Venez divin Messie

Ah, mes amis! Noel is almost here! And that is why my title for this post is the wonderful hymn, O Come Divine Messiah. I didn't know it was French; I sung it when I was at Mass on Sunday. When I finally recognized what the song was, I joined in full blast. Here's hoping I didn't butcher the words!

 For some reason I had a rush of Christmas spirit today; of course, shopping was involved. Let's begin.

I started off the day with visiting a church that my host dad has recommended for weeks now. It's called Saint-Eustache, considered to be a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture. I had no idea about the latter. Nor did I know that Louis XIV received his First Communion there, or that it was where the funeral of Mozart's mother was, or that both Moliere and Madame Pompadour were christened there.

Why aren't places like this talked about in Paris guide books?!

I wandered around, taking photos and stopping to light a candle for a much needed intention. The chapel of the Virgin in the rear of the church was GORGEOUS, along with this beautiful window of blue, yellow and white stained glass. Not only that, one of the rose windows had parts in the shape of hearts. Sweet.

After class (ugh, side note. I have linguistically checked out. I can't learn any more French. I need to look over all the new French I've learned over break to fully comprehend!), I booked it back home to then undergo my Parisian Christmas shopping.

First stop was Longchamp, on the rue Saint-Honoré of course. I need to explore this street more, because the more westward you go, the more wonderful places you'll find like Hermes or the palace of the President. 

After that little stop, I continued down the rue, going up and down Place Vendôme and finishing off on rue de Rivoli. Just being in that area, it's being in a completely different world. You're transported to the world of luxurious, glamorous, fabulous Paris. Couples walking with shopping bags from the most revered stores like Charvet, Bulgari, Guerlain; women walking around in their beautiful fur coats and pearls; the elegant window displays, lights and wreaths. This kind of glamour cosmopolitan Christmas is one I'm not really used to seeing. Needless to say, it's quite a spectacle. But it is strange to not see more rustic, evergreen decorations I see so often back home. But in any case, I'll be seeing them soon next week!

I went to Angelina to scoop up some of their hot chocolate to bring home. Right next door is Gagliani, the oldest English bookstore in the continent of Europe. Walking in, I preferred it to Shakespeare & Co. It carries English but French as well. But what I loved about this place was the massive amounts of books on French and British history, including royal history. I must have looked through 5 or 6 books. One was this giant one dedicated to Elizabeth II, it was just photos of her throughout her life. It was so beautifully done, and had so many photos of her I've never seen. I wrote down a few of the titles so I'll take them out at the library, or get them at Border's. Whichever comes first. 

It's funny, it just doesn't feel like my last days in Paris. It probably won't hit me until Friday or Saturday morning, but I feel like it's a normal week. If only that could be true.