Brussels and Paris – February 19-26


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Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris
February 26th 2012
Published: March 2nd 2012
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This week was our study trip to Paris and Brussels. We had briefings in the mornings (including at the European Commission in Brussels and at the OECD and UNESCO in Paris) and then in the afternoons we had our field study research to do and time to explore. In Brussels we saw the Grand-Place (the architecture was absolutely amazing!), the Cathedral, the Mannekin-Pis (the little statue of the peeing boy – supposedly he saved the city by peeing on a bomb fuse to put it our – we even saw him in costume!), a chocolate museum (yum!), the Atomium (a big construction from the World’s Fair with views of the whole city) and ate our fair share of street Belgian waffles and even mussels with fries. I didn’t really have any expectations for Brussels so I was pleasantly surprised. I loved all the architecture and the city was small enough that we got a pretty good feel for it in the couple of days that we were there.

Then Paris. Oh Paris. We definitely could have spent a much longer time there and there were a lot of things that I didn’t get to see. But I got in the big ones! Our first afternoon we of course immediately went to the Eiffel Tower. It was nice and sunny so we got some great views of it! We then went to Sacre Coeur, up on a hill near the Montmartre district overlooking the city. It is an absolutely gorgeous church, but I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t that old, only from the 1800s. After a typical Parisian dinner with the program we went back to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up at night. Every hour it sparkles for a couple minutes so we had to make sure we saw it. The rest of the week and weekend consisted of Napoleon’s Tomb at the Palais d’Invalides (well sort of – we didn’t want to pay the entry fee so we snuck in the doorway and just saw it from the entrance), escargot and French onion soup (the snails had that salty sea taste, kind of like oysters, but they weren’t too bad), Champs-Elysee and the Arc de Triomphe, Versailles in all its splendor (I definitely need to go back in the summer though to see the gardens), Montmartre (Old district where our hostel was – adorable winding streets and little cafes), the Moulin Rouge (kind of disappointing actually from the outside), the Louvre – students get in for free on Fridays! We wandered around for almost three hours and still didn’t see even a quarter of it – it was fun to see all the paintings that I had learned about in my art history class. And I still don’t understand why the Mona Lisa is such a big deal.

We also went to the Notre Dame, which is amazingly gorgeous, especially on the outside. We accidentally were there during Mass so we got to hear some singing. Then Saint Chapelle with its amazing stained glass windows, Shakespeare and Company (an adorable little bookstore with all sorts of books), the lock bridge where lovers go and attach their own lock then throw the keys into the river, the Latin District for lunch, and Gallery Lafayette, the big shopping center with overpriced French fashion and a really cool ceiling. Saturday evening there was an organ and Gregorian chants concert in the Notre Dame for Lent so we decided to go. The acoustics are amazing in there! On Sunday we went to the Pantheon, Jardin de Luxembourg, and Ile Saint Louis, the cute little island in the middle of the Seine right next to the Notre Dame. And of course we ate our fair share of crepes of all sizes and styles, the famous French macaroons, madeleines, and baguettes. This trip was a trip of food. It was a fast whirlwind and we were more tired from our “vacation” week than our normal school activities, but it was a lot of fun and great to see some more of Europe!


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