I could not feel any better about my trip to Paris this weekend. Sarah and I keep saying how much of a success it was, especially since we planned it the two days before we left. Besides being a bit chilly (-5 C the coldest it's been this year-of course when we come!), the weather was gorgeous. Sunny all day the first day we arrived and most of the second.
We had only a small list of attractions we hoped to see, since we were not sure how long everything would take. In reality, we saw three of the four in the first day. When we arrived we headed for the Notre Dame Cathedral after grabbing lunch at a cafe (more on food later). The Cathedral is monstrous! It is hard to imagine anyone building something so grand today, let alone 850 years ago (this year is its 850th anniversary by the way). It's just one of the those places where you stand in the same spot for five minutes, just looking at everything. Three of those minutes were spent with my neck craned toward the magnificent ceilings and glass windows. Incredible! We walked around from there. Notre Dame is right near the river and we happened to stumble upon the Paris "Love Locks." For those of you who have never heard of this, it was originally supposed to be for two people who loved each other. They would write their names on a lock, attach it to the fence on the bridge and throw the key into the river as a symbol of their undying love. Now I think it is not only for lovers, but friends do it as well. It is such an interesting thing to stumble upon though. It's fun to imagine all of the people whose locks reside there.
From here we checked into our hostel, which happened to be smack dab in the middle of China town. Every kind of Chinese restaurant you can imagine. Whole chickens hanging from the windows, chicken feet, Pig ears on display, etc.. While our hostel wasn't in the best part of town, it was very nice and Sarah and I were really happy with our luck. The building had just been redone, so the rooms were nicely decorated and looked as though they had just been painted recently. They offered a free breakfast consisting of coffee/tea, cereal and croissants/baguettes. And the showers were hot! I was so very thankful for that. It was one of those showers where you had to keep pushing the button in order to keep it going, but I would take that over a luke warm shower any day. We stayed in a room with four other people: two French girls who didn't speak much English, a boy and another girl (can't remember where she is from). They all seemed nice, but we hardly saw each other except at night and for a few minutes in the morning.
It's funny how small the world really is. My parents and I always encounter this when we travel. We meet someone on the plane who knows so and so or is from here or there. Connections. At the hostel I met one man who is originally from Bosnia? and just got done studying at University of Rochester. (Not a big sports guy so no connections there). I also met a woman who lives in Palm Harbor, Fla and may be moving to New York next year. There was another woman from Virginia there promoting an exchange program with her university (no real connection there except an American, but very nice lady). At one of our restaurants we also met a woman from Canada who gave us two tickets for the metro that she was not using. Nice people everywhere!
The metro was very easy to figure out. There were a few times we got turned around in the stations, but I thought the informational signs there were very helpful. It was smellier and dirtier than the metro here in Oslo and there was considerably less space in the train cars, but not bad at all.
The afternoon of the first day we went to the Louvre. The courtyard you walk into with the glass pyramid is truly amazing. We got there just as the moon was coming up. A perfect crescent, so beautiful. I'm a little ashamed to say we only spent about an hour there. We had a couple things we wanted to see and by the time we did that, we were pooped (more about how much sleep we got later). The Mona Lisa is situated in a large room on one of the walls, protected by glass unlike the other paintings. It is considerably smaller than I thought it would be, not very big at all. Since it was later and not tourist season, there was not much of a line to see her, so we got pretty close. I'm glad I got to see it, but it wasn't particularly amazing to me. We also saw some of Michelangelo's work, some Greek statues, the headless angel, etc.. The building itself is huge and magnificent and beautiful. I find myself particularly enthralled with the decorated ceilings of places like these.
The buildings are so different in Paris compared to the U.S. and to Norway. The typical Parisian buildings with the fancy gated windows and balconies are everywhere!
We were able to see the Eiffel Tower lit up that night from a distance and walked in its direction looking for a spot for dinner. It's more than lit up though, it actually sparkles. It is much nicer to look at at night than during the day time. The next day we walked all the way up to it. I can see how the French might have thought it was ugly when it was originally built. It is very industrial looking up close and not situated in a particularly scenic area. Anyway, I am glad to say I've seen it now. It is magnificent but nothing too exciting in my mind.
The second day we did a TON of walking. It was a beautiful sunny day and I am glad we did. We started at the Arc de Triomphe, which again is very grand. It's amazing to think that these things have been around for centuries. There wasn't much to do but stare at it, so we did that for a few minutes and decided to walk down one of the main streets. Here we were drawn in by the Swarovski crystal store where the stairs were the most sparkly stairs I have ever seen in my life! We also stopped into a McDonald's to check it out. The McCafe section was completely separate and had a lot of good looking desserts. The menu was considerably smaller and used the word, "Royal" a lot. There were also what looked like automated kiosks for ordering food. We saw that the Grand Palace was on our route so we continued walking, stopping at an auction house with pretty doors along the way. We didn't go in the Grand Palace or the Petite Palace, just walked by. Straight ahead was the Hotel de Invalides, somewhere we did spend some time in. It was originally built by Louis XIV as a residence for injured soldiers and war veterans. We spent quite a bit of time here and didn't make it through the whole of it. One of the most interesting parts in my opinion was a section that displayed armor and weapons starting around the 13th and 14th centuries. There was also a World War I & II hall, as well as a Cathedral and hall where Napoleon's tomb resides.
I was in need of a rest by the time we were done and instead of buying a snack at a stand and continuing our walk, we opted to sit in a restaurant. We each ordered a banana crepe and hot chocolate. MmmmMmm.. From here we walked toward the Eiffel Tower and after headed toward a free museum called Carnavalet that the Canadian woman had told us about. It was set in two large, gorgeous townhouses, and it was dedicated to the history of Paris. Each section of the house displayed a different century, staring with the 16th. The rooms were beautiful. Some of them looked more like a cake decoration than wallpaper. On the way back to our hostel that night we bought some sweets to share later-macaroons, some kind of chocolate/coffee desert, and elephant ears. We met up with Sarah's friend from her university who is studying in Paris this semester for a cheap dinner later.
In our brilliancy, we found a farmer's type market the next morning after we had checked out and bought some brie cheese and later a baguette to share for lunch before our plane took off.
The food was probably the best part. The bread there is to die for. Basically each meal came with baguettes and they are so good! Ever been to Panera Bread? They give you baguettes that are always quite good with your meal but these are ten times better!. All you Panera fans think about that... I didn't eat much cheese while I was there, except for what we bought the last day and I did not drink any wine. I'm not too concerned about it though. The food was so awesome (and expensive) that there was really no need.
One observation I made about Paris is that things are either grand or very petite. All of the monuments we went to seemed to be at a lavish scale, but many of the rest of Paris seemed to be squeezed into a small space. Some of the sidewalks seemed to be made for one lane of traffic only, and the restaurants gave you no personal space whatsoever. At one we sat at a very tiny table for two with another two men at a similar table six inches from us. This served to be a problem at the first restaurant we went to. Not more than an hour or two in Paris and I knocked over a glass (which consequently shattered).
Although Paris wasn't particularly high on my list of places to go, I was very glad we did go. I had a great time and would go back some day. It's got to be gorgeous in the spring and summertime. First I must check some more things off my list though.
You're probably exhausted from reading all of that. My hands are starting to hurt me. I have a bit to tell about some of the bumps we encountered (specifically on the first night) but I will save that for another post.
We had only a small list of attractions we hoped to see, since we were not sure how long everything would take. In reality, we saw three of the four in the first day. When we arrived we headed for the Notre Dame Cathedral after grabbing lunch at a cafe (more on food later). The Cathedral is monstrous! It is hard to imagine anyone building something so grand today, let alone 850 years ago (this year is its 850th anniversary by the way). It's just one of the those places where you stand in the same spot for five minutes, just looking at everything. Three of those minutes were spent with my neck craned toward the magnificent ceilings and glass windows. Incredible! We walked around from there. Notre Dame is right near the river and we happened to stumble upon the Paris "Love Locks." For those of you who have never heard of this, it was originally supposed to be for two people who loved each other. They would write their names on a lock, attach it to the fence on the bridge and throw the key into the river as a symbol of their undying love. Now I think it is not only for lovers, but friends do it as well. It is such an interesting thing to stumble upon though. It's fun to imagine all of the people whose locks reside there.
From here we checked into our hostel, which happened to be smack dab in the middle of China town. Every kind of Chinese restaurant you can imagine. Whole chickens hanging from the windows, chicken feet, Pig ears on display, etc.. While our hostel wasn't in the best part of town, it was very nice and Sarah and I were really happy with our luck. The building had just been redone, so the rooms were nicely decorated and looked as though they had just been painted recently. They offered a free breakfast consisting of coffee/tea, cereal and croissants/baguettes. And the showers were hot! I was so very thankful for that. It was one of those showers where you had to keep pushing the button in order to keep it going, but I would take that over a luke warm shower any day. We stayed in a room with four other people: two French girls who didn't speak much English, a boy and another girl (can't remember where she is from). They all seemed nice, but we hardly saw each other except at night and for a few minutes in the morning.
It's funny how small the world really is. My parents and I always encounter this when we travel. We meet someone on the plane who knows so and so or is from here or there. Connections. At the hostel I met one man who is originally from Bosnia? and just got done studying at University of Rochester. (Not a big sports guy so no connections there). I also met a woman who lives in Palm Harbor, Fla and may be moving to New York next year. There was another woman from Virginia there promoting an exchange program with her university (no real connection there except an American, but very nice lady). At one of our restaurants we also met a woman from Canada who gave us two tickets for the metro that she was not using. Nice people everywhere!
The metro was very easy to figure out. There were a few times we got turned around in the stations, but I thought the informational signs there were very helpful. It was smellier and dirtier than the metro here in Oslo and there was considerably less space in the train cars, but not bad at all.
The afternoon of the first day we went to the Louvre. The courtyard you walk into with the glass pyramid is truly amazing. We got there just as the moon was coming up. A perfect crescent, so beautiful. I'm a little ashamed to say we only spent about an hour there. We had a couple things we wanted to see and by the time we did that, we were pooped (more about how much sleep we got later). The Mona Lisa is situated in a large room on one of the walls, protected by glass unlike the other paintings. It is considerably smaller than I thought it would be, not very big at all. Since it was later and not tourist season, there was not much of a line to see her, so we got pretty close. I'm glad I got to see it, but it wasn't particularly amazing to me. We also saw some of Michelangelo's work, some Greek statues, the headless angel, etc.. The building itself is huge and magnificent and beautiful. I find myself particularly enthralled with the decorated ceilings of places like these.
The buildings are so different in Paris compared to the U.S. and to Norway. The typical Parisian buildings with the fancy gated windows and balconies are everywhere!
We were able to see the Eiffel Tower lit up that night from a distance and walked in its direction looking for a spot for dinner. It's more than lit up though, it actually sparkles. It is much nicer to look at at night than during the day time. The next day we walked all the way up to it. I can see how the French might have thought it was ugly when it was originally built. It is very industrial looking up close and not situated in a particularly scenic area. Anyway, I am glad to say I've seen it now. It is magnificent but nothing too exciting in my mind.
The second day we did a TON of walking. It was a beautiful sunny day and I am glad we did. We started at the Arc de Triomphe, which again is very grand. It's amazing to think that these things have been around for centuries. There wasn't much to do but stare at it, so we did that for a few minutes and decided to walk down one of the main streets. Here we were drawn in by the Swarovski crystal store where the stairs were the most sparkly stairs I have ever seen in my life! We also stopped into a McDonald's to check it out. The McCafe section was completely separate and had a lot of good looking desserts. The menu was considerably smaller and used the word, "Royal" a lot. There were also what looked like automated kiosks for ordering food. We saw that the Grand Palace was on our route so we continued walking, stopping at an auction house with pretty doors along the way. We didn't go in the Grand Palace or the Petite Palace, just walked by. Straight ahead was the Hotel de Invalides, somewhere we did spend some time in. It was originally built by Louis XIV as a residence for injured soldiers and war veterans. We spent quite a bit of time here and didn't make it through the whole of it. One of the most interesting parts in my opinion was a section that displayed armor and weapons starting around the 13th and 14th centuries. There was also a World War I & II hall, as well as a Cathedral and hall where Napoleon's tomb resides.
I was in need of a rest by the time we were done and instead of buying a snack at a stand and continuing our walk, we opted to sit in a restaurant. We each ordered a banana crepe and hot chocolate. MmmmMmm.. From here we walked toward the Eiffel Tower and after headed toward a free museum called Carnavalet that the Canadian woman had told us about. It was set in two large, gorgeous townhouses, and it was dedicated to the history of Paris. Each section of the house displayed a different century, staring with the 16th. The rooms were beautiful. Some of them looked more like a cake decoration than wallpaper. On the way back to our hostel that night we bought some sweets to share later-macaroons, some kind of chocolate/coffee desert, and elephant ears. We met up with Sarah's friend from her university who is studying in Paris this semester for a cheap dinner later.
In our brilliancy, we found a farmer's type market the next morning after we had checked out and bought some brie cheese and later a baguette to share for lunch before our plane took off.
The food was probably the best part. The bread there is to die for. Basically each meal came with baguettes and they are so good! Ever been to Panera Bread? They give you baguettes that are always quite good with your meal but these are ten times better!. All you Panera fans think about that... I didn't eat much cheese while I was there, except for what we bought the last day and I did not drink any wine. I'm not too concerned about it though. The food was so awesome (and expensive) that there was really no need.
One observation I made about Paris is that things are either grand or very petite. All of the monuments we went to seemed to be at a lavish scale, but many of the rest of Paris seemed to be squeezed into a small space. Some of the sidewalks seemed to be made for one lane of traffic only, and the restaurants gave you no personal space whatsoever. At one we sat at a very tiny table for two with another two men at a similar table six inches from us. This served to be a problem at the first restaurant we went to. Not more than an hour or two in Paris and I knocked over a glass (which consequently shattered).
Although Paris wasn't particularly high on my list of places to go, I was very glad we did go. I had a great time and would go back some day. It's got to be gorgeous in the spring and summertime. First I must check some more things off my list though.
You're probably exhausted from reading all of that. My hands are starting to hurt me. I have a bit to tell about some of the bumps we encountered (specifically on the first night) but I will save that for another post.
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