La vita di Beese: The City of Lights: Paris!

Bonjour!

Wow! Two weekends ago I spend four amazing days in Paris. I had such an unbelievable time in the City of Lights that I don't even know how to begin this blog post. I guess chronologically is the best way.

I would also like to apologize for taking so long with this post. You all were too anxious to hear about my trip!

Disclaimer: This post may be long because I did so much during my trip. If you would like just a short recap please scroll down to the pictures at the end of the post!

Day One (Wednesday):

We left Paderno del Grappa on Wednesday evening to the Venice Marco Polo airport. Our flight went smoothly and we landed in Paris at 10:30 in the evening. Although we were already half asleep we managed to figure out the trains to get to our hostel. Once we arrived to our hostel (in the Monmartre neighborhood, near Moulin Rouge), we checked in and immediately fell asleep.

Day Two (Thursday):

The next morning we ate the free breakfast at our hostel and were off. We had signed up for a free walking tour through Sandemans. Although it was slightly rainy we enjoyed the tour! We saw all the main sights of Paris: the Latin Quarter, Notre Dame, the Lock Bridge, the Louvre, the Tuleries, and a view of the Eiffel Tower, Obelisk, and Arc de Triomphe.

At the end of the tour, we were lead to a nearby restaurant that had a special for the tour participants. It was a 12€ two course meal. We had the option of either an appetizer and entree or an entree and dessert. I chose the appetizer and entree. For the appetizer course we had the option between French onion soup and escargot. I chose escargot because I wanted to try something new and also because I have somewhat of a food aversion to French onion soup. The escargot came out and we were taught how to use the strange utensils. One was for holding the shell the other for stabbing the snail and pulling it out. After some trouble getting the snail out, I actually really enjoyed the dish! The snail was buttery and had some parsley flavoring, the texture was not bad and I think pulling it out of the shell is fun. I would definitely get it again. For the second course we had the option between a beef dish and a croque monsieur. I got the beef, which was fantastic, but I also stole a couple bites of my friends croque monsieur. I think the beef was better but the croque monsieur was not bad! Croque monsieur is another French staple. It is basically a toasted ham and cheese sandwich but with a lot of cheese. In Italy they also have a staple toasted ham and cheese sandwich they call simply, toast.

After eating we headed over to the Louvre. I had heard from friends and our tour guide that there is enough art in the Louvre to be there for weeks. This fact was a bit overwhelming for me. I had downloaded the Rick Steve's audio tour of the Louvre before I had left to give myself some direction in the giant museum. I actually enjoyed the Louvre and I think having the audio tour helped. I wish we had spent more time in the Louvre because I didn't get a chance to even see some exhibits! It was cool to view paintings and sculptures I has only seen pictures of before. My least favorite exhibit in the museum was the Italian section. I think this was because I have seen so much Italian art this trip and there isn't much variation. I had to keep going through all the same Italian paintings to get to the Mona Lisa. Many people say the Mona Lisa is underwhelming, but I actually found her to be one of my favorite paintings in the museum, maybe because I had low expectations. I had heard that because her face is painted the way it is you see the emotion that you want to see. I found that to be true and extremely captivating.

Unfortunately, the Louvre closed while we were there so we had to leave. After that we kind of wandered around the city as the sun set. We spent some time by the lock bridge and looked for a crêpes place for dinner. We ended up eating Nutella banana crêpes in the Latin Quarter and walking toward the Bastille. We spent an hour or so around the Bastille and went back to the neighborhood where our hostel was. After more walking we stopped into an adorable bar with all French speaking people for a glass of wine and some cheese. It was delicious and I enjoyed the conversation and atmosphere. Then we headed back for a nights sleep.

Day Three (Friday):

The next morning we woke up pretty early to head to Versailles. We took the metro and the RER train to Versailles. I was especially excited for this excursion because I really enjoyed learning about Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette. We made it to the palace and it was the one day of the weekend that was gorgeous outside! We really lucked out. The castle is huge and absolutely gorgeous. I opted to do the free audio tour as I walked through all the rooms, which ended up being a good decision. I loved hearing about all the artwork and history in every room. My two favorite rooms were the Hall of Mirrors and Marie Antoinette's bedroom. The Hall of Mirrors was one of the most beautiful rooms I have ever been in. I also found it to be extremely cool to be in a place I had only read about in history books. I tried to imagine The Treaty of Versailles being signed in this room as I walked through (it was somewhat challenging due to all of the tourists but I tried nonetheless). I also loved Marie Antoinette's room because it was extremely ornate and customized for Marie herself (there were portraits of her family on the walls). The audio tour pointed out the door Marie fled through to escape the mob outside.

After walking through the palace we headed out to the gardens. The gardens of Versailles are phenomenal. I kind of wish I worked there just so I could tend these fantastic gardens. My only complaint is that I wish I had visited during the summertime. All the statues were covered, some gardens closed and no flowers blooming. Some sections of the gardens almost reminded me of Alice in Wonderland gardens with cooky swirls and designs. After lots of pictures, walking and viewing the Grand Trianon I was pooped. It was almost perfect timing because I needed to catch a train to meet my boyfriend, Dakota in the city!

Yes, my boyfriend came to visit in Paris! He is studying abroad in Lille, France which is a short train ride away. After a little miscommunication we found each other in the City of Lights. After dropping his clothes off we headed to the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower is extremely beautiful at night. Dakota and I strolled the park then found a restaurant with a view of the tower. As I was waiting for my steak and fries the Eiffel Tower started to sparkle! I learned the tower sparkles on the hour for five minutes. It was a very special moment.

After a delicious (but somewhat overpriced) meal we headed back to the Bastille area because we had signed up for a pub crawl through the same company that did our free walking tour. We took the metro and enjoyed some music from two men playing accordion singing and began our pub crawl! It was a lot of fun to see different bars in Paris and to meet other travelers. We then went to bed for a long day ahead of us.

Day Four (Saturday):

We woke up and immediately headed over to the Catacombes. This activity was one of my top activities to do in Paris. We got there right when it opened but there was still a line! They only let 20 people in at a time so the line slowly moved and we eventually got in. We walked down a spiral staircase and through creepy, dark, wet, chilly tunnels. Then eventually began to see bones! There were thousands of bones all lined up in very neat lines and patterns. It was interesting because although there was a long line outside once we got down to the tunnels we didn't see another living soul for some very long stretches.. It added to the somewhat chilling experience. I highly recommend going to the catacombs when you visit Paris.

After the catacombs we headed straight to Museé d'Orsay. I was excited about this museum because of its impressionists collection, it was finally a museum of artists I knew and wanted to see (also no traditional Italian Christian pieces!). The museum itself is a piece of art, there was glass and details everywhere I looked. My favorite parts of the museum are the Van Gogh exhibit and the Impressionists exhibit. Van Gogh is my favorite artist. It was an amazing experience to view his original paintings, especially the ones I had used as a wallpaper for my computer! The Impressionist exhibit was also amazing. It was filled with Monet and Degas. I had read a book as a child about Degas and the statue of a dancer he had made and I saw the statue in real life! I got really excited about the statue! This museum is my favorite in all of Europe so far!

After the museum we tried to find a place to eat. Everything was overpriced around the museum, so we walked for a while but then it randomly started to pour rain! We immediately forgot about the prices and headed into the next restaurant. It ended up being a good decision! The prices were reasonable and we got a lot of food for the amount we spent. I had a Croque Madame, similar to the Corque Monsieur but with a fried egg on top, with a salad.

After eating we took the metro to see Saint Chapelle church. This church is almost all stained glass, and even through all the French Revolutions the glass is still original! We went inside and it was so beautiful. I feel like all the pictures I took do not give it justice. This is one of my favorite churches I have visited in Europe so far.

We then made our way to the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Élysées. This is probably one of my favorite shopping avenues I have been to, partially because not everything was crazy expensive and the view of the Arc de Triomphe is fantastic. After shopping for a bit we decided to reward ourselves with macaroons and pastries! I had a pistachio macaroon and Dakota had two smaller pastries (which I tried bites of... So delicious!). Dakota came out of shopping empty handed but I purchased a Longchamp bag. I had been wanting one in the states for over a year and they're 40$ cheaper in Europe and the brand is from Paris so I feel like it was meant to be.

For some reason they had a Ferris wheel set up in near the obelisk. Our tour guide the days before said it was for an event and would be taken down within the week. Dakota and I decided to jump at the opportunity to ride it while it was here to see the views of Paris. Not many of my pictures turned out but the ride was magical being able to see the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and Obelisk as the sun set.

After we were so pooped from our busy day we ended up eating burgers (my first burger in Europe!) at the hostel bar. This ended up being a fantastic decision. They had so many drink specials, huge delicious burgers, and the Hawkeye basketball game on TV! We watched Iowa beat Michigan while sipping on 2 for 1 drinks. Although this was not very French of us we thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Unfortunately the next day we both had to leave. We said our goodbyes and soon I was on a flight back to Venice! I never thought of myself as a Paris girl but this trip was an eye opener for me. I loved Paris more than I thought I would and I think I'll be back sometime in my lifetime.

I went to Slovenia last weekend but that blog post won't be up for a few days, and this weekend I am headed to Rome to visit my good friend Maggie! Life is good but extremely busy!

Pictures

View of Notre Dame from our free walking tour

The Lock Bridge from our free walking tour

It was crazy how empty it was by the Lourve during our walking tour!! Maybe it was because it was raining (see umbrella). I think it is cool that you can see the reflection of the pyramid in the water on the ground!