lb bag into a locker for a couple of hours. It was now time to explore the museum.
To talk about everything I saw would be extremely tedious and probably pretty boring to read, so I’m going to post some pictures and talk about the highlights.
The Greek statues and art sections was super cool. All of them were super old and still n great condition. It was also nice to have descriptions of the artwork available in English for once, something I didn’t get at the last museum I visited. Pictured below is the famous Venus de Milo by an unknown artist and picture that shows the crazy amount of statues in the wing.
The massive Italian Paintings wing and of course the Mona Lisa. Even with the crowd of tourists and two plates of glass, the Mona Lisa was still so incredible. It’s crazy to see one of the most famous and valuable paintings in person. Definitely a highlight of the Louvre for me.
A cool Easter Island Head, a bunch of pretty ceiling paintings, and extravagant jewelry and diamonds. This section with the ceiling paintings reminded me a bunch of the Sistine Chapel.
The Louvre blew away all my expectations. It was definitely one of the best art museums I’ve been to and would recommend it to anyone visiting Paris. Despite being there for a few hours, I felt like I only saw a portion of it. After a great time at the museum, I was dreading carrying my heavy duffel bag again.
Nick, Harry and I parted ways with Jonathon and Katie after leaving the museum. Nick wanted to stop at the Lacoste store and buy a shirt he spotted earlier. We walked for what felt like an eternity and finally made it to the cool underground mall. In typical French fashion, we all had to get our bags checked and bodies patted down before entering the mall. While Nick and Harry were in the store, I relaxed on one of the mall couches. I was texting my friend Ryan, who we were planning to meet up with shortly.
We all wanted to go to this one basketball court in Paris. You might be asking, what’s so special about a basketball court? This is a court that is owned by the French fashion label, Pigalle. Pigalle did a collaboration with NikeLab over the summer and painted the court bright and vivid colors. I remember seeing pictures of it on Instagram over the summer and really wanted to visit. After showing pictures to my friends, they wanted to go too. Plus, I wanted to check out the two Pigalle stores. One was just basketball stuff and across the street from the court. The other store with the main fashion line was down the street.
Harry, Nick and I hopped in an uber and headed to meet Ryan at the court. We arrived at the court, and to our disappointment, it was locked up. I went into the Pigalle basketball store inspired to find a way in. I didn’t come all the way to Paris not to see the court. While in the store, I purposely started talking to Harry about the Celtics vs Warriors game the night before. We were discussing how crazy the Kyrie and Steph Curry match up was. One of the store employees, conveniently wearing a Celtics jersey, hopped in the conversation to talk about the game. He said he was a Celtics fan and we talked to him about going to school in Boston and being Celtics fans. After a few minutes of talking to him, I asked if there was any chance he could unlock the court for us. He said yes, but only because we were Celtics fans. My plan had worked!
He followed us outside and the court was absolutely amazing. As soon as he opened it, a bunch of other strangers started to come and check it out. He said we had a few minutes.
This basketball court was something else.
Unfortunately, our friend Ryan hadn’t arrived yet, and since there were so many strangers checking it out, the employee locked up the court. Ryan arrived literally one minute after this, very disappointed. We were not ready to give up just yet. I had a plan once again. Sometimes you just need to shoot your shot.
I went in the store with Ryan, pretending to show him some basketball shoe. While we were in there checking out the clothes, I noticed the British rapper Skepta playing on the speakers. I took this opportunity to tell the store employee that I like his music choice. I talked to him for a bit about British grime rap and eventually went for it. I said my friend just got here and we were leaving Paris that night. I then asked if he could open the court for just two more minutes and he said yes. He must have liked us a lot, because he grabbed a basketball and followed us to the court, something he didn’t do the first time.
I took a bunch of photos of Ryan and we shot around with the employee for ten minutes. He told us that bunch of famous NBA players have come to play at the court including Lebron, KD, and Dwayne Wade.
Here’s a picture of my fellow fashion connoisseur, Ryan, with me. And some other pictures.
Getting to see and play on this basketball court was definitely the best part of the weekend for me. The employee invited us to come play a real game there the next time we got back to Paris. After locking up the court, Ryan, Harry, Nick and I headed to the actual Pigalle store up the street.
I had known a decent amount about the brand from its popular collaborations, but I just learned that they only sell their main line of clothes in the two stores, the one here and the one in Tokyo. This season’s clothes featured some vibrant colors and very cool cuts.
Here’s a picture from their Paris Runway show from last week to give you a idea.
There was an old lady and employee in the tiny store. I knew the old lady had to be important, so I asked what her role was in Pigalle. She said she founded the company with her son, Stéphane Ashpool. I couldn’t believe it. I guess it makes sense when a seventy year old women was in a cool fashion store. Just when I thought the day couldn’t get any better, Stéphane Ashpool, the head designer and founder of the brand himself walked into the store. I was in awe. I talked to him for a solid five minutes about the brand and I asked him about what his inspirations were for this season’s lines and the themes. It was a great conversation. Nick and Harry didn’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation, but Ryan and I were still in awe after leaving the store. I could not believe our luck.
After leaving the store, we had some time to kill before meeting the others for our dinner reservation. Naturally, we went to McDonalds to get some food. What else do four young boys do before a big fancy dinner.
After hanging out for a bit, we parted ways with Ryan who had other dinner plans, and ubered to the restaurant. The restaurant was called Le Bistrot d’Henri. I was eating with, Dylan, Katie, Anna, Jonathon, Harry, and Nick this evening. The actual restaurant was small, but the ambiance was super nice. I didn’t get an appetizer, but Nick and Harry split an escargot dish. They let me try it and I can officially cross off eating escargot in Paris off my bucket list. It was surprisingly good. For my main meal, I had a duck filet dish which was absolutely delicious. After eating a lot of good peking duck in Hong Kong, I was inspired to get a duck dish here.
The Restaurant
The Escargot
My Duck Filet
We would have stayed for dessert and espresso, but we were paranoid about missing our bus. We called two ubers and headed to the bus station. Despite a 7 hour bus ride ahead of me, I was exhausted and ready to sit for a while. Also not having my bus delayed for four hours like the previous time was extremely nice. I grabbed my neck pillow and eye mask, changed my shoes, and headed onto the bus.
Paris was a phenomenal time, and I know I will be back very soon.
Foreign Tourist with No Grasp of the Local Language 
Sounds like an amazing weekend!
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