Bonjour Paris!

That's For Me!

My arrival in Paris was not quite as happy-go-lucky as Audrey’s was in "Funny Face" (I got stuck at the airport for nearly an hour while military guys with machine guys cleared out an abandoned piece of luggage). Nevertheless, I was still arriving in Paris, and I was going to be in Paris for a week, and I was going to wake up in Paris for my birthday! It was all lovely and magical in my head! 

We stayed at this sweet hotel, the Hotel D’Orsay, which was, true to its name, just down the street from the Musee D’Orsay. Aunt Joy needed some time to recover from her many hours of travel, so we didn’t actually leave the hotel until after dark. It was strange, how I was suddenly just walking along the banks of the Seine, seeing the Eiffel Tower glow in the distance, just as it always had in pictures and movies. I didn’t have quite the reaction that I did to the Coliseum (see the post My Roman Holiday to read about my utter Classical History/Latin fangirl presented itself), but it was still an almost surreal experience at first. We took a boat tour that night, and then we ducked into the first restaurant we found because by the end of the boat tour it was pouring rain. Ethan, you’ll be proud of me, my very first meal in France was a cheese burger with fries. It was delicious. I have no regrets. 

We did so many things, I don’t even know how to narrow down my stories (I’m not doing a two-parter post like with Rome, that was a bit unmanageable for me). Of course, we hit all the major tourist spots— if you think “Quintessential Paris”, we probably visited it. The first day, we went to Notre Dame (a truly incredible example of Gothic Cathedral Architecture), San Chapelle (which had some stunning stained glass windows), and the Cluny Museum (which was interesting, and exhibited mostly medieval era artifacts, with a few ancient Roman artifacts thrown into the mix). I loved the tapestries at the Cluny, the Lady with the Unicorn series were lovely and enigmatic as promised. It wasn’t an absolutely thrilling day, but Aunt Joy planned the itinerary, so I just sort of shuffled along behind and enjoyed the sights. We actually got to see some of the bouquinistes along the Seine as we walked to Notre Dame in the morning! I would’ve liked to browse a little more, but time has a habit of getting away from you when you’re on vacation. It was kind of strange, after having traveled alone for a week, to have to match up my own expectations with another person’s, and to meld your must-see itineraries. It was still a lovely weekend and I got to see and do not all but many things I’d wanted to!

The Grand Gallery

Of course, we did the major museums. The Louvre was insane, and particularly so because we happened to visit on city free day, so it was insanely busy. There was an incredible exhibition of Islamic art, the likes of which I’d never seen in the US in terms of size and range of the collection. I’m a huge fan of Islamic art, and this exhibit did not disappoint. I lingered so long, Aunt Joy had to remind me how much else there was to see in the museum. We saw some Da Vincis, and even spotted the Mona Lisa from a distance (honestly, the crowd was so insane, they need to put her in her own little room. Or use conveyor belts like they do with the Crown Jewels in England, so that you can get a look but not linger). I was very excited to see some famous works of art I had studied in high school history classes. 

I tried...

Of course, we also did the Musee D’Orsay, though it was the last thing we did in Paris, so we were both exhausted. Still, their collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works was great! Once again, so many pieces I’d only ever seen in books, came to life! I think one of my favorite museum experiences in Paris, and overall, however, was at the Musee l’Orangerie, which holds the giant Monet waterlilies. Their scope was astounding, and they were just so pretty. If you could fall in love with paintings, I think I might have fallen a little bit for those panels.

Aside from museums, we spent some time wandering. We went to the Marais one day, which is a trendy little area known for its quirky shops. Needless to say, I did some shopping that day. I also did some shopping the day we went to Montmartre. We took the funicular up the hill, and gazed down at the city from Sacre Coeur’s perch (before being hastily and alarmingly evacuated from the area. Oh Paris…). We wandered down the hill, hitting a few funky shops on the way down, and Aunt Joy scored some awesome vintage dead stock haute couture jewellery. I am very jealous! Though I definitely got my fair share of souvenirs! Montmartre was so charming, just as I imagined it after watching “Amelie”, though it seems to be a little touristy now. Parisians seem to view Montmartre the way New Yorkers view Greenwich Village.  

We spent quite a bit of time going out for “culinary experiences” as Aunt Joy once referred to them. For me, it was a week of the craziest, richest, fanciest meals I’d ever had in my life. Each place had a unique selling point. At one place, every dish was made with truffles, including the tiramisu I had for dessert, which was yummy, but weird because you could definitely taste the truffle. At another place, we had a tasting menu which was chosen entirely by the chef and sommelier, and which we, interestingly enough, ate blind. We were given a brief description of each dish, but we weren’t told what wine we were being served. In fact, for some of the courses, they served the wine in black wine glasses, so that we couldn’t see the color of the wine. It was crazy, albeit delicious. We had a really wonderful meal at the Jules Verne restaurant inside the Eiffel Tower. Yes, *inside* the Eiffel Tower. I didn’t even know there was a restaurant there, but there is and we ate there. Again it was delicious and very fancy, but the views were insane. Also, we were *inside* the Eiffel Tower. The restaurant even gave me a chocolate cake-like dessert wishing me a happy birthday, or ‘Joyeux Anniversaire’, since it was France. It was really, quite lovely. 

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower

We took lots of photos from the observation deck, though we didn’t go all the way to the top. Though, as we were taking photos from the ground, Aunt Joy was amused at the fact that I was freaking out more about seeing the nearby bridge featured in ‘Inception’, than the fact that I was standing in front of the Eiffel Tower. 

Me.

We spent a whole day at Versailles, which made Buckingham Palace look like a shack, and where everything was made of gold. The scope of the place was unbelievable. The hallways just seemed to go on and on, the gardens were exponentially larger than palace (which was already immense), and every item inside the palace was luxe and/or covered in gold. I loved the furniture and the carpets and the light fixtures. I loved it all. And that night, when we went home, I watched Sophia Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette” (you know, the one with Kirsten Dunst). It was cool to see them running around the rooms I had just toured, and also, I just like Marie Antoinette. She’s such a sad figure, I think, and I feel for her and her whole situation. But that’s for another time. 

Hall of Mirrors

Overall, it was a wonderful time. I saw so many cool pieces of art, architecture, and history that I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to see. I wandered, I ate, I shopped, I saw, and I turned 21. It was a great finale to my travel adventures! 

And of course, I wouldn't be me if I went on vacation and didn't buy a book (or a few...)