It has been a while but I am finally catching up on my blogs. Since going to London, I have been to Paris twice. The first time I went with my friend Sara. She goes to a college in the town that I am from, what a small world! We get along very well travel wise and it's great going places with her. I will go to Frankfurt with her later this month. We arrived very late our first day to our hostel near Gare du Nord. We unknowingly booked our own room with our own bathroom and a private balcony overlooking Paris. It was an amazing deal for such a lovely place, although it was not in the best part of town. We quickly found a place to eat and brought it back to our balcony to eat and went to bed to get some rest for the exciting day ahead of us.
We went the next day to the Eiffel Tower, and the photos online do not do it justice. Although most of the locals despise it, the Eiffel Tower is a beautiful landmark. Both Sara and I were starstruck. After taking many photos in front of the Eiffel Tower and getting harassed by many tourist trap merchants, we found our way up to the Arc de Triomphe. We climbed a spiraling staircase up to the top part of the monument and went through the museum. They had some interesting information at the top that I did not know about the monument. After the museum, we continued up the stairs and went onto the roof. It overlooks Paris and has the most beautiful panorama views I have ever seen. To the right is a photo of the Arc de Triomphe, to the left is a photo of myself at the top of the monument.
It was easy from there to find our way to Notre Dame, as the underground in Paris is the easiest and cheapest way of transportation. I used it the entire time I was in Paris. When we came up the exit from the underground, there was an amazing view of the Notre Dame. We took many photos and looked at what the vendors had lined against the Seine River. We ended up buying hand painted canvases and handmade wire necklaces. We got lunch in the area and heard the bells ring, then headed back up the river towards the Eiffel Tower. When we got there it was starting to get dark so everything was lighting up. Sara and I both agreed that The City of Lights was more beautiful all lit up than during the daytime. To the left is a photo of Sara and I in front of the Eiffel Tower with the lights on. We wandered our way across the river from the Eiffel Tower to find a better view and found a great restaurant with a decent view. We each got our own food, and I ended up trying escargot. Since then, I have fallen in love with escargot and get it every time I have the chance. To the right is a photo of my escargot. We stuck around to see the tower sparkle, then headed back after the light show. I can understand why so many people come to Paris after watching the tower sparkle.
The next morning we woke up extremely early to try and catch the sun rise over the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, there were no trains going that way that early in the morning, so we settled for seeing it over the Notre Dame Cathedral. This was the best choice we could have made because it was jaw-dropping. To the right is a photo of the sun rising over the Cathedral. After staring for a long time, we went into Notre Dame and took a look at all the stain glass works. There were many sculptures of the saints lining the walls and many areas dedicated to the history of the Cathedral. It took 700 years to completely finish all of the Cathedral and I thought it was interesting to see what it would've looked like throughout the ages. When we emerged from the Notre Dame, the sun was still rising. To the left is a photo of that morning on the Seine River. We caught a quick breakfast and walked our way up the Seine to the Louvre. There is a large garden and walkways to explore in the Louvre area. We spent some time walking around, loving that there were dogs everywhere and watching them play. We entered the Louvre through the famous glass pyramid entrance. We explored many different exhibits, but spending most of our time in the Egyptian and Greek exhibits. They featured many interesting pieces like a mummy, a hall of sarcophagi, and an entire room of famous Greek statues. Of course we went and saw the Mona Lisa, but she was very small and didn't make as big of an impact for me. Right outside of the Louvre is the Ponts de Arts, the bridge that people put locks on with their loved ones. I put my storage lock on for fun as we were leaving that day. To the right is my little red lock on the bridge. We made our way back towards the train station, tried some macaroons, then caught our plane back to Aberdeen.
I didn't have enough time the first round in Paris so I decided to return by myself two weeks later. The city was covered by clouds and fog the entire second trip but I still enjoyed my time. I stayed at a horrible hostel near the Louvre, but it was extremely cheap and in a decent location so I dealt with all its downfalls. I had some amazing conversations with some of the girls I shared a room with and it was interesting to hear about their stories and experiences. I spent the first two days exploring Disneyland Paris. I will be participating in the Disney College Program in Orlando this coming Spring semester so I thought it was only fitting to go to these parks while I had the chance. Although I was by myself, I had the time of my life! I rode all the rides multiple times, enjoyed the park food, and watched all of the park finale fireworks show. Although it is much smaller than the one I will work at, it was more adult themed as the rides were less kid-friendly. To the left is a photo of me at the park. Much of the park was under renovation but almost all the important rides were still open so it was worth my while.
The third day I spent exploring the largest shopping area in Paris, Galeries Lafayette. I spent 6 hours wandering the center and still didn't see the entire building. The center of the building has this beautiful painted dome and on each of the seven floors of the shopping center you could see the dome. After finishing my shopping, I made my way across town to the Paris Aquarium and wandered around looking at the thousands of different species they had. They had a section where you could pet some of the fish which was awesome. I have never done that so it was different. I ended up grabbing dinner at the same location as my first Paris visit and of course- ordered escargot.
The fourth day I traveled out to the Palace of Versailles. I get an amazing discount while traveling Europe as I am a EU (a UK) student and when I show my student visa I get into many places for free. The Palace of Versailles was one of those places. I didn't spend much time inside the Palace itself as it was very crowded. I spent most of my day out in the gardens exploring. To the right is a photo of the gardens. They were interesting to wander through and explore. To think that royalty had walked where I was standing was interesting to me. There was an old fountain completely made out of seashells and one completely covered in what used to be gold. After finishing at the Palace, I headed back into Paris to meet with an old friend. I had found out after my first trip to Paris that Constance, an rotary exchange student that I had befriended in high school, was living in Paris attending university. We met by the Saint Michel Fountain and caught up before she went home for the weekend. It was great to hear from her after so many years! To the left is a photo of the two of us.
Paris is my favorite city so far. I enjoy how romantic and old it feels. It doesn't have the feel of a city which is what makes it different from London and certain parts of Aberdeen. I will most likely not get the chance to return again while in Europe this time but I hope I will be able to come back to Europe after this and return to the City of Light.