PARIS, FRANCE
"Merci" (thank you): one the "many" things I learned to say during my stay in Paris. My favorite: "la toillette, si vous plait" (the toilet, please). I'm probably butchering the spelling, but hey, I'm trying. What else: "un, deux"... yeah, that's about as far as I can count in French. I carried on a conversation, if you can call it that: "Sa va? Tre bien. E toi?" (how are you? Very well. And you?). Oh, and I absolutely Loved how everyone greeted each other with a "bonjour" or a "bonsoir." That's one thing that I'm really going to miss.
I was sort of wary about my trip to France, not just because of all the riots, but because of my preconceptions about the people. We've all heard that they're a particularly rude bunch and that they despise Americans. One API girl even told me that a restaurant refused service to them. That, coupled with my complete lack of knowledge in the language, had me a bit worried. But coming out of the whole trip, I found the French to be quite charming, pleasant, and all around friendly. I think a lot of it has to do with how open you are with them, how willing you are to make an effort with the language and their culture.
We arrived on the third Thursday of November, a day when the season's first wine - the Beaujolais Nouveau - is revealed. It's quite a huge deal in Paris. All the bars were advertising a taste of the new vino that night. Carol and I bought a bottle. It was pretty good, so Carol bought six more. That night we explored the Quartier Latin, the area where our quaint little hostel was located. We stayed a one minute walk away from Notre Dame in one direction, and the Pantheon in the other. We got acquainted with our neighborhood, meaning we basically got lost. I'm not sure how long we walked around for, but it was freezing!
Friday we woke up bright and early and started our day at the pinnacle of Paris - the Eiffel Tower. We proceeded to take 1,000,000 pictures. (I figured if I was going to do the tourist thing, I may as well go all out and do it right. No shame in the camera toting! Next, we hit up the Arc de Triomphe and strolled down Avenue des Champs Elysees, Paris' 5th Ave. We took even more pictures of the Eiffel Tower from the Pont de Alexandre III, this amazing bridge. We continued our walk (we walked a lot this day) and continued our picture taking (we took a lot)... Place de la Concorde, the Obelisque, Galleries Lafayette, Opera Garnier. At 6 pm we ended our journey at the Louvre (free of charge on Friday nights) and got a glimpse of the Mona Lisa, among other things. I wasn't really that impressed with the Mona Lisa. Maybe all the hype got me a little too anticipatory.
On Saturday we completed our tour of Paris with: day pictures of Notre Dame, Centre Culturel de Pompidou, the Moulon Rouge (I wish we could have gone, but it was like 100 euros), Eiffel Tower at nuit (night), and the Sacre Coeur, this chapel in the northern part of Paris. That area was one of my favorites. It was so cute, up in the hills, with winding, steep, narrow cobble-stone roads. I wish it hadn't been foggy that night because I bet the view from the top of the hill would have been amazing.
I really enjoyed Paris a lot. The city was gorgeous, the people were friendly, and the language was fun to try and pick up. I bet it's a fun city to study abroad in. As I stepped off the plane in Barcelona, the flight attendants said, "Au revoir. Merci." I got kind of sad as I thought that might be the last time I hear those words, that language. I hope not, though.
I'd like to backpack across Europe after graduation... before getting a job. I'm going to try and make that happen.
I was sort of wary about my trip to France, not just because of all the riots, but because of my preconceptions about the people. We've all heard that they're a particularly rude bunch and that they despise Americans. One API girl even told me that a restaurant refused service to them. That, coupled with my complete lack of knowledge in the language, had me a bit worried. But coming out of the whole trip, I found the French to be quite charming, pleasant, and all around friendly. I think a lot of it has to do with how open you are with them, how willing you are to make an effort with the language and their culture.
We arrived on the third Thursday of November, a day when the season's first wine - the Beaujolais Nouveau - is revealed. It's quite a huge deal in Paris. All the bars were advertising a taste of the new vino that night. Carol and I bought a bottle. It was pretty good, so Carol bought six more. That night we explored the Quartier Latin, the area where our quaint little hostel was located. We stayed a one minute walk away from Notre Dame in one direction, and the Pantheon in the other. We got acquainted with our neighborhood, meaning we basically got lost. I'm not sure how long we walked around for, but it was freezing!
Friday we woke up bright and early and started our day at the pinnacle of Paris - the Eiffel Tower. We proceeded to take 1,000,000 pictures. (I figured if I was going to do the tourist thing, I may as well go all out and do it right. No shame in the camera toting! Next, we hit up the Arc de Triomphe and strolled down Avenue des Champs Elysees, Paris' 5th Ave. We took even more pictures of the Eiffel Tower from the Pont de Alexandre III, this amazing bridge. We continued our walk (we walked a lot this day) and continued our picture taking (we took a lot)... Place de la Concorde, the Obelisque, Galleries Lafayette, Opera Garnier. At 6 pm we ended our journey at the Louvre (free of charge on Friday nights) and got a glimpse of the Mona Lisa, among other things. I wasn't really that impressed with the Mona Lisa. Maybe all the hype got me a little too anticipatory.
On Saturday we completed our tour of Paris with: day pictures of Notre Dame, Centre Culturel de Pompidou, the Moulon Rouge (I wish we could have gone, but it was like 100 euros), Eiffel Tower at nuit (night), and the Sacre Coeur, this chapel in the northern part of Paris. That area was one of my favorites. It was so cute, up in the hills, with winding, steep, narrow cobble-stone roads. I wish it hadn't been foggy that night because I bet the view from the top of the hill would have been amazing.
I really enjoyed Paris a lot. The city was gorgeous, the people were friendly, and the language was fun to try and pick up. I bet it's a fun city to study abroad in. As I stepped off the plane in Barcelona, the flight attendants said, "Au revoir. Merci." I got kind of sad as I thought that might be the last time I hear those words, that language. I hope not, though.
I'd like to backpack across Europe after graduation... before getting a job. I'm going to try and make that happen.