Hello my wonderful family and friends! I apologize again that this is late… I went to Paris about three weeks ago, but I wrote in my journal so I remember everything that happened. It can be difficult on those trips though because we do so much in so little time; it can be easy to forget! Plus when I return I always have a lot of work to catch up on… But anyway, I went to Paris for the first half of Semana Santa to hang out with my friend Abby from St Olaf who is studying in Rennes. A few other friends from Olaf who are studying with me in Spain were there that weekend as well which was nice because I stayed until Tuesday and Abby had to go back to Rennes on Sunday. The whole trip was really wonderful. I was definitely there during the springtime because it was slightly rainy, but overall we had really good weather! I saw so many famous buildings and picture perfect scenes, as well as countless masterpieces of art. It was fantastic. Here’s my slightly more detailed account of events! (Don’t forget to check out the pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/maiajoh )
So I got into to Paris on Thursday night. My flight left late from Sevilla (it was on Spanish time) so I got there around 7:30 and it was raining. I figured out the train system and underground and made it to the correct stop close to my hostel (and close to the Louvre!). I checked in and went up to room, which was a quad, and found the luggage of three other girls inside. I put my things down, made my bed, and left in search of food. It was still rainy but I wandered around a bit to explore the area. Obviously many of the restaurants were very expensive, especially since I was right in the center of the city, but I finally found a reasonable place. There was only one other couple there, and the waiter didn’t speak English (and I only know about four words in French) but I managed to order a cheese pizza and a water. It was delicious and I ate the whole thing! It was funny because shortly after I arrived someone changed the soundtrack playing and suddenly I was listening to Norah Jones. They definitely played the whole CD too! Upon my return to the hostel I found three young French girls in the room I was sharing with them. They were obviously confused at first, and none of them spoke English (or Spanish), but they let me in and smiled and seemed pretty harmless. They went down the hall to converse with a group of guys who were with them and probably tell them about the strange American girl traveling alone and staying in their room. After a few minutes one girl came back and got up enough courage to try out her limited English and ask me the basic questions: name, age, and where I’m from. The rest of the group came back (four boys in addition to the three girls) and I was introduced to all of them. It was an interesting experience, not being able to communicate hardly at all. I learned that they lived just outside Paris, were all around 16 or 17, and were traveling together for the weekend. One girl also finally mentioned that she knew a little bit of Spanish so that came in handy when I tried to tell them I was going to sleep and they could leave the light on. They were very nice though and I think a little in awe of me, especially when they found out that I’m 21. The one girl who had a bed above me came in after I was in bed accompanied by a young guy I hadn’t met who quickly said to me in a British accent, “She just wanted me to tell you she needs to make her bed up and then she’ll let you sleep in peace,” and walked back out. I laughed and said, that’s just fine, it doesn’t bother me. It was great, and I slept just fine.
Friday morning I got up pretty early (still later than the French girls, surprisingly) to go to the Musée d’Orsay. I knew I wanted to spend a lot of time there and I didn’t mind being there by myself. I got there just when it opened and there was no line to get in! (I was proud of that when I walked by later that day and the line was really super long). It was a GOREGOUS museum, and there were two exhibits of the Impressionists Monet and Manet, along with the huge regular collection of Impressionist art they have. I spent my whole time in those exhibits (almost three hours) and could have spent more. I wanted to get over the Eiffel tower though to meet my friends from Olaf for the afternoon. I left at noon and walked all the way to the tower where Dan and Sean were waiting with Sean’s friend Kayla from his hometown. Kayla is studying in Paris and Sean and Dan were staying in her apartment for the weekend while she was in London with friends. We all admired the tower for a while, and then decided to go get food and warm up a bit. We walked to the top of the hill across the river and found a small café for sandwiches and coffee. After that Kayla had to go to class and the boys and I decided to go over to the Musée Pompidou to see the modern art collection. It’s a huge museum, and is well known for its modern architecture. Basically it’s made to look like it is inside-out. All of the piping and skeletal structure is on the outside of the building, and it looks pretty strange. But it was neat. We spent a couple hours in there, running around and trying to see as much as possible. I don’t understand a lot of the contemporary art, but it was really cool to see. There were some awesome exhibits. After that I finally went back to the hostel to meet Abby who had just arrived off the train. It was wonderful to see her! We chatted a while and then went out in search of food. We walked down the river towards Notre Dame and Abby showed me around the Latin Quarter where she had stayed during January. We bought our dinner from a cheap café that opens onto the street where they sell panini and crepes. We both got one of each (mozzarella, gorgonzola and tomato on French bread pressed hot; Nutella and banana on a fresh hot crepe) and took them over to the island to sit in front of the Notre Dame and eat. It was absolutely perfect. The food was so good, the night was gorgeous, and the Notre Dame was all lit up and beautiful. We ended up chatting with some nice guys who were sitting beside us and they took our picture for us in front of the cathedral. After our satisfying meal we took a long walk up the Champs Élysées to see the Arc du Triomphe (sp ?). It was a beautiful night and a good walk for Abby and I to chat about our lives abroad.
Saturday morning Abby and I went to the Notre Dame again to go up to the towers. I had decided I would rather go up to the top of the cathedral than to the top of the Eiffel tower. Call me crazy, but I think the cathedral is prettier; plus it’s older, therefore more interesting, and much cheaper. The line was pretty long, but luckily there was a man in a scary mask to entertain us. He would surreptitiously follow people walking past our line and then put his arm on their shoulder and startle them with his scary mask. He also definitely chased a huge tour group of young Japanese girls who screamed and ran away from him. It was rather amusing. We finally made it inside the towers, and then it was a long climb to the top, all spiral stairs, but it was worth it! It was a beautiful sunny day and the views were incredible! We stayed on the middle level for a while and got to hear a wonderful chorus from the bells of the tower (loud but very enchanting) and then finally went up to the very top. It was wonderful! After all that climbing we needed a break and a bathroom so we wandered over to a café for a quick cup of espresso and the right to use the restroom. It was nice to sit outside at our table and watch the people for a while, we felt very French. After our coffee we wandered around some more and stumbled into a Saturday market where they had lots of food, pretty jewelry and scarves. We decided to grab a snack for lunch and picked up some fresh strawberries and a couple chocolate éclairs. Since it was such a beautiful day we walked up to the Luxembourg gardens, found a bench, and did some people watching while enjoying our lovely lunch. It was such a perfect little French picnic. After that we took the metro over to Montmartre since I wanted to see the Sacré Coeur. There was another long climb up to the top of the hill, but it was also worth it. It’s a gorgeous basilica, and something that I have always wanted to see so that was really exciting. Abby and I walked around inside for a while and then sat on the steps with the other hundred and fifty people just chilling in the sunshine listening to music and chatting. After going back down the hill we wandered over to look at the Moulin Rouge and take the obligatory picture of the windmill and bright signs. It was an interesting street to be on, but we decided to leave before it got dark out. That night we went out to another cheap sandwich place and met a couple of Abby’s friends to go to a bar with us. It was nice relaxing evening.
Sunday Abby and I woke up and went to mass at the Notre Dame! It was Palm Sunday, so it was filled with people, decorated beautifully, and we each got a little palm branch. We sat down so we could listen even though it was in French, and it was very interesting and pretty to listen to. The choir was really good, and it was worth it just to sit and listen to them. After that we went to the Louvre for the whole afternoon! It was amazing to see all the incredible art. Not only did we visit the famous pieces like the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo, but we saw plenty of other amazing works of art. We did the whole renaissance sculpture wing, and after Abby left to go back to Rennes (I was so sad) I did the entire French renaissance and neoclassical wing which I have studied before so I knew quite a bit about J. That was fantastic because the museum is just so huge that you would wander around a get a little lost and then turn a corner and BOOM there’s a huge painting by Delacroix or a self portrait by Dürer. I ended up staying there for just over five hours! We took a break in between for a cup of coffee and a croissant, of course. I don’t think it’s possible to see that much art with a slight break in the middle. The rest of the night was very relaxing; I walked over to the church of San Eustace and got to see another Palm Sunday mass while walking around enjoying the serenity. I met the boys with my bags at the Notre Dame when we’d planned on meeting and they accompanied me back to Kayla’s apartment which is about 15 minutes away by metro. Kayla had just returned from England so we all chatted for a while and tried to figure out how we would all sleep in a one bedroom (tiny) apartment with only one futon. Kayla had an extra mattress pad but it was only twin size. When she went downstairs to take the garbage out though she found the solution—someone had just “thrown away” a whole stack of mattresses that seemed like they were in pretty good condition. A couple of them were even in bags so they didn’t smell! I went back down to the garbage room with her and we carried one up, took it out of the bag, put a couple sheets on it and it was just fine. We had to move the tiny kitchen table into the tiny kitchen to make room for all of us but it worked out. Kayla and I shared the futon-bed and the boys each had their own mattress on the floor. We had to improvise pillows and blankets but we all slept fine so it was awesome. There’s nothing like being a college student studying abroad on a budget!
Monday was a pretty chill day. We had planned to take the train to Versailles but we found out that morning that it was closed. Apparently a lot of things close on Mondays because most tourists leave on Sunday. So we literally just walked around pretty much all day, seeing the sights and taking pictures. It was pretty cold out so we stopped for coffee to warm up and use the restrooms. That’s always a constant concern for girls when traveling—when and where can I find a free bathroom? Taking advantage of museum bathrooms is the most useful, but when they’re all closed on the same day I’ve learned you just have to stop somewhere a pay for a drink or something to gain the right to use the bathroom. But still, buying a drink, especially coffee, just perpetuates the problem so it’s really hard to decide what to do. Anyway, we stopped in a few stores on Champs Élysées, one of them being Louis Vuitton. Seeing as it was just me, Sean and Dan, it was an interesting experience. The boys made up a contest though to try to find the cheapest and most expensive things in the store. The cheapest was a small key ring valued at eighty Euros and the most expensive was a complete set of luggage valued around three hundred thousand Euros. It was pretty insane! For dinner that night the boys and I decided to make a meal for Kayla to thank her for letting us stay with her. We went to get our groceries and wine and on the way home stopped at a pastry shop to pick up a couple to share amongst us for dessert. The whole cooking process was quite the experience in that tiny kitchen. There was literally only space for three people to stand, and that was only if you didn’t open the fridge or need to use the stove or try to open the cupboards or try to turn on the sink. Plus, halfway through the process we realized we’d forgotten to buy milk, which I needed for my sauce. So Kayla and I literally went knocking on doors in the apartment waiting to see if a nice French person would lend us a cup of milk. We finally found guy who gave us a whole carton! Thanks to him, we completed our wonderful meal: Dan made steak and a sauce, Sean cooked the vegetables and I made the pasta and sauce. It was a fantastic meal, especially with the wine and pastry desserts. After our late dinner we decided to go meet up with a few of Kayla’s friends to celebrate St Patrick’s Day at an Irish Pub in the city. It was crowded pub and I met some people who spoke Spanish so that was very enjoyable. It was a good end to the day.
Tuesday was our last day and the boys wanted to go to the Musée d’Orsay but I had already been there and wanted to see a few other things. So we split up for the day and I went to San Chapelle, a small church on the same Island as the Notre Dame that is famous for its stained glass windows. The church is very popular so there was a line and you have to pay to get in but it was worth it. Basically the entire church is made out of stained glass windows, or so it seems. You enter the chapel from underneath, so when you get to the top of the small staircase you are just surrounded by an incredible light streaming through the windows that cover the walls from floor to ceiling and completely encircle the chapel. It was SO beautiful. Plus it was educational! Every panel told some biblical story, as most stained glass windows do, but these were in tiny little circles and can be read from top to bottom starting on the left and going all the way around. It was very exciting. After I left San Chapelle I decided to take a little journey out to a museum I had heard about from Kayla. You have to take the train there but I had enough time and I figured it out how to get there pretty easily. It’s called the Musée Marmottan Monet, and as the name suggests it is a museum full of artwork by Claude Monet. It was the best decision I’ve ever made in my life to go there. It was in a gorgeous old house and since it was away from the center of the city there weren’t too many people there at all. It was nice and quiet, and there was plenty to see. The main floor and the top floor had plenty of works by famous impressionists, and a few early works of Monet, which were incredible by themselves. But the lower level was absolutely amazing. It was ALL famous pieces by Monet during his time at Giverny, and it was fantastic. I couldn’t believe the amazing pieces that were there: most of his water lily series, lots of the famous bridge pieces, his famous Impression: Sunrise, a couple of the cathedral pieces…. It was amazing. I first walked around and looked at every piece closely and admired the detail, color and blending. Then I walked through again and admired them from afar, noting how clear and perfect they appeared at a distance. It was amazing. I would go back in a heartbeat. It was the perfect way to end my trip to Paris. I stayed in that small museum wandering through the artwork time and time again for almost two hours. I finally had to leave to go get my luggage and make the trek back to the airport. It was the most complex use of public transportation I have ever executed in my life. Metro, metro, tram, train, bus, plane, bus, bus…. It was crazy. But I made it home safe and sound and had plenty of time to enjoy Semana Santa! I wrote a little bit about that week in my blog on Ronda and Córdoba but I will add more later J I hope you all are enjoying reading about my travels as much as I enjoy writing them! I know it will be great to look back on when I’m older and need a refresher on what happened.
I’ll try to send some warm weather your way!
Love, love, love,
Maia Jo
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