WEDNESDAY
I kinda really liked Paris. I’m excited to go back, especially since it’ll be with my family.
Wednesday was tiring, in a good way. 387 steps to the top of Notre-Dame, 284 to the top of Arc De Triomphe, 2 mile walk down the Champ Elysees, 2 flights of stairs to the chapel of Sainte Chapelle…you do the math…
First thing on the agenda for the best day in Paris EVER: Notre-Dame Cathedral. So so pretty. We were able to walk all of the way up to the tippee top and overlook Paris. We also went up to the bell tower and met my man, Quasimodo. A definite must for a Paris trip, fo sho.
{Notre-Dame}
{we met Quosimodo-picture courtesy of Annie Spackman}
{view from the top of Notre-Dame--Annie}
We then went to Sainte Chapelle and saw the beautiful stained glass windows.
{Sainte Chapelle--Annie}
Across the river we went to the Cluny Museum to see the Unicorn Tapestries. I don’t know much about them, but they were cooler than I anticipated!
We then walked up the hill for a while. A long while. Until we reached rue Mouffetard market, that wasn’t really a market. BUT it was successful because we ate the BEST BEST savory crepes EVER with eggs, cheese, ham, lettuce and tomatoes. Mmmmmm…we then walked up the street and ate quite possibly the best ice cream I’ve ever eaten. I may or may have gained weight in Paris even though we walked a ton.
We made our way back down into town and walked down Champ Elysees. All two miles of it. We saw Tuileries Garden and the Egyptian column that was a gift to the French. At the end of the Champ Elysees and at the intersection of 8 to 10 major roads and in the middle stands the Arc Di Triomphe. We went to the tippee top and found ourselves facing a sign that said no eating/drinking/smoking and no speedos. We asked the guys up there why there were no speedos allowed and they said that it was because people used to go up and sun bathe, sometimes naked. So no sunbathing allowed. The view was great and it was really fun being with these 9 other girls. Usually the larger groups during our trips get split up just because people want to do different things. But this group of 10 girls stuck together til the end of the day. And it was a huge factor in this perfect Paris day. Another fun thing about the top of the Arc Di Triomphe is that since the French don’t really have lines between the lanes of traffic, they just go for it. Imagine 8-10 major roads leading to a round-about and there are no lanes=havoc and chaos.
{Annie + Me + The Eiffle = no big --Annie}
{The Dream Team of Paris 2010 -- Annie}
We thought it was a good idea to take the Metro back to the Tuileries instead of walking. Guess what was waiting for us at the Tuileries? Late night Louvre time. Let me break down the Louvre Museum for you. Kira told us that if you were to stand in front of each piece of art in the museum for 30 seconds continually for 24 hours, it would take you over 4 months to see everything in the museum. Sensory overload. It was a bit overwhelming, to say the least. But we saw the important, famous things (Mona Lisa, Madonna on the Rocks, Michelangelo’s Slaves, Aphrodite, etc. etc. etc.) plus some of our own things, like the Napoleonic Apartments and some Poussin paintings. It was so big and cool that we spent about 3-4 hours museum-ing it up.
{The Louvre -- Annie}
And that is the conclusion of the best Paris day with the most fun girls with the yummiest food. I couldn’t walk or move back at the hotel, but it was worth it.
THURSDAY
Last day in Paris…booo
Having recovering from the previous day, we started off at L’Orangerie, which I loved a lot. Monet’s Water Lilies cover the walls in his specially, self-designed rooms. I was expecting a single painting on the wall, but it wasn’t like that. It was a mural spread across two rooms. And it was prettier than I anticipated. Downstairs proved to be just as satisfactory since it contained impressionism and post-impressionism paintings from Cezanne and Renoir.
{Monet's Water Lilies -- Annie}
Across the river, Annie, Rachel and I found the Musée Rodin, which I quite enjoyed. The collection had everything: The Thinker, The Kiss, The Gates of Hell, etc. I’ve discovered on this study abroad program just how much I love art. I appreciated it before, but I love it now. I’ve acquired favorite artists and styles and even subjects. And I love statues. I’m glad that I got to see the Rodin Museum.
The very last thing we saw in Paris was Montmartre-The Basilica de Sacre Coeur. Yes, we walked up the 235 stairs to the top of the hill, and yes it was SO worth it! The Basilica was beautiful and the view was breathtaking (the stairs helped that one ha). The streets behind the basilica were touristy and there was a square filled with just artists and their artwork. One of my favorite souvenirs of all time is this caricature that a lady did for me. I was all excited for it to look like me and all artistically fantastic, especially since the Italian tourists that walked by kept saying how much it looked like me bella bella! When the lady (who was a native Californian who has been living in Paris for 30 years, btw) revealed the final product, I was like uhhhh great here’s your 10 euros. Let’s just say that we decided that it looked more like the artist herself than me. It’s not bad, it’s just not…great. Hahaha we got a good laugh from that.
{Montmarte Sacre Coeur -- Annie}
We had some time until we had to leave Paris officially, so we walked along the Seine and got some more souvenirs.
It was sad to leave, but, hey, we left to go back to London.
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