Paris

Definitely in Paris

So, relatively speaking my journey to Paris from London was uneventful. I got to St. Pancras, realized I have a ridiculous amount of luggage in comparison to everyone else, and boarded the train. I'm pretty sure I passed through the Chunnel, but it was dark so there wasn't much to see in the transition from England to France. The sky got grayer and cloudier as we approached Paris and right when I walked outside to stand in line for a taxi at Gare du Nord, it started pouring. Of course my umbrella was packed somewhere in the depths of my suitcase along with my rain coat, so I got rained on. One of my bags isn't waterproof so some things got damp, but it wasn't too bad. Nothing disastrous thank goodness, knock on wood. So I made it to Paris and took a taxi to the hotel. Thursday was a free day so I decided to head to the catacombs. Unfortunately the line was super long and I was told that I wouldn't be able to make it in before they closed at 4PM. So I journeyed over to the Pompidou Center to see some more modern art. Also, this is pretty accurate :)

Hanging spices

Sofa

Now, this is just my opinion, but that building is such an eye sore. It looks like it's under construction, which it may be, I don't know. Anyways, the museum was free for those under 25 so that was a bonus! I have to say, I liked the selection at the Pompidou Center better than what they had at Tate Modern, though there were still a few questionable pieces, such as the gray square on the white wall as well as the red room. I'm not sure if it was part of an exhibition or not, actually. Tate Modern was mostly just paintings with a few sculptures, but at the Pompidou Center there were sculptures, paintings, and strange things.

Art

I can't explain it, but it was fun to see all of these different takes on what art is and having to discern whether a wall was really just a wall or part of an exhibit.

Sacre Coeur

On Friday we began the day with a bus ride and then took the metro to Montmartre where we walked around for a bit, hiking up to Sacre Coeur and from then on we were free. I once again tried to visit the catacombs, but the line was super long again and we were told that we most likely wouldn't make it in before 4 PM (we had gotten there around 1:30!). So we left and wandered, found a crepe stand that made giant crepes (I got banana-nutella) which were delicious and this made me realize how sad the crepes in America are compared to French crepes. From there we wandered, ending up in some sketchy cemetery area and decided it would be best to find the metro to take us to an area we were familiar with. That's the best thing about public transportation - you don't have to rely on your own sense of direction as much.

Pont des Arts

We pretty much just walked along the Seine where a lot was going on, probably in preparation for the music festivals or it could just be a happenin' place on Friday. We visited Pont des Arts which had a bunch of locks on it - very picturesque - and we witnessed some guy attempting to take one off. Guess it didn't work out. After, I went in search

Pont Alexandre III

of Pierre Hermé, a patisserie. I bought some macarons and I have to say they were surprisingly good even though there were strange flavors like rose. Very expensive though. Later in the evening we went on a boat tour down the Seine and though the tour part was boring, it was really good people watching. My evening ended with briefly experiencing a dance party by the Louvre, part of the music festival. We chose to walk back to the hotel because we thought it was closer than it turned out to be. Boulevard St. Germain is an incredibly long road. Seriously. It just keeps going.

Saturday was the last day we spent in Paris before heading to Montpellier and I finally made it inside the catacombs after a two-hour wait in line. It was pretty creepy and somewhat sinister with the piles of bones and skulls. It was all surprisingly neat though, meaning the bones were stacked in an organized and thoughtful manner. The word decorative could possibly be used. Honestly, it reminded me of the Chamber of Secrets. I could definitely see a basilisk living down there. It was also really damp with puddles of water in some places. Apparently people have been known to steal bones, which I find disturbing, but I suppose it's true because there seemed to be missing skulls in certain areas. I mean, why would you want a random skull? I feel like it lacks significance.

At around 11PM we got in line for the Eiffel Tower, but before we got our tickets they closed the top, which was disappointing. We went up to the second level and you can see why Paris is called the City of Light. I've never seen the Eiffel Tower light up at night before, so I thought it was really cool, especially when the lights started blinking. Unfortunately our metro cards expired at midnight so we walked back rather than pay for another card. We walked along the Champs Elysées past the Arc de Triomphe and Paris at night is just different from Paris in the day. There's just a different atmosphere. By the time we got back though, my feet felt like they were going to fall off and I was ready to pass out. Next stop Montpellier!