Pourquoi Pas Paris?

As mentioned previously, this week I took an impromptu trip to France! Thursday was a holiday in Europe - called Ascension - so students were free to travel. In fact, my host parents took off for the week as well: they're in Mont Saint-Michel, France checking out the Normandy beaches.

So, on Tuesday night, I boarded a train to Paris with two friends from my program, OJ and Ana. Apparently I'm cursed when it comes to Parisian travel though: in high school, I took a train to Paris and wound up delayed 12 hours. This time, we were delayed for about three.... a slight improvement, but still a drag.

Instead of arriving at 10pm as expected, we arrived close to 1am, just after all of the métros had shut down. The station was a mess - there was an hour-long line for taxis and the TGV employees gave us little lunchbox survival kits with food and coloring books (which I of course put to good use). Fortunately though, the delay had affected all of the trains citywide and the authorities decided to extend métro hours. So, exhausted and hungry, we took the subway to our hostel at 2am and immediately crashed.

But the next morning, somehow, we managed to drag ourselves out of bed by 9am and hurry off to fit in as many Parisian activities as possible! First off was the Cathédrale Notre Dame. It's as beautiful as you'd imagine and it is free to go inside - perfect for cheapskate students. The stained glass was amazing and we showed up just in time to see some of the morning mass take place. Although, since I know my dad will ask, I have to say that Quasimoto was nowhere in sight.

After our Notre Dame visit, we took the métro out to Versailles, the royal palace and former residence of French kings and queens. I had always wanted to visit, but it is about 45 minutes out of the way on by train. But I have to say, even though there are many things to do within the city of Paris, this excursion is worth it!

It was drizzling a little bit when we first arrived to tour the château, but that didn't take away from the effect. The palace was magnificent. I had never seen so many ornate rooms! Every wall was embossed with carvings in gold, every room had multiple crystal chandeliers glinting in the light. It was rich, luxurious, and utterly over-the-top. My pictures can't even do it justice.

The famous Hall of Mirrors

Marie Antoinette's bedroom 

After touring the building in all of its glory, we went outside into the famous gardens. The grounds were enormous and the sun came out just in time for us. We meandered through acre after acre of carefully trimmed hedges, colorful flowers, and trickling fountains. Honestly, we could have spent an entire day wandering the gardens at Versailles - it's too bad we had only 48 hours in Paris and a lot of other things to do!

We stayed in Versailles until about 5pm, then left to meet up with my friend from college, Amelia, who is studying abroad in Paris. By sheer luck, we had planned this trip on her birthday so we decided to meet up for a picnic dinner by the Eiffel Tower! We bought bread, cheese, chocolate and wine (since it was her 21st birthday after all) and ate as the sunset over the Champs de Mars.

We stayed there until the tower lit up at 10pm - so beautiful

The next morning, we were up early again and ready with a loaded schedule! Our first stop was the Arc de Triomphe, which stands at the end of the Champs-Elysées (Paris' most famous street). Beneath it lies the Tomb of the Unknown Solider from World War I. It's a quick pit stop, but an important one nonetheless.

"Tombe du Soldat Inconnu" 

After checking out the monument, we strolled down the Champs-Elysées. It's a beautiful street with cafés, luxury shops, cinémas, and more (I was whistling this song the entire time, of course). We saved enough time to pop into La Durée, a shop known for its French macarons and treats. It was wildly expensive, as expected, but everything looked so adorable and delicious!

La Durée macarons

From there, we hustled over to the Louvre museum for a little photoshoot. The museums itself is fairly expensive and we didn't have much time, so we decided not to go inside. Unfortunately we had learned the hard way at Versailles that museum tickets are free for students studying abroad in Europe, but only if they're studying within the European Union. Switzerland, although within the continent, does not fall under that criteria :(

Just a block over from the Louvre, there is a bridge known as the Pont des Arts. It's very popular among tourists and in recent years, many couples have taken to attaching padlocks with their first names written on them to the side of the bridge (they throw the key into the river below as a romantic gesture). The city of Paris has yet to develop a protocol for dealing with this new phenomenon, but it does make for a nice photo spot!

Then, in front of the Louvre, are the extensive Tuileries Garden. This public garden, first created by Catherine de Medici in the 1500s, is another pretty (and free!) attraction. Since we luckily had some sun, and all of the flowers were in bloom, it was especially beautiful.

After all this running around, we were more than ready for lunch. But we weren't about to eat just anywhere. We had a very specific mission: to find the one and only Chipotle in Europe. This may sound like a ridiculous thing to do when you're visiting a culinary capital like Paris, but you have to understand - we eat plenty of French food in Switzerland. In fact, my host family is planning on cooking escargot for me this week. What we don't have, however, is Mexican food or American food (besides McDonalds). Finding Chipotle would be a major coup.

Success! First burrito in THREE months! 

After getting our fill of Chipotle goodness, we then embarked on one more mission before catching our train home: Montmartre. This hill to the north of Paris is a little bit out of the way, like Versailles, but also well worth the trip. It's an artsy neighborhood full of thrift shops and street vendors, and it is home to the gorgeous white-domed Basilica of Sacre-Coeur.

Visiting Sacre-Coeur was a big deal to me especially - that church and I go a long ways back. In the 9th grade, I had to make a model of the building for French class, and to this day it is probably the best school project I have ever completed (mostly because I was paired with my artistic friend Mikayla). Regardless, I had always wanted to visit the real place after that assignment.

Having finally accomplished my 9th grade dream, we then left for the train station. However, we did make one small pit stop on the way: the Moulin Rouge for a quick photo op. And since the trip would not have been complete without it, we stopped at a shop next door to buy some authentic (and cheesy) French berets :)

Paris was a whirlwind adventure, but an incredible experience. We crammed a lot into our short time there and even lucked out with the weather! (The forecast had been all rain). But Paris is one of those cities you could spend weeks in. Every visit is just a teaser - before you even leave, you're already planning the sites you want to go back to the next time. So for now I'll just say this: Paris, see you again soon