PARISPARISPARIS

Of course I could not spend a semester in France without visiting one of the most amazing cities in the world. Having been there once when I was 16 I couldn't wait to go back and see if it was any different for me. We arrived by plane and were in the heart of Paris by noon. My friend Lawren and I were meeting another friend from AU who is currently studying in Copenhagen (Corey). We arrived at our "hostel" which was really just an inexpensive hotel and then proceded to Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur (one of my favorite places in Paris!) for a yummy lunch. Our hostel was no more than a five minute walk from the gorgeous cathedral and hillside. For lunch we at a cozy little place in the heart of montmartre and had some delicious french onion soup that warmed us up on that cold day. After lunch we started walking...and walking...all the way down to the gardens of the Louvre, the Tuileries. On the way there of course we saw some amazing things, the Opera house being one. After walking through the gardens of the Louvre we made our way to the Place des Vosges, the Notre Dame, and place de la Bastille. I hadn't seen any of those things (besides the Notre Dame) in my last trip so it was neat to discover this new things. The Notre Dame was still gorgeous but when I went last time it seemed bigger than life. Now after seeing so many gorgeous cathedrals in Milan, Florence, Venice and Rome and even the National Cathedral in DC the ND was still gorgeous but it did not seem as big to me anymore. As it turned dark we decided to head towards the Eiffel tower. We took the elevator up and got some incredible shots of the city at nighttime. As we walked away towards something to eat the tower started to sparkle as it does every hour on the hour and I got some more great pictures of the tower. Dinner was at a little cafe (steak-frites and escargot!) and then we headed back to the hotel to crash after a very tiring day.

Day two started out early. Corey decided to head to Versailles and me and Lawren stayed in the city to see more of what it had to offer. We took the metro towards the Hotel des Invalides (something I had not seen before). The Invalides is a combination church, courtyard, tomb and military museum. This is where you can find the tomb of Napoleon. Let me tell you he must of had a really big complex about being a little man because his coffin alone is the size of a small cape house. The tomb and the cathedral were all very gorgeous (I have pictures that will be uploaded to the Paris album soon...they weren't on the same memory card) and the military museum was incredible. It had coats and swords and shields ranging back from the middle ages with a big focus on the Napoleonic era. There were even outfits of his including that famous black triangle hat he was so famous for. After the Hotel des Invalides we started walking towards the Place de la Concorde, which is the giant Egyptian obilisque and surrounding square. From the square there is a long road that stretches to the Madeleine a few blocks away. On this road there are shops like Chanel, Gucci, Dior etc so that was really interesting to walk down there and people watch as we made our way to the Madeleine (a really cool Greek temple inspired Cathedral). Still really amazing because I haven't seen any of these things on my last visit. For lunch we hit up this adorable crepe place on a little side road. Most of the people there were locals so we knew it was good. The inside was beach themed with white walls with wide wooden floor boards and light blue everywhere. The crepes were delicious. I had a smoked salmon and creme fraiche one for lunch and a homemade caramal, toasted almond and vanilla ice cream one for dessert. Out of this world how good that last one was. After lunch we started the long walk up the Champs Elysees (which starts right next to the place de la Concorde) and followed it up to the Arc de Triomphe. The Champs Elysees is the busiest street in Paris with a ton of stores. We met up with Corey at the Arc de Triomphe and then headed to the metro towards the Musee Picasso (something I was dying to see) and the Musee de Cluny (another must see in Paris). It was a long metro ride and a confusing walk to the Picasso museum only to find that it was closed until August 2012! Major disappointment but something that couldn't be helped. We continued on to the Musee de Cluny which is a museum dedicated to the Medieval Ages and there were artifacts there from centuries in the single digits. It was incredible to see especially the artifacts such as the crosses and religious items as many of them were from the very beginning of the religion as a mass movement. After the Cluny we hit up a STARBUCKSSS across the street and headed home for a little evening rest. Dinner was a local kebab place as we were on a budget and that is just fine. It was still delicious.

Day 3 and our last day we started towards the Louvre and the Musee D'Orsay which are right near each other. We went to the Musee D'Orsay first (I've already been but its my favorite museum ever) and saw all the incredible impressionist art like Degas and Renoir not to mention Van Gogh, Gaugin, Pissat among others. Then Corey had to leave to catch his train and me and Lawren went to the Louvre. I walked her inside and she bought a ticket to go in and I sat in the Starbucks in the Louvre writing post cards and waiting for her to come back. I had already seen the Louvre back in the day and it did not impress me very much besides the actual building so I decided to skip the entrance fee and relax for a bit. After Lawren finished we headed back the Champs Elysees for a little window shopping and then to the airport to fly back home. After some technical difficulties with our flight we made it home five or six hours late. A rough end to our trip but overall Paris is still worth all the hype that it gets.

My Paris Pictures