Paris

Paris!

I was SO excited about visiting this city. By far what I was anticipating the most on this trip! I guess with all the random French history I've read and watched and absorbed however else throughout the years made it feel pretty applicable to me. Plus I actually did take 2 years of French in high school and spent some time slightly brushing up on it this spring....  plus I feel like French stuff is just so romanticized and so... awesome. So yeah, I was really excited!

General thoughts on Paris...

We had been warned--and found it to be true--that it is a dirty city! Which is funny because it's such a beautiful place. But out of the 4 major European cities we visited on this trip, Paris was by far the stinkiest, most covered in graffiti, and just generally yucky. Not to say it was like, slums where we were at though, it was still gorgeous and I loved it!

I felt like everywhere I went I just couldn't stop staring at everything. We passed Notre Dame and the Louvre so many times, and every time I almost had to wipe drool off from my staring! And besides those two all the architecture everywhere was breathtaking. Street after street filled with big beautiful buildings. All with the Eiffel Tower rising in the distance! 

The metro was a little scarier in Paris. Like, we had 30 seconds to jump on before the door would slam right shut. It was fun most of the time, but when we were in the big group of 50 together it was stressful to make sure everyone got on. 

The food.... oh the food. Hotel breakfast was so good. Actually, everywhere the food was sooo good. Creperies and pastry shops everywhere, and the pastries were SO good. Like, buttery and delicious, not like dry like what I usually expected. Collin developed a serious love affair with a certain type of grilled cheese sandwich, the Croque Monsieur. He had one each day we were there. I loved them as well, but I branched out a little more! :)

We were originally scheduled to just spend 2 nights in Paris, and spend our 3rd night on the night train going from Paris to Barcelona. BUT, thanks to a train strike our plans changed and we got to spend a 3rd night in Paris, and flew to Barcelona the next morning. I was fine with that! 

Paris was also so much fun because Collin was finally over his jet lag. Wahoo! He was finally back to his usual self, which was definitely a lot more fun. At first he was doing his usual thing of scoffing at the French language and just complaining about the pronunciation wackiness. But he ended up really getting into it! We were so funny, trying to order food. He would speak some sort of weird Spanish-French (what would you call that, Spench? Franish?), so I actually got to be the one giving him the words in the foreign language, for once! 

The first day was HOT. Well, not like Arizona hot, but hot for us Boise people. Probably 95 in the sun. I was wearing jeans and sneakers so I was dying while we waited in line outside some places. And that night we had absolutely awful company at dinner--Collin and I were the last ones into the restaurant and ended up getting stuck at a table with a bunch of hoochie Texas kids with no values or respect for anything. After that I made a point to get into every restaurant FIRST so we could sit with our friends/other adults!!!!!

I thought these old-school metro entrance signs were ugly at first, but after seeing some of them I ended up growing to like them.

Notre Dame: One of my favorites. I just couldn't stop looking at it. We learned a tiny fraction of the meaning of some of the details on the front facade and wow. It was amazing. 

Flying buttresses and gargoyles!

Rear of Notre Dame

I had read a lot about the meaning/purpose of a lot of the side chapels and sanctuaries inside Notre Dame, but it was all a blur in my mind when we were actually in there. It was still so nice to be inside the peaceful cathedral and admire all the intricate, amazing architecture and art.

Chilling on the banks of the Seine

It was so fun to see in real life the Paris street signs I've always admired! Rue Charlot, in the 3rd Arrondisement. Arrondisements are so much cooler than zip codes!

We went up the Montparnasse Tower for some breathtaking views of Paris. It was so fun to take the time to figure out where all the big landmarks were and spot them. 

Awesome view of the Eiffel Tower!

At the bottom of Montparnasse

The music performers on the top of Montparnasse

We went on a boat tour down the Seine our first night in Paris as well. Oh it was so awesome.

One small section of the Louvre (which is 3 city blocks long!)

This would be a great picture if it weren't for my darn hair!

the Conciergerie 

One of the many infamous "Lock Bridges" we saw all over Europe. 

The next day was I think my favorite if I had to pick one out of the whole trip. (which is way hard!) We started with a bus tour of Paris (top sights: the Grand Palais, Champs Elysees, Place de Concorde, the Latin Quarter, the Pantheon, Arc de Triomphe), then went to Versailles, then visited Monoprix supermarket at Montparnasse, actually had adult company at dinner, and ended the day with hanging out in Montmartre and visiting Sacre Coeur. 

Place de la Concorde

So many beautiful buildings everywhere! I wish my pictures captured that better!

Palais Garnier - Opera national de Paris 

The Eiffel Tower!

Arc de Triomphe - at the end of Champs-Elysees

We were lucky to get to go to the Versailles extension. I read an in-depth book earlier this spring about Louis XIV -The Sun King- and so when I heard Versailles was an option on this trip I begged Collin to go! He wasn't super excited about it but agreed. And he ended up really loving it too! It was amazing. I wish I got a better shot of the entire palace from outside, but we had to rush to get to our reservation. We had a private guide walking us through with Whispers so we learned a ton about each room. We went through maybe 20% of the entire palace. It is SO huge! I took so many pictures, of some of the really amazing rooms, although looking through them they all look amazing and kind of overwhelming!

The hall of mirrors

The King's bedchamber (one of them) and Marie Antoinette's bedchamber

Nice strapping statue of Louie XIV

We spent a couple of hours strolling through the gardens at Versailles. Even with like 2 hours just to walk through them, we visited a tiny fraction. It was mind blowing. And so beautiful!

That evening, after an awesome dinner mainly because we finally made a big effort to get in quick and get seats with our friends, we headed as the huge group up to Montmartre to see that area and the Sacre Coeur:

Basilique du Sacre-Coeur

We had an issue with some pretty aggressive street peddlers, which resulted in our awesome guide first calling the police, and then treating us all to crepes. Crepes in Paris with Sacre Coeur in view...... doesn't get much better than this!

Cheryl found The Laduree while we were at Versailles, and brought me back some legit macarons! Oh. my. heck. If these were transportable I would have filled my suitcase with them to bring home! They were divine!

This pic is a fun memory because Collin and I happened to sit down on a bench next to a nice elderly German couple..... well the slightly (or maybe not so slightly) drunk German man ended what started as a nice conversation with crying about how Americans "just don't understand" how it is to live in Europe. Bless his heart. Awkward.

So many delicious baguettes everywhere. 

Palais Garnier again--the side view though that's in Phantom of the Opera! 

We toured a perfume factory on Father's Day and Collin picked out some French cologne for his gift! He is displaying it with his finest "Magnum."

The Louvre!!

I wish I had a way to be better prepared for visiting the Louvre! I knew I wanted to see the Mona Lisa. But beyond that.... how do you condense visiting a museum that they say would take you 3 weeks to see everything in, if you looked at each piece for 3 seconds, into 3 hours?? We got lost....then found our way....then got lost again. We spent like 2 1/2 hours in there and saw a good variety of things, from lots of Egyptian relics/tombs to Greek statues to High Renaissance Italian paintings.

Collin was not amused by the annoying crowd in front of the Mona Lisa. I didn't mind, I got to see the Mona Lisa!

My favorite painting I saw. I totally get what all the hype about the greats-DaVinci and Raphael are all about! They were my favorites!

Venus de Milo

It's only about 3000 years old....nbd.

In person!

In the Louvre courtyard

That afternoon we made our way to the Pere Lachaise cemetery to find Chopin's grave. My favorite composer! It was so so neat to see. There were quite a few other famous artists/musicians/composers buried there, including Jim Morrison from The Doors, Delacroix, and more. But Chopin was who I was there for! It was neat to see such a historic cemetery.

Friday June 13^th, 2014

                                Today was the Eurostar train trip to Paris.  We got up early, but I felt better and actually had a real appetite at the right time.  I enjoyed the station and the train.  We bought some good sandwiches, walked, and even heard a guy play some Fur Elise and London Bridge on an old out of tune baby blue piano.  I like how it echoed a little in the hall of the train station.  Some were able to wrap up their fascination with all things London and England by taking a picture at Terminal 9 ¾ from Harry Potter lore.

                                The train ride was smooth and fast.  We faced each other in groups of 4.  We had our stuff all with us and we chatted and slept.  Before we knew it the country sides of France were there and then the city of Paris.  Our luggage was transferred to the hotel and we were whisked away to visit the Notre Dame.  We were introduced to the “Cite Island” near it and some ornamental subway stops and churches.  We enjoyed walking around and inside the cathedral.  It had flying buttresses, gargoyles and arches.  It was huge and the inside didn’t disappoint.  It was nice that it was free but silly that no one really followed the dress code.  We hung out along the river and met the nice bird lady.  The next stop gave us a view of the whole city.  The tower of Montparnasse is spectacular.  It’s the modern way to see it all.  At the top some musicians played Tango style music with the according and a clarinet I believe.  Some danced and others gawked at the boys.  Tonya and I hung out and were blown away by the views as we snapped a lot of pictures.  The next meal was the best tasting yet.  It was meat and potatoes, although the company was annoying.  Some inconsiderate teenagers sat with us and their mom.  That didn’t stop the girls from talking about plenty of inappropriate things.

                                We ended the day with a river boat tour where we heard of all of the important sights in Paris.  We saw the Eiffel Tower lit up at night and the Friday night life of hanging out on the river banks.  We bought a croquet masseur.  It was awesome.  I had to scarf it before loading the bus back to the hotel, but I still enjoyed it.  Our hotel was super nice.  It was called Hi-Park and is by Paris Disneyworld.  It was a great day and I loved what we saw, being more coherent, and having energy.  It was Friday the 13^th; the moon was a little greener, which is not normal.  I guess tonight was something that happens only every 150 years.  I just thought the show was interesting.

Saturday June 14^th, 2014

                                We had another good night’s rest.  It wasn’t right away for me, but it happened.  Breakfast was good.  I enjoyed the food and we took off on a bus tour.  We saw the Arc de Triomph, and stopped at the Concord Plaza for more pictures of the Eiffel Tower.  There were a lot of men from somewhere in Africa selling little souvenir towers.  They were pretty aggressive.  We actually bought 5 little key chain towers for one Euro, but then they tried to sell more.  We jumped on the bus and saw a few more sights.  It was great to not have to walk.  We then made a trip to Versailles.  It was a palace made by Louie the 14^th.  It was lavish, golden, ornate, huge, and the history was crazy.  He had his favorite women and feared death by visitors.  They made huge gardens and had gates surrounding the place.  We loved the tour.  Our guide was an Italian lady who used a speaker system that whispered in our ears.  It was awesome to hear her tell the stories and history while we were surrounded by hundreds of other noisy people making their way throughout the palace.  It was shocking how much money was spent there.  I got into learning French even though I’ve hated it most of my life and I got lunch by trying to say the right words.  We bought from a café and ate in the gardens.  Tonya and I loved it.  We walked, talked, ate, and rested.

                                We saw some more of the same type of salesman and found out more of their illegal status.  The police came and they ran away.  A girl was late from not listening well, and then gave us attitude when she finally arrived 20 minutes late.  That was nice to deal with.

                                We made it back to Paris in the 30 minute bus ride.  We got to buy some chocolate and snacks at a French supermarket.  It was a great time.  At dinner we jumped ahead and secured a better seat with better company.  We’ve learned to do that on this trip.  Tonya has been set on getting good seats on the bus and at meals.  It’s been helpful.  The students of the Texas group aren’t necessarily considerate.

                We ate with Clay and Shelly.  They both work at Eagle High School.  He is a fellow Spanish teacher and she works in the special education department.  Tonya and I enjoyed the better topics of conversation and the lovely French food.  I know I’ve liked the food in France so much better.  We ate different styles in London and I was out of it then.  I have, however, not enjoyed the prideful, rude Parisian people.  We then went to Mont Marc to see Sacre Couer, a nice church structure on a hill.  We were warned of men from somewhere in Africa again.  It appears no one can actually tell me where they are specifically from.  This time they tried to attach a thread to you and would not let you go until you gave them 5 Euros.  It was a narrow gate entrance to the place and they swarmed us.  No one was successful with the scam, but it got somewhat confrontational.  I was grabbed along with many others.  No one got tied to the men, but some of the guys didn’t let go easily.  Our tour guide, Alissa, was especially frustrated.  I was surprised of how brave they were in broad daylight.  The police came and they scattered some, but I saw over 50 in the park area.  It was a good cultural lesson. 

                Alissa bought us some crepes to distract us from the yucky experience.  They were good crepes.  We enjoyed the hill, the view, and sitting on benches and then we left.  Tonya and I sat on a bench to take the ever popular “selfy” photo of ourselves in the scene.

                                I was greeted by a tipsy German drinking wine and telling of his U.S. work and travel escapades.  His wife was nice also.  He got teared up over war and peace in Europe and we later escaped from hearing more.  I actually bought a new wallet which I’ll like.  It’s a practical souvenir.  We also got something for Ashlyn who we miss so much.  We got to skype with her the day before yesterday and she looked and sounded good at Gradma’s house.  She drew and drank milk while we talked.  Technology is so great to allow you to see each other as you talk now.  I especially loved the “I was thirsty” comment from her after she chugged some milk.  One more day in Paris is left.  I loved it today.  I think its Tonya’s favorite, although many have liked London best so far.

Sunday June 15^th, 2014

                                For our last day in Paris we got a lot done.  We started with a bus ride to a perfume museum.  It turns out that the French invented it to cover up their stench.  Back in the day some people would only shower once a year because they were afraid using the water would get them sick. 

                We then strolled from the national opera house area, where the museum was located, to the Louvre.  We got our tickets and set up a meet up again time.  Tonya and I went to a nearby café and had another sandwich.  It was similar to the croquet masseur.  The salad was light but actually delicious.  I think it was the salad dressing.  So my love of French food continues.

                                When we were done eating we got lost in the Louvre looking at ar.  We saw the Mona Lisa and other famous paintings.  We checked out Egyptian history, French art, and medieval things.  We also saw some Roman sculptures.  It was an enormous 4 level museum with stuff jam packed on every wall.  It was actually exhausting to walk and observe.  We took a couple of pictures outside of the museum by the famous triangle in the main square.

                                We were given some free time so we took the subway the Pere Lachaise cemetery.  We found Chopin’s and Jim Morrison’s grave stones.  Chopin is the famous pianist and composer.  Morrison is the lead singer from the Door’s.  There wasn’t much else to see, but it was agreed our cemeteries in the U.S. are less ornate and decorative.

                                Our dinner was in a basement and was jam packed.  We were given a certain thin pizza.  It was nice because I think I ate over 20 small pieces and I still wasn’t full.  The thin crust made it easy to eat a ton.  Some of the pizza had Canadian bacon, some white sauce, and good mushrooms.  The salad had no dressing (naked).  I still liked the meal overall.  They had a dessert pizza too.

                I found out about a few students who stayed up late last night.  It was disappointing.  Yamilex Esparza and Mason Castle stayed up with some of the students from the Texas group.  I guess they drank some alcohol too.  The mom of one of the students from Texas was present and let it happen.  That really made things annoying.  I tried to embarrass Mason by having everyone spontaneously weigh in on the hicky he had on his neck.  I warned him of being sent home and I reminded him of curfew and to stay in his own room.  I think he is under control now.

                                We were supposed to board a night train, but it was cancelled due to a strike.  I had been warned early about it so that helped me adjust to the change.  The change was actually better.  We got to fly to Barcelona instead.  We left our good hotel in Hi-Park and got closer to the airport for a quick drive in the morning.  The quality was still good, but it wasn’t quite as nice.

                                Culturally I found Paris interesting for its places to visit and food.  However the people are rude and unhelpful for the most part.  The city was very dirty, and not as romantic as you would think from the movies.