Get busy.

I've been doing so much lately that I haven't had a chance to post a quality blog update. So, here's something - it's not optimal, but, it's better than nothing.

My 21st birthday (June 20):

Le Bon Marché/La Grande Epicerie de Paris
(how I spent my birthday morning)

Spent the first part of my day at the amazing Bon Marché and La Grande Epicerie (the French equivalent of Whole Foods, with a huge selection of gourmet French pastries, desserts, and chocolates in addition), and met up with two people from my study abroad group for a low-key lunch at a nearby café. Afterwards, I explored yet another breath-taking French church (Chappelle Notre Dame de la Médaille Miraculeuse) and visited the Rodin Museum nearby (for free, of course, because students between the ages of 18-25 get free admission to museums in France). Between escaping the intermittent rain showers and making friends with two American college students to take my photo in front of "Le Penseur" (The Thinker) because my camera died on my way to Musée Rodin, it was a pretty decent day...

A picture of me in front of Auguste Rodin's "The Thinker"
(I'm wearing the birthday dress I bought in Paris!)

... but the evening and night were the crème-de-la-crème of my 21st. After stopping by Palais de Tokyo (again, to see the exhibits for free), I met up with a few others at Centre Pompidou to go to Le Soufflé for dinner. For dessert, I had the most amazing, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate soufflé with hot melted chocolate sauce on top. So much better than a regular old birthday cake with sticky frosting.

Earlier during the day, I read in a Parisian newspaper (the Direct Matin, given out daily and free-of-charge to everyone at and outside of métro stations) that there was a free, live concert to reign in the Fête de la Musique; so, without really knowing the exact location of the park where the performance was, my roommate and I headed out, hoping to stumble upon the concert by pure luck... The concert was supposed to start at 10 pm, and we didn't make it out till after 11, so we were pretty sure we would miss the best performances (e.g., Sean Paul and Kelly Rowland). But, fate must have been on our side, because after walking on mostly empty streets rather aimlessly for over almost half an hour, crossing a dimly lit bridge through a park, and transversing a rocky gravel path, we heard the first beats of "Get Busy" in the near distance. I won't go into the minute details, but minus hilariously heart-attack-inducing run-ins with two different French police officers, the concert and the sketchy walk back were the most fun I've ever had on a birthday.

La Fête de la Musique (June 21):

Short and sweet, I rather serendipitously stumbled upon some really great musical talents and amateur performers throughout the course of the day (like Versión Originale and beat-boxer/rappers outside of Eglise Saint-Eustache), and then hit up the massively popular venue of Denfert-Rochereau to hear more popular French musicians like Alexis HK. It was really great discovering new local artists and just being part of such a huge, collective music event. Then had a late dinner with my roommate at Rouge Pomme, a restaurant near my dorm at Cité Universitaire, where the food was as delectable as the adorable French waiter.

The flyer for the Denfert-Rochereau concert

My cadeau/present to all you faithful readers: the link to the new Girl Talk album, for a pay-what-you-can price! Thought I'd share, since I'm a maven and not a connector (read Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point and you'll understand)... and since I'm going to hear them perform tomorrow night in Paris, as part of the Solidays concert series (for AIDS awareness) this weekend!

Updates on week 5/the last week in Paris are soon to come... expect copious amounts of description on purchases for the annual Soldes d'été (when stores all over Paris offer amazing sales for shoppers) and summaries of the must-see/must-do things that I finished off of my Parisian wishlist.