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Published: November 3rd 2008
Eiffel Tower
At night, its lit up in blue and has twelve gold stars to celebrate France's presidency of the European Union. How was Paris?
Amazing, astonishing, astounding, wonderful, fabulous, fantastic, remarkable, sensational!
I have learned that in 1989, everything in Paris that was originally constructed with gold, was re-gold-leafed (if that is a word?). Now, everywhere you look in Paris, it gleams of gold or at least has very fine gold detail. The city looks very stately and the Parisians were always out selling their goods on the river banks, enjoying their French cuisine at restaurants and walking about the city. If I even took a map out on the street, I had two Parisians at my side immediately to offer me any help I could possibly need. I can’t speak highly enough of how nice the Parisians were.
That said, here is the re-cap of a weekend that was très bien!
Thursday:
We (the API group) left Salamanca by bus en route to Madrid-Barajas. We caught a two hour flight to Beauvais Airport in France, then drove an hour and half into Paris. We had a free night, so Sara and I set out walking for the Seine River district and crepes.
My first crepe, a nutella and banana crepe, was delicious and I was feeling
Eiffel Tower
Did you know that it takes 60 tons of paint to repaint the towers? I think they repaint every 7-10 years. adventurous so I ordered a second “crème de marron” crepe without knowing what it was. It turned out to be some sort of sweetened nut crème (terrible!) and that put an end to my ordering mystery French food.
We walked along the river and took pictures of all the buildings lit up at night. We even ran across a few musicians playing on the sidewalks and bridges. Since it was about a 30 minute walk to get back to the hotel, we left early for bed.
Friday:
We had breakfast at the hotel - a buffet, which isn’t the best thing to offer American students who have been living in Spain. In Spain, we have coffee and galletas (similar to mini-graham crackers) for breakfast. In France, they offer croissants, sweets, baguettes, ham, cheese, yogurt, fresh fruit, jams, coffees, teas, fresh squeezed orange juice, sweet bread, hard-boiled eggs and more. I ate at least one of everything - every morning! It was the best breakfast I’ve had in months!
Afterwards, we got on a bus for a driving tour of the city. We had a guide who explained the various districts of the city and the history behind the monuments.
Garogoyes of the Notre Dame
Very eerie looking at night especially when they are lit up. Interestingly, some of them do more than ward off evil - they function as gutter pipes, the rain water drains out of their mouths. We got to leave the bus for a few minutes to take pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower. The afternoon was free and with my guidebook in hand, I set off to explore the city.
I began with the Notre Dame and its three rose windows - big, circular, stained- glass windows. The inside was impressive, but the outside façade with its gargoyles and buttresses is much more interesting.
Next was the Pantheon which used to be a church but now is a museum and crypt. The inside had lots of frescoes, statuary and an antique device to calculate the tilt of the world’s axis (I think?). Underneath the Pantheon, I walked through the crypt where Victor Hugo and many other famous French writers, philosophers and dignitaries are buried.
After lunching on the most delicious cream-cheese and strawberry jam crepe, I headed to the National Opera House. According to my guidebook, this is the opera house that inspired the script of “Phantom of the Opera” - it even has a lake underneath it. I approached the ticket counter to buy my entrance pass to tour the building, but the woman told me that it was prohibited to see the
Flying Buttresses
I liked the view from the back better than the front. lake, and that the auditorium was closed for rehearsals. Since it was pointless to pay four euro to see a grand staircase (the only part left to see), I checked out the program and found that it was possible to buy tickets to the ballet currently running at the Opera House! I bought a 10 euro ticket for the next night along with a few of my friends - I can’t tell you how excited I was!
I headed up to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur at the top of the hill - the views from the top were amazing! I didn’t realize how huge Paris was until I saw it from there. The basilica wasn’t that great and seemed to have fallen into a state of disrepair, but there were tons of people there and even an entertainer singing on the steps leading up to the church. In that district, I ran across the Moulin Rouge which I think was more impressive looking in the movie; but the line leading to the entrance door was huge! The shows must still be popular.
That night, a friend and I found a cute restaurant where we could eat outside. It was
Along the River
There were green boxes attached to the wall lining the river banks. When the mood strikes them, the owner of the box comes out, unlocks their box and sells there goods - old books, artwork, tourist trinkets - it made for interesting shopping because you never knew who'd be open and who wouldn't. a three course meal of: French onion soup, chicken and veggies with frites (French fries!), and ice-cream for dessert - only 10euro. For anywhere in Europe, that’s a great deal.
That night in front of the Notre Dame there was an impromptu fireshow (they seem to be popular here). Headed back to the hotel after that to rest up for the Louvre tour the next morning.
Saturday:
A huge breakfast, of course. Then on to our guided tour of the Louvre. We took the metro to get there so I didn’t get to enter through the glass pyramid. Instead the metro runs to the carousel shopping center underneath the Louvre. Our guide took us to the highlights of several sections - Egyptian sphinxes, Greek statuary, French paintings and of course - the Mona Lisa. It was behind glass and you had to wait in line to see it - its also surprisingly small!
After the tour, we were allowed to stay as long as we wanted. I stuck around to see Napoleon’s set of rooms (dining room, parlor room, bedroom) which were quite stately but a little too gaudy for my taste.
Afterwards we caught the train to Versailles,
Calculating the Earth's axis
In the Pantheon, there is a long cord from the top of the dome; at the bottom a gold globe swings back and forth. Depending on which way it swings, you can discover the degree of the tilt. the palace 30 minutes outside of Paris.
We began with the Palace of Versailles. It was beautiful but more of an art museum than palace. There were lots of pictures of all the past princes, kings, queens, cousins of the kings, etc. Interspersed with the rooms of stately furniture and antique paintings was a modern exhibit of “art.” This art consisted of blow up lobsters, vacuum cleaner displays and giant pink balloon dogs - the French kings would have been appalled by the artwork displayed in the royal palace. I know I was!
The more impressive part of Versailles was the gardens. There were giant fountains with statuary, a lake where you could rent row-boats, flower gardens, a Roman amphitheater and more. To add to it, classical music played throughout the gardens - I definitely felt like I was in a royal garden.
We found out that we could also tour Marie-Antoinette’s private Villa and gardens which was a 30 minute walk from the palace. It was a cute mini-mansion, more tasteful than all the gold of the big palace. Her gardens were also beautiful and when we walked them to the end, we found a traditional provincial village preserved
Creperie
This is the crepe I ate for lunch one day - cream cheese and strawberry jam - delicious! from the time of Marie herself.
Unfortunately, we spent so much time wandering the gardens that we had to sprint back to catch the train to the Opera House in time to grab dinner and get to our seats for the ballet.
The Opera House was lit up packed for this performance of “The Paradise of Infants.” I had a box seat, second level and to the left of the stage. I ascended the grand staircase and had to show my ticket to the doorman who unlocked the door to my box for me. There were six of us total in the box. The ballerinas were wonderful and the whole orchestra sounded marvelous! During intermission, there was a mini-ballet on the grand staircase. A violist played while a lady in red and her partner glided up and down the stairs. I didn’t get to see much of it since the taller people seemed to stand right in front of me.
After the ballet, we tried to take pictures of everything but the ushers kept moving us toward the door with their “s’il vous plaits.”
Sunday:
Got up that morning to go to the markets that are scattered about Paris.
River Cruise
I didn't have a chance to do it, but there were river cruises along the Seine. At night, some of the boats become restaurants that you can eat at while they're docked. First I hit the Sunday morning flower and bird market. Fresh-cut and potted flowers lined the lane and on the other side were vendors of rabbits, birds and all the accoutrements for pet care.
Next I walked to see the Bastille, which I didn’t know was torn down. All that’s left if a giant pole to commemorate it. While there, I ran across another market. This time there were people selling scarves and trinkets, chocolates, spices, cheeses, fresh fruits and veggies, home-made honey, fish, meat and lots more. Everything looked delicious and the Parisians were with their shopping carts haggling for their groceries.
I hopped on the metro to get to the Arc de Triomphe which covers the tomb of the unknown soldier. I climbed the 300 or so steps to the top. From there I could see straight to the Louvre in one direction, the Eiffel Tower in another, and another million unidentified buildings. Of course, as soon as I tried to take a picture of the spectacular view - my camera battery died.
On the walk back to the hotel, I ran across the arts and crafts fair of Paris - or course, I stopped to shop a
Standing in front of Paris
This is the view from Sacre Coeur. I couldn't even see to the end of the city. bit! - then sprinted back to the hotel to catch the bus back to the airport.
Enchanté, Paris! Au revoir
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