Paris. I had a three day weekend last weekend because of a festival in Madrid and decided to make good use of it by flying off to Paris, France. I arrived in Bauvais Airport an hour away from the city on Friday at noon (darn Ryanair takes you far far away from your destination) and had to take a bus into the city. I then promptly grabbed my little rolling luggage and plunged into the Paris metro headed to the Monmarte area and my Hostel. It was easy to find, and quite a nice little place, but pretty much after dropping my bag and grabing a room key, I turned right around and headed back out on the streets. My first stop was Sacre Ceur, a lovely church up on a hill, fairly close to my hostel. As with all European cities, Paris is winding and rather difficult to navagate,after getting lost half a dozen times however I did make it to the place just as the sun was beggining to go down (which happened around 6:30). The Church was one of the prettiest I've seen yet in Europe, being that it is neither blatantly gothic in style nor romanic, but uses elements of both. I think it was a little more modern. Haha, you can tell I didn't exactly focus on studying the history of Paris, I just sorta went out and experienced it. From there I metro-ed down to the Place Du Concorde which was the site of the behedings of the French revolution, and is midway between the Louvre and the Arc De Triomphe on Paris's main drag. It was 7pm, but quite dark and not many people where around. I'm not gonna lie, being alone there and all, it sorta creeped me out as I walked up to the Louvre. Once there however I was re-enveloped in the swarm of tourists there and was able to enjoy my visit to the world's most famous art museum. It really is a wonder how big that place is... and that they've invented somethings so you can take flash photographs of the Mona Lisa (thousands a day I'm sure) and it apparently won't hurt her. I sorta felt a little like the art in that plae had become a bit comercialized, Like it wasn't about seeing the Mona Lisa because it is a masterpiece- but about seeing it to say you had... oh well. I walked back up the eerily empty paris streets at 9pm and got to the Champs-Elysées before deciding I was tired and needed dinner. I went back up to a cafe near my hostel and tried out a little of my phrase-book French on the waiter there. He seemed amused...
Saturday was a big day around the city center. I visited Centre Pompidou modern art museum, which had some fascinating artwork. The building also had a fantastic panoramic view of Paris from the top floor. It was a little rainy in some areas across the city and as I was leaving a rainbow appeared near Sacre Ceur. It was very cool. I then bought a Crepe with sugar and butter and munched it while walking down towards Notre Dame. I'm not sure how, but I managed to catch it on a free entrance time and so got to just wander around the church, which was surprisingly dark for a gothic cathedral. It had a definite sense of history around it. From there I went to the Eiffel Tower, which is huge. It's made out of this sorta brown metal that I didn't expect. I guess I always thought it would be shinier. Haha, but it was really cold and rainy there, and as I wasn't feeling well I decided to pass on waiting in the long lines all alone, and just not go up the tower. I'm sure I'll be back someday and do it then. I proceeded on to the Musee D'Orday, which is a museum that focuses on impressionism. It's a good thing I did too, because they were closing in about two hours after I got there. I really enjoyed seeing all the Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Renoir and others. I was proud of myself for being able to identify many of the painters before looking at the name plaques. I also really enjoyed seeing an exhibit on Art Nuvo that they had going on. However, as I was still feeling a little under the weather so I just decided to call it an early night. I ate at another cafe in Monmarte area and had some amazing ravioli in a cream sauce, baguette slices with french mustard, and a lovely glass of white wine (no judgement, Mom/Dad!) and I felt somewhat better when going to sleep at an embarrassingly early time.
Sunday was the best day as I was feeling much better. I caught the train out to Chateau Versailles. It was absolutely beautiful. The eighteenth century in France was just about the best time ever to be an aristocrat I think. If not for my opinions on social equality and general justice I would really have wished to live in the court of Louis XIV (he's the one nicknamed the sun king, who did most of the renovations and improvements to versailles and had a prosperous reign). The Palace is amazing with the paintings on the ceilings, everything gilt and embroidered, and cystal hanging off of anything that doesn't move. The Gardens are also fantastic, the fall colors there are brighter and more prominent than in Spain where things are still a little green! The grand canal and the palace grounds seem to go on forever. I love the open spaces there. After touring the Chateau with an audio guide, and wandering the grounds for most of the day I went back to the main area of Paris and visited the Arc de Triomphe (commissioned by Napoleon) that has a great view of the city and a lot of history. I took a whole lot of pictures and really enjoyed watching the sun go down over the skyline and seeing them raise the French Flag under the Arc for a ceremony that was about to go on. It seemed like a very patriotic moment. I ambled down the Champs-Elysées as my last goodbye to downtown Paris before heading back to my trusty hostel-side cafe in search of some good creme brulee, which I found readily available. I ended up having a really nice conversation with a French Lady at a nearby table who spoke very good Spanish and was very encouraging about my travels and art stuff. Truly, it was really very fun to get to meet people on this trip- everything from fellow hoosier Fighting Irish fans outside Sacre Ceur, to Australian surfers hanging out at the hostel. I had both short and long conversations with people from all over the united states, europe, and the world really. So far I find that the most common travelers I've met are Californians, Australians, and Brazilians (I'm surprised by that last one!).Anyway, my first alone trip was really a great success. I discovered that I can go to a country where I don't speak the language all by myself and survive! Take the metro, order the food, walk the streets, and talk to the people all without getting hurt, robbed, or too very lost! It's a very empowering moment. I'm proud of myself- which is something that doesn't happen often. :)
My next trip is Bruges in Belgium next weekend. I hope it goes as well and even better!!!
I'll keep you faithful readers posted! (lol, posted...)
Much love to all,
A
Sheesh, I didn't know it's possible to see that much of France in about 60 hours! And even when sick! The wine probably actually helped your stomach - good yeast, alcohol to kill the bad stuff. Amazing, isn't it? All things in moderation and at the proper time! Love, Mom
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