May 10th - 13th
It was beautiful... just how I imagined. Paris is as lovely and romantic as the reputation suggests and it's something everyone should see at least once. It's overflowing with life and culture and history and style- and I spent an incredible weekend indulging in it all.
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On the canal @ St. Christopher's Inn |
On my first morning in Paris I decided to brave the rainy weather and go for the 4-hour walking tour - always a great opportunity to get the wide-angle view of a city.
We started at Île de la Cité, a small island in the middle of Paris that is home to Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, and Fontaine Sainte Michel.
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| Fontaine Sainte Michel |
From there, we walked to Norte Dame to get a view of the cathedral from the Seine. This is when it started to hit me. It's a crazy experience seeing things that you've read about and seen pictures of all your life. Don't even get me started on the Eiffel Tower.
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| Notre Dame |
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Pont Neuf |
Walking tours are best when you have a tour guide with a sense of humor. Our guide was an American expat (naturally sarcastic) who knew everything there was to know about Paris and it's history and fortunately for us, she chose wisely when deciding which tid bits to entertain us with for 4 hours.
This was one of my personal favorites and I'm going to do my best to recount the details, take from it what you like:
According to our guide, King Henry III was the king in charge of the building of this bridge, Pont Neuf, and one day he had a wild party [normal for the eccentric royalty overflowing Parisian history] . There was an artist at the party hired to sketch all of the guests and once the guests got drunk, they became increasingly more difficult to sketch/just generally ridiculous looking. King Henry saw the drawings and said they hardly even looked like humans and he thought it was so amusing that he had those sketches sculpted onto the side of his bridge. Now, whether or not that story is 100% true, we'll never know... but I like to think it is.
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| First glance! |
As we were crossing the Seine, I caught my first glance of the Eiffel Tower- followed by an uncontrollable gasp. I didn't know I would be so excited when I saw it.
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| Walking Tour |
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Pont des Arts |
This is the Pont des Arts - a beautiful bridge where it's the oh-so-romantic tradition for couples to lock a padlock and throw the key into the river below. All together now- awwww.
Before we knew it, we were standing in this huge square, surrounded on all sides by a beautiful building with slightly varying architectural styles all the way around. Lo and behold- Le Louvre. I guess the only part of the museum I was prepared to identify on the spot was the glass pyramid, which wasn't even in eye-shot for another few minutes.
So the Louvre is enormous, of course. As the different wings were added, the different rulers of the time had their own personal touch added to the decor in the form of a royal insignia. The numerous additions make the inside even more complicated to navigate, but the point is to get lost, right?
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| That's more like it |
Our walking tour continued on and I returned to the museum later that day- you'll just have to wait and see!
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| Jardin de Tuileries |
In front of the main entrance of the Louvre is a beautiful garden called Jardin de Tuileries. This is a popular spot to snack on a crêpe, go for a stroll, or just sit and relax with a baguette and a slice (or two) of brie.
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| Le Parisien |
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| L'Obelisque de la Concorde |
We made our way to Place de la Concorde where one can find this genuine Egyptian Obelisk gifted to Paris by the Egyptian government in the 19th century. The only part of the monument that was added by the French is the flashy gold cap... shocker.
More sights from the walking tour include the Pont Alexander III and and distance view of the Arc de Triomphe from the Champs-Élysées. After those 3.5 hours of walking through Paris, I crossed off most of my "to-see" list.
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| Pont Alexander III |
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| Avenue des Champs-Élysées |
After the tour, I went with some other famished hostel-hoppers to the café recommended by our guide. I had a goat cheese and artichoke quiche with authentic French fries, a salad with a dijon vinaigrette, and all the fresh bread I could eat. It was to die for.
After lunch, a few of us continued on to get a closer look at that tower I kept hearing so much about.
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| Tour Eiffel |
Grandiose doesn't even scratch the surface. It was so exhilarating to be in the presence of what might be the most famous icon in the world. I could have stayed there in the grass staring at it all day if it weren't for my unforgiving itinerary. Two days in Paris just isn't enough time to sit for hours and absorb the essence of the city like you should... but I'd take those 2 days anytime.
We made a quick crêpe stop before heading to the Louvre to refuel. I went for the chestnut butter and coconut flake variety and it was a good life decision. Chalk one up!
So one other hostel friend and I (the last ones standing!) circled some essentials on our Louvre map and embarked on the journey. We visited on a Friday evening when it's free to the under 26ers and there are minimal crowds- a perfect way to avoid the infamous Louvre-induced anxiety and claustrophobia.
This museum is endless in its classic treasures and masterpieces- the building itself is stunning, let alone the paintings on the walls.
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| Napoléon Bonaparte |
Considering it's the most famous museum in the world, they are pretty lax about the rules. I found it surprising that you're allowed to take photos inside the museum (albeit without flash) but there is one rule that was particularly amusing.
Apparently, ever since a crazy tourist brought a premeditated cup of tea to the museum and threw it at the Mona Lisa, no liquids are allowed inside (not that they ever should have been). The funny part is that the painting was already protected by BULLET-PROOF GLASS and thus the said cup o' tea never posed any real threat to begin with.
Logic is très overrated.
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The main attraction
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My favorite thing about the Louvre was the gravitational pull; no matter how hard we tried to stick to our plan for time/energy conservation purposes, when walking past an unfamiliar hall, the ornate features and inviting displays would lure us in every time. We saw much more of the museum than we thought we had the energy for and I'm so glad that we did.
Just your average, everyday Parisian Metro stop.
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| Elevator to the top of Montparnasse |
Maybe the best advice our tour guide provided was this: instead of spending hours waiting in line to spend 10 euro climbing hundreds of stairs to the top of the Eiffel Tower to take pictures of a beautiful city in which you can't even see that city's most profound monument but instead a hideously mediocre skyscraper, climb to the top of that hideously mediocre skyscraper, Montparnasse, [for half the price] and get a 360 panoramic of the City of Lights including a breathtaking view of that once resented and now embraced tower of Eiffel's... and if you make it on the hour, you get to see the tower glitter and yes, that's every bit as magical as it sounds. We were simply beside ourselves at this sight.
What better way to wrap up a full day of exhausting Parisian shenanigans than with a hot bowl of French onion soup?
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Sainte Chapelle
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Sainte Chapelle is a beautiful chapel that happens to be home to some important Passion Relics including the crown of thorns... crazy, right?!
It's also just an incredible building with stained-glass windows about 40 feet high depicting scenes from the Old and New Testament. The beaming midday sunlight secured this place a spot on my list of "Things That Are So Pretty I Can't Believe My Own Eyes."
Next, I stopped by Notre Dame for a sunny-day view and decided not to wait on the never-ending line to go inside. The legendary gothic exterior was enough for me to be in a complete state of awe.
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| Notre Dame |
Then I hopped over to the Musée d'Orsay for a few hours of impressionistic euphoria. The museum was built inside an originally beautiful yet dysfunctional train station built for a Paris World's Fair. The interior is stunning and the artwork brought tears to my eyes.
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| Two Young Girls at the Piano, 1892 |
This piece is, as I realized in Paris, my favorite painting in the world. A small version of this Renoir masterpiece has been a permanent installment atop the piano in my childhood home since I can remember and will always remind me of my sister and her countless hours spent practicing the piano when our whole family still shared one roof. I was stunned to see it in person and, again, overwhelmed by my unexpected and underestimated reaction.
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| Musée d'Orsay Clock |
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| One of my top 5 personal favorite photos from this trip |
My next stop was another trip highlight- a visit to the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur in Montmartre. First, I climbed somewhere around 200 steps to reach the highest natural point in the city- the Sacré-Cœur Basilica.
This place was a dream... maybe I say this because I took a nice, long, well-deserved sunlit nap on the hilly lawn in front of the basilica amongst the many others enjoying their friends, music, and romance.
My trip just wouldn't be complete without a sampling of some French macaroons. This scrumptious hand-picked trio consisted of the flavors Burnt Caramel, Lavender Apricot, and per recommendation, NY Cheesecake. They were all good, but Burnt Caramel was serious.
Can you believe this view?!
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| Pure Romance |
After crossing through what was not exactly the classiest part of town, I arrived at the Moulin Rouge. It was fun to see this old-time cabaret in real life!
Then I crept through the streets of Montmartre for a bit- this neighborhood was once home to many famous artists (or at least their studios) including Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, and Salvador Dalí.
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| Montmartre Cemetery |
Many influential artists, musicians, and writers are buried in this eerie cemetery in the same area.
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| A view of Montmartre |
Before my trip was over, I insisted on one last expedition
to the Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Élysées at night to
see the city lit up.
Below the arc is the Eternal Flame which burns in honor of the unidentified soldiers of WWI and II, just above the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
I couldn't believe my eyes on this one. A never-ending-warp-tunnel Sephora... am I dreaming? I literally could not see where it ended.
Before heading to the airport, I stopped by a bakery for one last carb-load... a chocolate eclair!
There is something so special about Paris that I could feel immediately;I'm sure many others sense it, as well, seeing as it's the most toured city in the world. I sincerely hope that all of you get a chance to see it at least once because it will help you achieve two elements essential to what I believe to be a purposeful life: an open heart and an open mind.
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