The City of Lights

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With the preconception of the hate that the French have for Americans, we were a little nervous to visit Paris. I had heard mixed experiences from students who had traveled to Paris in the past. Some raved about the city while others did not care for it at all. I decided to form my own opinion of Paris and visit it for myself. We booked the trip the first week that we were in Florence, expecting that it would be so far away. When Thursday rolled around and it was time to go, it was a huge wake up call that I had been in Florence for four weeks already. Thursday afternoon we left Florence train station for the long trek ahead; we had to take a train to Pisa, fly to Beauvais and then take a bus into Paris. Traveling wasn’t as bad as I had expected it to be, but now four weeks into traveling I am used to sitting on trains for hours. At this point I can fall asleep almost anywhere.

We landed in Beauvais, which is one of the smallest airports that I have ever seen in my life. We got off the plane and walked on the runway into the airport. As soon as I walked down the stairs the cool wind hit me, it was freezing there. In Florence we have grown accustomed to weather in the mid seventies or eighties; in France it was barely sixty-five. We got on the bus that was headed towards Paris and started the final leg of our endless day of traveling. When we got into Paris we found our way to the Metro and headed to our Hostel. We stayed in Bastilles district, which was about a 5 minute Metro ride out of the heart of Paris. When we arrived to our Hostel we were exhausted, but the excitement of being in Paris provided us with the energy to go out and explore. We decided to go to the bars and restaurants that were in walking distance to our hostel. We wandered around until we found a little pub near us. We sat in the back and ordered food and drinks. The bartender at the pub was hilarious, his name was Romeo. He loved all of us and made us special drinks the whole night. Everything was perfect; we were in Paris enjoying a lovely meal. We left the restaurant and stopped at a few bars on our way home, nothing too crazy because we wanted to get up early the next morning. When we got back to the hostel I realized that I didn’t have my blackberry with me anymore. I searched through all of my luggage and my bag but couldn’t find it anywhere. I walked back to the restaurant to see if I had dropped it there, but it was no where in sight. I had my phone in the side pocket of my bag which wasn’t zippered. I am pretty sure that when we were on the metro on the way to the hostel someone may have grabbed it out of the pocket. We were in a huge group so if I had dropped it or left it somewhere, someone would have definitely seen it. When we were on the metro though, we were all split up. This whole situation did not stress me out at all; I think that this will be my 4th cell phone of the year. I was upset that I lost it, but I was in Paris so things weren’t so bad.

As soon as my head hit my pillow I immediately passed out, and in what seemed like minutes later I was woken up by everyone getting ready to start exploring. We quickly got ready and hit the streets of Paris. On the way to the Metro we stopped at a Pasty store to enjoy a savory French breakfast. I got a croissant with almonds and almond paste in it. Words can not describe how good the pastry was; it literally melted in my mouth. We got on the Metro and headed towards the Eiffel Tower to start our day of being the biggest tourists ever. We made it to the Eiffel tower, which from a distance I was extremely underwhelmed, but once getting closer appreciated its size a little more. We decided after that to take a boat tour of the river which allowed us to see Paris from a different perspective and also gain a sense of direction. The boat was relaxing and the tour took about an hour. Next on our list of things to see we headed to the Arc De Triomphe. We snapped a few pictures there and moved onwards down Champs Elysees. Here we stopped for a quick lunch, which was amazing. Then we decided to get our first crepe of many at a sit down creperie. I split a chocolate crepe as well as a crepe filled with pistachio ice cream and topped with caramel and whipped cream. The chocolate crepe was alright, but the pistachio crepe was incredible. The ice cream got melted from being surrounded by the hot crepe; it was heavenly. After eating for the third time before 2 pm we shopped around a little and headed to Notre Dame.

Notre Dame was awesome. The architecture is different from anything that I have ever seen before. Inside is enormous and the stained glass that it is adorned with is stunning. The glass is a rainbow of colors and in all different shapes and sizes. The frecos on the walls and ceilings are also beautiful. After going to Notre Dame we decided that it was time to stop for another crepe. This time we shared crepes stuffed with nutella and banana as well as a vegetarian crepe. These crepes were awesome as well, there were over stuffed and really filling. We wandered around and enjoyed our mid afternoon snack; this didn’t take long at all because we devoured them. After we had indulged like savages, we headed towards the Lourve. On Friday nights the Louvre is free to students, which was pretty cool. I am not of an art buff so our time in the Louvre wasn’t too long. We visited the Mona Lisa which is very small and behind a thick shield of glass. Then we visited a couple painting that I have learned about in my art history class. After this we headed towards the Ancient Egyptian wing which was really interesting. After viewing these pieces we decided that we had our fill of art for one day and headed back outside. The outside of the Lourve is gorgeous and is decorated with water fountain. We strolled through the surrounding gardens and then relaxed in front of a water fountain.

Once it started to get dark we took the Metro to Moulin Rouge to see the signs lit up at night. With our growing knowledge of the Metro system, this took a very short amount of time. After that we headed back to the Lourve to see all of the fountains lit up at night. The Lourve at night is breath taking. All of the pyramids are lit up along with the buildings. We didn’t realize but they turn the fountains off, which is actually better because the water becomes like a mirror and reflects all of the lights from the illuminated buildings. After taking a ton of pictures, we headed to the Arc De Triomphe to see the lit up Champs Elysees lit up as well. After this we navigated our way to the Eiffel Tower for the light show at midnight. I could not believe that it was already midnight; the day had literally flown by, we hadn’t even eater dinner yet.

To get to the Eiffel tower we took a train that runs above ground through the city. As we crossed the bridge over the river we were able to see the illuminate Eiffel Tower; it was beautiful. We got off the train and made our way to the area around the Eiffel Tower so we could watch the light show. At midnight the show started and lasted for about 20 minutes, it was awesome. The entire tower is not only lit up, but in addition there are other lights that shimmer and blink all over the tower. We watched the entire show and then made plans to head back to the area of our hostel and grab dinner there. At this point it was almost 1 am, we had yet to eat dinner and we were exhausted from our 18 hour day. The metro ride back to our Hostel seemed to last forever, but it served for some great people watching to pass the time. Originally we wanted to get a true French meal, but settled for a crepe restaurant nearby because we were so tired.

The next morning we woke up early again to hit the street of Paris for our last day. We were out of our hostel by 10 am which gave us five hours to accomplish what we wanted to in the city. Everyone had a different agenda so we split into small groups. Me and my roommate Jen were more interested in relaxing then rushing around. We took the Metro to the Latin Quarter and found a little café called Paul. Here is we’re I got the best pastry that I had in all of Paris. The pasty itself was similar to a croissant but it was long and flat. Inside was a layer of something sweet but very light, not heavy like a filling, maybe evaporated milk. Then on top of that were mini chocolate chips, then another layer of the flat pastry. It was delicious. We sat there and talked for over an hour and it was awesome. After rushing around so much the previous day it was nice to sit down and relax.

We then decided that we wanted to sit down to some true French Cuisine so we set out to find an authentic café. We wandered the streets of the Latin Quarter, which is beautiful. The side streets were filled with restaurants and places to eat, we decided on a small little café with an outdoor table. For lunch we ordered a traditional three course spread. First we had French onion soup, then turkey with cream gravy, mushrooms and a baguette, followed by chocolate mousse. All of the courses were incredible, especially the mousse which was more like a dense pudding. After we sat, talked and ate we walked over to a bride and continued to relax and take in Paris. Unfortunately we had to leave, so eventually we took a metro back to the bus station to go back to the airport.

Paris was an incredible city and we had an amazing time while staying there. The French that we encountered were very welcoming and helpful in answering our questions on how to get where. It was nice to be in a big city, but the city did not feel big at all. It is maintained perfectly and is immaculate; adding to the aesthetics. There was so much to see and do which made it a great city to go visit. The city was so wonderful, that it didn’t even matter that I lost my cell phone.

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Photos

Airport
At the Pisa Airport before starting our journey to Paris

Finally in France!
On the bus to Paris

Bastille Pub
Dinner our first night in Paris

Romeo
The bartender who loved us at Bastille Pub

Eiffel Tower
We asked a German man to take a picture of us, he had a very artistic eye I guess

Louvre
View of the Louvre from Champes Elysees

Arc de Triomphe
From the Lourve

Fountain
Water fountain that was in The Devil Wears Prada

Stained Glass
Stained Glass in the Notre Dame

Cathedral
Cathedral in the Notre Dame

Comments

[Donna Carrano]

Hi Danielle- Too bad Uncle Andy and I are getting to Italy after you leave. Looks like you found all the fun spots! Love, D.