Weekend in Paris!

Early Saturday morning, I went to Paris to meet my cousin who is working in Germany. Iku and Marie-Claude woke up super early to say goodbye to me, which was so sweet of them! Iku actually held the door open when I entered the elevator, which meant the elevator couldn’t work, but she was like, Noo once I close it, you’ll be gone! And Marie-Claude was like, you’re gonna make her miss her train!

The trip to Marseille and then to Paris was pretty uneventful. I somehow managed to snag a first-class seat because it was cheaper than a second-class seat. So I had a pretty comfortable ride to Paris! My cousin was caught in a traffic jam, but we eventually found each other, so then let the adventures begin!

Departing from Marseille, so I was the only one on the car!

My hostel ended up being ridiculously nice this time. I think it’s a pretty new hostel, but it was so clean. It was probably even nicer than most hotels I’ve stayed at, and it was in a pretty good location! Accessible everywhere by metro.

The first day in Paris, we went to see the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower. Paris in July is terrible. It is full of tourists, and everywhere you go, you have to wait in line for at least an hour. Then, we went to Sacre-Coeur to see the sunset, but the dome was closed by the time we got there, so the sun wasn’t even setting in the right direction! I mean, of course the sun was in the right direction, but we weren’t high enough to be able to actually see it. It was a great view though, so I’m not too broken-hearted, and the cathedral itself was very beautiful.

Arc de Triomphe!

Feeling so French in this gallant moment

A panoramic view from the Arc de Triomphe

There were so many stairs in Paris! I walked an average of over 10 miles every single day I was there.

Me and Eiffel :)

On the River Seine

On Sunday, we decided to visit the Palace of Versailles (or actually the French call it the Castle of Versailles). This was great because Versailles is actually pretty far from Paris, so I got to ride in a car there since my cousin rented one! I somehow managed to get in for free because I had a European student ID, which was awesome! And Versailles was beautiful, of course.

After Versailles, we wanted to get into the Louvre, but it was so crowded and the line was just getting longer. So we ended up going to Notre Dame, which was also very pretty. My cousin and his colleagues left after that, but I went back to the Louvre and I couldn’t decide if I should try to go in or not. By that time, there wasn’t a line anymore because it was about to close in an hour. But I went in, and turns out since I’m technically a “student,” I got to go in for free! I didn’t even have to wait in line to buy tickets. So I spent like 20 minutes in the Louvre haha! I saw Mona Lisa and Liberty Guiding the People and Winged Victory, so I was pretty happy.

Moi et le château

Le Château

J'étais une princesse

Et après, nous avons visité la cathédrale de Notre Dame!

And then I went to the Louvre! 

I wasn't super impressed with the size of Mona Lisa.

Winged Victory! It was very uncrowded since the museum was almost closing.

Liberty Guiding the People by Eugène Delacroix! I studied this in my art history class. This painting inspired a lot of Victor Hugo's novel, Les Misérables

Another one of Eugène Delacroix's paintings - Massacre at Chios!

Louvre

I think that’s so awesome that the really big museums in Paris are all free for students and youth. I’m not sure if it’s because they figure that youth wouldn’t really care that much, or if it’s because they’re making an effort to promote art and cultural appreciation among European youth. But I’m so happy because I basically cut down my spending in Paris by at least 75%, and I got to visit all these really famous, awesome, cultural places for free!

But speaking of museums, on Monday nearly everything is closed, except for the Louvre and Centre Pompidou. Which was totally fine because I was going to go visit those places anyway, so it was perfect! I got to the Louvre again and got in at around 9:30, and it was still pretty empty at that time so I went to see Napoleon’s apartments. And then I spent like four more hours just looking at everything. I found a bunch of paintings that I studied in art history class, so I got pretty excited! But by the time I was done, I was exhausted.

Look at this line!

Lonely in Napoleon's apartments

African art

I then had a sort of picnic lunch in the Jardin de Tuileries, and then I visited the Jardins de Luxembourg, or Luxembourg gardens! Oh, it’s so beautiful there. I know I’ve been saying that everything is beautiful, but it really was! I love parks because they are free and very pretty and nature-y and green. 

Jardin de Luxembourg

Ah, the building/senate there

Then, I actually went to a museum of Medical History. It was honestly the most terrifying thing I've ever seen. There were so many knives and images of people cutting the body open for surgery, and the medicine history of genitals was SO SCARY. Also all of the writing was in French, so anything I didn't understand was left to the imagination. It was disturbing. I mean, just look at these chainsaws!

Phew. Well afterwards, I went to the Hôtel de Ville (city hall) because the French always have really interesting buildings for their city halls! I didn't go in because there was construction outside, and I don't think it was open, but here it is in all of its glory!

Afterwards, I went to the Centre Pompidou, which is this modern art museum. I saw some more paintings that I studied in art history class, and then I saw some pretty interesting things (it was pretty similar to the Andy Warhol museum, actually).

Georges Braque :) I was actually tested on this exact painting on my art history final exam, and I got the title only partway correct. Oh well. 

The view from Centre Pompidou :)

Then, my handy Parisian guidebook told me to go to this falafel place, so I went there and got a falafel sandwich for dinner. I ate it in a nearby park. It was very messy and very delicious, but I was so hungry that I kind of wolfed it down and couldn’t really appreciate the taste. Anyhow, then I went back to the hostel.

This vegetarian falafel had so much in it!

I got home pretty early actually (it's funny that I thought of the hostel as home), and they have this 9th floor terrasse, so I went up there with one of my roommates to enjoy the view. This is completely unedited! The little building in the distance is Sacre-Coeur. 

Me and Kinki, who is from Hong Kong!

[End Sat-Mon in Paris]

-Cindy