i took an ICE to Nurnberg to meet up with Ryan Kelly (the sweet guy that took me to paris).We had to take two different flights to Paris because of the time we bought our tickets and because waiting just a week or so to buy your tickets can change the price by 100 dollars. So, he left first on his flight and I waited four hours in the airport, wandering around the duty free shop, waiting to take my one hour flight over to meet him.
We stayed in a lovely hotel in Paris that was in a very good location (near the Eiffel Tower) with his grandmother who was doing a tour with a group of people over 70.
We got to see everything in Paris even though we were only there for 3 whole days (four if you count the day we came in but it was late at night). We took a free city tour with a wonderful tour guide. She was so sweet and filled with information and history about the city. It was a walking tour that lasted four hours but when you live in Europe, you get used to walking and Ryan and I were hardly tired afterwards.
So, we went on another tour with the same woman later that night in Montmartre. That's were Moulin Rouge is. It was cool, hip and the tour was filled with loads of interesting facts about artists that used to live there like Van Gogh. The tour also took us to the Basilica which is an beautiful church at the highest point in Paris. So, once you get there you can see the entire city, including the Eiffel Tower. Since our tour was at night we were able to see all the lights of Paris and the Eiffel Tower all lit up. The city honestly sparkles. At the end of the tour we got a free glass of wine. How could it get any better?
The next day we took a tour at the Palace of Versailles. We saw 16 rooms of the 700 hundred rooms in the Palace. All of which were beautiful for the most part with incredible ceilings. Some rooms were a little tacky and overdone but I guess that's just how they did it back then. The Hall of Mirrors was beautiful and the name says it all. It's filled with windows on one side that show the amazing courtyard.
Later that day we took a trip to Musee d'Orsay, Notre Dame, and Le Louvre.
In d'Orsay I saw the original Van Gogh self portrait and some original Monet. Notre Dame was absolutely gorgeous inside and out. Part of my kept expecting to see the Hunchback (okay just kidding). And the Louvre was huge, to say the least. In my opinion the Mona Lisa is definitely worth going to see. The colors of the painting have an effect and are beautiful. Its small but not as small as everyone says. That night at the Louvre there was a full moon and the best part of that trip was going up to where the invisible triangles lie and admiring the view. It was a very romantic night.
The last day, the sun was actually shining!! In November the sun hardly shines and the weather wasn't supposed to be good, so this was a pleasant surprise. We had been rushing to see everything in Paris since we got there and on our last day (the day we were leaving) we decided to take it slow and go back to look at two things we had already seen but a little closer and with more time. We went to the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triumph. We didn't get the chance to go up either one (each is supposed to provide a beautiful view of the city) but that's okay because I have decided that before I go back to the states in June I will try to make another trip to Paris. Or Maybe in the next couple of years I will study abroad there. I've always wanted to learn French.
No comments:
Post a Comment