I was thinking about what to blog about now that I’m back in the US when I came to the realization that I never finished writing about my experience in Europe. I said I would try to keep my blog updated regularly, but that barely lasted two weeks – and I only finished three entries! (I did, however, update my pictures regularly. So at least I was successful in one area! Here’s the link if you’d like to take a peek: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2143635709256.137260.1197139952&type=1&l=c948545bda ). Since I did such an awful job of recording my adventures this summer, I guess I should finish now. After all, better late than never, right? In my last post, I left off with our return to Paris from Italy. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; I was so incredibly happy to be back! Paris was familiar territory, even though we’d barely begun to orient ourselves, and it had begun to feel like home. Once we got back the Menswear shows began, so we were constantly on the go! He first show we worked was for Alexis Mabille. When we arrived things were hectic and they were running a little behind, so we go to help set up for the show. After set-up was done we worked as welcome hostesses, directing and guiding guests to their seats. Once everyone was seated we were allowed to sit in any empty chairs and watch the show, which was a pleasant surprise! The aftermath of the show, however, was not as pleasant and actually rather nerve-wracking. We had all left our purses backstage, and when we went to retrieve them mine was nowhere to be found. After a half hour of searching, one of the models found it in the bathroom. The money I had in my purse was stolen, but I was just thankful that everything else was still there (and that I hadn’t left the rest of my money in my wallet!). I could have easily lost my passport, student ID, buss pass, phone, and camera. It was a hard lesson to learn, but I kept a much closer eye on my things from then on.
The next day some of us dressed for the Walter van Beirendonck show. His line had lots of woven garments, beautiful colors, bold gloves, and abstract shapes. It was incredible to see how much work was put into making those garments. The models were great to work with and we had a lot of fun, even though things were a little hectic backstage! After the show we decided to visit Montmartre and Sacre Coeur. It immediately became my favorite spot in Paris! We took the bus and it dropped us off in front of an alleyway set on a steep incline full of souvenir shops and clogged with people. Dr. Ellis led us through the alleyway, and when we emerged the view was absolutely breathtaking. As soon as you reach the end you get a full view of the hill and the beautiful basilica located on top, Sacre Coeur. It is completely white, and when the sky is as vibrantly blue as it was that day it creates the perfect contrast. To the right of the basilica on the street at the bottom of the hill, there are a multitude of fabric shops with some of the most beautiful fabrics I’ve ever seen. I was in heaven! I found a shop that sold pre-cut fabrics at different price points, and that’s where I found my best deal! I bought two different fabrics at three meters each for a total of 20 euros. I arrived back at my apartment that day extremely pleased.
On that Sunday, we worked two shows: Songzio and Qasimi Homme. It was an extremely busy day that left us ridiculously tired, but I had an absolute blast! The model I dressed for the Songzio show was also one of the models from the Alexis Mabille show and happens to be a rather famous French model. How cool is that? His name is Adrien Sahores, and he was really fun to work with. All the models in our back corner were really nice, and even though we had to move quickly and it got a little stressful, they made it a lot of fun with their jokes and cutting up backstage! The Qasimi Homme show was a little different from the other shows we worked, but still a lot of fun. It was outside, which was great because it meant we didn’t have to stay cooped up in a hot room the whole time, and we had a lot more space to move around. We were also paired up two dressers per model because there were multiple layers and pieces to each outfit. I was paired with Katherine, one of my roommates, and our model was Timmi Radicke. He also happened to be a pretty famous model from Denmark. He was really nice and posed for a picture with us at the end of the show (As soon as I can get the rest of our photos from Dr. Ellis I’ll make sure to post it!).
After the menswear shows were over we spent our days in Art History classes and visiting museums. Don’t get me wrong, I loved going to all the museums and Agnes, our amazing Art History teacher, was a great tour guide! But it got to the point where we were all tired of the museums, especially the Louvre, which we visited 4 times as a class by the end of our trip. There was one day when Kat and I decided to visit to catch up on what we would miss during our internship and roamed around the Louvre for over three hours on our own. That turned out to be the most interesting and exciting visit of all. The number one thing you need to know before visiting the Louvre is that it is like a maze and you will definitely need a map to navigate it. That being said, even someone like me who is really good with maps can easily get turned around in there. Kat and I went down a staircase we thought lead to an exit and ended up in a completely different area of the museum. That was perfect, however, because it led us to our favorite exhibits. The first exhibits we stumbled upon were Cour Marly and Cour Puget, both located on the ground floor in the Richelieu wing. These exhibits are indoor courtyards with glass ceilings and they are home to several statues. They were so open and full of light compared to the other exhibits in the museum. When we finally found the exit, Kat saw a sign for Napoleon’s apartments. Of course, we had to go check them out. If you ever get the chance to visit the Louvre, the apartments should definitely be on your must-see list.
On June 29, we began our internship at Elie Saab. We spent 7 days in the studio doing everything from dressing models for customers in the showroom to helping with model castings and fittings to packing and preparing for the show. It was a hectic week and stressful at times, but I wouldn’t trade my experience for the world. The eighth and final day of our internship was the day of the show. Getting to be a part of and seeing all the work put into planning the show made seeing the final product all the more amazing.
But the most amazing part of the internship – actually, the most amazing part of the whole trip – occurred the day the couture dresses came in. We were dressing the models for the show room when one of the full time staff hung two dresses (that weren’t from the collection we were showing) on the rack. We thought maybe they wanted us to dress the models in these as well, so one of the other interns began helping a model into one of the dresses. The next thing we know, the girl who brought the dresses in was in a panic telling us to hang the dress back up and that both of them were for an important client. Of course that only peaked our curiosity, so when we got the dress back on the rack we had to take a better look at them. Not long after that, she came back in to fetch the dresses and put them elsewhere. When we got back to the apartment after classes and things the following Thursday (after our internship was over) I was looking through the pictures from the London premiere of the final Harry Potter film. Well lo and behold, Emma Watson wore one of the dresses to the after party. I’m dead serious. Needless to say, I was beyond ecstatic – I actually touched that dress, her dress. It definitely tops the list of the most exciting things to ever happen to me!
After the internship was over it seemed like time had gotten away from us. We only had a week left, and there was so much we still had to do. The next day we took a day trip to Giverny and Versailles. Giverny is where Claude Monet’s home, ponds, and gardens are located, and the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. It was so evident where his inspiration came from and it was incredible to see that. Versailles was everything I imagined it to be and more. Knowing that by being there we were standing in a location where so much history took place was amazing.
The best part of our trip (other than Elie Saab!) was definitely our free weekend. We had three days to do whatever we pleased, and the girls I roomed with and I chose to spend out weekend in Paris. We finally got to explore parts of the city we’d been dying to see since we arrived in Paris. Our first stop was Notre Dame, which was so much more beautiful than I anticipated. After our tour through the cathedral itself, we decided to climb to the top of the bell tower. The trip to the top was lengthy and tiresome, but we were so glad we decided to make the trip after seeing the view from the top. And we discovered that we were allowed to enter the bell tower and climb the steps to touch the bells, which was amazing. I felt like Quasimodo! After we reached the ground again, we decided to see the city from the top of the Eiffel Tower. It seemed like everyone else in Paris had the same idea, so it took us quite a bit longer than we anticipated to get through the line and ride to the top. I finally felt like I had really seen Paris once we got there – you really can see every corner of the city from the top! The highlight of the weekend, however, was our return trip to Sacre Coeur. It was yet another beautiful day, so it was a perfect day to see the basilica again. And we really enjoyed doing some more fabric shopping!
Our last Tuesday in Paris was wonderful for many reasons! We didn’t have to meet until after lunch for Art History, so we were able to sleep in a little longer to recoup from our long weekend. We went to the Orsay museum for class, and it was by far my favorite museum. I just wish we had been able to stay longer. The Orsay museum houses impressionist works by everyone from Monet to Renoir to van Gogh. We only had a short time to spend in the museum because of our evening plans, and it was the first time on the trip we had ever been sad to leave a museum. (Which is saying something!) That evening, we all went to the Paris Opera House to see the ballet. I felt like I had walked straight into a scene from Phantom of the Opera. It was truly beautiful! And I found a nice surprise in the gift shop – I had been looking all over Paris for a copy of Madeleine in the original French, and happened to stumble upon a copy in the Opera House gift shop. The ballet was wonderful, but the highlight of the evening was what happened afterward.
The only thing I wasn’t looking forward to about my trip abroad was that I would miss the premiere of the final Harry Potter film. If you know me, you know that’s a huge deal. The day before our free weekend I found out that it premiered in Paris two days before the US premiere, which meant I wouldn’t miss it and erased all tiny, silly inklings of regret about going abroad. If you think you can imagine how excited I was about that, multiply that feeling by 10 and you might have an idea how ecstatic I was. Kat and I bought our tickets that Friday and got in line two hours early to wait for the doors to open for the movie on Tuesday night. A few minutes before midnight people started skipping in line and pushing forward, which meant we had absolutely no personal space. When the line finally started moving forward into the theater, we seriously felt like we were being trampled. We finally got seated and the movie started about 12:30. All the people in the rows in front of and behind us were American, which was really funny. We were sitting in a theater in Paris but felt like we were back home. After the movie we had to figure out the night bus system. We managed to find a bus back to the Louvre, but waited over half an hour for a bus to take us back to our apartment before we finally decided to just walk back – at 3:30 in the morning. Surprisingly we weren’t that tired, but when we got back to the apartment around 4, we crashed. It was a good thing we were riding the train to Belgium the next morning, because it gave us plenty of time to sleep!
Our train ride to Antwerp, Belgium was rather uneventful, until we stopped at the station. Antwerp was just a stop on the train going from Paris to Amsterdam. Well, three of us almost went to Amsterdam. Hannah, Katie, and I were at the end of our little line getting off the train and the door closed on us just as we were about to exit. The steward couldn’t open the door for us, but we didn’t really panic at all, we were just weren’t really sure what we should do. Thank goodness Dr. Ellis was able to get the conductor’s attention to let us off! We were told it would be cold in Antwerp that day, but we didn’t know just how cold it would be. I’m not sure what the actual temperature was, but it was much colder than it had been in Paris, plus it was very windy and rainy. So we spent most of the day inside. There was plenty to do, from the museums we went on tours through to the shops we darted in and out of all day.
Our last full day was Bastille Day, France’s independence day. We had the day free until dinner when we took a dinner cruise. Since we had the day free Britton and I decided to take a trip to the Rodin museum, which was a great decision! Rodin was the sculptor who created the famous sculptures The Thinker, The Kiss, and Gates of Hell. The museum and gardens only enhanced the sculptures with their own beauty. It’s definitely a museum I would recommend to anyone visiting Paris! Our trip ended with the dinner cruise, which was a lot of fun! We were served a full three course dinner as we rode down the Seine river toward the Eiffel Tower. Shortly after we reached our destination the fireworks show began, and it was incredible! From our spot on the river, we could see the Eiffel Tower on one side of the bridge and the fireworks over and on the other side of it. Near the end of the show the Eiffel Tower began to sparkle, adding something extra special to the show. It was a perfect end to our adventures in Paris!
On the morning of our trip home I wasn’t sure what my feelings were. I love Paris and would be sad to leave it, but I was definitely ready to see my friends and family again. During our trip through the airport baggage drop off and security, however, I found myself just ready to be out of there. It was truly the only bad experience I had while in France. I had to pay extra to check one of my carry-on bags (the rules about baggage coming back from France are much more strict than the rules going in) and we were a little too close to missing our flight for comfort. But the rest of our journey was rather uneventful and we made it home safely.
I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to go on this trip abroad. It was a life changing and eye opening experience. Hopefully I’ll have the chance to return to Paris one day – it has truly stolen my heart. I now understand what Hemmingway meant when he said:
“There are only two places in the world where we can live happy: at home and in Paris.”
