Paris - the city of stairs and confusing directions

I just got back from Paris, and I am a little bit sad that I do not speak French. I would have liked to have lived there or studied abroad in Paris for a semester. Luckily I was traveling with someone fluent in French so I did not have any trouble with communication. If I had been by myself, or when I was without Jenna, communication involved a lot of hand motions and pointing. I am sure the Parisians appreciated these exchanges as much as I did. There was one incident the first morning in our hotel. We were told that there was a two euro breakfast available, but not what it consisted of. I went downstairs early to check it out while everyone was finishing getting ready. I was in and see where the hotel has a counter area set up with the food. I am looking at the food and trying to find a sign or menu that tells me what is being served. The waitress sees me and says I have to sit down. I reply in a mixture of English and hand gestures that I don't want to sit until I see what is being served. Does she have a menu? She takes me over to the front desk where there are two hotel employees. Both speak a little bit of English. I am trying to explain what was going on and try to repeat my request of seeing what they had before I sat down. It was no use. I didn't understand them. They didn't understand me. Finally I just gave up and told them that my friend, who spoke French, was coming down soon, and I would wait. Jenna came downstairs and everything was worked out. We ended up not eating there, but we did eat there this morning...for free. Why this was the case I have no idea, but I am grateful.

When we got in we saw the outside of Notre Dame and took a boat tour along the Seine River. It was dark outside so my pictures did not come out, but it was beautiful to look at. All of the buildings were lit up. The Eiffel Tour was lit up blue with thirteen stars on it. This is going for two months to celebrate the French president of the European Union.

The next morning we went to the Louvre. We had bought Museum Passes at the train station the day before (30 Euros for 2 days) and got to skip the line to buy tickets. We went into the Egyptian exhibit, French painters, Italian sculpture, and Italian paintings. Most notably we saw the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and La Liberté guidant le peuple. Everyone always says that the Mona Lisa is so small that by the time I saw it I was surprised by how big it was. I was expecting something the size of a notebook and it was much bigger than that. The Louvre was slightly overwhelming, but we went in with the idea that we were never going to see everything and that we only had a few things we had to see.

Afterwards we went into Notre Dame, which is gorgeous. The architectural details on the outside and the stained glass on the inside are awe inspiring. I feel awkward going into churches sometimes. I think of it as a beautiful building, but it does not mean anything to me spiritually. Even if I was spiritual I would have a hard time spending up to ten euros to light a candle for someone and pray. This is probably why I am not spiritual. For me it would be like spending ten euros to pray to Santa. Besides, how can one not be close to something spiritual in a beautiful church like Notre Dame with or without a candle?

We then went to the D'Orsay. This was my museum - Degas, Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Manet, Renoir. Oh, Impressionism, how I love it! A few years ago my aunt took me to an outdoor scultpure museum. Part of the museum was painting that were recreated with sculptures. On of the Monet's that was at the D'Orsay was the original painting that one of these "sculpture settings" was based off of. The painting is called "Essai de figure en plein air (vers la guache)."

We also saw the Arc de Triomphe, and Jenna and I walked up the 284 stairs to see the view from the top. The Arc de Triomphe was not one of my favorite things that we saw, and the stairs were hard to climb, but it was still interesting to see Paris from the top of the Arc. After the Arc de Triomphe we split up. I went back to the Louvre to see there costume and textiles exhibit and everyone else went to the Rodin Museum.

The costume exhibit was so beautiful. It was comprised of forty years of clothing from Valentino. The museum had divided it up into different sections labeled volume, lines, themes (feathers, animal prints, flowers), etc. The clothing was gorgeous and couture so it was completely over the top. The only down side was that I was not allowed to take pictures.

After that we met back up and went to the Eiffel Tower and took pictures together. The sun was bright and the tower is very, very tall. These two obstacles combined made us try forty different settings, combinations of sitting and standing, distance between photographer and model, model and tower. Eventually we discovered the perfect setting. There was a Canadian couple near us and we told them that we would take a picture of the two of them in front of the Tower if they took a picture of us. This worked out well for everyone.

This morning we went to Versailles. It took us a long time because not only did we have to switch trains three times, but one of the trains we switched two had broken down. We walked instead. We got to Versailles around 10 AM, which is when it opens. It was still a fifteen minute wait in line to get in. We bought the garden pass and the audio tour. It was very interesting to have the inside look into all of the different things in the room and the purposes of them. Without the audio guide it would have been a confusing mass of guilt. The problem with it being so crowded is that you get pushed along by the crowd into the next room whether you want to leave or not.

When we got back into Paris, we went to the Sacre Coeur. It was another beautiful church, but different from Notre Dame. First off, it is at the top of a hill that you have to climb. Then if you want to see the dome, which we did, it is more stairs. The building though has more mosaics than architectural details. The stained glass is different too. The pieces are bigger giving it a more comic book of Jesus' life kind of look. The view from the church is great, but the view from the dome is amazing. It is a 360 degree view of the city. The stairs to get up to the top though are small, tight, and winding. If someone is claustrophobic, they could not handle it.

After the Sacre Coeur, we caught the train for Mannheim. We were sweaty and tired with aching muscles and blistered feet. We need to sleep for a week, but instead will wake up at 7:30 AM for five hours of German instruction. Even so, it was worth it. We saw Paris in forty-eight hours, and I loved it.