"Oh, you young people act like old men. You are no fun."
So this weekend I left Italy for the first time since flying into Rome, adding another country to my list--France! I got to take a train into Pisa, so that I could fly to Paris-Beauvais, in order to take a bus to Porte Maillot, where I could then finally take a metro into the main city center of Paris; planes, trains, and automobiles, indeed.
After stopping by our hostel, "Arty Paris," my friends and I went back to the city center to visit Notre Dame, stopping along the road to buy delicious crepes and sandwiches from a vendor. . .
[So much more to come, but I have an art history review session to head to, so I will resume this post later! Arrivederci.]
[Review session over, a delicious dinner at Mariano's eaten, a Skype call home, and now back to Paris!]
. . . Upon arriving at Notre Dame, we took a brief break to eat lunch while sitting along the wall and staring up at the church while taking numerous photos, haha. We then started looking around for our Sandeman's tourguide, who was nowhere to be found--so instead, we tagged along with a "Discovery Tour" led by a local Parisian, which was pretty awesome, if a little short. We got to learn about St. Denis, who carried his head a few miles to the site where his church would be built in the future (after being beheaded, of course)--and don't worry, he could still communicate and all, regardless of the beheadedness, haha. We got to see the myriad places where the architect who restored Notre Dame incorporated his own face (ah, vanity!), and measured how far underwater we would have been in one of the great centennial floods--one of which is coming up anytime now, so beware! Then we got to see a love-lock bridge (illegal because it destroys the bridge due to the extra tonnage of the locks), to see where Ratatouille theoretically took plance, and to listen to a guitar player singing La Vie en Rose. All in all, a great start to the trip!
We then walked into the (free) section of Notre Dame open to the public, admiring the beauty and majesty of the church and its great rose windows. By the time we were planning to leave, a mass was starting, and so we of course stayed to see the beginning of that, which only helped to emphasize the sacred and majestic atmosphere of the church.
After singing along to a few of the psalms, we headed out to see the archaeological ruins outside of and underneath Notre Dame. It was definitely interesting to see all of the different levels of the city, how it grew and evolved over the years and became what we recognize today. Plus, there were lots of cool maps and images and recreations and models and things to stare at, so that was awesome. Woo ruins!!!
Next we headed off to see some other buildings and things in the city. We wandered through a bit of the Latin Quarter, headed off toward the somewhat elusive Pantheon--which we found, surprisingly without too much trouble. Thanks to student visas/my Permisso di Soggiorno (which shows that I am now officially a resident of Italy--what whatttt!), this was another free entry. The Pantheon was quite different from that in Rome, with a photograph of a group of people decorating the inside of the dome and a few grand statues and some stories of legendary France depicted on the walls. The coolest part of this building was, by far, the CRYPT. Honestly, it felt like the crypt was infinitely larger than the upstairs, filled with graves of notable individuals such as Rousseau, Voltaire, Marie Curie, Victor Hugo, Alexander Dumas, and many many more. Definitely worth the freezing cold hands I suffered, haha.
So after that, we went down another street (from which we could see the Eiffel Tower) towards the Luxembourg Palace and Gardens, where we roamed around for a little while observing the grounds and the palace's exterior. Running a little short on time, we went from there to a crepe place besides a little church for dinner, passing some armed policemen with riot shields and batons along the way (there were lots and lots of armed policemen and army men carrying semiautomatic weapons in Paris--somewhat frightening, but also kinda intriguing for a crazy person like me, lol). French crepes? Delicious! As if they could be anything else. . .
After sitting a bench briefly to eat, we headed off to the Louvre--that's right, the LOUVRE!--where we stood in line for about a half hour in front of the pyramid, watching the sun set from the courtyard. Once again, thanks to visas/permissos, we got in FREEEEEEE. (You gotta love that about Paris, haha.)
You can't really describe the Louvre, though I will try to touch upon a few observations I made while there. . . Firstly, we started off with the Italian wing, searching (of course) for the overly-popular Mona Lisa. And while the painting was as enigmatic as expected, I just don't. . . quite. . . get it. It was a small painting, honestly overwhelmed by all of the innumerable art surrounding it. It seems just one more painting in the bunch--albeit, a widely recognized one. Not that it isn't a great work or anything, it just wasn't as magnificent as you are always led to expect.
Outside of the room with the Mona Lisa, I spent quite a bit of time examining some paintings by Michelangelo, from very tiny in size to pretty average. Gotta say, I liked those better than the Mona Lisa, sooooooo, yeah. Of course, with only about 2 more hours until the Louvre closed, I headed off on my own to wander the halls, passing through the Italian paintings, the Greek and Roman sections (with the Victory of Samothrace!!!), and lots and lots of other art. I spent quite a bit of time in the Egyptian section, then headed off to the area where they displayed furnishings typical to the palace back when it was a palace--and even the grandeur of those apartments could not prepare me for my trip to Versailles the following morning! I then progressed downstairs to the Cour Marly and Cour Puget, courtyards filled with gorgeous statues laid out in an open space to great effect. I passed through the sections of French sculpture to the beginning of the Mesopotamian era artifacts, stumbling upon the code of Hammurabi shortly before I had to head up to the info desk to meet my friends--a work that I stood in front of for 5-10 minutes as I pondered the vast influence this simple stone, covered with small, inscribed figures, had on the history of kingdoms, cities, and their governance.
As the Louvre closed, I reunited with my friends to head off on a walk down the Seine towards the Eiffel Tower, looking up for the searchlights and top of the tower to navigate as we passed by the Musee d'Orsay and other impressive buildings we knew not at the time. Approaching the Eiffel Tower from the back, we came from a smaller alley into an open space to find the tower right above us, shining in the night. While I am not a huge fan of the tower from a distance, when seeing the trusses and detailed structure of the metal, you cannot help but appreciate the sheer massive skill and the skill that went into the creation of this monument, temporary though it may have been originally. Due to the time, we were unable to take the stairs or go all the way to the top, but we were able to ascend to the second floor, observing Paris from above. The views were gorgeous, the tower awesome (in the truest sense of the word), and the sparkling lights (though seizure inducing) were stunning when they began on the hour.
Thus, after descending by inclined elevator, we headed back to our hostel, not getting into our rooms til around 2 am after walking somewhere between 16 and 20 miles for the day, in addition to traveling from Pisa to Paris. Definitely a busy and exhausting day.
Nonetheless, knowing we had less than a day and a half left in Paris, of course I was up at 6 am so that we could head out by 7 am to take the RER out to Versailles. [And may I just say how simultaneously convenient and frustrating the Paris metro is? It is so well organized and easy to navigate, and yet minutes after buying my tickets I had to ask a guy at the info desk to validate my ticket because the machines would not read it (a process I had to repeat at least twice more), and we went to one station where we almost couldn't board because the ticket machine was out of order--quite frustrating, though it did not end up being a problem, luckily.]
. . . [More to come tomorrow--it is now bedtime. One day down, one and a half to go!! Haha.]. . .
Getting to Versailles wasn't too bad, though we had to walk to a tram, take the tram to an RER station, take the RER to a later stop, get off and switch trains, and then walk to Versailles at the final stop--where we got to wait about half an hour before we could get in, which just meant lots and lots of pictures of the sparkly golden gates, haha. Then, thanks to our lovely permissos/Visas, we were able to get in free of charge and explore the luxurious halls and chambers of one of the most famous palaces in history.
Not saying that I didn't enjoy Versailles, but I have often realized on this trip how much I would despise having to live in such baroque apartments--it just seems so stiff, uncomfortable, so un-home-like. So while I definitely enjoyed touring the palace (especially the Hall of Mirrors! It was soooooo gorgeous!!! :) ), I also realized that I do not understand how people could rationalize spending the equivalents of 10s of billions of dollars on a single building, haha.
The gardens at Versailles were also neat, as were the Grand and Petite Trianon, though I have no doubt that I would have enjoyed the gardens more if all of the trees and flowers were alive, all of the fountains were on, and all of the statues uncovered--one of the downsides of going during the slower off-season. Nonetheless, the topiary was cute, the gardens and enclosed structures (such as colonnades, outdoor ballrooms, columns, obelisks, etc.) intriguing, and the canal with its swans and rowboats was beautiful and serene. Eating one of our cheapest meals inside Versailles, sitting outside by the water chowing down on French onion soup and French French fries with no service charge and free water was also an unexpected treat, haha.
From Versailles we took the RER and then the metro back into Paris to head into the Musee d'Orsay--possibly my favorite part of all of Paris! I'm a big fan of impressionist art, and the statues and carvings and paintings and sketches here were just. . . phenomenal! Spending hours staring at Carriere, Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Degas, Rodin, Pisarro, Matisse, and so much more. . . God, it was a fantastic afternoon and evening, even if my feet were killing me afterwards. But to be able to stand inches away from a Van Gogh, watching a little Parisian girl sketch the painting in her notebook like this was an everyday occurrence, to stand behind a giant clock and look out over the Seine and the Louvre, to circle around Degas's ballerina with her satin ribbon and tulle skirt--it was unreal. To sit on a bench engineered to look like nothing more than water and stare for over 15 minutes at a painting of Monet's lilies, observing not only the painting but those looking at it, I realized, once again, exactly how lucky I am this semester.
After the Orsay, we headed out to grab a take-away dinner, for me a shrimp salad sandwich, a chocolate tart, and a Coke. We walked down a few streets to sit at a bench overlooking a few grand buildings and the Eiffel Tower to finish eating and watch the sunset, just relaxing and reveling in the experience that is Paris. From there, we walked back to the Eiffel Tower, meeting up with the fourth person in our group who had split off to find the catacombs (and who unfortunately hadn't been feeling well the entire trip). Rather than go back up the Eiffel Tower (due to cost and long lines) we walked over the bridge and out to the Arc d'Triumph. (Also, beware the profusion of cops and soldiers near the Eiffel Tower; we even got to see them stop an improptu rap concert. :/ ) After finding the underground passage to the Arc (thank goodness; crossing that street would have been a death sentence!), we went down and got our--once again thank you visas!--free tickets to visit the arc and climb to the top. The view from the top was stunning, and we got to overlook the Champs d'Elysses and the Eiffel Tower, once again timing it perfectly so that we got to see the tower sparkle against the dark of night.
Thus ended our second day in Paris, with the only event remaining the long walk and metro ride back to the hostel. We turned in semi-early (got to bed by midnight, woo! haha), and got to sleep in til almost 7 before having to get up, check out of the hostel, and head off by metro to the underground entrance to the Louvre. We managed to get there before the long line, standing in front of the Louvre entrance staring at the inverted pyramid as the minutes before opening ticked by. After entering the Louvre for free for the second time, we headed off in separate directions, seeing what we could in the two hours we had remaining before we were forced to head off (or at least Daniel and I) to catch the metro to meet up with our bus shuttle to the airport.
Of course we left just enough time to stop in a fancy little underground shopping center and grab lunch--a delicious crunchy wrap with who knows what deliciousness in it. I got to make the server laugh with my terrible French pronunciations (at least I tried, haha), and then we sat and enjoyed our last meal in Paris before catching our bus and flying back into Pisa before running to the train back to Arezzo. A busy weekend, but a glorious one!
Now, I just have to survive a couple more midterms and a few more days of classes before I am able to leave on my adventure of 3 countries in 10 days--more specifically, my spring break trip to London, Dublin, and Berlin!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHH! I'm so excited, haha.
Ciao!
Image Information. All of these are personal photos, taken from March 6 to March 8, 2015. They are, respectively: piers of the Eiffel Tower at night;
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