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Published: April 17th 2008
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me and kaitlyn
me and kaitlyn on the bridge from Sex & the City Bonjour!
For those of you who have been to Paris, you can understand why it deserves its own page. There is SO much to see. Paris is full of incredible art, beautiful buildings, delicious food, and many different neighborhoods to see! Thankfully our hostel was incredibly clean and enjoyable to stay in for five nights. We organized our days so that it wasn’t too exhausting but plenty to see every day. The first day we spent the morning with Kaitlyn before she made her way back to Dijon (where she is studying for the semester). She took us through the Louvre plaza, to the Notre Dame, the Latin Quarters, and to a great bookstore - Shakespeare & Co. -- that made me think of Uncle Mike & Aunt Jenny. It was so cute and easy to spend lots of time in. After drinking a ridiculously expensive cup of coffee, we said our goodbyes. Then we (Kate, Ellen & I) went to San Louis “island” to picnic and then inside the Notre Dame, which is so beautiful. Then Ellen and I went to the St. Chapelle church which I actually liked a lot more; it was breathtaking. The stain glass windows were
incredible. The whole room felt like it was lit purple. It was so beautiful. It also housed the oldest wall painting in Paris which was cool to see. That night we went to the Pompidou Center which is a modern art museum. In Paris they have this great thing that makes it possible for students to go to museums for free - and we really lucked out on timing. On Wednesday night the Pompidou is free for students, on Thursday night the Musee D’Orsay is free, and Friday night the Louvre is free. So of course we took advantage of this and it really helped us save money. The Pompidou was actually pretty cool; it had a lot of modern art and Matisse, Picasso, and other famous artists. Being our first night in Paris, we thought we’d get a drink, but we quickly discovered that we would not be going out at all seeing as a small beer costs about 7 dollars.
The next day we went to Versaille. We waited in very long lines, but it was worth it to see the palace and gardens. The palace was beautiful - and HUGE - and the gardens were a great
Spring in Paris
the tulips are beautiful! place to picnic (of course with a baguette and brie!). I loved the sculptures and fountains in the gardens and it was a nice day to walk around. We got back and were anxious to see Musee D’orsay so we headed straight there. I can’t tell you how many times Ellen and I said “oh my god” “wow” “THIS IS HERE?” … we were so excited to see all of these famous and beautiful paintings. The impressionist floor is full of Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Degas, and much more. Nain, I kept thinking of you… and Anna too. It was so cool. Also, the building used to be a train station, and it alone was beautiful.
Our third day in Paris was full of the typical sites. We went to the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur (sacred heart church), and then the Louvre at night. My favorite of all these places was the Sacre Coeur. Of course it was exciting to see the arc de triomphe and the Eiffel tower, but I had also seen all of these places a million times in pictures. The Sacre Coeur was absolutely beautiful. It is in a beautiful neighborhood- Monte Marte-
and is on top of a hill with a beautiful view of Paris. For those of you who have seen the movie Amelie, it is right in her neighborhood. I loved this area. The Louvre was awesome, but also overwhelming. We walked around quite a bit, saw Mona Lisa of course, but I definitely enjoyed Musee D’orsay more. After the Louvre we went out for a French dinner - Ellen got escargot, and I got French Onion soup, it was all really good. Oh and of course we ate delicious crepes afterwards!
Although we felt we had seen it all, on our fourth day in Paris we went on a free walking tour. We learned a lot of things that we wouldn’t have known otherwise so that was very cool. We picnicked, yet again, in a great park and then at night we went on another tour of the Monte Marte area with the Moulin Rouge, Sacre Coeur, and also saw where Van Gogh lived, Picasso’s studio, and where they used to trade their art for food. We had a great tour guide and I just loved learning more about Van Gogh and Picasso and their lives before they were
famous.
Our last day in Paris we enjoyed a beautiful park with a view of the Eiffel and then headed on our way back to Sevilla. The whole trip went so well, I was really happy we had five days because we had so much to cover and it would have been really stressful otherwise. It is such an incredible city… it has so much to offer -- it’s so enjoyable just to simply walk around!) Of course I only remembered about 3 sentences of French (which is embarrassing after studying French for 4 years) but the people were surprisingly nice, I don’t know why they have such a bad reputation…
As usual I could write pages more, but I think that’s plenty for now. Of course I must add how incredibly lucky I feel to have had the opportunity to go to Paris. When I was there I kept thinking of how many people would love to see this city and how fortunate I am to be in this place… we take so much for granted and it’s so important to sit back and really appreciate what we have.
I hope all is well at home. Uncle Bob, I’m
so happy to hear you are out of the hospital & hopefully you’re more comfortable at home. Tomorrow I head to Madrid and will see Papa! I am so excited to see him and show him my life here. But it also scares me because it means the semester is almost over…
I love you all and miss you.
Take care.
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Anna
non-member comment
hey hey hey
HEIDI your pictures are so good. i love the ones you are doing with only the one color technique. it is so much fun to watch your travels. school is very burdensome currently. i am daydreaming about summer. miss and love you! oh, and that package was probably stolen. motherfuckers.