This past weekend was spent in Paris! I can see why people rave about it. The beautiful store fronts and stylish people are a sight to see!
My flight was at 3pm on Thursday. I went to my first class of the day in the pouring rain. After finally getting onto my flight and running through Heathrow to make my connection, I arrived in Paris. Next I experienced something very foreign indeed: I went up to a man who worked at the airport with hopes of finding out where the train station was. Upon my question of "parlez vous anglais?" the man began speaking to me in French. Either my French accent is better than I thought or he just wanted to make me suffer. It then hit me that I did not know how to say "I don't speak French" or "I don't know" or "this is annoying" in French so I just shrugged and left. The friend who I was staying with had given me very good directions so I did manage to find the station. But then I didn't know how to buy a ticket because the machine was in French. So I finally found someone to help me and I bought my ticket for the train from the airport to the center of the city. While standing on the platform waiting for my train I noticed that none of the signage was in any other language but French. Last weekend in Germany just about every sign had had multiple languages, so I did my best to look for cognates. While waiting a woman came up to me and started speaking French...I'm pretty sure she was asking me about which train was coming next. After I got over my initial flattery of being mistaken for a French person, I used more of the universal shrugging language.
After a very stressful train ride, switch onto the subway, I emerged right in front of the Louvre and easily found Addie's apartment. Could not have asked for a better location...but I'll get to that later. I used Addie's ever handy instructions to get into the building and upon seeing Ben and our friends (Addie, her roommate Lillian, Caitlin, Graham, Nick followed by Mo and Emma on Friday) I burst into tears because I had made it! They had a lovely college student Thanksgiving dinner prepared. After we ate I got a call from my friend from Hopkins, Jake, who was in Paris as well! I was so excited that I ran over to the Louvre (all the way across the street) and met him in front of the glass pyramid. I hadn't seen him since May, so that was lovely. That night after much eating and catching up we all went out to one of the bridges over the Seine to watch the Eiffel Tower get lit up at 1 oclock (it sparkles for five minutes every hour).
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| Thanksgiving in Paris: Left to right: Ben, Nick, Lillian, Addie, Caitlin, Graham. |
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| Jake and I and our first sighting of the Louvre! |
Friday morning I woke up bright and early so that Jake, Caitlin, and I could be at the Louvre when it opened at 9am. Fun fact: a quick show of one's student ID gets one into some of the most famous museums in the world for FREE! The three of us saw what we were interested in (of course we saw the Mona Lisa and yes I told Jake and Caitlin all about my obsession with the DaVinci Code) and then met up with everyone else for the afternoon. It is pretty fantastic to look at a piece of art and see da Vinci or Donatello on the plaque.
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| There was a lot of really cool (and really big!) art at the Louvre! |
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| Caitlin and Jake |
On Friday afternoon Addie took us on a mini tour of Paris. It began around the corner from her apartment at a crepe stand. I don't know why I must eat anything else in this life, they are so delicious. The first real stop on our tour was Notre Dame Cathedral. Despite the rainy day, it was majestic. I had heard stories and seen the Disney movie, but nothing ever compares to seeing something so beautiful and so famous in person.
Next up: Shakespeare and Co. in the Latin Quarter. This well known bookstore has mostly English books and is often mistaken for the original Shakespeare and Co. where famous writers such as Hemingway once hung out. Next: the Lock Bridge. When Addie had mentioned it I was all excited because I hadn't known that Paris had a canal system and locks! But alas, it was something very different but just as cool. The Lock Bridge lies over the Seine and is a place for lovers or friends or whoever to attach a padlock to the bridge before throwing the keys into the river. Random, but cute.
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| Most of the locks have engraving or writing with initials and dates. |
Next, Addie gave us directions to the Luxembourg Gardens, the location of the French senate. On our walk to the gardens we window shopped and stopped at Laduree, Paris' most famous dessert shop, popular for their macaroons. I got the caramel flavor, others got chocolate, and these were only a couple of the flavors among rose petal and pistachio etc. So dainty and amazingly yummy. I'm sure the Luxembourg Gardens are beautiful in the summer, but on a rainy November day when everybody is tired and has sore feet is really overrated. No offense, Paris.
Friday night we all contributed to a dinner of spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce and salad. This was in addition to copious amounts of wine, cheese and the best baguettes ever. Friday night we rallied the forces and saw another bunch of things around the city! We left Addie's and walked along the Seine, past the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay, past the Tuileries, and to the obelisk that marks the beginning of the Champs-Élysées (a long boulevard with the Arc de Triomphe at the other end.) There was a Christmas market along the length of the Champs-Élysées so we meandered and finally made it to the arch.
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| Beginning |
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| End |
From there we walked to the Eiffel Tower (I hope all of you reading are using Google maps to see how far we walked in this one day). The Eiffel Tower is just as cool as I thought it would be. Having written a paper on it last year about the wind loads on the structure, I was obnoxiously telling everyone fun engineering facts while we walked. Although I didn't get to go to the top, seeing such a monument was incredible.
We then hopped onto the Metro to go home to bed. Saturday had just as much in store. We all woke up early to beat the line at the Musee d'Orsay. This museum (unlike the Louvre which is in an enormous old palace) is housed in an old train station. After another free entry we made our way to the impressionist wing. Within the first room we saw a bunch of Monet's and Renoir's...so cool!
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| Great venue for a museum! |
After that museum we rushed home to Addie's, got fresh baguettes, made sandwiches and packed up to take the Metro to Les Buttes Chaumont, a park in Paris. After our picnic lunch we got back on the Metro to go to the north of the city to see Sacré-Cœur Basilica. Easily one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. Infamous for being a site filled with pickpockets, we kept our belongings close and watched as other tourists accepted bracelets that were offered to them by one man, while another picked their pocked. Scary stuff. Anyway, from the top of the hill we had an amazing view of the city and to top it off we went into the church. No pictures were allowed inside, but it was gorgeous.
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| View from the park where we had lunch, Sacre Coeur in the distance. |
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| Sacre Coeur |
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| View from Sacre Coeur |
On the way home we made sure to walk by the Moulin Rouge in the old red-light district. After the metro ride home we all went grocery/wine/dessert shopping. We went to a boulangerie so that we could all pick out a special dessert. After having made and eaten the fake American ones countless times, I got an eclair. Yum.
We went home to Addie's, and eager to see more of Paris we threw our desserts in the fridge and put dinner on hold. Next up: the Pompidou Center. I was psyched to see this because it is another structure that I have researched for a paper. The Pompidou Center is controversial because it is very different from the Parisian landscape. The designer put all of the building's usual contents (HVAC, electric, water, escalators, structure) on the outside. Huh? It makes for an amazingly open space inside, because no interior columns are required to hold the building up or to hide wires and pipes. Pretty cool if you ask me. We were pleasantly surprised by another free entry and rode on the outside (though enclosed) escalator to check out the unbelievable collection of modern art. The Pompidou takes the cake out of the museums that I saw in France. Maybe it's just me but seeing vibrant colors, photographs, furniture, and gravity defying sculptures made out of spices that involve all of your senses (yeah.) is cooler than seeing 500 renditions of Mary and Jesus. But hey, whatever floats your boat.
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| Not a great photo of the exterior...Google it if you're curious! |
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| Look, Mom! Chairs! |
Sunday morning was time for goodbyes. However, Mo, Caitlin and myself were not leaving until the evening so we went on another exploring adventure. Sunday was also GORGEOUS! After a day of rain and a day of dismal clouds, I was thrilled to wake up to clear blue skies. The three of us set off for crepes and walked along the Seine, through the Tuileries (pretty gardens), past the Palais Royal, over Pont Alexander (famous bridge), back along the Seine, stopped at a cute cafe for lunch, and polished the day off with the coolest art gallery I've ever been in (called 59 Rivoli: six floors of studios with art on everything from the stair risers to the doors).
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| Caitlin and Mo infront of BLUE SKIES! |
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| some pretty fountain, rendition of the Parthenon in the background |
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| Mo and I on Pont (meaning bridge) Alexander |
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| view of Pont Alexander |
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| The bridge has these great statues hanging off of it |
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| 59 Rivoli |
After a jam packed weekend I sleepily made my way to the airport. It was good to sleep in my own bed, but I don't think I will ever forget visiting the city of Paris.
On another note: I have an essay due on Friday, but this is the last week of my classes here! The time has truly flown. One of my friends left today. It is starting to hit me that there are some people who I have met here who I will never see again, and others that I will surely keep in touch with. Next week is reading week so I will have even more time to reflect on my experience here. Then I will have three exams, followed by a quick trip to Amsterdam before coming home!!!
Now that your eyes are probably as tired from reading as my hands are from typing, until next time!
