With Paris only being a 2 hour train ride from London, the commute is exactly the same amount of time as it takes for me to go to St. Louis from Columbia. That in itself completely boggles my mind.
Although the commute time may be something comparable to the states, it was still so overwhelmingly different than anything I had ever experienced before. When getting off the train, everything was in French- I know that sounds really obvious and stupid for me to say. But really, it was the first time where I have been in a situation where my language wasn't the majority. I studied Spanish in high school, which would help me in Barcelona, but had no idea how to speak any French. It was pretty scary because the three other girls who I went with also didn't really know much French. The cab driver that took us to our hotel only spoke a little English, and we felt bad that we didn't know much. The hotel that we stayed in was also completely different from what we were used to. In booking the hotel, we booked a "double room," which in the states would be a room with two beds. Oh no, not in Paris. The room was as big as the bathroom, I kid you not. And, of course, we walk in to ONE double bed. We didn't care at this point, though. We were in Paris! Since I strangely don't mind sleeping on floors, I slept on the floor all weekend while one of the other three girls volunteered themselves to sleep on the floor each night.
From left, Meara, Kristina and Lauren in front of our hotel. The desk clerks there were our lifesavers and gave really good advice on what to do and where to go. The bathroom was about twice the size of our bathroom in London, which was also nice. The hotel was also central, which helped.
On our first day in the city, with wise direction from our clerk, we took a bus tour. Taking bus tours in every place that we went were helpful because we could get a great overview and find destinations where we wanted to go to afterwords. I have to say that it was hard to do 'Paris in one weekend for this reason: there are too many amazing things to take advantage of.
Along the Seine were market booths that attached on the side of the walls that unfold and are in business during the day. Most sell antique magazines, posters and other souvenirs for tourists.
Farther down the street is the Arc de Triomphe
The photo below is the view when standing right underneath the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc de Triomphe is surrounded by an enormous roundabout, so there is an underground tunnel that people take to get to the structure safely. We found this out after running across the roundabout and almost getting hit by multiple cars, all of which don't drive in lanes. Why? Because there aren't any!
Below is the view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. It was just breathtaking. For some reason I love getting really high up to look at landscapes. This one of the best views I have ever seen in my life.
This are all of the stairs we had to climb in order to get to the top of the Arc. It was so tiring, but worth every step! Paris is definitely the city of stairs, that is for sure.
This photo was on the side of a tour bus that I saw while walking around.
The famous Eiffel Tower was everything I thought it would be. This photo is just from driving around in the tour bus. Although we didn't get to climb to the top because it was closed when we went at night, we did climb all 704 steps to the second floor since we didn't want to wait for the elevators. It was by far the biggest workout of the trip and I can say in confidence that we burned off a pastry or two from that day.
This is the Place de la Concorde where the character Andy is seen throwing her phone in the movie The Devil Wears Prada
I just loved seeing all of the high designer stores even though I can't afford anything in them.
Another one of our saviors that we met up with in Paris was Kristina's friend Sam. She had lived in Columbia and graduated from MU last year, but has since moved back to Paris with her parents. It was great to go to dinner with her because not only did she speak fluent French, she was also able to help us get the transportation figured out as well as what lines to take in order to get to our major destinations. She was also so fun to talk to and it was interesting to hear her perspective as a French student who once lived in Columbia, MO.
Kristina and Sam before we parted ways in the Metro (equivalent to the Tube in London)
It is sad that the photos I have are so blurry. If I had my Nikon D700 with me, it wouldn't have been a problem. I intend to go back and make these images better someday.
The combination of city lights and live music from an Irish band playing down below filling the crisp night air gave us all a moment we never would have thought we would experience. All of us teared up a little that night. It was a moment of recognition that we were actually in a city such as Paris, where things are different, exciting and new. It is amazing to me how I have lived my whole life in the state of Missouri, not aware of the different outlooks and ways people carry out their lives around the world. There is so much more out there than people think, and that moment in Paris was one of the defining times where the concept that usually seems so complex actually made sense. I was in Paris just for the weekend and felt like a true Londoner on a weekend vacation.
After we came down from the Eiffel Tower we laid on the grass and waited for the lights to start sparkling. It was magical and this photo above doesn't do it justice. I can't even describe how it felt to be there underneath this amazing structure that means so many things to so many different people.
The next day, we went to the Louvre, which could have taken us about a month or more to go through if we tried to tackle it all. The place was enormous, so we made sure to find the Mona Lisa and the famous Venus. We also looked through a lot of Italian Renaissance art, which was all unbelievable. Later that day we came across a carnival in a park near our hotel. We had seen the Ferris
Wheel in the distance earlier that day and decided to pursue it. It's no London eye, but we still got some amazing views.
Below is a view of the cafes that were by our hotel. There were about four different cafes right next to each other and they all had wonderful outside seating. I loved going there and we tried all four over the course of the weekend.
On the last day we went to the Notre Dame Cathedral, which I was so excited to visit. It was amazing that I had studied this beautiful piece of architecture in one of my classes not knowing I would be walking in there one day. It was amazing.
After that we went over to the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur, which we sadly didn't have enough time to go into. We also had amazing crepes and made our way to the Eiffel Tower to say goodbye for a while.
All of us took turns jumping in front of the Eiffel Tower. It's cheesy, I know, but I am really glad that we did it. Every time I look at it I think of that day and how wonderful it was to be that moment.
In all of my travels this summer there was a weird defining moment that I had one of the mornings we were there. We had just left Longchamp where I bought my mom and myself two perfect bags. After crossing the street on that sunny morning we stopped in a small cafe to grab some coffee and a quick bite to eat (of course that involved croissants). After purchasing my croissant I waited for my other friends to buy their coffees when I saw that the cafe was playing Coldplay's Live 2003 Concert DVD. I can't remember now which song was playing, but I want to say it was Shiver. I don't really know what it was- and I can't really explain it. I don't know if it was that we just got done shopping at Longchamp, or if it was that my favorite band was playing, or if it was the fact that I was casually stopping into a cafe in Paris to grab a coffee and pastry. Whatever it was made that moment stick in my mind to the point where I got choked up just feeling the moment and telling myself that I was in Paris and it was the perfect morning. I would give anything to get back to that moment right now. I'm hoping someday that I will be able to have that feeling again, only I will be enjoying a lovely weekend in Paris before heading back to my home in London. Maybe someday.
No comments:
Post a Comment