Here are many highlights of my trip to Paris, France earlier this month. I am thoroughly in love with that city, and finally understand all the cliché movies, shows, songs, books, poems, about the city of lights. Who can visit this incredible place and NOT fall in love? Maybe it's the romantic in me, or the 8 years of art history under my belt, but everything about this city is amazing. Check it out.
On google maps the walk form our hotel to Notre Dame was an estimated 10 min walk. There must be an exchange rate, or the general French population just having smaller feet, because this was around the corner from where we were staying. We just strolled around the block and BOOM! We're at Notre Dame. I suddenly knew how all those people looking at the Empire State building feel as I brisk past them into the subway station, rushing like mad to get OUT of midtown.
The Cathedral is about to celebrate its 850th birthday next year. One thing that came rushing back to me was the film I was shown in 6th or 7th grade about the construction of cathedrals, and how multiple generations toil over the construction of a single church and never see it through from beginning to end completely. How insane is that? These things take literally hundreds of year to just BUILD.
No wonder it's turning 850, it's built to last!
We met up with some very good friends from New York who just happened to be in Paris on the very same days as us. Which just by happenstance and principal is probably the coolest thing ever.
This is the first Parisian meal I had; moules et des frites
(on the left is spaghetti carbonara!)
With only a short time to see the city, I decided with a heavy heart to not go into the Louvre, and to only walk around it and its beautiful grounds, because it would take a week to see that whole museum.
Besides, all of Paris is like a museum anyway!
These gorgeous sculptures are everywhere!
In fact, everything is artfully prepared.
The Arc de Triumph is in the center of a huge roundabout, which has no lanes nor crosswalks... Or instructions as to how to get across. My friends and I were about 11 seconds away from dashing into 10 lanes of rush hour traffic and dodging cars and speeding vespas, when one of us spotted the tunnel.
There was a tunnel to get across! Like into New Jersey or Brooklyn, but it went underground for about a hundred feet and there we were, under the Arc. No problem!
We all then took a very cramped Metro ride. Honestly, if we didn't happen to know each other on this commute would we just be spooning total strangers like this?
Eiffel Tower. The base of this massive structure is just a regular, run of the mill park. There were kids riding bikes, people walking dogs, just chilling. Under the Eiffel Tower. No big thing.
Paris at nighttime. I could see all the huge landmarks from the day lit up on the horizon.
This is the view from only the 2nd level of the tower, above and below.
A much needed refueling of wine and bread with our friends after Tour de Eiffel.
Followed by some very cool Paris graffiti.
Departing on opposite Metro platforms.
What a wonderful time- and the best part is it's only half over!
Stay tuned for the next Paris post coming soon! Promise!
