Paris!

I just got back from Paris, and it was truly an amazing trip. I certainly didn't see it all, but I saw a bunch of the major sites and did a lot of aimless wandering, it was a great experience.


I stayed in a place called "Mary's Hotel" and it was actually very nice. The room was really clean and the people were really friendly and helpful. The room was of course very small:


After walking across basically the whole city to get to the hotel, I went with a friend to Notre Dame and then we got falafel sandwiches in the Latin Quarter. After that, we went to Montmartre, a neighborhood that is up on a big hill. At the top of the hill is the Sacre Coeur, a big church. It was all lit up and there was a band outside playing for visitors. It was freezing, so we went into a cafe to warm up and I got some chocolat chaud (hot chocolate :) ) I made it an early night since I had to get up so early for my plane. I took the Metro back to the hotel, it is so efficient and my hotel was right next to a stop, it worked out nicely. Here's a picture of Notre Dame:

The next day I was going to go to the Louvre, but it is closed on Tuesdays. Instead, I just walked around with my friend and saw some of the sites. We went to the Luxembourg Gardens and the Pantheon and then ate lunch (I had delicious onion soup since it was so cold). Here is a shot of a fountain in the Luxembourg gardens, it was so picturesque with the leaves changing color.My friend had to go meet another friend, so for the rest of the day I just walked around and did some sketches. I did a drawing of the Seine, which I think came out pretty well, but some of the other ones are not great. And, I did do an obligatory Eiffel Tower drawing. Later on I met another friend from school and we had dinner, it was nice to just be able to meet up in Paris! After that, I took a stroll along the Seine to see Paris by night. They don't call it the City of Light for nothing. Everything is lit up and beautiful. My short walk ended up being pretty long, I saw Notre Dame, and then the Louvre, which both looked amazing at night. Then I decided to walk down the Champs Elysee, by the time I got back to my room I was exhausted. Here is one of the pictures I took at night:

The next day I made it to the Louvre, but I was pretty tired from the day before. It is not easy to navigate the museum, it is so huge and it has the long wings so you have to walk back and forth and up and down stairs. Still, it was pretty cool to see the artwork. They have an array of flemish paintings which I enjoy, there was a nice drawing exhibition, and of course the famous stuff like the Mona Lisa and the Venus De Milo.

When we were done with that, we went to the Eiffel Tower and took the elevator to the top, it was freezing cold and very unpleasant to wait in line, but the view was lovely (although it was a little scary to ride in the elevator) Later that night, we tried to go to a real-life Parisian night club, but we didn't past muster fashion wise :( Nevertheless, it was a complete day.

On Thursday, I did a little more museum going, I saw the Picasso museum and an exhibition in the Grand Palais of Courbet (very enjoyable). We also did a bit of walking around and checking out shops. I think my favorite was climbing to the top of Notre Dame. The gargoyles are really cool, and the view was better than from the Eiffel Tower, in my opinion.

To finish off the trip, we went to see a movie because we were pretty tired and had to get up early for our flight. What better way to end a trip to Paris than to see Rush Hour 3, which takes place in Paris? We smuggled in baguette sandwiches and candy. It was surprisingly entertaining.

For a short trip, I think I accomplished a lot! I had tons of fun, it was just an amazing trip!