Paris in the Fall...

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So I got back from Paris on Sunday and it was amazing. I had always wanted to go but wasn't sure why and when i got there I definitely found out what I had been missing. The whole city was simply beautiful (aided by the fact that we were fortunate enough to have great weather) and full of history. I definitely noticed more differences between Paris and Madrid than I expected, but all surprises were welcome. I went on the trip with Emily, Cody, Yoli, Christina, Grant, and Kerry and when we got there we met up with Kyle and John.

So we actually flew in Thursday night and arrived after midnight to find that the airport in "the city of lights" was more or less not lit up. It was definitely a struggle to find any mode of transportation to our hotel, not only because no one on our trip spoke any french, but also because the metro system had closed. Eventually we made it.

Friday we woke up early and first on our list was the Louvre (after a traditionally AWESOME french pastry breakfast. I definitely got museum exhaustion because it was so huge (they have over 35,000 works of art on display). Highlights were of course the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. Also I liked this painting that depicted Milton's "Paradise Lost", but I don't think anyone who has ever taken a class with Eric Teagarden wouldn't appreciate that. After the Louvre we walked down the champs d'ellise (probably butchered that spelling) toward the Arc d'Triumph with a brief stop at place de la concorde. The Arc was really huge and totally ornate, and I enjoyed the tomb of the unknown soldier, although I'm not sure it was as cool as the one we have in the US. You can buy a ticket to climb the 300+ stairs to the top of the Arc but I decided I didn't really want to pay to exercise and be freaked out by how high it was. After the Arc we caught the metro back to the hotel for a mini break before heading to Notre Dame. Ohmygosh was it beautiful. The mirror rose windows were just stunning, no hunchbacks though. Then we had dinner and turned in for the night.

The next morning (Saturday) Christina, Kerry and I woke up early to go to a HUGE flea market. They literally had everything including the kitchen sink (no seriously, they did). After a quick snack of mcdonald's french fries ( I had to, I was in France!) we headed off to meet everyone else before going toward Sacre Coure. The view from below the church is spectaculor, only to be diminished a little bit by the fog. There was also a cool street festival going on where we tried snails (ew) as well as other french food, plus there was music and just a general good time. From there we caught the metro to musee d'orsay and the big draw there is the impressionist paintings. I LOVED the degas (since he is pretty much my favorite painter of all time) as well as the monet, picasso, renoir, manet, yeah pretty much all the impressionist stuff. Plus there was a really neat Picasso/Manet exhibit that had just opened a few days earlier which we saw. After the museum we walked along the Seine and up to the Eiffel Tower. Now I know that the Eiffel Tower is THE landmark of Paris (and France for that matter) but seriously it is too big. Too tall. I am scared of heights. Too tall. We waited forever to go up and it was the scariest experience of my life, but at least I got really good pictures out of it. And I would have kicked myself if I didn't do it. After we got back down to the ground (SALVATION) we took awkward tourist-y pictures in the front and then went to dinner.

So that was Paris pretty much. We flew back the next day early in the morning without incident. I loved Paris (like seriously LOVED it, as in I considered just skipping my flight back and joining the company at moulin rouge) but the one thing I got there that I could have done without is a nasty cold. So this week I am lounging around and being sick as well as changing rooms with my señora's sister so that I can actually have functioning internet (yay!). Next up... midterms. Yuck. Wish me luck!

Love love love,
Meredith

ps. new picture site coming soon, I will send an email update...

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