So, I liked Paris. I don’t know that I liked it as much as everyone raves about it, but it was a nice city with a lot of culture and life. Here we go!
Kara and I arrived late Thursday evening, while our friend Ilan had already been there 24 hours before us. We took AirFrance, for the first time, out of Paris. Let me say, it was one of the best flights I’ve had. The plane was not even half-full, and they fed us, too. An evening sandwich with a two-glass bottle of wine. We got into Paris, figured out how to take the commuter train into the city (which cost 8 euros, btw, kinda expensive yet better than a bus in some other cities), and somehow found our way to the hotel with a good map from the airport info office. By the time we got there, it was late, and Ilan wasn’t to be found, so we just stayed in and waited for him.
Friday morning, early, we got to the Louvre, right as it was opening. We planned on doing that, to avoid lines for tickets and swarms of tourists. I really liked the Louvre, probably more than I expected. The Mona Lisa impressed me about as much as I expected, which was not very much. Another famous Da Vinci work, Madonna and Child sits just outside the highly overrated portrait, somewhat obscured by the tourist rush. We spent about 6 hours in the Louvre, which could’ve been somewhat more productive had we had more food. We were basically forced to leave out of hunger, and I’m kind of upset that we missed Hammurabi’s Code—I didn’t even know it was in there until later. We saw some amazing works of art from all periods of human civilization: Medieval, Ancient Greek, Renaissance, 19th-century, modern. It’s a great museum (obviously, that goes without saying), and the building in which all that artwork is held is also a piece in itself. I really enjoyed some of the famous French works it contained, especially Lady Liberty, some David stuff, and works about Napoleon.
From there, we headed toward the Champs d’Elysee toward the Arc d’Triomphe, as the sun commenced its journey towards the horizon. We paused around a huge fountain, filled with all sorts of pigeons and then seagulls. Kara and Ilan wanted to play with the pigeons, as Ilan encouraged Kara to hold out food in her hand. We lured them in with some of our baguette, and they started coming in flocks. We continued to walk down the Champs, stopping in the middle of the road to take pictures at different points approaching the Arc. It was very interesting to view the color changes on the structure, highlighting different aspects of the construction, and then to finally reach it in darkness. When we finally got up to that famous traffic circle, we realized that we could not cross under the road to reach the Arc, as it was blocked off. I was thinking about crossing on the pavement, through that incredible traffic, but it was physically impossible. Then, as we were waiting to see when the underground passage would open, up the road came a military parade. Then we discovered it was a national holiday for some military occasion, and this parade filed into the arch to hold a ceremony at the eternal flame. While waiting for the parade to finish, we decided to head back down the Champs to search for hats, gloves, and scares, as we were not prepared for the November chill in Paris, which in fact was significantly colder than Spain.
Finally, we got under the Arc, and boy was it an impressive structure. I was surprised at how much it amazed me. One issue that helped make it a more personal experience for me was the photo ingrained in my head from my grandmother: of my grandfather and his battalion marching down the Champs to liberate Paris in WWII. With it being a military holiday and viewing the impressive monument to the eternal flame as well as the massive sculptures on the Arc, I couldn’t help but think of my grandfather and all he struggled through for me to get to the spot I was.
From there, we started walking in the general direction of the replica of the Statue of Liberty, along the river towards the south (I believe). En route, we stumbled upon one amazing viewing area for the Tower, and we paused for a few minutes to view its majesty and the wonderful light show from afar. Also present was a reminder of our country’s debt to France in a statue of Benjamin Franklin, evidently from his visit during our Revolution. Finally reaching the replica, it was rather underwhelming, especially because it was not light at night. From there, we needed to eat, as it had been a while since lunch. We entered a typical French restaurant and to my delight experienced a very good meal. Wasn’t cheap, but I had a well-cooked steak with some good French wine.
Ilan’s brother had told him of a neat little jazz club in the Latin Section, which we decided to patron that night. It was a cave structure underneath a bar, and instead of being a more traditional jazz club, it featured a so-so band that played popular songs to a huge group of people dancing. Mostly middle-aged folks were the ones dancing (or even there), but it still was a cool vibe down in the cave-basement. It was a shame that I was so very tired, or I would’ve enjoyed myself more.
The next day, we decided to visit Sacre Coeur first thing in the morning. After our complimentary breakfast of very good French bread and coffee, we took a short walk up to the famous church. It’s on a giant hill overlooking the city, and at the beginning of the steps there were numerous groups of African immigrants trying to sell purses or handicraft. They managed to stop the three of us and try to get us to buy bracelets. I would use the word “accosted” in describing their manner of treating us, as they would not let us leave and were extremely persistent. We all worked in Spanish, but as I sometimes start to stumble when I get nervous with the language, he began to tell that I was American. It was a very frustrating encounter, as he relentlessly attempted to put the strings on my wrist, and the only desisted when Ilan managed to free himself. The church itself from the outside is a very different type of church, with its many small domes and spires. The inside has a beautiful mosaic of Jesus across the front, and it was a shame we were not allowed to take pictures inside.
We next headed to a famous Parisian cemetery, which features not only famous French figures but many others, including Oscar Wilde and the Doors frontman, Jim Morrison. It was a windy, old territory of graves and evidently is a large tourist attraction.
At the suggestion of many people, we went over to the Chapelle Royal, the old church of the regents, located on the same island as Notre Dame. The draw of the church is its precious stained glass, which was definitely worth the five-euro price of admission. It dates from the 13th century, I believe, and was constructed to house numerous relics the crown had amassed. One could stand there all day and marvel the wonder of these tall, intricately-painted works of art. However, we wanted to reach the Tower at dusk will still seeing Napoleon’s tomb, so we had to head out. We walked down to the tomb, and when we arrived, they informed us that the museum would close in 20 minutes, which we frankly could not spend, as we had to get to the Tower. In the lobby of the museum, though, they had placed a realistic photograph of the tomb. So, being clever college students, we each posed in front of the photo gawking, to make it seem like we actually had visited. Some of the photos actually look believable.
Now comes the Tower. We approached this building at dusk, as well, watching the colors change with the suns progress. There were large lines, even to walk the steps up instead of taking the elevator. What an incredible structure. I was struck by its wonder, from all sides, from all levels, even within the middle looking up or down. Darkness came, and the city sparkled so brightly. It was quite cold up there too, as the wind whipped around. However, I believe it kept some of the tourists away, which allows you to enjoy the building’s majesty in somewhat tranquility.
We returned to the Latin Quarter that evening for dinner, which I have to say was amazing. Simply wandering into a random French restaurant, I ordered the prixe fixe dinner, going completely French with escargot, duck confit, and crème brulee. The food was exceptional, especially for a middle-of-the-road restaurant, and the only disappointment was the wine. The first bottle was bad, and the waiter was very nice about the whole thing. It wasn’t clearly spoiled, but I could tell it didn’t taste like it should. Part of it was that it was a bad product, as evidenced by the second bottle.
From there, we decided to take a night stroll along the beautiful banks of the river, and we began discussing some good topics, especially art, what constitutes art, and its value. Paris is certainly the place to spark such discussion. We viewed the outside of the Louvre at night, a stunning building when the sun is down as well, and finally headed up to our hotel, not before passing through the Red Light District (in Montmarte) to view the outside of Moulin Rouge, as we couldn’t see a show.
The next day, we woke up early and trained down to Versailles after attending mass at Notre Dame. We sadly could not get to the international service (as it was too late), so we had to settle for everything in incomprehensible French. The service was nice, and the Cathedral was too. I hesitate to laud the building, as we’d seen so many amazing churches and cathedrals beforehand, but I must give it credit as a benchmark for that classic Gothic style. It was beautiful in its own right, but nothing amazed us like we had been in the past.
When we arrived at Versailles, we were greeted by a monstrous line to enter. That wasn’t going to work, as Ilan had a late-afternoon flight (Kara and I flew out early Monday morning) and we had to visit the Musee d’Orsay before it closed that afternoon. What to do, what to do. We knew the gardens were free, but we had traveled an hour out there and we should be able to see the whole place, damn it. So we got creative: Ilan has a press pass from home, and we decided to enter the exit and see what happened. We just wandered in, and stopped at the third station, really, which was the table for guided tours. He played his press pass game, and somehow we got to the first ticket station. For once, I believe it helped that we couldn’t speak French, as we could play the confused tourists. We bought our tickets and were on our way; wonderful. Versailles was as extravagant as everyone says it is, and each room is laden in wonderful carpet, wallpaper (in many cases, luxurious fabric), and ornate furniture. One aspect I always found amazing about Versailles was its use, as an expression of the Sun King’s power, that he forced all his flatterers to stay there and be there with him. People always mention the expansive and incredibly beautiful gardens, and I couldn’t help but imagine how everything appeared in Louis’s time, how the gardens were filled with people and how the Hall of Mirrors sparkled. It was sad that the gardens were in disrepair in the winter time—statues and potted plants were covered, the fountains were off, and they were doing ground sewer repairs. But the imagination provided a wonderful picture of it all. We had to rush through the buildings and the gardens, but we saw most everything, and luckily got out of there with enough time.
Ilan headed to the airport while Kara and I went to the Musee d’Orsay, which is a phenomenal collection of 19th and 20th century French work. It was amazing, to say the least. The building itself is art in itself, as it’s an old train station completely re-done to become a museum. The Monet, the Renoir, the Pissaro, and so many more.
Kara and I were just beat at that point, after finishing the museum. We walked around the city a little more, picked up some souvenirs, got a little dinner (chose to go to this random Lebanese restaurant, and we got some food that I had been craving for a long time. Good baba ganoos (sorry, my spelling) and falafel. From there, we took off to our hotel for the evening.
So our flight the next day left at 7 am, and after we looked at the public transportation options, we figured that we couldn’t stay in the city that Sunday evening, that we had to look for a place close to the airport. I stumbled upon a Marriott close to the airport and remembered that my parents had a ton of free nights with Marriotts, so luckily Kara and I were able to stay out there, which was much easier than a Paris hostel. They even gave us my dad’s platinum status treatment, with fruit, wine, and Evian. Good stuff.
I have to admit that I liked Paris more than I expected I would. It truly is a beautiful city as people, and because so many people talk SO highly of it, I was skeptical. But, it turned out to be a great weekend filled with art, culture, and good company. We managed to complete almost everything on our checklist, and I would say we experienced Paris rather well. If for nothing else, I would return to Paris for its beautiful collection of art.
