Louis XIV personal chapel. Classy. Understated.
Versailles truly was amazing, but I would not call it pleasant. Being alone was incredibly awkward, and I was herded everywhere I went. It is something NOT to be missed, but it is not a relaxing experience whatsoever.
The back of the royal apartments. Yeah. The back.
Hall of Mirrors! Louis XIV used this room for receptions.
I think I would do the same.
The grounds are clearly incredible.
When I visited Versailles, there was a temporary exhibit by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami.
I would like to know what type of quid pro quo situation went on for him to get this opportunity.
I returned to Paris at around 2PM and met up with my friend Justin and Bri at Musée d´Orsay. It was probably my favorite museum I have seen thus far. It is filled with impressionist art, my favorite, and the building and set-up of the pieces is so perfect. I went crazy with the Van Gogh pictures, but they also had a lot of amazing paintings by Cézanne, Degas, Gauguin and Monet.
...I had to catch my breath when I saw this one.
Famous art surprise panic attacks. Yes, the one to the left IS "The Siesta"
On the way to the Pantheon, I finally got to eat breakfast in the form a nutella banana crepe which, no exaggeration, was one of the most amazing things I have ever eaten. Unfortunately, we never made it inside because they did not allow bags, but we got to see the outside and the famous Latin Quarter.
The Pantheon, built by Louis XV in 1744. Does it
remind you of a certain Boston landmark? Me too.
My friends had to check into their hotel, so I took a walk to Concorde and up the Champs Élysées to the Arc de Triomf (solo). I had a ham and cheese crepe (for lunch?) and it was absolutely INCREDIBLE, of course. The arc was actually a lot bigger than I expected. It certainly was overwhelming to see it in real life, right in front of me.
If you look closely, you can see the Arc in the distance!
You can imagine how difficult it was to figure out how to cross.
Tomb of the unknown WWI soldier
Hi, Arc.
After those 4 hours of alone time, I started to go a a little crazy, which was perfect because I planned to meet Kellyn and two of her friends from Davidson College at Le Refuge des Fondues, a hole-in-the-wall fondue restaurant that serves cheese and meat fondue, but more importantly WINE IN BABY BOTTLES. Also, because the restaurant has two long tables and four long benches, you have to climb over the table to squeeze into your seat (which the owner gladly helps with). The walls are plastered with names of the thousands who have been there, drawings, and one dollar bills from various countries. The place is completely genius and we had a great time. I do not know what I was thinking by not taking any pictures inside.
There is a reason it's so popular.
This one is not from my camera.
I look as hot and sweaty as I felt.
I headed to my friends hostel with them to hang out, then to a bar to meet up with Justin and Bri again. It was one of Arthur's friend's birthdays, so they rented out a floor of a bar. This night happened to be Halloween Eve; it felt literally and figuratively foreign to not be wearing a costume.
It seemed like I had already seen SO MUCH, but there were still two MAJOR buildings I needed to visit: Notre Dame and yup, arguably the most famous building in the world- the Eiffel Tower.
I woke up (later than I planned) and headed to the Eiffel Tower first. Yes, I was by myself. Yes, it sucked... at first. I took the metro and got off the at the Eiffel Tower stop, but when I got out, there was no tower in sight, I followed the hoards, quickly became miserable, and started walking down a side street to avoid the crowds. It was a good decision:
This, to me, is Paris: The Seine, the bikes, the beauty, the complete and utter perfection.
After walking for a few minutes, I turned to my right and saw this:
The uncontrollable-embarrassing-loser-smiley-face appeared again. Prepare for an Eiffel Tower photo montage because I was completely obsessed. eEven with it's wound-wrappings, it is the most beautiful structure I have ever seen.
AMAZING.
I stopped for breakfast at a creperie on the way to Notre Dame to get a Nutella Banana Crepe (of course) and the guy making them thought I was french after I said 'Bonjour!' He immediately realized I was not when he emitted a slew of french words and I responded with a very flustered face. He told me I looked French and I was very pleased. This was the best crepe I have eaten thus far in Paris, so I guess in my life, as well.
Favorite person I met in Paris
I took the metro to Notre Dame, looked at the line to enter, and decided to just walk around the outside. The building is obviously incredible, definitely the most beautiful example of gothic architecture I have seen in my life.
Is it bad that I like this view better than the front?
The bridge behind Notre Dame has become something of a cult-classic landmark in Paris. The Ponts des Arts Bridge is adorned with literally thousands of locks. As I walked back and forth looking at the locks, a woman asked me if there was a story to go with the bridge. I had heard that lovers go to the bridge, sign their initials on a lock, put it on the fence and throw the key into the river. She seemed satisfied by that explanation, so I left out the part where I read the government is going to remove all the locks from the bridge because they are causing it to deteriorate. The woman was visiting with her husband and two young sons. Coincidently, they were from Portsmouth, NH. The world keeps getting smaller and smaller.
Yay!
I had some extra time before meeting Justin and Bri, so I decided to walk to the Jewish Quarter that my friend, Lara (who is studying abroad in Paris), told me about. On the way, I accidentally found the monument of the Bastille (there is nothing left of the actual structure, of course) and Place des Vosges, a really beautiful park with seemingly no tourists, but a good amount of bench-nappers.
Monument of the Storming of the Bastille
Entrance to Place des Vosges
Place des Vosges
I made it to the bustling Jewish Quarter and to the falafel restaurant my friend recommended, L'as du Fallafel, and it was absolute mayhem.
After giving up on trying to find the end of the line (no joke, I could NOT find the end), I went across the street, waited 15 minutes instead of 50, met two charming girls from London taking a gap year and had an AMAZING falafel wrap. Win.
After my delicious lunch, I headed to Père Lachaise Cemetery to meet up with my friends and see the graves of Oscar Wilde, James Morrison and Proust. It was the perfect activity to do on Halloween and I did not expect to see such beautiful grounds. It was like an outside art museum.
Supposedly hippies go in the middle of the night
to hook-up on James Morrison's grave. Ew.
"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it."
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
Justin raved about Basilique du Sacré Coeur, so I took the train with him and Bri to Montmarte, said good-bye and literally JOGGED up the 200-something stairs; I was running out of time. From the top, there is an amazing view of the entire city. While I was there, someone was performing an acoustic concert of sorts on the steps; his rendition of James Blunt´s Goodbye my lover conveniently calmed me down a little bit. I snapped some pictures, then jogged to my last destination, The Moulin Rouge. I do not know why I was so obsessed with seeing it, but I was. I stopped there for about 10 seconds, then got on the metro to my friend´s apartment to pick up my bag and started my frantic jogging/metro session to the bus station.
This picture is about 30% as good as the live view.
Yeah, I know what is, but I still only thought
of the movie´s love song medley when I saw it
I knew if I missed the bus going from the station to Beauvais airport, I would have to pay for a $160 cab, which was obviously not an option whatsoever. My friend got on the first bus and called me to make sure I was hurrying. She helped me navigate my way to the bus station from the metro stop which required to me to run across several lanes of traffic while being cursed at in French, but I made it to the bus and took the last empty seat on the bus.
Naturally, the bus ride was miserable, but not as miserable as the ensuing RyanAir plane ride. Because it arrived an hour late, I was only able to make the metro from the Airport before it shut down at 1:30, but not my transferring train. I had to take a 5 Euro cab ride from the station (hey 5 euro is 5 euro; do not belittle my pain), but I have to admit, it was nice being dropped off at my front door. That night was the most amazing 12-hour sleep session I have had in a long time.
I clearly saw Paris a little quicker than one should, which is why I am already planning on going back next semester. There are so many things I still have not seen (The Catacombs, the Tuileries, Picasso Museum...) and I already want to see the Eiffel Tower again. I really do miss those crepes too...
