Maggie

Chan Sin Yan

A Letter to Laure

It is great to spend a whole month in Paris (with you). It is a city with

wonderful history. I have found and visited different monuments and museums

here. I found the most impressing experience in the Palace of Versailles. Although

there were all the time many tourists, the palace is just very grand which I can

never imagine unless I have been there. I wonder how the Louis family could

spend such a huge amount of money to enlarge the palace again and again. I am

glad that I finally got there even though I was very disappointed with the

complicated RER services.

I have visited the Pantheon too. Although I do not really know how to

appreciate the architecture, I found comfortable to stay in it. There were relatively

fewer people visiting the Pantheon. Here I have learnt more about the history of

France. There were emperors and also presidents. The exhibition explained a lot

about what they had done and their remarkable achievements. It was a good chance

for me to understand more about France and also Paris.

I have much experience with the museums and monuments in Paris. I have

been to Musee de l’Orangerie, Musee d’Orsay, Musee de Picasso, Musee de

Carnavalet, the Centre Pompidou, Musee du Louvre, the Palace of Versailles, the

Pantheon, Petit Palais, the Invalides, Arc de Triomphe, etc. The displays and

exhibitions in these museums are attractive. There were several times when I

stayed until the museums were to be closed.

The moon “inside” the Arc de Triomphe.

Musee du Louvre, the day with nice weather.

As I am a vegetarian, I found it difficult to have a traditional French meal in

Paris. Most of the meals are with beef, pork, chicken or fish. However, I am glad

that I can find many kinds of vegetarian food in the city. There are much more

choices and easier to find than in Hong Kong. I have tried the falafel, 4 fromage

panini and a salad with Mozzarella and Panama cheese. That was great. I

extremely love eating cheese. Mozzarella cheese has a magical match with fresh

tomatoes.

In these four weeks, I have attended two major cultural events, the Nomade

Festival Culturel and the Fete de la Musique. I joined the Nomade festival just out

of coincidence. I was walking around the city and I found there were people

performing in the parks. There were also street painters doing Graffiti. Comparing

with Hong Kong, you can hardly find so many people in a park, enjoying musical

performances. Also, it is kind of illegal activity in Hong Kong to paint on the street

walls. It is thus very impressing when I have the chance to participate in these

cultural activities. Because I think Hong Kong is a “cultural desert” where citizens

are not well educated on arts and art works are not appreciated. I would miss Paris

so much. It is full of arts and cultures.

One of the cultural performances of the Nomade Festival near the Musee Picasso.

A Graffiti on the wall outside the Square du Temple, the Parisian park I like the

most. I have mentioned it in the test but I cannot remember the name of it.

As I am not from a rich family, fashion and luxury products are never the

topic in my life. I know Paris is a fashion city with elegant luxury clothing industry.

The day I went to the Atelier Lesage (the House of Chanel) would probably be my

first and also the last chance to get in touch with luxury fashion. But in the trip to

the factory where the collections were produced, I found that I am interested in

making clothes and accessories too. Maybe one day I would like Coco Chanel and

create my own fashion brand, HAHAHA!

We have made our own

embroidery in the House of

Chanel. You should also have

a class here. I am sure you

would love it.

The garden inside the Musee du Rodin.

A long roof garden (or bridge garden) running from Bastille to Porte de Vincennes.

And one day, I met these guys at the Palais Royal. They were all wearing

white clothes, white dresses, white shoes and white accessories. They dinned

together in a square. They bought their own tables, chairs, white tablecloths and

food on their own. I do not really know if there was any festival. And I search

when I back to the residence. I found it was a special event called “Diner en Blanc”,

which began 25 years ago when friends gather together to have a chic Parisian

picnic. These people were told of the venue through social media sites. They then

rushed to gather at the venue. It was quite an interesting experience for me in Paris.

I can discover more about the culture but not just visiting the famous tourist spots.

Last but not least, I have some feedback on the French culture lessons. I

extremely love the lesson about cheese and wine. And I love the cooking class too

even though I do not eat meat. The crème brulee dessert was great. It was the most

delicious dessert I have eaten in Paris. Others are too sweetie.

Paris is a great city. I enjoy my days here. I would probably come here again.

Maybe I would also visit other cities and villages in France next time when I visit

Europe. I hope I can purely use French to communicate with people here when I

come again. At last, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to you, your

lessons are interesting and attractive. I have learnt a lot in these days. I would like

to meet you again. Thank you very much. Merci!

And I would like to share with you the view of Paris from the Sacre-Coeur.

I really enjoy it. Hope you love it too.