BG's Paris Diary: Week 9

Last weekend HG and another friend of ours came to visit me in Paris, and we had an awesome time. Since all of us have been to Paris before, we wanted to avoid the usual cliche places and instead visit other places that tourists on the go don't usually see.

So, we spent half a day at the Chateau de Fontainebleau, which is only about 45 minutes away from Paris center. Honestly, I didn't think it compared to Versailles or the Chateaux de Loire, but it was an interesting experience. We had oodles of fun imagining ourselves living there back in the days of Marie Antoinette and finally decided that it was too drafty for longterm living. Besides, what would we do without internet connection??
We also went to the Paris Catacombs at Denfert Rochereau. This used to be a quarry, but because of some disease some time ago, they excavated nearby cemetaries and deposited all the millions of bones here to make room. They are all literally stacked on top of each other in neat rows. With the dripping water and it being more than 10 meters below ground, it was quite a creepy experience.Then we went to the Musee D'Orsay, which used to be a trainstation. It was quite interesting with these bizarre statues (left) and works of art by Monet and Van Gogh. Out of them all, we thought this picture (right) by Monet was the coolest, because you literally have to step back to see what it is.
Other museusm of interest you might want to try out that is not the Louvre is the Carnavalet Museum, which is about the Revolution. Although the art inside is really not that amazing or authentic. Like this room here is a replica of Marie Antoinette's room when she was imprisoned for 6 months. Personally I prefer the maison de Victor Hugo, which is really hard to find at Place des Vouges. Its real cool inside as the furnitures in it are designed all by Victor Hugo (he writes AND draws!). He was really innovative and liked to make furniture out of furniture. For example, this dinner table here(center) is actualy a desk (see the drawers?) with a DOOR on top as the surface! He also managed to put his signature very subtly on everything. Like this picture here (right), can you see the VH?I know we said we didn't want to go to any cliche places, but it seemed a crime for HG and I not to go to the Vuitton store together. Of course, it was enormous and awesome. Really more like a museum than a store. And how cute are the mini vuitton kids (right)?
Later that night, we also went to the Buddha Bar, located on this quaint little street next to the Hotel Crillon. A restuarant/bar with a huge buddha in the middle, the ambiance is excellent, a must go if you like barring. Except. . . good luck finding a table!