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Published: January 2nd 2009
December 21 - 26th: Paris, the city of love, love, love!!!
We arrived into Paris extremely excited and anxious...I mean this is the city of love, cheese, and wine, who wouldn’t be thrilled? Unfortunately, it was raining and a bit overcast when we arrived but the city was still breathtaking. We went from the train station to our apartment on the Left Bank, which is arguably the best area to live in Paris. Our apartment was beyond perfect for us. It was tiny, with a little sitting area, kitchen built into the wall, bathroom/ shower, and a loft with the bed and the tv. It was about as cozy as it gets. We had two huge French windows with beautiful crimson curtains in the middle of the crème colored room…it was almost too perfect. It was exactly what Mitch and I wanted for Christmas, a small little hole in the wall, nothing fancy or luxurious… just an adorable little cozy hole that we could call our own for 6 days. The area in which our apartment was located was the coolest part in France by far we though, at least to live. Literally 500 feet from our apartment around the
corner, there was a busy little street with cafes, creperies, shops, restaurants, and kebab stands. Everything was moderately priced in our area which was not the case when you got near the Eiffel Tower, everything was two times the normal price. I just can’t stress how perfect our situation was and how thankful we were. We looked forward to coming home to our little place more than anything, dream come true. After learning how to deal with our excitement and absolute “thrilledness” we walked around Paris for a few hours. It was low key, we didn’t even bring our cameras, we just wanted to see it first, before we tried to document it. It is our favorite city in the whole world, I don’t know if it was the company, the time of the year, or the moment…but, neither of us would have wanted to lay eyes on that city without each other by our sides. There is no way to really explain how blessed and thankful we felt, but it was written all over our faces. Anyway, the city itself was just ridiculous, with the river running through the center of Paris and all the amazing monuments and museums
on the banks. We walked 8 or 9 miles that afternoon and each and every step led us to something new and incredible. After 4 or 5 hour of continuous walking, his chicken legs couldn’t take it anymore and we decided it was time for some dinner and relaxation in the apartment. The apartment was our own little treasure. We ate dinner at a fast food Asian restaurant because it was cheap, lots of food, and it was delicious. I know, Japanese food in France…but hey, we capped it off with two crepes. So delicious. We were both exhausted and after doing our nightly call home, it was bedtime for the two little independent travelers.
Since it was our first real day in Paris, we woke up early and went and saw Notre Dame Cathedral which was right next to our apartment. The inside of the church was beautiful, and we decided that we were going to make the hike up to the top even though I’m not a big fan of heights. It was exhausting. The stairs were endless and the corridors were tiny and cramped with hundreds of people trying to make their way to the top.
It was hot and stuffy, but we finally got to the top. The view was beautiful and you could see the Eiffel Tower just sitting there way above the rest of the city. It almost looked like fake models. We saw the original bell in the tower, you know the one that Quasimodo swung on. It was definitely worth the long climb. The streets in Paris are just constantly busy, there is no real downtime here. The vendors on the streets sell beautiful paintings, souvenirs, food, you name it they sell it. The river that runs between the city makes it seem to just a little bit too perfect. We couldn’t believe the size of the Louvre which seemed to stretch for miles on end throughout the city. The architecture was just absurd, everything looked so beautiful and well kept. It was one of the cleanest cities we have been to yet. It seemed like every twenty feet or so there was something new to look at and Mitch and I seemed to be lost in the city of Paris. Everyone was bustling through the streets all excited for Christmas, and there was this anticipation in the air that mixed
with the smell of the fresh baked breads and pastries…Christmas in Paris might be one of the greatest things ever. We decided to go to the Louvre after Notre Dame which turned into just complete and total mayhem. There were thousands of people there and it smelled funny and Mitch and I could not seem to figure out how to read the map. We just seemed to be lost the whole time. It was so big it was a joke. Mitch started getting grumpy when he couldn’t find some weird statue and I’m just directionally retarded so I usually just make matters worse when I try to help. We eventually just couldn’t take it anymore and after gawking at the Mona Lisa for 10 minutes we decided it was high time we got the hell out of there. Art overload on the brain. It took us about an hour to get out as Mitch led us on a wild goose chase for the exit which took us through the African room…tons of naked woman with kids pulling on their boobs, and weird men with huge penises. It was a stressful hour and Mitch ended up throwing the map down the
stairs and storming off…somehow after an hour or so, we made it out. I mean we saw Mona that’s all that really mattered anyway, right? We decided that we never wanted to go to the Louvre again and thought we would lift our spirits by going to the Eiffel Tower and staring deep into each other’s eyes exemplifying to the world how madly in love we were. That actually didn’t happen as we got distracted with everything going on around as by the Eiffel Tower and then after we got over the distraction, a crepe and dinner sounded like a way better idea. Asian food! Lemon Crepes! Those four words could sum up our eating habits for the entire 5 days in Paris. I wish we knew that for the next 5 nights we would be eating Asian food for dinner….
It was another super early morning because we had decided that today was the best day to take the train to Versailles. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the train ride was only 40 minutes. The Palace of Versailles is massive. There were tons of people there again which kind of makes it annoying. I can’t imagine
what it would be like in the summer. I think I would hate it. All the halls and the rooms were just exquisitely decorated and the detail was just ridiculous. The gardens weren’t in prime shape because its winter but I am sure they are just unreal in the summer. The hedges and the fountains were gorgeous. The sculptures that seem to adorn every single part of the palace were amazing. They area all different but seem to tell a story. When we got back to Paris, we went to the area of town that was home to the famous Moulan Rouge show. Mitch had no idea that it was a cabaret show, in other words the girls don’t wear tops. Boobs. The venue where they do the show is pretty cool and I am obsessed with the movie Moulan Rouge so I loved going there. That part of town was a bit more scandalous so we decided to get out of there and head back to the more wholesome part of town. We went to the Museum D’ Orsay which had a special Picasso exhibit up. We both think he is highly overrated and some of his drawings are
just so absurd, looks like a blind child with no arms did the drawing. We looked at a few other exhibits and then made our way down to where the Eiffel tower was again to the Christmas market. It was about a 2 mile long Christmas market filled with hundreds of vendors and thousands of lights. The lights in Paris at Christmas are breathtaking, they go all out spreading that Christmas cheer. We went to the top of the Arc de Triumph at dusk when the whole city seemed to be on fire. It was really cool being that high in the air at night, the whole city was just glowing. Mitch and I got to see the Eiffel Tower light up into a million sparkling lights which was super strange to see when you are that high in the air, it all looks really fake. We went home for dinner and early to bed because we were so exhausted.
Christmas Eve:
All this traveling and sight seeing has really started to take a toll on us, so a late morning was a necessity. Today was more of a lazy day in which we just roamed around the city
together. We didn’t want to do anymore sight seeing, instead we just wanted to act like we lived there and just enjoy the city. Our little feet have taken us everywhere and they did the same thing today. We covered so much ground it was ridiculous. We found this one street that had for 2 miles all pet stores. It was Mitch and I’s dream. We spent a good 3 hours going in and out of the pet stores playing with the dogs, cats, birds, turtles, reptiles…It was really fun, a big change from what we have been doing so far. It was awesome. We then went to one of the corny tourist stores, and bought each other our cheesy Christmas presents. Our legs were exhausted by this point and it was high time for our Asian dinner that we have had every night we have been here. It’s funny that we are eating so much Asian food in Paris, its so cheap and good! Of course, we got our crepes which just makes the night so much better and went home for the night, or at least we thought. It was about 11 o’clock and we were talking and
had CNN on and we saw that the midnight mass in Jerusalem had started and all of a sudden it clicked: Notre Dame…midnight mass…Paris….we’re here. Game over. We threw our clothes on and ran out the door. Apparently we weren’t the only ones with this crazy idea, there were literally thousands of people outside of the church. Police were there and there were 2 huge lines to get in. Mitch and I were determined to get in there and after pushing and shoving for a good hour and a half, we finally got into the Church. It was SO well worth the wait. It was the most spiritual, incredible, moving and just amazing Christmas eve we both have ever experienced. It was just so much more sacred and holy than anything I have ever seen. Even though we don’t speak a word of French, it was moving and we were so thankful to be there in that church. The church is so big and beautiful and old that it was strange to think that forever ago people have been doing the same thing we are doing on this day. Mitch and I just loved it. The organ was so loud,
so powerful, you could feel it shake your ribs and goose bumps were inevitable. The choir was beautiful and the priests were spreading incense all around the whole church and it smelled wonderful. We even got to take communion that night, it was such a blessing to be there in that Church on Christmas Eve. I am so thankful we got up and went. It was seriously another once in al lifetime experience. Welcome to the lives of Tara and Mitch.
Christmas Day:
It was a different Christmas this year for both of us…no families, no tree…it was unique and I think we were both a little skeptical to how it would play out. By the time Christmas morning came, life could not have been any better. Our loft had become a hibernation hole and we didn’t wake up till around eleven am. We turned on the best of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby’s Christmas tunes, made hot chocolate and wrapped up in the blankets in our loft and got straight to the present giving. We had both agreed that since we are broke it would be silly gag sort of presents…and that is exactly what is was minus
the surprise Mitch had gotten me. He knows how much I love sunflowers and he got me this adorable little Swarovski crystal bear holding a sunflower, so cute. We named him “Quassy” after Quasimodo the hunchback in Notre Dame. It was an awesome hour of laughing, smiling, and just forgetting that time even existed. After we had both given each other our presents we got ready to head to our main activity: the Eiffel Tower. Apparently we weren’t the only ones who planned to go up the tower on this beautiful Christmas morning. The sun was shining, it was a bit cold, but the air was crisp and the lines were long. We finally got to the elevator that takes you up, and the second I stepped inside that sucker I regretted signing up for this whole Eiffel Tower deal. For one, I hate heights, and two, I don’t like glass elevators going a million feet into the air. I tucked my face into Mitch’s arm pit and closed my eyes the whole way up. Mitch is the complete opposite and he just loved going up and everything, I couldn’t wait to get down on solid ground. The view from
the 2nd tier of the tower was really nice, you could see everything because it was a super clear day. I hugged the rail and slowly made my way around while Mitch is hanging off the edge with his video camera. It was pretty windy up there and I thought for sure if I went any closer to the edge I would get blown off. I was not a happy camper. The next elevator to the top was hell, I mean we were so high in the air it was a joke. I felt like a freaking bird. The wind was roaring and I felt like this was it, this was the end. Mitch just laughs at me and shoves me in his armpit, and that’s how as a couple we deal with my fear of heights. I mean I wasn’t about to not go up the tower because I was chicken, no way. Anyway, at the top it was a bit ridiculous how far you could see. Mitch forced me to stand near the edge and take a picture, somehow I threw a sweet smile on and the second it was over ran back to my safety rail. We
spent about an hour or so up on the tower, and I couldn’t wait for that hour to be over. It was unreal. The way down was incredible, I couldn’t wait to touch the ground and roll in the grass and throw leaves over my head. Of course once we got to the bottom, I did nothing of that sort…Instead, we went to a brassiere to get some hot tea and coffee. It was a lovely little afternoon snack and we felt very French, it was wonderful. It was getting dark once we got out of the café, so it was picture time. At night, the tower lights up blue in honor of the European Union and they have gold stars around it representing the different countries. At the top of every hour, the tower will light up like a million sparkling ice blue crystals and it just lights up the whole sky. It’s quite the sight. Mitch and I took a bunch of pictures and played around with our cameras before I gave him his final present: a proper French dinner. The poor chicken-legged boy hasn’t been eating enough so I thought I would fatten him up as his present. We had a wonderful little dinner at a local restaurant. Once we got back to our apartment, we did our Christmas call home to let our families know we miss and love them, and then we went and got our last crepe. We are really going to miss those yummy things. It was such a special Christmas, one we will both remember forever, no matter where we are or who we are with.
Next Stop: Switzerland…time for some snow boarding.
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Claudie
Claudette Werner
What an amazing trip! The midnight mass at Notre Dame must have been unbelievable! We're enjoying your travels so much....just wish it was us ;-)