Paris is the City of Light, Love, and most other words that start with "L". And it's on almost everyone's places-to-see list - from college students to retirees, from goopy couples to singles looking for love, from fashionistas to people wishing they were fashionable...
Like my older posts, this one will be in day order. But since many of you may visit Paris sometime, I'm going to classify some of the big sights it as "Must See" or "Meh" or "Must Never Be Repeated". Just be prepared, this will be an image heavy post!
If you want a super cute blog about studying and living in Paris, my friend Laura has an adorable blog - Joie de Vivre. Just clicky here or check the right side bar!
But I must clear up one thing - About the Paris Metro. It's just as famous (or infamous) as Paris itself and lots of tourists for some reason fear it.
Like most things in life, you really just need to know which direction you're headed. It's not enough to just know the stop you want, but also know the last stop on the line in the direction you're heading. It's not hard, but the signage in the Metro is not always clear. We walked past exits (in French, sortie) or transfers exits because the arrows usually mean "YEAH THE EXIT IS RIGHT HERE, SILLY" and not "KEEP WALKING DOWN THE PLATFORM".
Also, don't look afraid or unsure. It makes you a target for pickpockets or con artists in the station. The ticket machines can be weird, but 99.9% have an English language option. It makes life a lot easier! The tickets are not too expensive (about 1.20 Euro per ride) and you can buy a pack of ten. Most of the things you want to see are in Zone 1 so don't waste your money buying other Zone tickets. (Except for Disney, which is in Zone 5. Buy a special ticket for that if you're coming from the city. We learned the hard way!)
Most importantly - hang onto your ticket! You'll need it when you leave the station!
And definitely grab a map from the ticket counters. They are free and come in handy!
Overall - Don't be afraid of the Metro. You can be afraid of the hobos that sleep there. You can be afraid of the unique smells each station has. You can be afraid of how graffiti-ed the Metro is. But don't be afraid of it, there is nothing to fear if you use common sense.
Le premier jour (Day One)
Our real first day in the real Paris was actually scurrying around, trying to find our hostel after spending the day at Disney, but that's not really exciting, so I'm going by full days.
We woke up late and missed the tour, so we narrowed down our options and began our Parisian experience at the Louvre Museum. Arguably the most respected and most renowned art museum in the world, the Louvre is filled with some of the most famous and recognizable works of art. Like many other museums in Europe, the art was acquired (read: stolen) from other lands. The Louvre was originally a palace for the Kings and Queens of France and the first pieces of art were gifts from artists and other aristocrats. After the French Revolution, the National Assembly converted the palace into an art gallery. When Napoleon reigned as Emperor, he brought back treasures from across Europe and Africa to France. During WWII, the art was smuggled out or hidden the basement to protect it from looters and bombs. Today, it flourishes with over 35,000 objects that are visited by 8.5 million people per year.
Visitors go inside the main pyramid to the underground lobby.
One of the wings of the museum
The Louvre has 3 wings, all connected by an underground lobby beneath the main glass pyramid. We were disheartened when we got in line, since it was so long! Luckily, it moved along pretty quickly. Even better for us - the museum was free! Quick fact: if you're an art student or you're a student in an EU country (bring along your visa!) you can get in for free! Armed with our maps (pick one up, you're gonna need it) and our cameras we set out to find the best pieces of art.
Babylonian arches. Size perspective given by Helina, Rachel,
and Emily.
An Assyrian lion that has not weathered well!
We thought it was a frog at first!
The Code of Hammurabi, one the first
written examples of laws in the world.
It also features the phrase "an eye for an eye".
Fleet-footed Mercury guides us through
the sculpture section
Emily vs. Angsty Baby - who will win?!
Hey there, naked lady.
The theme of "Naked Guys Killing Stuff"
was really popular.
(This is Hercules, by the way)
Joan of Arc was the only one with clothes on in the exhibit
Mufasa, why!?
That's a lot of art.
For those of you who worship Greek deities, this is Artemis,
For those of you who worship Roman ones, Diana.
For those of you who know history,
it's King Henry II's mistress, Diane de Poitiers.
The Louvre is also filled with an amazing
Egyptian collection.
An amazing example of an
Egyptian sphinx.
The sun god, Ra, strikes a pose.
For kids and grownups, the Egyptian collection
is super cool.
In my opinion, the Louvre Museum is a "Must See". You definitely need a day to even scratch the surface of the massive amount of artwork there. But come prepared with a game plan. The Louvre will defeat you if you're not ready. As a tour guide put it, "After the 100th 'Madonna and Child', you just go stumbling around like a zombie." Unless you're an expert on a certain artist, genre, or time period, the Greatest Hits (Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, and the Mona Lisa) are pretty close together and a good place to start. Then you can spend the rest of the time there finding your new favorite work of art. But bring a lunch or eat before - the cafe there is not cheap and the restaurants nearby are major tourist traps.
Deux Jour (Day Two)
Day Two was spent touring the big sights in Paris. Helina recommended a tour company that she had used in Amsterdam - Sandeman's Free Europe. It was a great suggestion!
The company does free walking tours (about 2-3 hours) through most of the major cities in Europe. The guide tells you historical and fun stories about the places you get to see and at the end, you pay the tour guide what you think the tour was worth. It's brilliant! And for college students on a slim budget, the tour is ideal. Plus, on most of the tours they take you to a local restaurant that sponsors the tour. On the Paris tour, we went to an authentic French restaurant. Rachel was brave enough to try the snails! Quotable quote: "It tastes like a lake."
Here are some of the sights and stories:
We begin at St. Micha - REALLY EMILY?!
The tour started at St. Michael's Plaza, near the Seine River
and Notre Dame.
An old government building that still has bullet holes
from WWII when the French Resistance stormed in
and took it back from the Nazis after D-Day.
King Henry IV of France - one of the most beloved Kings
of France. Survived about 25 assassination attempts and died
taunting his final assassin (a crazy monk) with the phrase,
"Is that the best you can do?"
Another view of the Seine River from the Pont Neuf bridge.
L'Académie française, home of the governing body that preserves the French language. The members of the committee are known as les immortels (yes, "The Immortals") and you can onlybecome an immortal after another has died. It's hard core. For your edification, the committee just lately ruled (after 3 months of debate) that an iPod is masculine. That's le iPod to you.
Love locks on the Pont des Arts bridge. The bridge connects the
the Academie to the Louvre.
Couples write their initials on a lock with the date to "lock"
their love together, forever.
Unless of course you use a combination lock.
Another shot of the Academy.
Rachel longs to be an Immortal.
But first she might need to learn French!
Rachel relaxes on the Pont des Arts.
Louvre, dead ahead.
Many famous movies and tv shows from the Bourne Identity
to Sex and the City have shot famous scenes on the bridge.
And of course, one of the best scenes of one of my favorite movies was shot here.
Taken with Liam Neeson.
Aka that movie about kidnapping
you show to your parents
after you come back from Europe.
Meanwhile, back the the Louvre...
The petite arc de triomphe - the unloved younger sibling.
Seriously Emily.
Seriously.
A ministry building on the other side of the Louvre.
During the belle epoque, Paris was rebuilt by a famous
architect, Haussmann, with wide avenues
leading to other landmarks.
Note how you can see the Paris Opera House in the distance.
The Luxor Obselisk, a "gift" from Egypt to France
It marks the Place de la Concord ("place of harmony")
which was the spot for all the beheadings during
the French Revolution.
It was renamed to be more charming.
The Eiffel Tower ahead!
Your Humble Blogger.
Blinded by the sun.
A shot down the Champ-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe!
The Petit Palais ("The Little Palace") - now a museum.
The Petit Palais saved Paris from destruction in WWII. True Story.
After D-Day and as the Allies began to kick some butt and take a lot of names, Hitler had ordered his generals to burn Paris to the ground before the Allies got there in a childish fit of "If I can't have it, nobody can". However, one general was so in love with the city that he decided that he was going to directly refuse Hitler's orders. Instead, he decided to burn the Petit Palais after filling it flammable objects. The heat from the fire made the glass ceiling explode and smoke billowed across the whole city. When Hitler called to famously ask "Is Paris burning?" The other generals replied, that yes, it looked really on fire, what with the smoke and fire and noise and all. This saved Paris from the destruction of WWII and the general from being executed by the Allies. Win-win.
We loiter around the bridges.
The Eiffel Tower was not meant to be
permanent. But people lobbied to keep it up
after the World's Fair.
Emily!
Rachel!
Underside of the Tower.
Now the Eiffel Tower is the most iconic and most recognizable symbol of Paris, let alone France. Every tourist will visit the Eiffel Tower, so here are some tips:
1) You don't need to go all the way to the top of the Tower - the second level of the Tower affords great views of the city. Going up to the top just makes the views appear farther away.
2) The line for the elevator is long and the tickets are expensive. There is a cheaper option but it requires some serious cardio! So really, it's your choice. But if you've never seen Paris from above, it's a "Must See". Check out Emily's blog to see her climb to the top!
3) Go on a cloudy day or in the evening. Bright sunlight doesn't produce as good of photos and in the evening you can get pictures of sunsets as well as the light show from the Tower.
Emily.
Emily under the fish eye lens effect.
Yep. I hang out with these people.
Proof that I can occasionally be a good
photographer.
The Tower lights up!
Sorry the video is sideways, but you get
the gist of it!
Afterwards, we looked around for something to do. Luckily, Rachel knew that one museum, the Musee du quai Branly, was open late. The quai Branly holds a huge collection of art and cultural artifacts from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and America. Like the Louvre, it had free admission for EU and art students. The electric garden entrance to the museum was very cool at night.
Psychedelic!
The museum had a open, modern design with a giant, large circular spiral staircase. It's organized by region and combined music and art. You are accompanied up the staircase by "a river of words" which includes words and ideas that you will see in the museum. It was really pretentious and pretty cool.
Some of the exhibits (like the exorcism masks from India) were quite scary, especially in the dim light of the museum. It was a pretty cool museum, but not one I would have paid to see. Unless you have a really strong interest in art from the regions, the museum can become quite overwhelming. The quai Branly gets a "Meh" rating from me.
De trois jours (Day 3)
We were pretty exhausted after the long tour the day before so we slept in a bit. We then decided we were going to start off the day with some exciting "memento mori" goodness by visiting the Paris Catacombs. The thing about the Paris Catacombs is that well...they aren't just tunnels beneath the city.
In the 17th century, Paris had a major problem. They had too many dead people and not enough space to bury them. So instead of moving the bodies out to another burial site beyond the city limits, they dug tunnels and (un)ceremoniously dumped the skeletons of Parisians past into the tunnels. Not content to be just gross, the guys in charge of the catacombs decided to to rearrange the body parts to make walls of bones.
Since the History Channel is WAY better at explaining stuff (and making it super dramatic to boot), I found a video from their show "Cities of the Underworld" where they talk a bit about these "Catacombs of Death". Go 14:30 minutes in to watch the little segment on the catacombs. Their filming is way better than my photos!
Yep, as you can imagine this NOT high on my list to see. Add to that, the line was long and it was quite expensive - we weren't even given a map - and the majority of the plaques were unfinished or only in French. Luckily, we were joined by a friend of mine who is also studying in Paris, Laura! (Scroll up to the top of the entry to see the link to her blog!) Although this was not the ideal place to catch up, waiting in line for an hour and half worked some of the magic.
Laura braves goes ahead into the
dark, creepy, and occasionally damp
catacombs!
My thoughts exactly Emily.
The builders constructed replicas of ancient cities
for fun, I guess.
Freshwater well at the bottom where the catacombs meet
the river bed of the Seine.
Indiana Jones would be proud of us.
"Stop! This is the Empire of the Dead"
Jolly, right?!
This is all my nightmares come true.
Just make it stop.
Masses and other services were held down here
for the dead.
This place gives me the heebee jeebees
A giant arch supports the rock dome.
A morbid gift shop for all your catacomb needs!
I really like the skeleton Janga. Classy.
Overall, the catacombs were interesting, but not worth the long wait or the price tag. It was pretty morbid, so it's hardly a family attraction and I wanted to get out as soon as I got in. Although it's a cool conversation starter, I'm still filing this one under "Must Never Be Repeated".
We then ate a leisurely Parisian lunch and Laura helped me perfect my meager French! I was able to successfully order "une omelette au frommage et jambon" (which is a cheese and ham omelette to you).
Next up on our list was of course, the famous cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris (Our Lady of Paris)! (Not to be confused with the university in Indiana. It's also pronounced differently!!) Despite the rain, we had to fight through a giant crowd of tourists. Admission is free to Notre Dame, but because it's jammed packed with people, it's difficult to really respect the beauty of the inside. Nevertheless, it's really lovely and it's a "Must See".
When the cathedral was set for demolition in the 1800s, this one guy named Victor Hugo (no biggie, he wrote some other stuff apparently) decided to write a book to save the church, which he called Notre Dame de Paris. The English title is better known - The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The book's publication was a major success and saved the church. (By the way, the Disney movie mangles the plot. To say it ends unhappily is a bit of an understatement.)
I can't spot a bell-ringer, can you?!
The famous Rose Window.
De quatre jours (Day 4)
We spent the Sunday visiting the loveliest church in Paris - Basilique du Sacré-Cœur (The Basilica of the Sacred Heart) - in Montmartre. The church sits atop the highest top in Paris and you can get some wonderful views of the city. It's a "Must See" but I advise not going on a Sunday. I found it very awkward to be inside during Mass. Although it's free to enter, it still felt like I was disturbing the worshipers (which only added to my Catholic guilt I was feeling for not going to church!).
It's a bit of a climb up the hill to get there!
But totally worth the effort!
Be careful to avoid the pick pockets on the steps!!
Our cloudy morning didn't afford the best views.
On the walk back down - Emily, Helina, and Rachel
Montmartre and its district is quirky and artsy. Unlike the rigid and planned city grid of the main part of Paris, Montmartre is a wonderland of twisty roads and narrow alleys. Home to the studios of great artists like Dali, Monet, Picasso, and Van Gogh, its still known today for its artsy scene and eclectic style. Many famous films, such as La Vie Ein Rose, Amelie, and Moulin Rouge! were filmed here.
As you go down the hill, you go from the religious to the um....more secular? I suppose that's the genteel way of phrasing it.
Montmartre is also home to Paris' infamous Red Light District and the even more famous Moulin Rouge.
I love this movie so much.
All I just have to say is: Ewan McGregor, you deceived me. The famous red windmill was totally unimpressive. What a let down! Since Red Light Districts aren't really my style, but other people might be interested in the sheer spectacle - I'm giving this a "Meh".
Yep. That's it.
Emily and Rachel!
Hey girls!
The Red Light District did have these grates (probably to push out air from the Metro) and we did our best Marilyn Monroe impressions!
Emily!
Yours Truly.
It's stunning, I know.
Rachel!
The Original.
Of course, if you're want to explore the Red Light District, the signs are none too subtle.
And very funny.
A supermarket.
A museum.
And...well, subtlety just went out the window.
We hopped onto the Metro from there and went back into the city, tying up the last couple things we wanted to see before we caught our bus. We did some shopping (only the window kind, since our wallets were crying) along the Champs-Élysées. We also got to see the Arc de Triomphe (the big one, the real deal). Sadly, we didn't get to climb up and take pictures. I guess we'll have to save that for when we go back!
Tourists be warned: Take the tunnel that goes under
the 12 spokes of traffic in the roundabout instead of
getting yourself killed.
Well, I hoped you enjoyed my Paris post! We had a great time, although it was too short!
Anyway, I'm going to end with a clip from one of my favorite movies "Sabrina" with Audrey Hepburn (not the terrible Harrison Ford version, are you kidding me?!).
Until next time dear readers!
Are you prepared for Hannah and Will's Excellent British Adventure!?
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