May 21-24: Paris

I stepped off my plane in Charles De Gaulle airport excited to be traveling again with friends, not to mention seeing Paris for the first time. After the sudden disappointment at not seeing Einav and Sirisha waiting for me as I exited the concourse, followed by some confusion when trying to find each other, we finally figured it out. After staying in communal hostel rooms for some time it was very nice to be in a hotel with a private room and bathroom. Shortly after arriving, however, I got an email from Lee saying that he had bed bugs from when we were traveling together and there was a good chance that I had them, too. Einav and Sirisha were oh so calm about that possibility, but it turned out that I was fine.

After getting settled in we decided to take a walk. We headed in the direction of the Notre Dame Cathedral, but were disappointed to discover that we were too late to go up. Instead we spent some time walking along the river and around the city, slowly making our way back toward our hotel. Along the way we made the requisite crepe stop- something I had been looking forward to for years. I was not disappointed. Sirisha had some work to do that night, so Einav and I walked around a little more and caught up on life. When we got back to the room Sirisha was sleeping.

Due to falling asleep earlier than planned, Sirisha had work to finish the next morning. Considering she had been to Paris a couple of times already that year this didn’t ruin the trip- it gave Einav and I an opportunity to do some of the touristy things that she didn’t want to do. First Paris landmark: Arc de Triumf. We walked all the way there from our hotel, which was basically on the other side of the city…and we took the scenic route. Along the way we passed the Louvre and its surrounding parks, we had our first glimpse of the Eiffel tower, and we walked up Champs Elysees. At this point I feel required to mention Einav’s extreme dislike of walking far and the need to share that dislike with her companions(sorry)... I will refrain from mentioning it again. Finally we made it to the Arc- only to discover that we had more walking to do- this time up steps. After gazing at the underside of the Arc we began the climb. Inside the Arc was very cool. In addition to a gift shop, model of the arc and some history was a computerized program showing all of the Arc de Triumfs in the world. I thoroughly enjoyed looking at all of the ones I had seen in my travels at one time; it produced some incredible nostalgia. We then climbed to the top of the Arc and walked around. Seeing all of Paris from above for the first time and thinking about the historic and present day significance of the city gave me chills.
After walking down the spiral staircase we decided to take the Metro to meet Sirisha at the Notre Dame Cathedral. The line to go up moved quickly and upon paying our admission ticket we discovered that there was one way up: stairs, ha. The gargoyles atop the Cathedral were exactly as they appear in movies; I touched one through the cage keeping us in, half expecting it to come to life. We went all the way to the top of the Cathedral and saw the famous bell tower. While there was no Quasimodo to greet us there was an angry little man that, for some reason, took a strong dislike to me.

We climbed down the steps at the back of the Cathedral and grabbed a quick lunch at a near by sandwich shop. That was definitely the most overpriced, worst chicken sandwich I have ever had. Slightly bitter about it, we headed to the Luxembourg gardens in the hopes of finding a place to lay in the grass and relax after all of the walking.

There is no question that the park and the gardens were beautiful, but people were forbidden from walking on or sitting in the grass. What?! I was shocked and appalled. There were large fields of green grass with trees scattered throughout surrounded by stone paths with chairs; people were only allowed to walk on the stone paths and sit in the chairs on the paths. Nor were there any food/ ice cream/ water/snack stands in the entire park. I found it completely ridiculous and illogical. I almost hate to say it, but my pre-judgments and prejudices against France were quickly being confirmed. We finally found a bench in the shade a sat for a little while before heading back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

That night we went to an Italian restaurant near the Eiffel tower. I found it slightly ironic to go to an Italian restaurant in France, but the food was very good. After dinner we headed to the Eiffel tower. We thought it would be fun to go up at night, but arrived just after the last group was permitted to go up. Instead the three of us found a quiet bar near the hotel and hung out for a while before going to bed.

On May 23 we woke up, had breakfast, and headed to the Louvre, where we spent the better part of four hours. I had obviously heard of the incredibly size and remarkable architecture of the building, but the Louvre far surpassed my expectations. Not only did it feel like one of the largest building I have ever been inside, but the Louvre itself is an incredible piece of art. The ceilings, chandeliers and columns throughout are extraordinary. While I have been to a fair number of art museums and appreciate artistic expression I certainly do not have the appreciation of art that many possess. Many times I look at paintings and think that my 10 year old sister could have done an equally good job. However, walking through the Louvre was incredible. I think every piece could have had an entire museum centered around it. People strolled past enormous masterpieces in pursuit of a more enormous, more famous piece. Even I was in awe.

Being a first time visitor I obviously needed to see the well-known items. I saw the Mona Lisa; it was just as small as I had been told, yet obviously swarmed by masses of tourists. I saw the Aphrodite statue. I saw Ramsees II. I saw Hamurabi’s code. I really wish I had brought the game Masterpiece with me so I could look at each card and then look at the original painting. I also definitely should have reread the DaVinci Code before going.

Finally we were museumed out and lay down in the grass in front of the building: great nap. Eventually we woke up and wandered back to the hotel. I couldn’t believe we had spent the entire day just visiting the Louvre…and barely made a dent.

That night Sirisha wanted to go to a Fondue place that she had heard of for dinner. Unfortunately we arrived and it was completely full. We found a quant pizza place around the corner to eat at instead. We ate dinner rather quickly to ensure that we would get to the Eiffel tower in time to actually go up.

When we arrived at the tower it was already dark out and yellow lights illuminated the beams. We got in the ridiculously long line, hoping that we would get to the ticket window before they closed the elevators. The top part was temporarily closed due to overcrowding and they were considering closing it for the night, but just as we approached the ticket window it opened. We bought our tickets, climbed in the crowded lift, and climbed the tower. Walking around was breathtaking. I denied it at the time, but looking back I can see the romantic appeal. The lights of Paris at night are indescribable. We walked around, took a lot of pictures, and gulped down the fresh air as we stood atop one of the most famous monuments in the world.

Eventually we got in line to head back down. After Einav broke a turnstile and we saw a man pass out, we boarded the elevator. The lights on the elevator went out on the way down, creating a very strange, crowded atmosphere. After exiting the tower we watched as the silver lights sparkled at the top of the hour. We then lay down in the grass next to it and remained there until the lights went out around 2 AM at which time we jumped in a cab and headed back to the hotel.

The next morning we packed our bags and stored them at the hotel before checking out. We then took the Metro to Moulon Rouge- which required climbing quite a few more steps. Today was probably the hottest day I had in Europe and those steps were much more difficult than they should have been. We walked through the church and then headed to the adjacent art fair. The square with all of the artists felt extremely Parisian. We got another gelato and listened to some music before heading back in the direction of the church.

Walking back past the church we saw a couple guys on staircase landing playing guitars and singing. They had amassed a small crowd so we sat down to see what was going on. They were singing in English. Within minutes dozens of people were sitting on the steps listening and singing along while looking out over the city from the Moulon Rouge steps. We enjoyed the entertainment for about an hour before hopping back on the Metro.

Next we headed back to the river. We walked along it and through the Jewish and Latin areas of Paris. The afternoon was fairly uneventful, except for Einav tripping and almost falling in the river. We had some time before we had to get our bags and go to the airport, so we went back to our favorite relaxation spot: the grass outside the Louvre. Unfortunately the extreme heat and sun beating down on us made it less relaxing this time and after a short while we walked back to the hotel. We grabbed our bags and walked to the Metro station to catch a train to the airport.

At 9:25 our flight left Paris and headed for Barcelona.

Paris Overall:
The weather in Paris was almost perfect the entire time, a nice change after the dampness of Ireland and Scotland. The only time in rained was when we were in museums. I don’t know if I went to any city that had more things on the to do/to see list than Paris. The tourist attractions were endless, and many of them truly are must sees. I found it somewhat surprising that these famous things: the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triumf, Moulon Rouge, Notre Dame, etc. for the most part lived up to or exceeded my expectations of them. While they were all incredible I did not really enjoy aimlessly wandering around Paris that much. I felt that it was like most cities and did not have as much character or vibrant as I had hoped. It was also one of the most confusing cities to navigate that I had traveled to during my semester.
On a different note, it felt different to travel with two girls as opposed to a large group or a couple of guys. Not better or worse, but the pace is different and interaction with random people is different. Knowing that I was going home so soon made Einav a huge tease of the home friends I would soon be seeing.

May trip overall:
I had just complete 24 days of ‘homelessness’- and it seemed that they had barely begun. In those 24 days I experienced thirteen cities in six countries and traveled with different groups of people. The trip fit together better than I ever could have expected it to and it was the perfect length. I am so happy that I decided to stay that extra month and look forward to the last couple of days to wind down in my home- Barcelona- before heading back to my real home.