Well I think that by now everyone knows that I went to visit Alexis in Paris while she was on her Spring Break AP Euro trip (insert "small world" comment here about me meeting my sister in Paris). I have to preface this blog by saying that I had heard a lot of mixed reviews about Paris and even France as a whole. Maybe living in Germany people are less likely say that Paris is worth-while. Whatever it may be, I was a bit skeptical going on this vacation as to how much I would like this city. After being there for less than 72 hours I can safely say that I love it!
I got to Paris by train from Cologne. We made stops in Brussels and Brugge, so there were a lot of cool sites to see along the way. Once I got to Paris Gare du Nord train station, I decided I would try to find my hotel on foot. The good thing about my hotel was that it was directly beside the Opera house, so I just followed those signs and had very little trouble finding it. On the way, an old lady started speaking to me in rapid french and kept holding out her hand..... come to realize that she was asking me to help her cross the street. So right off the bat I helped an old french woman cross the street! Alexis called me on the way to my hotel and told me to go to Arc de Triomphe in an hour and that is where we would meet. So I rushed to my hotel, which was not accepting check ins, but said that they would hold my bags until later in the day. I asked for a map and found out that I could take one street all the way to the Arc, so I started walking. There are a lot of high-end shops around where I live, so I peaked my head into one just to see. I was wearing a skirt and jacket so I didnt feel like I looked like a tourist..... it for some reason gave me more power to do things. I passed a subway station and realized that the Arc was immediately off one of the stops, so I decided to give it a try. I succeeded in buying a day pass, talking to the subway receptionist, and getting off at the right stop. Now comes the difficult part, finding Alexis. She had told me that she was going to the top at 2pm, and it was around 2:15 so I decided to go to the top to see if she was there.
As an official EU resident, I was able to go up for free, but Alexis and her group was nowhere in sight. The two pictures above are from the top if the Arc. It was a really sunny day so I stayed up there for about a half an hour. Then I got a text message from Alexis saying that they had free time for lunch until 3:30, at which point they would meet under the Arc, but since she couldnt text anymore than that, I decided to walk around until then.
The street we were on was one of the more posh streets of Paris. People were rolling up a red carpet that was used for a premier from the previous night. I overheard people talking saying that Johnny Depp had been in town earlier that day. Also there was a TV show being filmed (something probably like the Bachelor or Bachelorette.... they kept making a couple kiss over and over again and filming it from different angles. The picture above is the entry-way to the Abercrombie and Fitch Paris.... twin boys and all. I peaked into some of the shops, there was a cool Japanese clothing store in which I could picture myself buying a hefty amount of clothing if given the chance. On the way back to the Arc, I passed a bakery where there was a huge line out the door. One of the tips that Rick Steves said on his podcast was that the French do not queue for anything except pastries, so if you see a line in front of a bakery, it is going to be worth it. With that in my mind, I hoped in line, blind of what I would order.....but quickly decided to get some classics.... 2 croissants and some macarons for me and Alexis. The man asked me if I wanted some fresh croissants instead with powdered sugar, I said that sounds great, and he proceeded to take a tray out of the oven of freshly made pastries, sprinkled some powdered sugar on, and handed them to me hot..... needless to say that 1 of them did not make it out of the store.
Alas under the Arc we met up.
We went to dinner with the group in a nice restaurant. Picture above is from the subway. I had some chicken with mushroom sauce with sides of rice, green beans and salad courtesy of the Sycamore AP Euro group. It was weird seeing almost all of my English teachers from my high school education in Paris. I think everyone was interested in how I got there, why I am studying in Germany, etc... so it was cool to think that some of them might be influenced to go there in the future.
Later we took a night trip to the Eiffel tower and took really cheesy, but necessary, pictures.
We were waiting until the clock struck 9 for the lights on the Eiffel tower to go off. We were under the impression that it would be only for a few fleeting seconds, but it lasted a good long while so we were able to take some good ones.
After that, the group was nice enough to let me take a river cruise with them. So we got to ride down the Seine with narration of the sites. It was a nice introduction to Paris because we got to see the Louvre, Notre Dame, Musee de Orsay, etc all the same day we got there.
Here is Alexis on the boat eating the croissant I got for her earlier. I think we both agreed it was really delicious, but it tasted almost more like cake than the croissants we are used to. It was almost so creamy it tasted like pudding, if that makes any sense at all.
And here we are eating the macarons on the Seine.
I made Alexis take a picture here in front of the french flag!
Here I am in front of Notre Dame
Alexis in front of Notre Dame.
After that it was pretty late so I made my way home on the subway. I was worried that it may be late so it would be a bit more sketchy to go home by myself, but it worked out really well because since my hotel was right by the Opera, the subway stop was right next to my hotel and there were still lots of people out and about at night in gowns. I gathered my things and checked into my room, which happened to be on the 8th floor without an elevator on a really circular staircase, so that was an adventure each day. I turned on TV and thought the most Parisian thing to do was to watch an old black and white move and take a bubble bath and eat another macaron or two. If only I was a chain smoker, then I could have really gotten into the part. Anyways, I fell asleep at like 2 in the morning feeling completely french-ed out. The next morning I woke up at 9am ready for my day without Alexis in Versailles. I went to a bakery to grab a quick breakfast before heading out to Chateau Versailles
3 blocks from my hotel, there was a Chipotle. I had looked this up beforehand, and was prepared to buy about 5 burritos to bring back with me to Bonn..... but tragedy occurred, and it was not yet opened.
So back to the subway I went. I asked the receptionist how to get to Chateau Versailles, and she blew me off completely and spoke in rapid french and gave me another day ticket. Not knowing which trains to take, I looked up the directions on the map and off I went. I realized I was on the right train when everyone was wearing really expensive cameras around their necks.
My train ride was a success, not only that but as I was standing in line for tickets, I read a sign saying that European residents under 25 did not need a ticket, so once again I got to go there for free....
... but not without waiting in this extremely long security line beforehand :( I made friends with the people in front of me and behind me. The people behind me were nice british ladies who were quite concerned with the Italian group behind her, who kept trying to cut all of us in line. The quote of the day was when she turned to me after elbowing one of them into place and explained "I am British dammit, I know how to queue!" To this day, that thought still brings a smile to my face.
It was after an hour of standing in line that I started to become nervous that they were going to not let me in without a ticket. I had a huge fear that for some reason my residence pass was not going to cut it. But that fear was in vain because I was passed right through no problem whatsoever.
Versailles can be explained by one word: Gold. gold, gold, and more gold everywhere.
Gold, gold, more gold.
Here was the Chapel inside the palace.
white and gold.
Here is the chapel from up above. Soon after this picture was taken, and I promise that it was not planned at all, I ran into Alexis! Their group was taking a guided tour, so I jumped right on to their train of students
We practiced our "Pride and Prejudice" waltzes in this room. I know it sounds so pompous and annoying for me to say, but to be honest I thought it was going to be a bit more elaborate. What I was most impress by was the gardens, but inside it was just like most palaces I have seen here in Europe.... that being said it is probably because they were all copying Versailles, but my point is that it was different than I expected it to be. Okay I am done being Anthony Bourdaine or someone else really depressing because it was still really impressive to see and I am glad I did use a big chunk of my time to see it.
Here I am in front of the Coronation of Napoleon painting. We actually got to see this one twice, once at Versailles and once at the Louvre
Impersonating statues FTW
Alexis feeling sassy in Versailles
I think this was the 30 years war? or maybe the Nepoleonic wars? something french on the mural behind Alexis. It was, as the germans would say, verboten to take pictures here, but we were feeling a bit daring ourselves.
Alexis eating her lunch on the gardens at Versailles. She was nice enough to pay for my lunch. Hers looked delicious, it was some sort of Capri salad-y type of thing on a bagel that was grilled. it may have had brie on it? Anyway, it looked like a winner to me.
I got a turkey and brie baguette. Turkey is kind of a rare meat in Germany, plus the amazing bread and cheese made it a winner as well.
Alexis trying to get her jumping pic at the gardens
And here it is, currently her FB prof pic.
Hipster pic. We decided to take a timed one of us both, and me and Alexis look so European I guess that a group of british visitors were making fun of the fact we were doing a timed pic right to our face. Compliment or not? you decide
Here is Versailles from behind.
The gardens of Versailles.
After this, Alexis's tour guide told me where they would be eating dinner and told me that I could meet them there. With the subway ride back, it didnt give me a lot of time to find the place. It seemed like a bit of a hipster neighborhood, so I walked around into the shops for a bit before I met them in the restaurant. We had some Potatoes au gratin, rice and chicken.... it was delicious once again. After dinner it was about 6:30, and the group was trying to decide whether or not to call it a night or to go site seeing some more. I was glad when the students all cried out to see more. So we went to Montmartre. This place was really interesting because it is the site of some sort of church/temple. It is a really hipster area, but at the same time really touristy. I know that doesnt make sense, but sometimes good things dont have to make sense. I am glad that Alexis's tour guide warned us beforehand about some people who tie string around your hand and then make you pay for it. So many people were grabbing my hand as we walked up the stairs to this temple. It really made me think of the current problem with asylum seekers going to france, and wondering how many of them are from Tunesia, or Libya or some other country affected by the arab spring last year.
We tried to get a good picture here of the Eiffel tower, but I guess the sun was just not in our favor.
So here comes the great story of the Escargot adventure. We decided now was the last time we would probably be able to try escargot, and since there was a handful of stereotypically french restaurants surrounding the area, we decided this would be a perfect place. The first place we went to we sat down and asked to split a plate between 5 people of escargot. and by we asked, I mean that Alexis had to ask in french because the waiter could not speak any english. I was really impressed by how Alexis was responding to and understanding everything the man was saying. Unfortunately he told us we could not sit there and split one plate. We decided that the best way to do it would be to order escargot to go. So we pushed Alexis into the restaurant above and had her order the snails. After about 10 min, she came out with a piping hot tray of snails and we made our way down to a platform where you could see the Eiffel tower.... we wanted it to be the most french experience as possible. You can see the video of us eating it below. My description of the escargot-eating-experience would be that it was very very chewy, so much so that you basically have to just swallow it whole. The taste isnt too bad because it just tasted like the sauce it was in. The texture though was not so nice.
There were some tourist shops so Alexis took a purple Beret pic.
Here we are on top of the Montmartre Butte. You can really see the whole city from up here.
Cheesy picture in front of the Parisian Corcoran's Irish Pub.
After the group reassembled at 8ish, they decided to go back to the hotel. I felt like I didnt want to waste a night in Paris, so I went back to the Opera house (as seen below) and looked around for a bit. There was a seemingly huge Opera that night, and people were really dressed to the nines going in. There were a lot of shops around (closed obviously) but nice to window shop. One thing that I was surprised about Paris was that people of both sexes were not afraid to eat alone. There were so many people eating by themselves in nice restaurants on the street alone.
That gave me the idea to grab a dessert and drink to just soak up the Parisian nightlife from a far.
Here is my delicious dessert that I ate outside... which could have been a mistake with how much the french people love to smoke, but it turned out that no one was smoking at all so I got to enjoy my night smoke-free. And this dessert was delicious, I forget what it was even called, but it was some sort of mousse concoction with dark chocolate and nuts inside. I also had a martini because I thought that seemed french enough to me. I was right across from the Opera so I played a game with myself rating each person's outfit as they came out. And there was a lot to rate.... Parisian fashion seems to be loud and proud.
Here was the restaurant that I had gotten my dessert at.
I then made my way back to my hotel and watched the british CNN news. I then realized it was the first time since September that I was watching the news (besides the occasional Daily Show or Colbert Report) in english. I decided to treat myself with a bubble bath once again just for indulgence sake.
The next morning I woke up with plans to meet Alexis and crew at the Louvre. After finding it no problem, I got an iced coffee and croissant for breakfast and ate it here:
before going inside and realizing that I, once again, did not have to pay for my entry ticket since I am an EU resident.... and that is why I love the concept of the EU!
Alexis and I found each other, surprisingly, with no problem at all. We set ourselves a goal of Mona Lisa first, and all other paintings/sculptures later. I did not realize that the Louvre completely allows photos as long as there is no flash.... which begs the question to all other museums, if the Louvre lets you take pictures, surely all other museums should let you as well? Lets fight this fight.
Here is Alexis and Lauren in front of the Winged Victory of Samothrace
Here are Alexis's and my attempts to do the "Mona Lisa smile" What is funny, and I think that both Alexis and I agree, is that so many people have warned both of us that the painting is smaller than you think that it was actually bigger than both of us expected! Strange!
Alexis and I in front of the original Liberty Leading the People..... its weird because the artist clearly copied it from the Coldplay album.
(just kidding, just kidding)
Eating lunch with Orangina!
#ClassicLouvrePic
We were looking for Dan Brown clues for the ancestor of Jesus, but alas, could not find any.
Next we walked about 1-1.5 km (okay.... maybe I have lived in Europe too long, using km) to Notre Dame
Us over the Seine
In case you all want to see some french signage, I almost got hit by a car taking this.
If you are under 18, you are not allowed to climb to the top, which we both found strange, but I wonder if it is security/insurance reasons, so we just walked around the inside and outside.
This is one of my favorite pictures
A nice french man took our picture for us across the Seine
Then we went into the Shakespeare and Company bookstore and browsed for a bit.
Alexis found Pride and Prejudice.
This looked extra french so I snapped a shot. After this, it was about 3 and my train left at 4, so I bit Alexis adieu and went to the train station. I was early, so rather than sit and do nothing, I went to a bakery and bought two baguettes and a bunch of croissants to take home with me. On the train I met an American couple visiting family in Bonn and they said they were jealous of my idea to bring back so much baked goods. We talked for the entire way home and they ended up giving me their business cards in case I wanted to spend a spring break in florida and also gave me their parent's number in case I had an emergency in Bonn, they said I could call them. I thought that was nice. Overall I had a really spectacular time in Paris, and besides the fact that 14 year olds chain smoke there, it seems like a place I would love to return to.
Adieu Paris!
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