My trip to Paris was amazing but a bit of a whirlwind of a weekend. Therefore I am going to write this entry in parts. Pictures Part 1
Day 1: Arrival
Our trip to Paris was sponsored by our program AIFS. So what this meant was that we would fly into Paris, stay at a nice hotel, be provided with meal money, get day passes for the metro and have exclusive visits planned and paid for us.....all luxuries that we don’t come by often as a poor student travelers. So needless to say this was going to be a great trip.
We left first thing in the morning Thursday, March 4 taking Air France from Nice to the Orly Airport in Paris. This saved us a lot of time given it would normally take a minimum of 5 hours to get to Paris by train. Upon our arrival we checked into the Hotel Paris Bastille located in the Bastille area or 11th arrondissement of Paris. The hotel was small and quiet and served as a much nicer resting place then the cheaper hotel/hostel I stayed in Milan. After getting settled in very quickly we were ready to explore the streets of Paris. Given that we only had an hour until our scheduled bus tour we choose to explore our surroundings, which included the Bastille Opera House, the column marking the July Revolution of 1830, and the only remains of the Bastille. (One can find the remains of the Bastille all over Paris because they were used for the foundation of buildings and bridges, but a few solitary pieces can be found in a park where it once stood) Along with these landmarks we happily came across a Mexican restaurant the first and only one we have found in France. Needless to say we had dinner there later. After our petit exploration we took a bus tour of the city, which our program had planned for us. The bus tour was nice because it gave us the opportunity to get an idea of places we wanted to visit, but it was long and many students (including myself) used it as an opportunity to nap after traveling all morning. Along with 3 hours of rest, the tour also gave us the opportunity to have a wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower where a necessary photo-op took place.
La Tour Eiffel
Zorro
Following our guided nap, we had time to get dinner and get ready for an evening at the theater. Our lovely AIFS advisors, Sandrine and Aude, took it upon themselves to take us all out to see the musical “Zorro” at the Folies Bergère Theater (A topic of impressionists including Manet). The musical was about exactly what the title suggests, the story of Zorro. The musical was very entertaining featuring exciting musical numbers (including the popular song “Bamboleo”), fancy salsa step work and even magic. The musical was in French, which I understood for the most part, though the actor’s use of a Spanish accent made it harder to comprehend. Not to mention it was very bizarre hearing French spoken with a Spanish accent and random Spanish words being used. Overall it was enjoyable even with the language barrier and made for a great night out.
Hotel de Ville
Day 2 was a bit like a sprint, there was so much I wanted to do and see and my time was limited. The day began by taking a guided tour of the Hotel de Ville, which is the city hall of Paris. Each arrondissement in Paris actually has it’s own city hall or Hotel de Ville, but we went to the main one that represents all of Paris. This was an exciting opportunity because it is very rare that they offer tours of the building. Our advisor had told us that in the 10 years she has been taking students to Paris (at least twice a year) this was only the second time they were granted a group tour. From the outside, the Hotel de Ville looks like almost any old building in Europe, which is a large tannish building with stone statues on the façade. The inside however was much more impressive with many grand crystal chandeliers, gorgeous academic frescos and paintings and elaborate golden trims around the doorways and ceilings. The building even had its “hall of mirrors” which imitates the one found at the Palace of Versailles. Along with being very beautiful almost everything held symbolism to France as a country. For example, there were statues of women that represented the different cultural aspects of France including its wine, music and art. The tour of the Hotel de Ville was a nice experience, especially given the rarity of the opportunity, though it ended shortly and we hurried off to our next destination.
Following the Hotel de Ville we had about 2 hours worth of free time before our next scheduled activity. This gave us just enough time to hop on the metro and find our way to the Père Lachaise Cemetery. I know many of you who are reading are wondering why with so limited time in Paris I would take the time to visit a cemetery and I have 2 answers for you. 1) At this cemetery you can find the grave sites of many famous people and 2) it is out of the ordinary and adds what I believe a little flair to my Paris story vs. the typical I went to the Louvre and saw the Eiffel Tower (both of which I did do and are musts when visiting Paris). At the cemetery my friends and I visited the final resting places of Jim Morrison of The Doors, French singer Edith Piaf, Chopin and Oscar Wilde. They were all very interesting to visit but my favorite and most note worthy was Oscar Wilde’s grave site. This is because it is tradition when paying your respects to kiss his grave marker and as a result the headstone is covered in many little lip prints. I of course, following tradition and for the experience, also kissed his grave though sadly did not leave a lip print because I didn’t have any lipstick with me.
Oscar Wilde's Grave
Montparnasse Tower
The trip to the cemetery was followed by a mad dash to Montparnasse Tower, Paris’ tallest skyscraper. At Montparnasse we took an elevator to the 56th floor where we could see the whole view of the city. The view was wonderful but overall was a bit anticlimactic. Had it not been a free scheduled activity, I think I would have skipped it and spent my time elsewhere.
Musée d'Orsay
From Montparnasse some of my friends and I went to visit the Musée d'Orsay. Musée d’Orsay is a train station that was converted into a modern art museum that houses a lot of impressionist work. There I got to see the works of some of my favorite artists such as Degas’ ballerinas and multiple paintings by Renoir. Also on display was van Gogh’s self-portrait. It was thrilling having the chance to see these famous works in person. I also had the opportunity to see a few impressionist paintings that we went over in my art history class. This was moving because since I had previous knowledge of the works and the artists I paid special attention to certain details, which gave me a greater appreciation for each piece.
Degas
After the museum I set off on my own, along the Seine to quickly visit Notre Dame Cathedral. Notre Dame was beautiful but I definitely appreciated it a lot more from the outside. Inside there was an ample amount of tourists, which made it extremely difficult to move about. I found myself rushing through it just to get away from everyone, so therefore I missed a lot of what there is to see inside. I’m still glad I made the attempt to see it and perhaps I will have better luck the next time I’m in Paris. (Yes I am already planning my return)
Notre Dame
Upon leaving the cathedral there was no stopping. I hopped on a metro and made my way back to the hotel to quickly change into nice clothes and head out to the Louvre. Since the Louvre is free for students on Friday evenings (though later we found out as EU students we always can get in for free with our visa) we decided to see the main attractions and from there go to dinner. Once at the Louvre we started with the Mona Lisa, which was extremely easy to find using the convenient signs that lead you right to her. I was shocked when I saw how small she actually is, in my head I had imagined her to be a large portrait, but instead she was about the size of a family photo above ones mantel. No matter her size it was still exciting to see in person what is probably the most renowned painting in the world. Following the Mona Lisa we quickly went to find “Liberty Guiding the People” by Delacroix, which is an important painting for the French Republic. Following the last painting we ended up getting lost in the Louvre as we searched for Venus de Milo. Not so coincidently we ended up in the ancient Egyptian section of the Louvre, where our friend Cannon wanted go. Eventually we made it to Venus, where we concluded our exploration of the Louvre and then got lost trying to leave. Given I got lost using a map and following exit signs I can’t imagine how people successfully found there way around there when it served as a palace.
The Louvre and it's controversial pyramid
Mona Lisa &
Venus de Milo
Paris is such an amazing city. Glad that you got the whirlwind tour. Now when you return you can take your time, enjoy a leisurely walk down the Champs Elysee or a shopping trip!
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