A Photographic Diary of My Trip: Paris and Versailles

I took the train from London to Paris the day after my program ended and met up with friends in Paris.

The Arc de Triomphe

The Eiffel sparkles at night

The Louvre

Winged Victory of Samothrace - you MUST see this in person!

I wish I had taken pictures of the underground level - you could see the remains of the foundation of the Louvre, which was originally a fortress! I loved being down there, it was cool and dark and it felt like some kind of secret passageway.


I took a day trip to the Palace of Versailles. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a great picture of the front of the Palace of Versailles - it is very wide, and my pictures really don't do justice to how spectacular the exterior of the entrance looks in person. And the golden front gate pretty much blocked the view, too.

Gardens just outside the palace

From the rear of the palace, you can see the fountains and the lake

The gardens of Versailles are beautiful and my favorite part of the day trip - you just want to get lost in them. The grounds of Versailles are expansive, and its quite a walk from the Palace to the Trianons. On the way, my friends and I stopped by a sunflower garden and several quaint hamlets. There are also these sculptural hedge gardens by the lake, where you can find hidden eateries.



And finally we visited the Grand and the Petit Trianon. The Petit Trianon was kind of disappointing - sparsely decorated and very tiny - but the Grand Trianon went beyond my expectations. I actually thought it was more beautiful than the Palace.

The furniture at the Grand Trianon was AMAZING! There were so many beautiful fabrics and wallpaper, and the furniture looked incredibly luxurious and ornate.

My favorite room, the perfect shade of lemony yellow

A Photographic Diary of My Trip: Back in London

I split the rest of my time in London between stalking Jude Law and getting more sightseeing in. For the rest of the program, I had time to see Kensington Palace, the Tower of London, and the British Museum, as well as go shopping on Oxford Street and Camden.

Garden - Kensington Palace

Afternoon tea with friends at the Orangerie, Kensington Palace
This delectable assortment of goodies was called the Debutante's Tea, I think - yummy

Entrance to the Tower of London

My Beefeater guide at the Tower - 20+ years in the service and available, he jokes

The Tower Bridge

The Globe Theater - where I watched performances of As You Like It and Romeo and Juliet.
Watching As You Like It during a heavy rain, as a groundling, was not fun. Not fun AT ALL. I wore a jacket that I thought was rainproof, but quickly discovered was not, and got completely soaked. I bought a plastic poncho at the Globe, but then discovered how steamy it can get on the inside - icky.

I spent my last day at the British Museum.

The Elgin Marbles at the British Museum - I wish I had more time to explore, but I did get to see the Rosetta stone

OH - and I totally forgot - I got to see Ethan Hawke playing a flamboyant Autolycus in a performance of The Winter's Tale at the Old Vic. If I had stuck around, like my roommate did, I would have been able to take a picture with him - bummer.

What I wore for the end-of-program banquet

I am SO glad I picked up this dress from J. Crew - the ruffled cotton sateen dress - it was completely worth the price since I wore it for both my graduation and this trip. I got a lot of mileage out of it, wearing it for a few of the nicer play performances and for the end-of-program banquet, as well as for an evening out to the Monte Carlo casino in Monaco.

I wish I had taken a full-length photo so I could show you what I usually paired it with - my navy blue Alessia patent-leather peep-toes, black polka-dot tights from Topshop, my J. Crew beaded flamenco polka-dot cardigan, and the Temperly beetle bag I got on Gilt.

Next up: Paris!

A Photographic Diary of My Trip: Sexiest Man Alive

JUDE LAW!

Yes, I saw JUDE LAW in London! After coming back from Stratford, I got to catch Jude's performance in Hamlet at the Wyndham, and then I came back with an army of friends at night to mob him. Yes, I paparrazied the shit out of him - I'm sure he didn't mind the blinding flash of my camera. I got so close I could have reached out and touched his receding hairline. *sigh* He stayed out for a while to sign autographs.

Also, Rachel McAdam slipped out the back entrance door.

More on London in the next diary post -
I felt Jude deserved his own little post.

EDIT: I have this really cute group photo of my friends and I in front of the rear entrance of the Wyndham that I wanted to share, but I felt torn over whether or not to include it because it shows their faces and I know how iffy people get about having their faces on the internet. Rather than blur their faces (which I think is really creepy), I decided to use Picnik to mask their identities (which I think is more appropriate because it is in the spirit of Halloween, and therefore slightly less creepy)

but I really really wanted to include it, because it shows the Temperley beetle bag I got on Gilt!

and now that I think more about it - covering one eye with with eye patch probably isn't gonna cut it for identity protection, haha - but it was either that or a full-on Jason face mask, which is totally not cute

clicky fingers

couldn't help myself yesterday morning - seemed like a steal
and look at the bow!


Leifsdottir Needlepoint Skirt on Gilt Fuse
(otherwise known as the Sprightly Skirt on Anthropologie)

A Photographic Diary of My Trip: Stratford

After spending more than a week in London, the program switched scenery to Stratford, birthplace of Shakespeare. I could only expect from Stratford what little I knew about small towns in the English countryside - think the village green from Hot Fuzz, without the excessive gore and awesome soundtrack, meets Pride and Prejudice's picturesque open country. What I found was a small town that's been Shakespeared out - his name is everywhere, the puns are endless.

The birthplace of Shakespeare

A day trip to Warwick Castle - the castle is beautiful, but it's been commercialized into some kind of cheesy theme park for kids

gardens behind New Place/Nash's house - where Shakespeare retired and where his granddaughter lived

A bust of Shakespeare that's been mounted over his grave in the Church of the Holy Trinity

Where RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) performances are held - part of my program involved watching RSC productions of A Winter's Tale, As You Like It, and Julius Caesar.

Happy memories at the Dirty Duck, popular pub for RSC actors and thirsty UCLA students - far too many nights spent here!

One of five Shakespeare-inspired statues in a garden in the main square, just by the Thames River

EDIT: I almost totally forgot about mentioning a very unusual incident, where my friends and I got recruited to be extras in a new, low-budget film called Will's Diaries. It was the funniest thing because we were told to pretend like we were talking, and the filming took so long that by the end of it, my friends and I were wildly gesticulating for fun. I'm sure they'll cut us out of it, haha. And it was also funny because the guy who recruited us was talking about the film and where they were filming, and he asked us if we knew about the Dirty Duck, and let me tell you - we know all too much about the Duck. And we even had plans to go there that night, so it was a bit awkward and funny to have filmed there, go back to the hotel for dinner, and then show up again that very night. I don't think the bartenders liked us very much :o)

I know it's WAY too early to be thinking about Christmas but...

these Kate Spade 'Bourgeois Bow' stud earrings would be the perfect gift for the holiday season!

And heck, why not throw in this dress,

these LOVELY flats,

and this bag!

All images from Nordstrom

A Photographic Diary of My Trip: London

Midda's book reminds me that I still have yet to create a proper post about my trip! I've been feeling extremely lazy (and still am) so to tide the appetite until I create a proper post (or maybe this will be my proper post if I never get around to it), I'll post a few select pictures of my trip to London, Paris, Nice, Avignon, and Morocco.

Week 1: London

National Gallery, in Trafalgar Square (I now know why there are no pigeons - bird seed contraceptives!)

parade ground of Horse Guards

Big Ben

Hyde Park (I went rowing here, the park is beautiful)

Buckingham Palace - rear, near gardens

Buckingham Palace - front

Craving for Books

Lately, I've been wanting to spend my money on books, the kind that inspire with their creativity or their breathtaking pictures, the ones you'd see lined up at a bookshelf in Anthropologie. Literally.

While browsing the Anthropologie website, wistfully adding the Flight-Of-Swans dress in my shopping cart, I got to remembering that I had intended to purchase a few of their new baking cookbooks at the store but decided to wait and buy them for cheaper on Amazon. While on the site, I discovered several other beautiful books, like Sara Midda's pictorial diary of the south of France (which reminds me of my recent trip to Provence) or the French Market cookbook (again, France, maybe this is my way to cope being back home?). So here's my wishlist of books, combining the culinary and visual, a feast for the eyes:

which got me thinking that maybe I should buy the first book first? afterall it was a bestseller

and because I loved the movie so much (one of the authors of the above French cookbooks, Joanne Harris, wrote Chocolat)

I'm more of a baker than a cooker, though (plus who can resist cookies and brownies, esp ORGANIC ones!)

what better way to protect yourself from the sun

than a whimsical daisy hat!

from Moschino Cheap & Chic SS 2010
picture from fashionising

An entourage of vest-clad dancers

How great is this video?



I'm loving this rendition of Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You, feels so camp 70's (even though it was produced in 1982). I found it while looking for music from Sonia Rykiel's SS 2009 runway show, which I absolutely adore!



I've been obsessed with Sonia for a while and was elated to finally be able to step into her boutiques in Paris. I visited her store at St. Germain des Pres desperately hoping I could afford something and walked out with a cute knit beret! There were so many cute berets in the look book (one sparkly one and another with a giant bow tied in the back) but they were sold out! Also, something fun to mention is that there's a naughty section at the back of the store!

And now I hear that Sonia is H&M's next designer collaboration - how exciting! Even better - it's a two-part collection! First lingerie, coming out Dec. 5, and knitwear in the spring. Can't wait!

P.S. An extra video I found at www.rykielles.com - with Sonia's own commentary on her surprise gift at the SS 2009 show.