So I'm relying on little bit of wifi, and I'm a little behind (I still need to write about Bruges, Amsterdam, and now Berlin...). Sorry!
Paris. A picturesque city full of lights, bohemian artists, iconic symbols, and unpleasant smells. We arrived in Paris on Wednesday afternoon, found our hostel instantly, then made a plan of what to see. The city truly has way too much to see in only 3 days. Our hostel was in a bit of a dodgy area, but only 5 minutes walk away from the Gare du Nord, a very busy train and metro station. Therefore, we had the city right at our fingertips. Again, we did a lot of the main sights, but we met someone who showed us the sights we had missed and had a wonderful time!
Because we got to Paris a little bit later in the day, we had missed the walking tours and such. We made a list of all the things that were interesting to us, and we made a plan for the next couple of days. Luckily, there was one museum that was open late on Wednesdays: the Louvre. It took us a little while to figure out how to use the metro, but Corinne was able to get us through some things by speaking French. I had such difficulty trying to form the words. I'll stick to Spanish and Italian. We arrived at the Louvre and found the iconic glass pyramids that marked the entrance to the museum. The Louvre used to be a beautiful palace that housed the kings and queens all the way back to the 1200's. Louis XIV was the last king to live in the Louvre because the building wasn't lavish enough for the self-proclaimed "Sun King"; He moved on to the more rich and exquisite palace of Versailles. But I'll talk about that later.
We got to the Louvre around 7pm and had about 2.5 hours to see everything in this truly massive museum. Luckily, the maps pointed out the most popular pieces of work. We decided that we might as well shoot towards the Mona Lisa first to kind of get it out of the way, then we'd explore after that. The Louvre is a maze with staircases that lead you up and down different levels and different rooms. It's confusing. We finally made our way to the room that holds Leonardo da Vinci's famous Mona Lisa. It's a tourist nightmare, and slightly underwhelming. You expect that the Mona Lisa, one of the most famous paintings, would be a large piece of art that would captivate you immediately. Well... no. First off, there was a gigantic crowd around the Mona Lisa that was obnoxious. You aren't able to really see it and appreciate it because everyone wants to take a selfie with it (why people want to do this, I don't know). If anyone plans on going to the Louvre and wishes to have an intimate moment with the painting, think again. Of course, it is a beautiful piece of art, and I wish I could have observed it a bit more. Oh well, the Louvre is home to many more masterpieces, including Hammurabi's Code (the first set of laws written down) in recorded history, the Venus de Milo, and works from Michelangelo. We whizzed through the museum to make sure that we saw these amazing sights. We stopped for dinner on the way home and went to bed.
Thursday was our first full day in Paris and we started it off by visiting the magnificent Versailles. We got there as it opened, so there was a flood of people in each individual room, making for another tourist nightmare. But we met another girl who was staying at our hostel (Alyssa), and walked around with her. Only a quarter of the palace is open to the public. Louis XIV built this grand palace on top of Louis XIII's hunting lodge in an area that is right outside the Paris city border. Louis XV continued adding to it, and Louis XVI was (for the most part) the last one to build on and create an absolutely splendid palace. Louis XVI was married to Marie-Antoinette, who had an entire section of the royal gardens built to represent the peasant life. I didn't go see these, but Corinne said the cottage and the gardens around it were definitely not how the peasantry lived. The palace has been transformed into a museum where we saw the royal bedchambers, Hall of Mirrors, and the beautiful chapel that took 28 years to build because Louis XIV wanted it perfect. What was the most impressive was the Royal Gardens located behind the palace. The Park of Versailles spreads over more than 800 hectares and it is completely fenced. Other than the palace itself, it encloses several famous sites that add to the renown of Versailles :the Orangerie, the Grand Canal, the French gardens, the fountains, and the Estate of Marie-Antoinette with the Petit Trianon and the Grand Trianon. I could've spent all day exploring the nooks and crannies of the gardens. Beautiful sculptures, magnificent flowers, breath-taking scenery. These gardens had it all.
Later that day we took a tour of the picturesque Montmarte District, home to the Moulin Rouge, Van Gogh's house, and the "cupcake" basilica. This tour was loads of fun and we got to see a part of Paris that we probably wouldn't have explored on our own. I loved hearing stories of the Moulin Rouge. Our tour guide was a lot of fun, and you could tell she enjoyed talking about the district. We walked up the hill to see sights of the house of Van Gogh's brother (Van Gogh lived there for a bit), where Pablo Picasso got his start, and a dedication to one of the first fantasy stories written in France. The stories of Van Gogh were fascinating. He was never successful in anything in his life, including career choices and a love life. He only ever sold 1 painting during his lifetime. Also, he fell in love with the taste of paint, and thus would eat it instead of cleaning it in water. Hmmm, I wonder why Van Gogh was not mentally sane... He also cut off his ear because the woman that he fell in love with was in love with another man. He gave his ear to her as a token of his love... Oh, Van Gogh. But because of his struggles and pain, he was able to produce some of the most amazing artwork that conveys so much emotion. I can go on about other stories we heard, but I'll save those for when I get home. The creme de la creme of the tour was seeing the Sacre Cour (I believe I spelt that right), the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. It sits on one of the highest hills in the city of Paris. The basilica is a genius piece of work because it was made to be a "self-washing" basilica. It is made of limestone, which glistens a shiny new white every time it rains. It's also made up of different types of architecture that give it more of a unique outlook. We ended the tour in front of the artist colony that Pablo Picasso founded called the Colony of the Laundry Boat. They called it that because the artists were too poor to pay for people to do their laundry, so they would hang their laundry in plain view of the general public to wash. People would walk by and thought it looked like one of the laundry boats along the River Seine. Those artists are just so clever. The Montmarte tour was full of laughs and wonderful stories that give Paris that quirky personality.
Our last day in the city consisted of another walking tour as well as strolling around the city, window shopping and enjoying the sights. We got to our tour a little early, so we decided to enjoy the sights around the meeting point, the main one being the Notre Dame Cathedral. Aside from it being the setting to one of my favorite Disney movies (still haven't read the actual book) "Hunchback of Notre Dame," Notre Dame was simply breathtaking. It towered over the square but was beautiful from all sides. You enter the cathedral and you are enveloped in a darker cathedral that illuminates through magnificent stained glass windows. For the most part, there was silence inside, respectfully giving those who want to pray and contemplate a moment to do so. It was here that I felt I made more of an emotional connection, and thought about why I am traveling and exploring. Thoughts of family, friends, dreams, goals, just about everything waved over me. It was actually a wonderful feeling, knowing that I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to. We continued to explore the Shakespeare and Company Bookstore, where I created quite the list of books that I eventually would like to read. Some of these books were historical related (no surprise), but I wrote down a couple of graphic novels as well.
Finally, the tour was ready to begin. We met in front of the fountain of St. Michel (Saint Michael), which I thought was oddly appropriate after leaving Notre Dame. Our tour guide, Esteban, talked about how the fountain was a symbol of hope for the French people during Nazi occupation in the early 1940's. The fountain shows St. Michael defeating Satan and bringing him back to the underworld. Thus, good is defeating evil. The French looked to this fountain for inspiration and hope that the Nazis would soon be defeated. Esteban also talked about how Napoleon III (not Napoleon Bonaparte) truly transformed the city from a stinky, disgusting place into a beautiful city that would attract foreigners and boost morale. The buildings that you usually attribute to Paris are called Housmanian (sp?) buildings. They all are the same height, metal round roof, and the small windows at the top that were the servant quarters. Anyway, Esteban took us to other points in the city including Notre Dame, the Pont de Neuf (The "New Bridge" which is actually the oldest bridge in Paris), the Lock Bridge, and the Louvre. At each point he told us wonderful stories about Louis XIV, Henry IV, Hitler, and the Knights Templar. The tour lasted quite a bit and took us through gardens, the Louvre itself, and brought us to Place de Concorde, which was a delightful spot to see the Eiffel Tower ("The Iron Lady"). The Eiffel Tower was made in 1889 by Gustave Eiffel for the World Fair Convention in Paris. The Parisians actually did not like it when it was built because it was too big, it didn't fit in with the rest of the architecture, and they didn't think it was "Parisian" enough. It was supposed to be a temporary monument, but then they decided to keep it because they saw that it brought in quite a bit of money as well as it being too much of a problem to take down. Esteban was absolutely wonderful and full of great stories and knowledge about the city of Paris. If anyone goes to Europe at all and are looking for tours, I highly recommend the Sandeman New Europe Tours! They're simply delightful.
After our tour ended, we met up with a guy named Chris that Corinne had met at Versailles. We got lunch and wandered around the city, talking, window shopping, and seeing the sights we had missed. Chris had been in the city for a while, so he showed us the Academy Museum, Napoleon Bonaparte's tomb, and took a stroll down the Avenue des Champs Elysees, the Newbury Street of Paris. Our final destination for the night? The Eiffel Tower. No trip to Paris would've been complete without it. What was awesome is that we climbed the countless steps to the second level just in time for the sunset. While up there, you had a magnificent view of the entire city and the outskirts as well. I could see the Basilica of the Sacred Heart up on the Montmarte Hill, and the beautiful Seine glistened beneath the Eiffel Tower. We didn't go all the way up to the top of the tower because there was such a long line and Chris was waiting for us at the bottom. We made our way down and waited for the top of the hour. The tower began to light up as the sun was setting, and at every top of the hour, the tower glistens for 5 minutes. It was a marvelous sight. We bought bread, cheese, chorizo, and some wine, sat on the lawn by the Eiffel Tower, and just talked, laughed, and drank. It was a wonderful last night in Paris.
As much as we all love to "hate" Paris, I really enjoyed the city, the stories, and the sights. I left there saying that I didn't see enough. I would like to go back and visit the Musee d'Orsay, the Rodin Museum, as well as maybe see a show at the Opera. Although it did smell bad, Paris was a wonderful city to visit, and I hope to go back soon. Also, I did not eat frog legs or escargot if anyone was wondering! I asked around, and it's just a stereotype. But maybe someday! I'm waiting to try them with Grandee :)
Paris. A picturesque city full of lights, bohemian artists, iconic symbols, and unpleasant smells. We arrived in Paris on Wednesday afternoon, found our hostel instantly, then made a plan of what to see. The city truly has way too much to see in only 3 days. Our hostel was in a bit of a dodgy area, but only 5 minutes walk away from the Gare du Nord, a very busy train and metro station. Therefore, we had the city right at our fingertips. Again, we did a lot of the main sights, but we met someone who showed us the sights we had missed and had a wonderful time!
Because we got to Paris a little bit later in the day, we had missed the walking tours and such. We made a list of all the things that were interesting to us, and we made a plan for the next couple of days. Luckily, there was one museum that was open late on Wednesdays: the Louvre. It took us a little while to figure out how to use the metro, but Corinne was able to get us through some things by speaking French. I had such difficulty trying to form the words. I'll stick to Spanish and Italian. We arrived at the Louvre and found the iconic glass pyramids that marked the entrance to the museum. The Louvre used to be a beautiful palace that housed the kings and queens all the way back to the 1200's. Louis XIV was the last king to live in the Louvre because the building wasn't lavish enough for the self-proclaimed "Sun King"; He moved on to the more rich and exquisite palace of Versailles. But I'll talk about that later.
We got to the Louvre around 7pm and had about 2.5 hours to see everything in this truly massive museum. Luckily, the maps pointed out the most popular pieces of work. We decided that we might as well shoot towards the Mona Lisa first to kind of get it out of the way, then we'd explore after that. The Louvre is a maze with staircases that lead you up and down different levels and different rooms. It's confusing. We finally made our way to the room that holds Leonardo da Vinci's famous Mona Lisa. It's a tourist nightmare, and slightly underwhelming. You expect that the Mona Lisa, one of the most famous paintings, would be a large piece of art that would captivate you immediately. Well... no. First off, there was a gigantic crowd around the Mona Lisa that was obnoxious. You aren't able to really see it and appreciate it because everyone wants to take a selfie with it (why people want to do this, I don't know). If anyone plans on going to the Louvre and wishes to have an intimate moment with the painting, think again. Of course, it is a beautiful piece of art, and I wish I could have observed it a bit more. Oh well, the Louvre is home to many more masterpieces, including Hammurabi's Code (the first set of laws written down) in recorded history, the Venus de Milo, and works from Michelangelo. We whizzed through the museum to make sure that we saw these amazing sights. We stopped for dinner on the way home and went to bed.
Thursday was our first full day in Paris and we started it off by visiting the magnificent Versailles. We got there as it opened, so there was a flood of people in each individual room, making for another tourist nightmare. But we met another girl who was staying at our hostel (Alyssa), and walked around with her. Only a quarter of the palace is open to the public. Louis XIV built this grand palace on top of Louis XIII's hunting lodge in an area that is right outside the Paris city border. Louis XV continued adding to it, and Louis XVI was (for the most part) the last one to build on and create an absolutely splendid palace. Louis XVI was married to Marie-Antoinette, who had an entire section of the royal gardens built to represent the peasant life. I didn't go see these, but Corinne said the cottage and the gardens around it were definitely not how the peasantry lived. The palace has been transformed into a museum where we saw the royal bedchambers, Hall of Mirrors, and the beautiful chapel that took 28 years to build because Louis XIV wanted it perfect. What was the most impressive was the Royal Gardens located behind the palace. The Park of Versailles spreads over more than 800 hectares and it is completely fenced. Other than the palace itself, it encloses several famous sites that add to the renown of Versailles :the Orangerie, the Grand Canal, the French gardens, the fountains, and the Estate of Marie-Antoinette with the Petit Trianon and the Grand Trianon. I could've spent all day exploring the nooks and crannies of the gardens. Beautiful sculptures, magnificent flowers, breath-taking scenery. These gardens had it all.
Later that day we took a tour of the picturesque Montmarte District, home to the Moulin Rouge, Van Gogh's house, and the "cupcake" basilica. This tour was loads of fun and we got to see a part of Paris that we probably wouldn't have explored on our own. I loved hearing stories of the Moulin Rouge. Our tour guide was a lot of fun, and you could tell she enjoyed talking about the district. We walked up the hill to see sights of the house of Van Gogh's brother (Van Gogh lived there for a bit), where Pablo Picasso got his start, and a dedication to one of the first fantasy stories written in France. The stories of Van Gogh were fascinating. He was never successful in anything in his life, including career choices and a love life. He only ever sold 1 painting during his lifetime. Also, he fell in love with the taste of paint, and thus would eat it instead of cleaning it in water. Hmmm, I wonder why Van Gogh was not mentally sane... He also cut off his ear because the woman that he fell in love with was in love with another man. He gave his ear to her as a token of his love... Oh, Van Gogh. But because of his struggles and pain, he was able to produce some of the most amazing artwork that conveys so much emotion. I can go on about other stories we heard, but I'll save those for when I get home. The creme de la creme of the tour was seeing the Sacre Cour (I believe I spelt that right), the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. It sits on one of the highest hills in the city of Paris. The basilica is a genius piece of work because it was made to be a "self-washing" basilica. It is made of limestone, which glistens a shiny new white every time it rains. It's also made up of different types of architecture that give it more of a unique outlook. We ended the tour in front of the artist colony that Pablo Picasso founded called the Colony of the Laundry Boat. They called it that because the artists were too poor to pay for people to do their laundry, so they would hang their laundry in plain view of the general public to wash. People would walk by and thought it looked like one of the laundry boats along the River Seine. Those artists are just so clever. The Montmarte tour was full of laughs and wonderful stories that give Paris that quirky personality.
Our last day in the city consisted of another walking tour as well as strolling around the city, window shopping and enjoying the sights. We got to our tour a little early, so we decided to enjoy the sights around the meeting point, the main one being the Notre Dame Cathedral. Aside from it being the setting to one of my favorite Disney movies (still haven't read the actual book) "Hunchback of Notre Dame," Notre Dame was simply breathtaking. It towered over the square but was beautiful from all sides. You enter the cathedral and you are enveloped in a darker cathedral that illuminates through magnificent stained glass windows. For the most part, there was silence inside, respectfully giving those who want to pray and contemplate a moment to do so. It was here that I felt I made more of an emotional connection, and thought about why I am traveling and exploring. Thoughts of family, friends, dreams, goals, just about everything waved over me. It was actually a wonderful feeling, knowing that I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to. We continued to explore the Shakespeare and Company Bookstore, where I created quite the list of books that I eventually would like to read. Some of these books were historical related (no surprise), but I wrote down a couple of graphic novels as well.
Finally, the tour was ready to begin. We met in front of the fountain of St. Michel (Saint Michael), which I thought was oddly appropriate after leaving Notre Dame. Our tour guide, Esteban, talked about how the fountain was a symbol of hope for the French people during Nazi occupation in the early 1940's. The fountain shows St. Michael defeating Satan and bringing him back to the underworld. Thus, good is defeating evil. The French looked to this fountain for inspiration and hope that the Nazis would soon be defeated. Esteban also talked about how Napoleon III (not Napoleon Bonaparte) truly transformed the city from a stinky, disgusting place into a beautiful city that would attract foreigners and boost morale. The buildings that you usually attribute to Paris are called Housmanian (sp?) buildings. They all are the same height, metal round roof, and the small windows at the top that were the servant quarters. Anyway, Esteban took us to other points in the city including Notre Dame, the Pont de Neuf (The "New Bridge" which is actually the oldest bridge in Paris), the Lock Bridge, and the Louvre. At each point he told us wonderful stories about Louis XIV, Henry IV, Hitler, and the Knights Templar. The tour lasted quite a bit and took us through gardens, the Louvre itself, and brought us to Place de Concorde, which was a delightful spot to see the Eiffel Tower ("The Iron Lady"). The Eiffel Tower was made in 1889 by Gustave Eiffel for the World Fair Convention in Paris. The Parisians actually did not like it when it was built because it was too big, it didn't fit in with the rest of the architecture, and they didn't think it was "Parisian" enough. It was supposed to be a temporary monument, but then they decided to keep it because they saw that it brought in quite a bit of money as well as it being too much of a problem to take down. Esteban was absolutely wonderful and full of great stories and knowledge about the city of Paris. If anyone goes to Europe at all and are looking for tours, I highly recommend the Sandeman New Europe Tours! They're simply delightful.
After our tour ended, we met up with a guy named Chris that Corinne had met at Versailles. We got lunch and wandered around the city, talking, window shopping, and seeing the sights we had missed. Chris had been in the city for a while, so he showed us the Academy Museum, Napoleon Bonaparte's tomb, and took a stroll down the Avenue des Champs Elysees, the Newbury Street of Paris. Our final destination for the night? The Eiffel Tower. No trip to Paris would've been complete without it. What was awesome is that we climbed the countless steps to the second level just in time for the sunset. While up there, you had a magnificent view of the entire city and the outskirts as well. I could see the Basilica of the Sacred Heart up on the Montmarte Hill, and the beautiful Seine glistened beneath the Eiffel Tower. We didn't go all the way up to the top of the tower because there was such a long line and Chris was waiting for us at the bottom. We made our way down and waited for the top of the hour. The tower began to light up as the sun was setting, and at every top of the hour, the tower glistens for 5 minutes. It was a marvelous sight. We bought bread, cheese, chorizo, and some wine, sat on the lawn by the Eiffel Tower, and just talked, laughed, and drank. It was a wonderful last night in Paris.
As much as we all love to "hate" Paris, I really enjoyed the city, the stories, and the sights. I left there saying that I didn't see enough. I would like to go back and visit the Musee d'Orsay, the Rodin Museum, as well as maybe see a show at the Opera. Although it did smell bad, Paris was a wonderful city to visit, and I hope to go back soon. Also, I did not eat frog legs or escargot if anyone was wondering! I asked around, and it's just a stereotype. But maybe someday! I'm waiting to try them with Grandee :)