PARIS!!!

So, you want to know, how was Paris? In a word, magical. In ten thousand words, I couldn’t even begin to describe. I can say easily that it was the most exciting, educational, exhausting week of my entire life. Amazing. We did it all. The Louvre, Napolean’s Tomb, Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter, Montmartre, Versailles and everything in between. We ate everything from pig’s feet to foie gras to France’s version of McDonald’s. And best of all, I wasn't sick! Antibiotics worked their magic and I was fine by the time my flight left on Saturday. So, here goes…

I arrived at Orly airport late Saturday night, since budget airlines seem to run consistently 45 minutes delayed. No big deal. But when I searched for the bus that was supposed to take me from the airport into Paris, I found only a sign reading : ‘Due to industrial action, this bus is suspended and no longer running.’ Fabulous! So, I grabbed a taxi into the city, which was a lot more expensive but the easiest thing at the time, and had my first French chat with the driver on my way into Paris. I was supposed to meet Nick at Les Invalides Metro stop when I arrived, but his cell kept going to voicemail and I was just hoping he, too, had arrived safely. After trying with frustration to get in contact with him during my cab ride, I settled down to take in the evening sights. Paris is beautiful. Despite being tired and unsure of Nick’s whereabouts in the giant city, I was truly excited to be there. I gasped in delight at seeing the Eiffel Tower suddenly lit up in front of us – the taxi driver definitely thought I was some nutty tourist. Which I guess I was. It’s just a gorgeous city. So bustling and alive, yet quaint and pretty at the same time. And when the cab arrived at the metro meeting place, there was Nick – with Valentine’s Day flowers and candy from London’s Harrods – to welcome me.

We found the apartment building easily, where Nanny’s brother Pierre and his wife Nicole were letting us stay in the studio they rent out on the first floor. It’s a cute little one-room place with everything we needed, even a small kitchenette where we later stocked some breakfast food for the week. Besides that, Nicole had provided us with packaged snacks, milk, Coke, water and lots of toiletries and cleaning supplies for the week. It was the perfect home base for Paris, complete with a huge wall-hanging of the national Fleur-de-Lis symbol.

I woke up Sunday to a phone call from Karine, Pierre and Nicole’s daughter who speaks English pretty well and had been the intermediate communicator for the whole trip. She invited us upstairs (where her parents live on the fifth floor of the building) to meet everyone that night at 5pm. Until then, we decided to check out the Latin Quarter and get started exploring the city. The area is known for its abundance of students and young, hip living. My friend Meredith from home is lucky enough to be studying there this semester, and we even got to meet up with her later in the trip. So, at a café nestled on a side street of the Quarter, we had our first Parisian crepes, stuffed with ham, cheese, and mushrooms for breakfast. And of course, I had to get a dark chocolate crepe for dessert! The waiters cooked crepes right in front of the restaurant, filling the place with delicious-smelling smoke from each splash of batter on the crepe-maker.
After, we visited Notre Dame and a smaller cathedral of St. Nicholas we found hidden in the Latin Quarter. Notre Dame was awe-inspiring. I appreciated its architecture so much more after learning about gothic and Renaissance art in my Art History class. The inside is larger than any cathedral I’ve seen in Italy; it just seems to go on forever, and the side chapels create an even grander feel. In one, you can view the famed “crown of thorns” worn by Christ, though this is only speculated, since there are a few more crowns on display in other parts of the world. But it was still amazing, closed in a thick case of red glass for thousands of tourists to gawk at. In fact, the church was the loudest, more tourist-ridden cathedral I have visited in Europe so far. There was very little security and everyone was using flash on their cameras – something strictly forbidden in Italian religious buildings. It felt more like a museum than a church, people crowding into pews and strolling along the isles in throngs. Not surprising, though, because this place has the highest, most intricate arches and flying buttresses I’ve ever seen – much more delicate and difficult-looking architecture than many Italian cathedrals.

And so went our first afternoon in Paris. At 5:00, we took the metro back home and picked up flowers for Nicole and Pierre before heading upstairs to meet my family. Karine welcomed us in, and I was surprised to find that her husband and kids were also there. It was a whirlwind of introductions and awkward pauses and a mixture of French and English. Karine spoke English with us, since her mother speaks none, and I was also surprised to find that Pierre speaks excellent English as well. My great uncle has been very ill for many years now, and greeted us with a smile and a “bonjour-hello” from his wheelchair. I’m not sure what I expected, but it was certainly not the smiling, upbeat, joking man that I met this week. And what a great surprise it was. Despite his illness, Pierre was talkative, happy, and excited to talk about the United States, where he studied engineering at MIT so many years ago. ‘It’s still the best?’ he asked us. Yes, we said, of course! And so we sat in their living room – a place I suddenly remembered visiting on my first trip to France in sixth grade – and discussed everything from soccer to politics to the best places for macaroons on the Champs-Elysees. Looking out at the Eiffel Tower from their living room window, Nicole served cake, éclairs, and champagne – a wonderful welcome to Paris.


Monday was the first of many busy days. Sticking to Nick’s historical interests, we started out with Napoleon’s tomb at Les Invalides. Les Invalides actually does mean “invalids” – as in sick and wounded military men who were nursed here many years ago when Les Invalides functioned as a hospital rather than the large museum it is today. (Although we found out later that the building does actually have a wing where it serves patients still, from Iraq etc.) The building is graced by a huge golden dome, visible above most other buildings when you look at Paris from a bird’s eye view. Surrounding the dome is an expanse of old hallways and hospital buildings that have been converted into museums of military history. Yay! I wasn’t super excited to see a bunch of ancient armor, but the day actually turned out to be very interesting and one of my favorite sights in Paris. You walk into the front of the building and there sits the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte. His actual body, hair and all, lying in a shiny brown over-sized box in the center of the dome. The circular tomb is surrounded by statues of angels overlooking the body and the painted interior of the gold dome encases the sky above. As I gazed down at the beaten military genius, Nick bopped around the other tombs, excitedly taking pictures of Napoleon’s brother and other relatives in surrounding caskets. Best of all was the exhibit of Napoleon’s belongings – forks and spoons, briefcases, compasses, and cases full of letters he wrote to his wife (the lovely Josephine), other generals etc. Actual letters, in his hand with his signature, instructing the most powerful officials in the world to make attacks, change military positions and move their troops. Even for me, someone whose knowledge of military history and Napoleonic times is supremely limited, the tomb and exhibit were so exciting – just to think that such a historical monument had touched these papers and now lay only a few yards from us.

After Les Invalides, we headed to probably my favorite piece of Paris – the Eiffel Tower! Cliché, I know, and so touristy, but I think it really is my favorite sight in all of Europe. Well, that I’ve seen so far I guess. Maybe the colloseum in Rome will beat it, but we’ll have to see. And the best part was, we were able to see the Tower in all its glory at both day and night. We reached it just before sunset, ascended in the daylight to see all of Paris from above, and then by the time we got back down it was almost dark. Walking away towards the metro, I turned around to glance back at it and the Eiffel Tower had been lit up in its bright yellow lights for nighttime. Even at dusk, the city had looked beautiful from the top. We took the elevator to the highest point and looked out at Les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, soccer stadiums, the River Seine and the few skyscrapers. It was freezing cold up there, and we actually spent most of our visit to the Eiffel Tower traveling up and down and waiting in lines rather than wandering around the windy summit. The best part was walking away and looking back, and there it was: a shining beacon in the background of the city. Funny to think the Parisians had actually considered tearing it down right after Eiffel built it for the nation’s fair so many decades ago. It may be industrial-looking and disruptive on the skyline, but this monument is striking and a vision in light at night. I wish I we had the time to go back and see it again!

And so we left the Eiffel Tower shining behind us, back toward the metro, where we ran into a group of street-vendors carrying glowing mini versions of the Tower and key-chains that rattled on huge steel rings the size of hula-hoops. These people were not your usual vendors though – they actually don’t have permits to sell in most areas, and as I stopped to peek at what they had for sale, someone suddenly yelled “police!” into the group and the young illegal vendors grabbed their sacks and bolted. They flew down the streets, key-chains jingling, as a couple French police rode by on bikes. We laughed and kept walking, coming upon the group stopped again on the next block, right back in business. And so Nick haggled for a mini Eiffel Tower and now I will forever have my own to look at – one that even lights up different colors just like the original! It was a tourist moment for sure, but I just had to have a piece of Paris with me when I left.

Up and down the Tower we went, and then up and down the second best spot: The Arc de Triomphe. Not as outstanding when looking, but after climbing the 284 steps of the giant arch, you learn to appreciate what it has to offer. The Arc de Triomphe was actually pretty close to the apartment and sits at the center of the Charles de Gaulle Etoile, or star, that leads down the Champs-Elysees. From the Arc a bunch of streets fan out into the rest of the city, and the area looks like a star from above – something you’ve probably seen on any photo or postcard of Paris.

Here ends the first two days of Paris, I’m out of breath and have so much more to tell! Probably posting more later!