Paris: April 9-13

Hello all! This past Easter Break I was on the road constantly, hopping from one country to another. It has, admittedly, put me in quite a tight spot with essays... however, I ultimately came to this conclusion: a few weeks of essay writing hell for the chance to see five major cities in four different countries? Bring on the hell.

I've got three 4,000 word essays due May 19. I turned in the first one already, and now I'm hoping to finish the second by Wednesday. However, at the moment, I am taking a break to do what any good English major would do while taking a break: write some more. So, without further ado... April 9 to 13: Paris! My second time in the city of lights (I visited in 2008 with an undergraduate class).

The first night, Ivo (the handsome Peruvian guy in all my pictures) and I faced all the goofy fun of traveling on a student's budget (arriving in the middle of the night, struggling to find the right bus, walking past what we're really pretty sure were two carjackers in the act on the way to our hostel, etc).

What a view! Right out our hostel window.

However, there are two things to remember while you're in Paris, number one being: duh, you're in freaking Paris. Number two is that the city is magical, and if you're traveling with somebody else who knows this (which I was), everything will work out just fine. Sure enough, thanks to several extremely patient natives, we somehow managed to arrive at our clean, quiet hostel without having spent a single euro. 

Sunday morning Paris was at its sunshiny best, and in addition to the gorgeous weather, the Paris Marathon was being held that week too. This marathon is a MASSIVE event in Europe and (especially since it's used as a fundraiser) put the the whole city into glorious festival mode for the week! Music, food stands, and incredibly friendly people were everywhere. 

~

We wasted no time hitting up the big sites! Even now, after having seen so many other cathedrals around the world, Notre Dame is still my favorite. St. Peter's in Rome is bigger, more overwhelmingly ornate and colorful, but the reason cathedrals are my favorite thing to visit is because of their personalities.

St. Peter's in Rome, for example, is shamelessly enormous, and the marble sometimes looks so white in the sun you'd think it could burn you. It sits at the head of an almost horseshoe shaped square, constructed so that the mother church can welcome her children into her arms; the ''arms'' of buildings wrap around visitors, guiding them to the entrance. While there's a warmth to this, there is also something vaguely unnerving about being enveloped and drawn into the church: essentially, St. Peter's emphasizes the mystical and unfathomable power of God as the overseer, and the fact that this power is something we should feel ashamed to ever question. While the expression of this attitude inevitably impresses, it also leaves a subtle aftertaste of pomposity. The dome too, while stately, also seemed to me like a bulbous, swollen thing; this, along with the marble and infinite detail, exists to dwarf the visiter. In short, St. Peter's works hard to make you feel tiny.

Notre Dame however, with the French Gothic architecture, has an infinitely different personality. The construction itself is both intricate and straightforward: lace cut from unassuming stone. Of course this cathedral is enormous too, but when crane your head back to look upwards in this place, it simply reminds man of humility, as opposed to demanding feelings of insignificance. One can breathe here, albeit quietly, but there still a sense of the union, of God as parent and permeating spiritual presence.

 In St.Peter's, all is bright and white, and the "God" entity seems to glare straight down through the windows of the high dome-- the light is almost unbearable at certain angles.

 In dim Notre Dame though, the light is either warm and amber from the prayer candles, or else transfigured and tinted by the stained glass windows through which it enters. To stand in the light of the Rose Window...  Notre Dame emphasizes profound and natural connection, and does so without insult to the existence of the mortal. St. Peter's was built to be a temple; Notre Dame was constructed to be a house of God. I'm so grateful to have gotten to see this masterpiece a second time in my life! 

We also passed through a crowd of marathon supporters to have a look at the Arc de Triomphe. However, when we (naturally) went to go climb Napoleon's monument to his victory at Austerlitz, I remembered it is actually harder to reach than it looks. You see the photo and think, hey, just cross the street? Nope. A sea of roundabout traffic makes it impossible- we actually had to hunt down the underground entrance.

As usual, though, the view was worth the effort.

You can see just how massive the crowd was for this Marathon! Incredibly though, nothing we went to go see was ever too packed- Paris really knows how to handle tourists effectively.

We did a combination of a hop on, hop off tour bus plus a whole heck of a lot of walking while we in the main city area. Behind me here is the Pont Alexander III bridge, generally considered the most beautiful bridge Paris has to offer. 

This particular evening I knew I wanted to return to one specific area for dinner: the square around Montemartre, where artists gather during the day and street performers of an evening.

(Obligatory)

On your way to Montemarte, you inevitably pass the Moulin Rouge- it's at the very bottom of the very, veeeery steep hill you have to climb to reach the square. But, as always, my love of climbing stuff paid off again- after we dragged our poor, aching feet up the winding hill, we were rewarded with a spectacular view of the city.

Ivo fact that I did not know beforehand: Anything taller than a certain height can only be built in one specific area, so that nothing can disrupt the perfect views of the city (hence the awkward cluster of tall business buildings).

Good grief. I am so sunburned.

And if the view alone weren't reward enough, the dinner we had that night definitely was; pretty sure it wasn't just the wine that made it feel surreal.

No, this is not an attractive picture of me, BUT if only so you can see how nice this set up was- just to my right there was a charming French man playing piano. It was such a nice, warm evening that the windows were open, and the occasional artist and street performers would come by, trying to earn some tips from the people sitting outside. (When you eat outside here, you are lined up with your back to the restaurant facing the open square.)

We had what was probably the single most stereotypically French dinner possible- haha, here's to being a completely shameless tourist and loving it! The escargot was delicious; I've had it a few times before, but this was some of the tastiest!

We also gave frog legs a shot! Ok. The meat itself is so tasty, super tender, almost sweet. However, the legs are so, so tiny that it's almost impossible to eat the meat off the bones. Ivo was able to just crunch down on the tiny little bones, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it! I've decided the solution is to just engineer frogs the size of chickens- scientists, go!

And also: duck. Again, so unbelievably good. The meat was so soft, it just fell off the bone.

We wrapped up that night by walking back to Sacre Coeur (the cathedral on top of the hill at Montemartre), and having a beer on the steps as we looked out over the city. Now that's how you spend an evening in Paris!

~

Of course we hit up the Louvre as well- our time was short and Paris is big, so this time we just headed straight for the big name masterpieces.

Through hall after hall of utterly overwhelming art and beauty... There is so much art here. I can't imagine being the one to organize all this! 

"Another DaVinci?? For Pete's sake, just, I don't know, yeah there. Just stick it there."

Winged Victory stands tall and proud at the top of the majestic staircase that leads to the section with the museum's most well known art (following shortly). She's beautiful, and the mystery surrounding her missing limbs only makes her more of an attraction. I only found out this time that the right ring is just a symmetrical cast of the left one- just like her head and most of her arms, it is missing.

The Venos de Milo comes shortly after. Apparently, thanks to rediscovered fragments, we do know the position that her arms were originally in (one lowered to hold up the cloth, the other holding up an apple up for her to look at).

My favorite fact about her though (thanks, wiki) is that her sister statue, the Medici Venus, is technically the better work of art. However, in 1815, the French finally had to return it to the Italians (since Napoleon had looted it). Instead of moping over losing the Medici Venus though, they just raised a huge fuss about their Venus de Milo- and thus, it becomes famous.

Of course we also saw the Mona Lisa (she was beautiful, as always), and shortly after Ivo made a bee line for the famous paintings of Napoleon (his personal superhero). 

Clearly, the paintings did not disappoint.

We ran by the mummies in the Egypt exhibit too (that is a real live dead body!), and finally walked through the room of outdoor sculptures before we left.

This is one of my favorites, by François Joseph Bosio- it's Hercules slaying Achelous, who is a water god and has transformed himself into a snake (naturally, it was over some chick). Coincidentally, I found out later too, Bosio also did the sculpture on top of the other Arc de Triomphe (the one that gets totally trumped by the bigger, more famous Arc).

We had a look at the less famous Arc, which is right after you exit the Louvre, and then headed onwards through the Tuileries Gardens. While it was tempting to just sit and rest there though, we summoned all our remaining strength and embarked on a final stretch of adventure for the day... to Luxembourg Palace. 

On the way, we were able to stop by this beauty too- St. Sulplice Cathedral. I'm sitting on the Fountain of the Four Bishops. Tragically, it was closed at this point, so we couldn't go inside.

We reached our destination at last though- I love how they even cut the trees to appear perfectly straight! This palace was built for the mother of King Louis XIII, and as with everything else in Paris, the scene was absolutely flawless. 

Haha, there is a picture of me sitting in front of the palace, but I figured I'd show off my photography skills instead this time. I can't imagine being able to come relax in front of something like this on a regular basis! 

Even the flowers had been so meticulously planted... that detail! It looked like a mosaic pattern, they were so perfectly laid out.

At the end of the day, although you can technically see the Eiffel from all over the city, it's really essential to go see it at night at some point. I think my favorite part this time was getting to bring someone here who had never seen this before, especially since about every twenty minutes, the tower is lit up like a Christmas tree, sparkling all over. Even though I knew it was coming, it's still an incredible thing to see, and even better is the look on a first timer's face when it bursts into lights!

~

Finally, there is Versailles. Perhaps one of the most amazing things to see in this amazing city, this mind-blowingly ornate palace looked spectacular in the sunlight.

First thing, after you wait in a massive line and get through security, you join the sea of people working their way through the palace itself. This part can be a little rough, with everyone crowding in to see the same things, or pushing and shoving to keep up with friends and tour guides. Even with that being the case though, it's hard not to be floored by the richness of every palace room and hallway.

The Hall of Mirrors- used daily by King Louis XIV.

This is one of the craziest things to see. It was from this room Marie Antoinette just barely (and unfortunately for her, temporarily) escaped the mobs who stormed the palace- there's a hidden door in the wall by the jewelry cabinet. Honestly though, can you imagine, having been forced to watch your children starve, barely able to provide the means of existence for yourself, busting down the doors into this?? I think I'd have a mind to tell her just what to do with that cake too.

Once you've seen everything in the palace, you exit out the back- it's a lot more fun to sit inside the golden gates and look out at the crowds waiting to get in!

We totally sat on the ledge at the back there and ate smuggled in Nutella and strawberries! Take that, silly security rules.

After this, though, the real attraction to this magical place begins. You round the corner, the crowds thin out and dissipate, and suddenly you are facing the magnificent French gardens of what was once the uncontested French monarchy.

French gardens are an art: paintings by Leo da Vinci, sculptures by Michelangelo, poetry by Shakespeare, gardens by the French. It's not about just slapping down some flowers in a patch of green-- everything is precise, defined, absolutely intentional and often even highly symbolic.

The pictures speak for themselves, but honestly, once you got back into the winding mazes of gardens, white wish seeds and petals floating through the air... As you wander, ''miniature'' gardens like this appear, each one with a story or theme. This one was my favorite- it features a rebellious giant (Enceladus) being cast back down into the Earth by (I believe) a thunder bolt.

We ended the day with another illegal picnic- ha, the benefits of carrying around a large purse. You really can't go wrong in Paris with food. Literally everything you buy is absolutely delicious, the food from the grocery store next to our hostel included.

Baguette, hams, cheese, and pâté (spreadable duck liver??) while we sat by the main stretch of water in front of Versailles.

This was the last photo we took before the camera we had finally died- haha, I'm glad he got it, even though I look like a hair monster from the wind.

 All in all, the palace gardens are breath taking, and absolutely worth the train rain out of the main city. It seems entirely possible that just from breathing the air here I've developed some sort of magical abilities... and if not from the air itself, then definitely from all the little fuzzies that floated their way into my ice cream as we were walking through the garden maze!

~

Our last day, even with our flight at 2pm, we had one final place on our "must visit" list: Napoleon's tomb. So that morning, bright and early and fully packed, we checked out and headed over with intentions to just take a few pictures and then bolt.

"Coffin? Coffins are for pansies. I want a giant sarcophagus."

However, the tomb (above) turned out to be right next to a massive museum... with a sweet armory collection. You might be able to guess where this is tragically going...

Yes... it happened. After an all out sprint to the airport in a desperate panic, we were informed that we had, in fact... missed our flight. Needless to say, I was miffed. In the end, though, I decided it was just Paris working with the universe in general to get us to stay and continue one of the best weeks I've had the pleasure to live- looking at it that way, I can deal with the tragedy of missing a flight... and simply resolve to never, EVER do so again!

One of the best things about this trip was being able to go with someone who had never been to the city before. Secretly, I've always thought that revisiting a place simply wasn't practical when there is SO much to see while abroad. It's an attitude I've always suffered from: I don't reread books, I don't play games twice, and there are even only a handful of movies that I'll watch more than once! However, I am happy to have been proven wrong once again. Paris became more for me this time, the new mingling with the old, and because of that, I appreciated what it had to offer all the more.

I think this city will be one of my resolute favorites, for its spirit, its food, its history, and its art, and now too for all the wonderful memories I've made while exploring here. I can't wait to show my family around this incredible place- I know they will love when they come to visit me in June!