Paris!
I must admit, before this year I had close to no interest in going to Paris what-so-ever. I always assumed it to be just talked-up, that the glitz and glamour would potentially choke me and that it would have a strange smell (i believe I heard somewhere that every street in Paris has been peed on, so give me a break on that thought..). However, I was pleasantly surpised to find that Paris is all it's cracked up to be, and only smells mildly while standing over road grates.
I went to Paris with my friend Carissa from the program, and we stayed with a highschool friend of her's in his apartment. The apartment was pretty central to paris; right next to a metro station. We took the fast train from Frankfurt to Paris (and rode the entire way there next to a cat...yeah...) and met him at the trainstation around 9 pm Thursday night. We obviously did nothing real great on Thursday; just sat around and talked in the extremely small yet extremely expensive apartment where he lived. I mean seriously, his entire apartment fits in like mine in and my parents bedrooms. The place was small. But SO CUTE! His one bathroom only fit a toilet.. it was like a little nook in the wall where someone decided to hide the toilet. The sink is in a different room, which was always confusing at 3 in the morning. However, the apartment was adorable and decorated accurately so the space was played up to it's fullest potential. Housing in Paris is ridiculously expensive. Tom (the guy we stayed with) was telilng us that in one section of paris, the property goes for 250,000 euros per square meter. In case you didn't catch that, it was per SQUARE METER.. dear god. I guess when it comes to buying property in Europe, as your personal realator, i advise you to go for somewhere like Croatia or the boonies in Hungary and avoid Paris like the plague :) Or at least the inner city part.
On our first full day in Paris we managed to find our way to a really huge shopping mall with all the super expensive name brands and things with price tags that made me want to run 6 meters in the opposite direction. I found myself hoping there was no "you breathe on it, you buy it" policy. But they hadawesome christmas tree display in the middle of the store..
Yes the building itself didn't disappoint me, and neither did the majority of the art we saw (althought I'm not real partial to the kinds and queens and jesus paintings; they just don't do it for me apparently), and I found myself surprised at how many paintings I saw which I had to memorize for my prior AP European history class back in highschool. It was like taking a walk down memory lane, only I was minorly twigging out like a kid in a FAO Schwarz store. "Oh my god it's that one painting from the renaissance! Oh my god it's the painting with the huge nose that I got wrong on that one test! Oh my god ITS THE MONA LISA!!!" Yes, I'm aware of my nerd status. And I'm proud. But yes. Art is cool. Accept it.
Those were just a few of the favorites. The disappointment actually stemmed from my inability to find the impressionism paintings. You know, Monet and such. I'm a big fan of the impressionism era, and I epically failed at finding it. I actually had my main intention of seeing those paintings alone, but I guess sometimse life sends you curve balls. I still enjoyed the museum, especially the fact we got in free pretending to be German citizens, and I totally recommend people to take at least a few hours if you ever find yourself in Paris to check out the art of the ages.
We ended up spending basically all of Friday in the art museum, so we went out to dinner afterwards at an authentic French restaurant. I had some type of French mushroom mac and cheese.. it was decent. I'm not entirely sure how I felt about the meal in honesty, but i ate it. Tom had rabbit (delicious surprisingly) and his girlfriend had salmon. French food is delicious, but let me tell you. Don't just assume that since you're in France everything on the menu must be simply deletible and amazing. Enough said.
The next day we spent basically just wandering around the city and seeing all the major sites; the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, the river walk along the Seine river and the tunnel where Princess Diana crashed. FYI, the Eiffel Tower is seriously huge in person. And brown. I previously thought it was black, but, eh. Those French sure are tricky tricky.
We ended up at the Arc de Triomphe last, around 9:30 pm, and decided to climb to the top since it was free for EU student citizens (ha..) and see the city of lights from above. It was probably the best decision we made the entire trip; the view was amazing. I managed to get a few good photos..
On Sunday the weather was rather gloomy and rainy, so we decided to take the 30 minute train ride to Versailles (right outside of Paris) and see the palace. I love love loved it. Of course i'm a total history nerd and was soaking up all the atmosphere; picturing Marie Antionette running around the palace the entire time, and the storming of the gates by angry French citizens during the French Revolution. But don't worry, the palace was really beautiful and interesting for non-history nerds as well. It was a pity that we went in November and not in the summer, because although the palace is huge, the gardens are like 10 times as large and gorgeous. Oh well. Maybe another time in life. But anyways, the palace was awesome and adorned in gold, mirrors and huuuuge paintings of the monarchies over the ages. I especially loved the hall of mirrors. There were huge chandelliers every couple feet, and mirrors lining the walls the entire length of the hall. It felt so bright and alive with light within the hall, and I couldn't help but just stand in awe for a few moments, realizing the history that once danced its way across the very same mirrors. It was a sentimental moment, alright?
I added a picture from the macaroon shop in there... we had some macaroons thanks to Tom, and oh my god they were SO good. Basically, they have a hard outer shell, kind of like the consistancy of an egg shell, only not THAT hard, but then a super soft and creamy inside with sweet flavors such as berries, apple, vanilla, almond, etc. They're so good, but so expensive. I believe they cost something like 25 euros for 15 macaroons.
Actually, i think it might just be this store which is so expensive, but they are famous for having the best macaroons in Paris :)
I know this post is getting super long, but bear with me!
After Versailles we found a cute little french restaurant, again, and I ate beef bourguignon. For any of you who are familiar with the movie Julie & Julia, you may be just as excited about this as I was. Especially you, mother. It was sooo good!
My last exciting tour in Paris was of the Notre Dame Cathedral. We went around 6 pm on Sunday night, right in the time of mass. I found myself in awe of the beauty of the mass (it was all in french, so the songs and whatever they were saying just sounded like beauty rolling off their tounges) and of the cathedral. It's really quite huge with tall cielings and a few (i can't remember the english word..) colorful glass window things. I lit a candle for my grandparents and a friend, which was also a cool experience. Here are some photos from within the church, during mass (yeah, I know, crazy that they let us still take pictures.. again, crazy frenchmen..)
So yep. That was basically the entirety of my trip to Paris. Oh wait. I ate a baguette..
Ok well I'm off to dinner at a friends house. I leave Thursday for Thanksgiving in Hamburg, and then I'm back for my exam and then... Budapest! It seems so strange; it's been months since I planned that trip but yet now it's here, and it feels like close to no time has passed... crazy how life works. See you all in 16 days!
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