Long post, so I thank you all in advance for even caring enough to read!
Wow, I am so exhausted right now but I refuse to just collapse without writing about my extraordinary day. As for pictures, I think I’m just going to post them all in one lump because I’m just too tired to have to fiddle with my camera and computer. Day 2 was an extreme walking day. I woke up at 8:30am and ate some of the complimentary breakfast and waited in the lobby of my hostel for the walking tour-guide to come pick us up. Sandemans New Europe tours offer FREE comprehensive tours (3.5 hours, mine turned out to be 4) of many cities in Europe (and Jerusalem?) so I decided why not? I didn’t want to be arrogant and think that I was “cooler” than taking a walking tour…besides, I’m in a city where I can barely formulate a phrase let alone figure the significance of buildings, monuments, and other historical landmarks. Anyway, our guide picked us up and brought us to the St. Michel statue in the Latin Quarter where the tour began. Our actual tourguide was this cool guy named Alex who was from New Zealand and was extremely knowlegeble. We went over and checked out Notre Dame (gorgeous) and then walked along the banks of the River Seine and got about 2500 years of history in 7 minutes. We were so close to the river and I freaked out a little since I still do have a nagging (but minor) fear of large bodies of water. Afterwards, we walked across the Pont de Arts aka the lovers’ bridge in Paris. It’s apparently the most romantic spot in Paris and the entire bridge is barracaded with steel fences where people attach initialed locks to. They then throw away the key into the Seine, symbolizing their eternal love. It was pretty adorable and I think I want to go check it out on Sunday (Valentine’s Day) just to be a total masochist (probably not). We took a break soon after and I got the tastiest crepe (chicken and cheese) and most expensive Dr. Pepper (3.50 euro!!). I’ve noticed that in general, beverages in Paris are RIDICULOUSLY overpriced and I think it’s because people generally buy a coffee or wine and linger in the cafes. After lunch, we walked into the Louvre courtyard, which was stunning, and then we went around to the front entrance to check out the Louvre pyramids. We then went into the Royal Gardens, which were originally part of a now-demolished palace (forgot the name :/) that was connected to the Louvre (which was also a palace! Napolean III’s to be exact). We then walked our way up to the Place de la Concorde, which is where the famous Obelisk stands, and where the guillotine originally stood during the Revolution. We walked up the Champs Elysee to our last stop in front of the Grande Palais and the Petit Palais. The Grande Palais has been and still is a major exhibition hall, hosting the world fair sometime in the 1900s with a human zoo (yes, absolutely horrendous). The Petit Palais is now a free fine arts gallery. The Grand Palais had a major part to do with the liberation of Paris from the Nazi occupation, but I won’t spoil it because this was the ending of the tour.
Overall the tour was AMAZING and Alex did a wonderful job. We literally saw/heard about twice as many of the things I just wrote about, but I’ll let the pictures fill in the rest. After the tour, I checked out the Petit Palais for a little bit with another girl named Saira that I met on the tour who is also studying abroad in London (small world indeed). Then, I went back to the Louvre with Heena and got in for free as a student (technically, it’s free admission for EU 26-under students, but I conveniently forgot to mention the part that I’m not actually from the EU and they didn’t double check or anything). The Louvre is absolutely spectacular and we went and checked out the Italian art and the Mona Lisa behind her bullet proof glass. It’s so surreal to finally see something in person that you’ve literally learned and heard about through every stage of your average American schooling. After that, we went and saw the Egyptian antiquities, which is always my favorite part of any museum. It’s absolutely impossible to see the over 35,000 pieces of art in the Louvre and after checking out these two sections, I was exhausted and I wanted to see the Eiffel Tower at night and at the top of the hour when it sparkles, so we left and took the Metro and waited until 6:58 to get out of the warm Metro in order to see the sparkling Tower. IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL. I mean I don’t even know what I was thinking about the entire time I was staring at the Tower; I was just sooooo mezmorized by it. Afterwards, Heena and I met up with another Barnard gal, Elizabeth, and got some late dinner (I opted for a nutella crepe, so good!).
It was honestly the best day ever and the weather even cooperated (there was sun!). Paris truly is the most beauiful city on earth. Not exaggerating. I don’t think anything can compare aside from Rome (which hopefully I’ll get to visit and let you know which one I think is best). The history, the architecture, and just the ambience is unmatched and for awhile I was regretting not taking French and studying in Paris. When I come back to the States, I’m DETERMINED to learn French and I’m strongly considering an immersion program sometime in the near or distant future. All I know is that have to be back to this amazing city for at least a month in order to fully enjoy it.
Tomorrow, Heena and I are going to Versailles and I’m going straight to bed now since it’s going to be a long day. Pictures will be up…some time soon, whenever I muster up enough energy to upload them.
