A Weekend in Paris

Paris.

It's a beautiful city. Different than I had always imagined, but isn't that always what happens? This last weekend, seven of our crew ventured out to Paris for the long weekend. Our professors designated this weekend for students to go anywhere we wanted to. Several stayed in London, one went to Amsterdam, and the rest of us went to Paris. I almost didn't go, but I am so glad I did. I said those words a million times this weekend. I'm so glad I went to Paris!

We took a coach (very large bus) from London Victoria station. The bus was delayed by 2 hours, and but we didn't know that when we left our flats at 4:30 AM on Thursday. Two bus rides, a ferry ride, and about 15 hours later, we finally arrived in Paris. We were too tired to do anything that night, so we just headed to our hotel and planned out all that we would do the next day. Our plan ended up being fantastic because we visited....

1. Sacre Coeur.
This is a large cathedral/ church that overlooks the city. We had to hike up like 200 steps but it was so worth it. As you can see....

2. Place de Tertre
This is square of live artists painting scenes from around Paris. I was blown away by their talent. If I had more money to spend, I would have loved to get a painting there.

3. Monte Marte
This was right down the steps from the Sacre Coeur. It is home to the best chocolate shop in the world and several other various markets. I really don't think chocolate can get any better than it did here! I didn't get any pictures here, but it was a really fun part of the city.

4. Tuileries Gardens
The Tuileries Gardens are right in the heart of the city and they are beautiful. At one end, you can see the Louvre, and on the other the Arc de Triomphe. The garden is breathtaking and it was so fun to walk through!

5. Louvre
The Louvre is freaking massive. It would take forever to get through there! So I'm really glad I didn't pay to go in. It is a beautiful building though.

6. Notre Dame
This cathedral is amazing. I loved, loved, loved the ornateness of the inside and outside. It blew my mind. Apparently 2013 marks 850 years since it was built. So old and beautiful! I've decided that cathedrals are my favorite places to visit in any city. Even if my religion doesn't match the ones that the cathedrals are built for, I can still feel closer to God inside of them. It's always amazing to me to see all of the passion and love these people have felt for Christ for hundreds of years in Europe.

7. Lock Bridge
The gals I went with were really excited to see this--and it was something I'd never heard of before. Apparently when some couples get married, they will lock a lock to this bridge and throw the key in the river Seine below--symbolizing locking their marriage so that it can never be broken. Beautiful symbolism, and very fitting for the romantic  city that Paris is.

8. Arc de Triomphe
It is HUGE. So much larger than I ever imagined. There's like 8 roads that converge at it...I've decided it's the world's biggest and busiest roundabout.

9. Eiffel Tower
It was bigger, more spectacular, and grander than I ever imagined. It sounds really cliche and touristy, but this was my favorite part about Paris. We climbed the stairs to the 2nd floor to watch the sun begin to set. It was cheaper and much better to do it this way, and I'm glad that we did. I would have liked to go to the top, but the line was long and it was expensive. We took lots of pictures, and then got down to the bottom just in time to get crepes (strawberries and nutella...SO GOOD) and watch it light up next to the fountains. It was a perfect night and end to our first day in Paris. I took a million pictures. The tower lights up gradually--yellow at the bottom, then green, then red and blue on the sides. They add white sparkley lights too, and it is an AMAZING sight.

Day 2...
10. Versailles
We headed out to Versailles because we heard that the gardens are amazing and free to get into. Turns out they were doing a special musical show in the gardens, so on the day we went it cost to get into. It was a bummer, but we still got lots of pictures.

SO CROWDED!

Outside the Gardens

These gates were originally 22 carat gold

I really love asian tourists

After this, we headed back to the city to try to get into the Catacombs. We barely missed the cutoff for getting in...I wasn't bummed, but everyone else in the group was. We were carrying around our stuff all day because we had to check out of the hotel that morning. So we were all really hot, grumpy, and tired all day. I'm so glad we packed so much into the first day because we were so tired for the second!

All in all, Paris is a beautiful city. It's huge, picturesque, and fun to experience. It does have the romantic feel--from the lock bridge, to the naked statues around the Louvre, to the blatantly exposed pictures of naked women all over the metro. It is also the stinkiest, dirtiest, and most full of beggars of any city I've ever been to. Walking through most of the city, you can smell fresh pee and poop everywhere...and usually you can see it too. I got so sick of that. Add the cigarette smoke to that and it makes for a delicious aroma around the city. There were also so many homeless people that come up to you and get in your face and beg you for money. All of the street vendors do this too--whether they want you to give donations or buy their mini eiffel tower paraphernalia, they will get in your face and bug you. I just blatantly said no to everyone and walked away. A lot of them will trick you and ask if you speak english before getting you to donate money...and when they'd do this I'd just say no, even if they had seen me speaking english before asking. I figured that if they're going to be rude about it, so can I!

Two days in Paris was perfect, I really don't think I could have spent any longer than that. I'm so happy that I went because I'll probably never go back to the city again. It was a cheap trip to a place I've always wanted to see. I love, love, loved it, but I'm happy to be back in London where my english can be understood again!