I am now bringing a very long weekend to a close. We were given Friday and Monday off, which allowed everyone enough time for a little travel. I chose PARIS! and booked tickets with Lee and Ben. Looking back on the four days, we were pretty unprepared but made it through in one piece. I'll go through each day separately to make sure I can remember everything. Friday: Our flight left from Heathrow at 2:00 and landed at 4:00. Getting off the plane was quite a shock because we knew we had to buy tain tickets but weren't sure which ones or even how to ask for the right ones. Eventually, we found the right ticket counter and after the lady looked at our directions sold us what we needed. Once we had made the long treck out to our hotel which was in a suburb east of the city, we decided to scavenge for food. There were not many choices. After finally deciding on a Chinese?!? restaurant, we struggled through a difficult, mediocre meal. It was not turning out to be the Paris I had romanticized for years. Saturday: Determined to have a better day two, I was able to figure out the cheapest ticket that would allow us all day access to the trains and the metro (only about 3,40 euro). However, it was an incredible struggle, again, to find a restaurant. Luckily, we found a nice cafe that sold delicious paninis and we were able to warm up for a bit. Then we ventured to the Eiffel Tower to meet Molly who is studying for the semester in Paris. I was incredibly excited to see someone who knew so much of the language. We decided to escape the windy tourist area and ventured to the Louvre. It is soooo big. Since it's impossible to see the entire museum, we tried to pick certain areas to see but it was ridicoulously hard to follow the map. Although, I did get a picture of the Mona Lisa. Would have never thought you could take pictures in there. Sunday: Ben was too sick to walk around with us on Sunday because a new version of the black death is going around our program. So many people have gotten sick and I am on my way. Luckily I felt well enough to go out on Sunday, though, because we experienced just about every quintessential tourist stop in the city.
Sacre Coeur: It was extremely beautiful. There was such a contrast between the green grass; clear, blue sky; and white basillica. In addition, it is set very high on a hill and even though there are many stairs involved, there is a great view of the city from the outside. However, there were multiple men outside (clearly not with the church) who tried to tie little pieces of string around our wrists. They were very forward and demanding. Compared to London, the people in Paris who are looking for money are abrasive and relentles. Even though I was a little upset after my walk up the stairs, the view made up for it and we were able to circle the basillica during the church service. It was the perfect time because we were able to experience the sounds and smells of the building as well as it's architecture.
Les croque monsieurs!: Since Lee and I were starving after climbing up to Sacre Coeur, we looked for a place to have lunch. Finally we found this cafe that was fairly crowded, a sure sign of a good pick. We decided on a table inside and I was excited to see that they had croque monsieurs on the menu, one of the first french food items I ever learned. It is essentially a grilled ham and cheese but it is quintessentially French. The sandwich plus a cafe creme was the perfect lunch.
Notre Dame: A quick ride on the metro brought us to the most famous cathedral in paris. The stained glass windows were spectacular.
Conciergerie: We were able to walk around a little bit after Notre dame and found the conciergerie, which is French for a waste of time. No, seriously, our guide book explained it as an exciting, mysterious former prison that had housed many prisoners during the French revolution, including Marie Antoinette. We thought it would be a smaller version of the tower of london. No. It was a waste of euros, especially because we didn't speak French. Oh well.
Luxembourg Gardens: The park was extremely lively, filled with dozens of kids climbing on the HUGE jungle gym, old men smoking cigarettes over games of petanque (French bocce ball), and students reading books in chairs set along the walkways. I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend some downtime.
Crepes avec Nutella!: As the afternoon had worn on, we decided to get some crepes from the stand at the gardens. I knew what very few of the toppings meant, but I was sure of the Nutella. It was deliciously messy.
Cafe creme at a cafe: We met Molly again for a cup of coffee. We looked around for a little bit before settling on this large cafe. It was fairly upscale and our drinks were small, but delicious. It was so nice being able to see a familiar face and share our experiences thus far.
Le Comptoire de Mme. Tomate: After taking the metro to the Centre Pompidou, we decided to get dinner at a restaurant by the name of this point's heading. It translates "The counter/bar of Mrs. Tomato." It was trendy inside and had upbeat music. The service was also excellent. Our waiter was extremely friendly and the waitress was even more excitable. She kept saying long strings of French to us and I only understood about half of it. I ordered a chicken sandwich and a gin fizz and Lee went with a hamburger and beer. Everything was excellent. After our meal, the crazy waitress poured each of us a shot of rum. We weren't really sure what to make of it but gave eachother the "when in Rome..." look and downed the alcohol. However, I looked around and spotted another table of people who were sipping their idential shots slowly. Just when I was beginning to think we had committed a big faux pas the waitress appeared at the table speaking loudly, "Allez! Allez!" (Hurry!) and making motions with her hands that seemed to insist "drink up!" It was definitely the best meal of the trip.
Le Centre Pompidou: Of course, the Eiffel Tower was overwhelming and yes, the Louvre was spectacular with it's glass pyramid; however, when I exited the metro stop by the Centre Pompidou, I was speechless. The building is MASSIVE and stood out so much because we went at nighttime. The modern art was such a nice contrast to the Louvre but I don't think I should really compare the two. Apples and oranges, really.
Glittering Eiffel Tower: Lastly, we went to the Eiffel Tower and got lost on the Metro for the first and last time. Thanks to a tip from the woman from Boston we met at the cafe, we learned that the structure lights up for ten minutes every hour, on the hour after 6:00. Beautiful.
By Monday we were all ready to go home. It was such a long, action packed weekend. Also, I was definitely homesick for the Tube and ENGLISH. On our way to the train station, though, we found one of the city's gems. It was a bakery smaller than my bedroom but we could smell the bread from the sidewalk. (One of Molly's tips) We went in and purchased long thin baguette sandwiches and I also got a croissant that was perfect on the long ride to the airport. Everything was so delicious.
There were many wonderful parts of the weekend but my visit really allowed me to come to terms with the city I had romanticized for years. Now, it's not some far-off dream but something I have felt, seen and smelled. I feel like I am one of the few who has such a subdued view of the city. Everyone usually seems to talk about it in such strong language. You hear about the nasty people and exaggerated tales of the beautiful places. However, I feel that I was able to see it as a real, dynamic city city, full of gems and potholes.
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