Ciao tutti! Hey everyone! So I’ve been back from my weekend in Paris for about a week now, and wanted to tell you all about the great time I had! Sorry it’s taken me so long to post, things have been hectic around here!
The morning of Friday April 2nd I went about business as usual. Got the girls up, had breakfast, the norm. I mainly relaxed all morning because nobody was here except for me and the housekeeper. Finally I jumped in the shower and got a small weekend bag together, and called a cab to the airport. After boarding the plane, our takeoff was delayed for about 30 minutes because of some luggage mix up. Finally at about 5pm we took off!
And landed in Paris around 7. I had previously researched online how to get from Paris Orly airport to my hostel, so I knew exactly what to do right away. I bought a ticket for the Orlyval monorail and road that from the airport to Antony. From there, I took a train to Gare du Nord, where I bought a 3-day bus/train/metro pass and took the metro to Anvers, which I was very familiar with because I had explored the area via Google Earth. After exiting the Anvers metro station I found my hostel very easily and checked in. I stayed at Le Village hostel and had a great experience there! It was small, clean, cozy, and had a lot of character. The guy working the desk when I came in, Jean Carlo, spoke perfect English with me, perfect Spanish with the girls behind me, perfect French on the phone, and perfect German with some people returning their key. Wow! I had the hardest time finding my room as it was located on the terrace…and the door to the terrace was hidden to the side of the staircase halfway between the ground floor and the 2nd floor! From the terrace there was a beautiful view of the Sacre Cour. I settled into my room, which was a 4-bed all-girl room that included a bathroom.
It was about 9:15pm at this time, so after settling into my room I went out to find a bite to eat. I heard music coming from down the street and followed it to find Café Montemarte. It was a small, dim place, and I grabbed a small table by the door. I was greeted by a cute young server, couldn’t be any older than 18, who had curly bed-head hair and dark eyes. He thankfully spoke English, and kept joking around with me, saying that I was a ‘cool American’. Hmmm…not too sure what that was supposed to mean!? Anyways, I had ½ a bottle of white wine, trout with almonds, boiled potatoes, and bread. He talked me into the crème brulee for dessert. Was definitely the best crème brulee I’ve ever had!
After dinner I walked around Montemarte, the neighborhood my hostel was located. It’s a bit of a ‘red-light’ district…lots of sex shops, peep shows, strip clubs, etc. Although I do have to say it was all very classy, not trashy at all. Very Parisian! I walked along Boulevard de Clichy and arrived at the amazing Moulin Rouge!
A show had just finished and there were tons of people streaming out, as well as a long line of people waiting for the next show. I looked around and took some pictures, then headed back to the hostel. I was exhausted from a long day of traveling! I was happy to finally be in Paris, surrounded by new sights and a new language, but I have to admit I started to get the same lonely feeling as I did the weekend I was in Liverpool. I love traveling and it’s a great experience to travel alone, but hopefully one day I can share my travels with a significant other…
Saturday morning I woke up automatically at 7:30 although my alarm was set for 8. I got dressed and ready as quietly as I could, as not to wake the other girls in my room. The hostel offered free breakfast, so I filled up on cereal and juice and coffee and yummy croissants as I jumped on the computer to send mom an email. To my disappointment it was dark and dreary and rainy outside, so as I headed out the door I had to stop at a souvenir shop and buy an umbrella. Yup, 4 euro for the crappiest umbrella I’ve ever encountered in my life! I got back on the metro and switched to line 6, which I knew was heading towards to Eiffel Tower. I was just riding along, listening to my iPod, looking out the window (at pure darkness because we were underground), when all of a sudden BAM we were on a bridge crossing the Seine river with a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower! Wow! It was so gorgeous and I started freaking out and fumbling for my camera and everyone sitting around me was probably like “yea, whoop-de-doo, the Eiffel Tower, I see it every day going to work.” As we pulled into the metro station I followed the touristy-looking people towards the Eiffel Tower. As I walked closer and closer I got more and more excited...
...and finally I was directly underneath it. That thing is MASSIVE from underneath. And did you know it’s actually brown!? I always thought it was some type of grayish color. There were a ton of people queuing up to ride to the top of the Tower, but there was no way I was wasting my time with that! I’m sure it was a great experience, but it just wasn’t on my ‘to-do’ list.
I started to cross the bridge directly in front of the Eiffel Tower to get some more pictures from further back, but it was extremely windy and freezing cold by the water and was starting to rain, so I decided it would be a good time to get on the sightseeing bus tour. It’s the same bus tour that my parents and I did in Florence and Naples and that I did in Liverpool…I used to make fun of those things, but as a solo traveler with limited time, it is by-far the best way to sightsee! The tour started at the Eiffel Tower, on the side facing the Seine, and the next stop was around the other side of the Eiffel Tower, where the gardens are. I got off and snapped a few pictures, then jumped on the next bus that was coming by. We drove past L’Hotel des Invalides, back to the river and across the Pont Alexander III, and along the Seine towards the Musee du Louvre. I got off here to walk around the Louvre and Jardin des Tuileries and take pictures. The rain had stopped but it was still cold and windy and dreary! The courtyard of the Louvre where the pyramids are is absolutely breathtaking, and reminded me of The Da Vinci Code.
After a while I got on the next bus that was coming by, and we crossed the river and headed for Notre Dame. I’ve seen many amazing churches in Europe, most notably the Duomo in Florence, but Notre Dame is definitely right up there with the best of them. The front façade of the church is so well-detailed I could stare at it for hours!
I joined the queue which was swiftly moving in and out of the church. It’s unbelievably huge inside, really dark, and quite haunting. After looking around, I got back on the bus and we headed down the other side of the Seine to the Musee d’Orsay. After that, we crossed the river, drove through the Place de la Concorde, past the Pantheon, and circled around the Opera, through Place Vendome ("to the right you will see the Ritz Hotel, where Princess Diana left one night to meet her fate!" *chills*), back through Place de la Concorde, and up the Avenue des Champs Elysees towards the Arc de Triomphe. I was snapping pictures the whole time. When the sun peeked through the clouds I rode on top of the bus, and when it started raining or got too cold I went back down underneath the cover. I got off at the Arc de Triomphe with plans to explore and get lunch, but it started raining again so I got back on the bus and rode around, past the Grand Palais, to the last stop, Trocadero. It was definitely time to use the bathroom, eat lunch, and gather my thoughts. I ate lunch at a rather large café, sitting at a small table next to the window with a view of the Eiffel Tower.
I ordered the most delicious salad with shrimp, crab, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, spicy mustard sauce, and a few other things that I weren’t quite sure what they were! I was enticed to order dessert, some type of pudding or crème topped with fresh strawberries. It was absolutely pouring down rain the entire time I was eating, but by the time I had finished and paid, the sun came out. I got back on the bus and rode on top, all the way back around to Champs Elysees. Everything looked so much prettier with the sun shining!
I spent the next couple of hours walking around and window shopping…and resisting the temptation to buy clothes and shoes and everything else! I stopped for a late afternoon snack of a cappuccino and an almond-topped pastry...
...and got back on the bus to ride back around to Trocadero. The sun was beginning to set, and with the rain clouds disappearing, I was able to get the most beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower!
I even ordered a Gran Marnier crepe from one of the crepe stands. After a full day of sightseeing and I was exhausted, so I hopped on the metro and headed back to the hostel. The three girls who were previously staying in my room had already left, and there was a new girl there. After a few awkward minutes of silence, I decided to talk to her, as I had never really talked to any previous roommates in hostels and thought I might be missing out on meeting some cool people. Come to find out, her name was Chelsea, she was from Kentucky, she was a senior in college getting her teaching degree and was currently doing her student-teaching in Ireland, but was on spring break and had just come from London and was now sightseeing in Paris. How cool! She was telling me all about student-teaching in Ireland and I was telling her all about being an Au Pair in Italy. After a while I went out to get some dinner, and have to admit I just settled for pizza because I wasn’t brave enough to try rabbit or duck or some other odd French cuisine! The rest of the evening I just relaxed in my room, writing, listening to my iPod, and talking with Chelsea.
Sunday morning I woke up, got dressed, filled up on breakfast (gotta love free breakfast!), and headed out to see the last thing on my to-do list: the Sacre Cour. This beautiful church was literally one block behind my hostel, and I was actually able to see it from the terrace of my hostel. It was freezing cold and windy and drizzling but I hiked up the stairs anyways.
The view from the top was amazing, it looked right down onto Montemarte and the rest of Paris. I found refuge inside, where it was warm and quiet, and sat through Easter Sunday mass. The smell of incense and the soft voices of the choir singing in French almost put me to sleep!
After exploring the Sacre Cour, I browsed in a few shops and bought some presents for the girls, and a scarf and a ring for myself. I checked out of the hostel at about 10:30 and decided to head to the airport. My flight wasn't leaving until 3:30, but I figured it would take me a couple hours to get to the airport and I wanted to save room in case I got lost or something! And it's a good thing I did leave early, because getting back to the airport wasn't as easy as I though it would be. I though I would do everything I did coming from the airport, but in reverse, but with the weird metro system it didn't quite work out that way. Anyways, I made it to the airport in time to have lunch and catch my flight. We landed in Naples at 5:30pm and I was home by 6.
Overall, I had an absolutely amazing weekend in Paris. You know how you always have an 'idea' of what a place is like, even if you've never been there? I guess I had this pre-determined 'idea' of what Paris would be like, from what I've seen on TV and in the movies and what I've read about. Well, Paris was better than anything I could have imagined and definitely exceeded my expecations. The city itself is absolutely beautiful. The streets and the buildings, and the layout of the city based around the river, reminded me a lot of London. The architecture had a very British feel to it. However, Paris is without-a-doubt extremely 'European'. When I think of what it means to be 'European', I definitely think of Paris. Clean, classy, artsy, and welcoming. It's a very busy city with a NYC-ish hustle and bustle, but without the noise and pollution. And one of the best things I noticed was that every single person I came into contact with was extremely helpful, very polite, and very much appreciated my attempts to speak French. The common stereotype that the French are rude was definitely debunked for me. I have got to say that, although Florence has been my favorite city in the world since the summer of 2008, Paris is now in the running towards becoming my new favorite city. I just had such a positive experience there, and it was so nice to be around a new language and new culture. Paris is definitely a place I would love to visit again!
Au plaisir de vous revoir!
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