Paris!
Hi all! Sorry I haven’t written anything about Paris, but honestly, my pictures show you everything I did! But here’s some more details, in case you’re curious:
On Friday, I met up with a high school friend, Rachel (who’s beens studying abroad in Paris since mid-August), and she walked me all around! I met her at Notre Dame, got a falafel for lunch, then we walked around the plazas and down narrow streets, like the Rue de Seine, a street filled with beautiful galleries. We crossed the Love Lock Bridge and walked right into the Louvre! I didn’t go in (because I’m honestly not much of a museum person), but loved the outside, and walked around the open courtyard. After that she had to leave for a job interview, so I continued wandering around. I got one of the most delicious crepes I’ve ever had. I wandered around, finally making it to the metro station, where I headed back toward my hotel. However, instead of resting, I then walked down to the Eiffel Tower to enjoy a pastry I’d picked up on Rue de Seine. I walked right underneath it to take photos before forcing myself to head back to the hotel to rest.
I planned to head to bed early, but decided at about 9:50pm instead to walk to the Arc de Triomphe, a mere 15-minute walk away. Absolutely stunning. When I arrived, I was surprised to see a good deal of people milling around. And then I noticed that people were still climbing it. I hurried down to the ticket office, and I was one of the last people to get a ticket to climb it. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into! The walk up is winding and exhausting! But when I finally got to the top, I realized how worth it it was. Paris all lit up at night is absolutely breathtaking (and not just because you lose your breath climbing those stairs). The Eiffel Tower, the glowing streets and buildings, all so beautiful at night. I hadn’t even intended to climb up the Arc de Triomphe that night, but I’m so glad I did! After a great deal of photos, I climbed down and headed back to my room to go to bed.
The next day I woke up early to climb the Eiffel Tower, despite the clouds. And I do mean climb: I found a short line and thought myself lucky, until I realized it was short because that line was stairs only! After climbing Triomphe the night before, I thought I was done with all the climbing! Anyway, it was all completely worth it for the view from the first and second floor; absolutely incredible! However, how worth the elevator ride to the top was is debatable; while I could see the ground on the trip up, once at the top level I found that I was, quite literally, in a cloud! Couldn’t see a thing. I still took a photo at the top; one day I’ll be back and take one where you can see more than cloud behind me! So my roommate was right: the view from Triomphe was better!
I then walked down the Champs de Mars for some photos before heading to lunch and wandering around Paris. I walked down the streets in the rain to see the sights! After a couple hours, I headed back. On my way back, however, I got a bit lost. Luckily (and how often do you get to say this?), I was able to use the Eiffel Tower as my marker to find my way home. And I figured there were worse cities to get lost in than Paris!
After relaxing for a few hours and uploading photos, I headed out to find the Moulin Rouge (a place I wanted to see, of course, but I also had friends who were living vicariously through me and wanted me to visit because of the movie!). I figured out the metro route there (couldn’t have been easier), and was stunned. It was so incredible, and there were so many people there taking photos! I honestly hadn’t expected many. Nonetheless, it was quite a sight to see! I think I took about 50 photos, trying to find the right angle, before I got dinner across the street. At first I was proud I’d found a place where I could get steak for 14 euro, but then I saw that my soda, a normal sized soda, had cost me 7 euro. Ridiculous. I decided that was just how the Parisians did things, went out to get my photo in front of the building, then headed home to bed.
The next day was unfortunately my last. I took a boat ride down the Seine, which I wish I’d done earlier because the boat served as a shuttle to some of the more famous sites in Paris. I decided not to think of it that way, and merely enjoyed the journey. It was a bit cloudy, but it’s Paris; it was still beautiful. My stop was the Eiffel Tower (again, how often will I get to say that in my life?), so I got off and enjoyed one last crepe in front of it before going back to the hotel to pick up my bags and head to the airport (but of course I continued to take photos of my last looks as I headed home).
All in all, it was an incredible weekend! But 2 1/2 days were not enough; I’m definitely going to have to figure out a way to get back there for longer.. I’m in love with a city!