Hi guys!!
Sorry this blog post is long overdue, to be honest since returning from Paris I have not had the best week. I was exhausted when I returned on Monday, and I think something I ate gave me food poisoning, I ended up getting sick Monday night and it was not exactly fun. But on Tuesday I rested a lot after classes and today (Wednesday), I feel a ton better! There has also been a little drama with my host family that I might as well fill you in on. Basically, I am the favorite. This may sound like I am bragging, but its true and, like my illness, its not exactly fun. On Tuesday, when I was still not feeling well and was at home resting my host mom came to tell me that my two roommates would not be receiving their portion of bread for breakfast for the rest of the week because they were disrespectful and rude. I, on the other hand, had been nice and followed the rules, so I would be allowed bread. She talked to me about my roommates for a good 15 minutes, and it was so awkward- I didn’t know what to say! Then I told her I was sick, and about 10 minutes later she came down with a tray with a plate of rice and tea to settle my stomach. It is so weird how nice they are to me, but how mean they are to my roommates! I know my roommates have broken a few rules, but taking away food is extreme. We talked to the housing director soon and she was going to talk to them (they really aren’t allowed to do this), so hopefully it will get sorted out. It just did not make for a pleasant experience to have to tell my roommates they would not be getting bread in the AM. But anyway, I need to stop complaining!! I had a wonderful weekend and am headed to another fabulous destination in two days (more on that later) but here goes the Paris Recap…..
We took the 1 o’clock TGV train from Lux City and arrived in Paris a little after 3pm (it was a short ride)! We set out to find out hostel, but unfortunately the directions we had were terrible and we were quickly lost. We arrived in Gare de L’est, but had to walk from Gare du Nord, so we first found Gare du Nord. We asked the tourist center for better directions and they gave them to us so we set out. Unfortunately, our first impression of the streets of Paris was not so great. We were in this strange neighborhood that was sort of a mix of a fabric district/ a kind of China town but Indian/and the Ghetto. There were tons of strange African and Indian men staring us down as we walked, and I am not going to lie, it was slightly scary. But, I was so gung hoe about Paris that I so badly didn’t want to be disappointed, so at the time I just kept telling myself, this is fine, its just like NYC Chinatown, its kind of quaint. Looking back though, I realize I was secretly thinking “what the heck?!” When we arrived at our hostel, which was in a much nicer neighborhood (it sort of miraculously and quickly changed from ghetto to nice) and the check in man gave us a map, the first thing he did was draw a huge X through the area we just walked through. He said “this is not safe. There is no reason to go there. Don’t go there at night, actually don’t go during the day either!” We realized we had been in this exact area, and understood that we had just walked through one of Paris’ worst neighborhoods! We laughed about it and I know I was thrilled to discover that hopefully the rest of Paris would be better than the part I had just seen (or else all of my childhood dreams would have been shattered haha).
After putting down our stuff and freshening up, we headed out to explore our neighborhood a bit. We were in the bohemian artist district of Paris known as Monte Mare, right near the Sacre Coeur church. We walked around a little and saw it was a lot nicer than the area we had walked through before! We also picked up some crepes for a “snack” which were being sold at little street stands everywhere. Since coming back from Italy, I have been on a weird tuna and olive kick (nat, I know you would be proud I randomly love olives now), and I got a tuna, egg, and cheese crepe. It sounds weird, but it was amazing! I couldn’t even eat it all and I was so stuffed. The crepes ended up holding us over all night and we never even got hungry for dinner! But now it was time to brave the metro. The map is intense, and looks quite overwhelming, so we were a little scared at first. But it was actually really easy to figure out! We were staying in the Montemarte area of Paris, so we really had to take the metro to the center area and a lot of other districts, and we did it all weekend! We were experts by the end. It is so easy to use and very quick as well. I am glad I sort of figured it out before my parents came so I will be able to show them how to use it as well! But on Friday, we took the metro to L’Arc de Triomphe/Champs D’Elysee Stop. Our hostel man had recommended getting off there and walking the hour or so to the Louvre. He said it was about an hour walk, but very nice and scenic. When we got off the metro, walked up the stairs and saw the Arc in front of us, just as the sun was about to go down, I fell in love with Paris right then. After our walking through the ghetto experience, I was so relieved to see Paris I had always imagined- gorgeous, bright, full of life. It was so pretty and just exhilarating! We took a ton of pictures and began our stroll. Champs D’Elysee, one of the most famous streets in the world, is lined with world class shops, restaurants, and hotels, and has huge wide sidewalks that our perfect for strolls such as ours. We just took it all in. Walking down that road was one of my favorite parts of the trip, it was just all so Parisian. At the end of the street, we reached the famous Egyptian Obelisk, and walked around the Tuliers Gardens (they were closed at the time since it was after dark) on Rue du Rivioli. We saw the Eiffel Tour in the distance, and even saw it sparkle and flash, it does this every hour on the hour and night! It was so cool and surreal to see something in person that you have seen photographed so many times!
Eventually, we reached the Louvre. It is free for students after 6 on Fridays, so we took advantage of that sweet deal and went our first night! Since Kelly and I would be coming back to Paris with our families, we told our friend Margaret, whose birthday it was on Saturday, that she could decide how we wanted to spend our time. She wanted to hit the Louvre, but was not too interested in spending hours upon hours there and was mainly just wanting to see the Mona Lisa and other really famous stuff. We walked through this basic route and it was really interesting to see. In my museums class (which is awesome and has really changed the way I think about visiting museums and other tourist experiences) we have talked a great deal about the Louvre and how was the first and probably best example of the universal survey museums, which grew out of the Enlightenment ideas in the 19 th century. Museums like this tell the story of art history, and in doing so, celebrate national pride. It was really neat to be able to understand this as I walked through the story which starts with the Greek and Roman classics (we saw Nike of course), then moves to church/pre renaissance art, then the Italian Renaissance, and finally culminates in French painting. We walked through all of these rooms and I really did love the Louvre. The building itself, and the display tactics, are beautiful and it really does a great job of showing off the art. It was quite exciting to see the Mona Lisa as well! I know a lot of people are disappointed when they see her, I have been told by a ton of people that she is much smaller than imagined. Knowing this, I was expecting her to be tiny and was actually surprised how BIG she was. We looked at her from a variety of different angels, and it was cool how her eyes always followed you. I swear, she even winked at me!
After our Louvre experience, we grabbed the metro and made our way back to Montemarte. It was pretty late at this point, so after a quick detour at the hotel to change, we headed out into the Parisian night. We decided to stay close to our hostel (don’t worry, in the nice area) and we found several really fun bars that had a very local vibe. Almost everyone in them was Parisian and speaking French, so I got to practice my language skills a ton! I was actually complimented on my French, although some people had trouble with my funny American accent. We stayed at a cute place with 4 euro mojitos (a steal in pricey Paris) for awhile, and then visited one other bar. We didn’t have too crazy of a night, we knew we had a full day ahead of us the next day and wanted to be functioning in the morning! Still, it was a blast (we found out the next day from our tour guide that the bars we hit were very happening and local, so we were proud of our discover), and we got one whole bar to sing Happy Birthday to Margaret in French, so it was a success!
The next morning, we woke up and had breakfast. We showered and left the hostel by a little after 10, our hostel had some brochures advertising a company called New Europe that offered completely free tours of the centre of Paris for free everyday at 11 and 1. Being the thrifty budget travelers we were, we decided to check it out. We thought it would be a good way to get our bearings in the city and learn a little bit more about the famous things we were looking at! It turned out to be a great idea! The tour was really informative, but had a very young vibe- our tour guide was a hilarious 20 something Australian named Jacqueline (or Jacq for short- of course reminding me of my sister), and our tour was mostly full of young American or Australian students. Jacq told us a lot of funny stories about Paris along the way, and did not bombard us with too many intense facts and figures. The tour started in the Latin Quarter, and then went to Notre Dame, then along the Seine to the famous bridge Pont Neuf (where I learned Carrie and Big got together on Sex and the City), then to the Louvre, through the Tulier Gardens (which I loved), up towards the Egyptian Obelisk, and ended near the Arc De Triomphe. Jacq pointed out what a lot of the buildings were, and I am really looking forward to being able to go back and actually go inside a lot of them. The tour was close to 4 hours, but it did not feel that long! I won’t tell you all the stories and history I learned, but I’ll try and remember it to fill Hondo and Linda in. One of the funniest things we learned was about the faces that are built into the side of the wall along the Seine near the famous Pont Neuf bridge. Turns out one of the Kings, I think Henry IV, had them created to represent his friends after a long and crazy night of partying at the palace. When you really look at them, it is clear they are drunk! I would like to take a perhaps more historical tour of the city at some point, but this one was great for the weekend! We had a lunch break, and grabbed great sandwiches at a cute place near the Louvre. We also (I know this is lame but don’t hate) got Starbucks, which was quite exciting! Luxembourg is not known for its coffee (my witch hunts teacher is actually now writing a book on the cultural history of coffee, and he agrees) and you cannot get a big cup of coffee to go ANYWHERE. It is all very tiny (think Dixie Cup) and just sometimes not satisfying. It was great to get a great big Starbucks while in Paris, I am happy to admit it tastes just like home.
After the tour finished, we headed to do the most quintessential tourist thing in Paris that is absolutely necessary, climbing the Eiffel Tower! There was a very long line that we had to wait in, but the one we chose (taking the stairs most of the way until the very end when you have to take an elevator) was significantly shorter than taking the lift all the way, so that was a break. When we made it to the front and began climbing, the stairs were quite steep and it was a little scary to be on the outside. I realized most of the things we have climbed so far (it seems like we do at least one trek per trip) have been inside, so this was different! But it was really cool and as we got higher and higher, we were able to see more and more of the city! When we made it to the end of the stairs, on the second platform, we had to wait in yet another long line to take the lift to the top. Honestly, I think the view from the second platform was even better than at the top, so if I did it again, I may have just stayed there. The top was really cool though, we had learned from Jacq that on average there are several proposals a day at the top- don’t forget, this is where Tom Cruise proposed to Katie Holmes- how cheesy Tom! We were sad to not witness one, perhaps it was because the weather was deteriorating and it was getting drizzly and windy. We didn’t mind though, we were supposed to have bad weather all weekend, and all day Saturday until then had been absolutely gorgeous! It was sunny, and it was great to see Paris on such a beautiful day! I had been able to just wear a light jacket and sweater, which was perfect! Sadly, this beauty had ended by the time we were at the top of the Eiffel though it was quite windy, notice the crazy hair in all my pics! I think when I come back with my parents I would like to climb something else, perhaps the Arc De Triomphe or this office building thing that Jacq recommended, because honestly although being at the top was cool, what is a view of the Parisian skyline without the Eiffel Tower in it!?
After descending the tower, we headed back to the hostel and freshened up and then went out for Margaret’s bday dinner! We went to this place in the Montemarte area that our student activities coordinator and Jacq had recommended called Relais Gascons. I am not sure exactly what that means in French, but the food was excellent!! They had huge salads that came in big wooden bowls and were top with thinly sliced fried, seasoned potatoes! My salad had my two new favorites- olives and tuna (don’t worry no signs of mercury poisoning yet)- and a bunch of other stuff. It was so big I couldn’t finish it all, but I loved it! After dinner, we headed to pub crawl sponsored by the same company who ran the free tour. It was Marg’s 21st, so we knew we had to do something really fun! The pub crawl did not disappoint, and included entry and drink specials at 4 bars in Montemarte, and entrance to one sweet disco right off Champs L’Elysee. It was really funny and we hung out with a lot of Americans and Germans. The only strange part was when I was randomly not allowed in the disco from the huge line- and held aside for an arbitrary 5 minutes by the intense bouncers- I guess my outfit wasn’t cool enough? Eventually though, I was let in, and we danced with Parisians until the early morning hours…
The next morning we all woke up pretty tired, but excited to sightsee for a second day nonetheless. Unfortunately, our morning plans sort of fell through. We debated between shopping and a museum, and when we picked shopping and headed towards the famously huge malls Galleries de Lafayette and Printemps, they were closed. By then it was too late to see a museum, so we went to a place called Angelina’s by the Tuliers gardens for hot chocolate. My friend Diana, who is studying in Paris now, recommended it and said the hot chocolate would change your life. She was not kidding, it was FABULOUS!! We each got a little cup and some macarrons and it was lovely. I cannot wait to take my Dad, the kind of all chocoholics, to this place when he comes!
Next, we took a tour of the Montemarte area with the same company who had sponsored the pub crawl and the free walking tour- we obviously really liked them! It was neat to explore the area around our hostel and learn a lot about its history. We saw the last windmill in Paris, the restaurant Picasso used to eat in (he was so poor he had to draw pictures of the waitresses in exchange for a meal), and the house Van Goh lived in. We also went in Sacre Couer and got a great view of the city from its front steps. Our tour guide, Tyler, had been on the pub crawl and remembered us. He was young and did a good job enlightening us about Montemarte’s unique past- it was and still is the bohemian and artistic center of the city . We also met an independent traveler named Jay- he was from Orange County. At the end of the tour, we got a complimentary glass of wine at a cute bar in Montemarte, and it was fun to talk to Jay and Tyler about their adventures in Europe. It is crazy, they both just picked up and left the states and are basically just trying to get by in Europe completely on their own. I used to think this sort of backpacking, bohemian life may be for me, but being abroad has made me rethink that. I love Europe, but I also love my friends and family and I don’t think I could stand to be away from them for an indefinitely long period of time. Its just too much and I have too many roots back home in MD and VA. Also, I enjoy showers, proper hygiene, and cute clothing too much!
But anyway, after the tour and wine, we were going to visit the inside of Notre Dame, but Tyler told us it would be closed this time on Sunday which was a bummer, but we decided to make the best of it and go with plan B. A bunch of people, including Diana, my friend Bridget who spent last semester in Paris, and our student activities corner, and our guidebooks, had recommended visited this place L’As du Falafel in the Marais area- the Jewish quarter of the city. I love falafel but Kelly and Marg had never had it, but with so many recommendations (it was also listed in 2 guidebooks, and Lenny Kravitz has proclaimed it the best falafel ever- I think he is an expert?) we decided to head to the area and check it out for a few hours before our train! We were so glad we did. It ended up being one of my favorite neighborhoods, and I can’t wait to go back and explore it more. It was very lively and had tons of neat restaurants and cute boutiques. Also the falafel, which came in a delicious pita with yummy sauce and vegetables, was great! I converted Kelly and Marg and now they are fans of the treat. I hope I can talk my parents into trying it! After eating, we browsed some of the shops and I found adorable, old fashioned romance postcards that will go great in my Parisian style room. We headed back to the train station in time to catch our 8:30 train back to Lux, and I was at home by 11. Overall, it was a great trip, I loved Paris! It surprised me how metropolitan and diverse it was. There are so many neighborhoods and museums I want to explore, again I will mention how excited I am to return with my parents! Basically I am freaking out and cannot wait for them to come!! We are going to have so much fun!
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