Wednesday, February 6, 2013


What a week it has been- explored and learned so much within this past week! Last week Wednesday until this past Sunday, I traveled to Paris with three other girls in my program. Since our early- start courses finished Tuesday and our semester classes started this past Monday, we had four days to kill- so we decided to spend them in Paris! Leaving early Wednesday morning (or late Tuesday night- bus left at 2a from Granada), our bus arrived in Madrid at 7am and our flight out of Madrid to Paris departed at 9am. We arrived in Paris around 10am and I’m happy to report we had zero issues with travel, a first for me!

Arriving in Paris, we bought a metro pass, which let us travel via subway and buses for 5 days at a fixed cost. Our first experience on the subway went well! Right away an accordionist came on the subway and began serenating us with the typical French music- it couldn’t have been more perfect! Finally reaching our hotel, we dropped our bags off and left to explore the city. Our first stop was the Louvre, where we saw the Mona Lisa and other famous works of art. The museum was filled with such beautiful artistic pieces I wanted to spend all day there just analyzing and observing them but of course there was just so much more to see in the city. Walking out of the Louvre, the sun finally showed its face! The majority of the days in Paris are known to be rainy so we felt very fortunate to see an actual sunset. It made the monuments and buildings so much more beautiful. Unfortunately, we visited during the winter so it wasn’t as beautiful as I expected but I can only imagine what the city must look like in the summer and fall months.

After the Louvre we grabbed dinner at a café located off the main street by the Louvre. Ordered my first wine in France- Boudreaux Sauvignon and for dinner I had a Croquet Madame- toasted ham and cheese sandwich with a fried egg over the top- both the wine and dinner was delicious! From dinner we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower, which was amazing lit up at night, especially when it began to sparkle. The pictures definitely don’t do justice to describing how gorgeous the view was of this monument. Taking the elevator up, we went to the top of the tower where we were able to look over Paris at night! In my opinion, it’s more beautiful to see Paris from above at night then during the daytime- everything becomes more breathtaking. It was the perfect way to end our first day in the city of love.

Waking up early the following day, we took the metro to Versailles- home of King Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette and other royal figures. The architecture of this palace was exquisite as it was mostly composed of gold and marble. Inside, the interior was even more amazing, as there was the room of mirrors, bedroom of the King (where hundreds of people would watch him wake in the morning), the bedroom of Marie Antoinette and the secret door she used to escape the rebels as they stormed the palace. After exploring the palace, we visited the summer home of Marie Antoinette, gifted to her by the King. From there, we walked through the village Marie had built for her guests.

After spending half of our day exploring Versailles, we took the metro back towards the heart of Paris where we went to the Arc of Triomph- another well-known monument of Paris. Not wanting to risk crossing the circle around the Arc, we took the under passage in order to explore inside the monument- luckily with our student visas we were able to go to the top of the Arc for free- which I would recommend to anyone traveling around Europe that has a student visa- you have free entry into places as long as you are a student and under the age of 26. Up top was another beautiful view of the city at night, especially the view of the Eiffel Tower at night as it sparkled. Before dinner, we made a stop at Moulin Rouge and the Red Light District, which was definitely an interesting part of Paris. We took a few pictures and then left- a little too creepy for us.

Day three we spent exploring the inner parts and museums of Paris. Starting the day at the Notre Dame, we walked through the church and went to the top for another view of the city from above. We were hoping to go inside one of the towers to see “the hunch back’s” home but it was closed since it was the changing of the bells, as it was 850-year anniversary of the Notre Dame. The rest of the day was filled with visits to different churches and museums. We finished the day at Sacre- Coeur, which towers on a hill overlooking the city. Walking through, the pews were filled with individuals praying giving the church a very calm, relaxing environment. While waiting outside, a Parisian begins describing the city to me- unfortunately, I had no idea what he was saying and could only stare at him and smile. Once he realized I spoke no French, he immediately switched to English. I’m still surprised by how many Europeans know English as well as their native tongue. In America, it’s not very common for an individual to be bilingual but in Europe I feel more individuals have a desire to learn another language more than Americans do (just my personal opinion). Rather than spending money on a night out (since everything was so expensive in Paris) we bought a few baguettes, cheese squares, dark chocolate and a couple bottles of wine to have in our hotel room while we played French music- a very relaxing evening in.

For our last full day, we began by exploring St. Chappelle, which holds the tomb of Voltaire, Victor Hugo and others. After observing these tombs, we went to the catacombs, which hold the bones of Parisians from the 18th century. The walls and pillars were composed of bones and skulls… it was a little eerie walking through this in the dim light and cold passages.  To escape the depressing scene, we visited the Opera, which was then followed by Notre Dame again. This time we visited the church during the blessing of the bells ceremony. Hundreds of people crowded inside the church and outside to watch the ceremony.

Finally though, one of my favorite parts of the trip was during this night. After watching the ceremony, Holly and I explored the shops around Notre Dame and we came across a small bookstore. Walking in, I instantly felt at peace with the 40’s music being played, the old-books smell and the stacks of novels filling the walls. Walking upstairs, I first thought it was just the children’s section but I was wrong: I walked into a smaller room to find a man playing the piano with a French girl singing along beautifully. Walking down the hall, I came across a mini-group discussion with the author of the book reading passages from her novel. It was the perfect “Paris bookstore” scene- just what I imagined it to be!

After this amazing bookstore experience, we headed to a piano bar for drinks and were lucky enough to be placed right next to the piano and singer. The pianist played a mixture of French and American songs (Adele, Elton John and more). It was the perfect way to wrap up our time in Paris! Though Paris was an amazing experience, it’s a relief to be back in a country where we can communicate with the people through our words and not through charades. Overall, Paris was a blast; unfortunately, the pictures just don’t do justice to these four days! In all we managed to visit the following: Arc de Triomph, Catacombs, Museé Rodin (with “the Thinker” statue), the Louvre (Has the Mona Lisa), St. Chapelle, Les Invalides (has the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte, Notre Dame, Bridge of Locks, Versailles (Home of Marie Antoinette), Sacre- Coeur, Basilica, the Opera, Moulin Rouge, St. Germain de Pres (the oldest church in Paris or France), the Panthéon and of course the Eiffel Tower.

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