A Parisian by Any Other Name..

Oh how I love Paris!  I feel like I've lived under these blue domed roofs my entire life, or at least that I could live under them my whole life.

So on Wednesday, I FINALLY got together with some people from the other morning devotional group.  These people seemed to like the cultural and historical aspects of the trip which made the whole day so much more enjoyable.  I really like them.

Anyways, first we headed off to the Pantheon (not the Parthenon.  That's in Greece.  Took me a while to get that sorted out in my head).  I guess after King Louis XV recovered from some illness in 1744, he claimed it was due to prayers made to St. Genevieve.  So of course, he had to build this giant basilica turned temple of the nation in her honor.  It really is gorgeous though.  There are huge murals of St. Genevieve's life covering many of the walls (as well as Joan of Arc.  Don't know how they correlate..).  The best part, though, is the crypt underneath.  No, not like a mildewy walls, cobb webs, and iron clad windows sort of crypt.  This crypt is widely famous because it houses many very prestigious tombs such as Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Marie Curie, Jean-Jaques Rousseau (not the Rousseau from Lost), and Emile Zola (I actually don't know who this is, but it's the metro stop I get off at everyday, so I thought he was pretty cool).

So you're walking around Paris, you turn a corner, and BAM!  This incredible building just pops out of nowhere.  Happens er'day. 

 Not weird, just trying to imitate the frieze above the Pantheon.

 Inside the Pantheon.  What?!

 I didn't really know what this was, but I feel like this picture is Pintrest worthy.  Yes? 

 'Sup Voltaire.

 I had to take a picture of Marie Curie's tomb after reading her article on her discovery of radium in Chem 106.  She was crazy!

 Can't wait to see Les Mis in London!!

 I guess I was so distracted walking up the street by the Pantheon, that I didn't even notice this gorgeous chapelle right next to it.

So beautiful

After that, it was off to L'Orangerie!  Here, I had the foresight to get an audio guide. 

 Tip to anyone planning on traveling to Paris:  EVERYTHING is in French.  Therefore, if you want anything you see to be meaningful to you, get an audio guide or find an English translation.

I loved my L'Orangerie audio guide.  Apparently, in Monet's Nympheas (a.k.a. Water Lillies), he never paints the sky or the banks of the pond and the paintings are displayed in an ellipse all to symbolize infinity.  I just want to take that moment to impart to the world my now extensive knowledge of art.

I guess I was having a little too much fun with my audio guide because my grouped ditched me.  Well, not being one easily daunted by solitude, I headed off on my own to Musee Rhodin.

This time, not 80% of the artwork was of people in the nude, but 100%.  It didn't bother me as much this time, though.  I felt like Rhodin was more modest in his sculpting of the human body and wasn't inspired by the nakedness of the people themselves, but by the emotions inside them (I know, those audio guides are really getting to me).  My favorite was definitely "The Kiss" (cliche, I know).  There was just such tender emotion and passionate love portrayed in that sculpture.  Rhodin truly was a genius, or at least geniously talented.

"Boom, boom, fire power!"

 Jardin de Rhodin

So I wish I could add some pizzazz or at least some comic relief to my blog at this point because hearing about all this stuff that's pretty much only cool to me must be extremely boring.  Well, I got stuck between the automatic closing doors of the metro.  Sorry, that's all I've got.

The next day... you guessed it!  We saw some really awesome stuff again!  I was going to go with these girls to see a Medieval castle on the outskirts of Paris where this show Merlin takes place.  When we were half way there, however, we realized it was going to cost 41 euros to complete our journey.  I was torn.  I hate being the party pooper and ruining everyone's plans, but there was no way I could justify, mostly to my mom (hey Mom!), spending that huge sum of money to see any other castle I didn't have a personal interest in.  So I put on my big girl panties and headed back.  I guess my brave act of valor (yeah right, I'm such a wimp) inspired another girl to speak up and leave to.  So rather than spending a small fortune on traveling to a castle, we went to the Sacre Coeur (the Sacred Heart), which was free and well worth it.

The Sacre Coeur is (another) huge white church on a largish hill in Paris.  Walking in, we were met by the voices of angels.  I guess Mass or something was going on right then because all of the nuns were out, surrounded by candles softly glowing and light beaming through the stained glass windows.  Their beautiful, yet reverent voices echoed in harmony throughout the various corridors of the church.  I almost converted right there.  Seriously though, it was like walking into a dimly lit piece of heaven.  Loved it.

Took another really cool pic of me with one of those human statues.  He kept saying "tu es tres sportive!" when I hopped up to stand next to him.  So flattering :)  It's on my friend's camera though.  Darn.

After grabbing a nutella crepe (yummers), we stopped by the Hotel Soubise, which was... BORING.  They had no English translations anywhere.  I HATE it when there are no English translations.  I mean, I know I'm in France, duh, but over half the French population speaks English, and I'm sure that at least half of the Parisian economy subsists on tourism, so you'd think they'd be a little more courteous.  Well, enough about that.

 Hotel Soubise:  Home of the final letter of Marie Antoinette, that nobody but the French can read.

We then traipsed over to the Hotel Ville (which did have translations) to see the Holocaust exhibit.  SOO GOOD!  I love learning about the Holocaust.  I find it disturbingly and disgustingly fascinating that this atrocity could ever occur.  I hope my European History professor really focuses on it in our classes soon.

I think they might have been setting up for.. Men's Fashion Week?!

To conclude the day, I stopped by the Monoprix (pretty much the Walmart of Paris), grabbed a Taj Mahal sandwich and headed to the park for dinner and a good book.  Oh, and did I mention this park is right under the Eiffel Tower?  Sitting on a bench, finishing up the remains of a tigre (delish), as the lights on the Eiffel Tower began to twinkle, I felt like the happiest girl in the world.  There's no where else I would rather be than Paris.

 A blustery day, but not too cold for gelato!  They even shaped it into a flower!

 Tanning in the Tuileries.  Typical.

Just another day on the metro.

Ooooooh Champs Elysee

Just a little something to pass the time.

Well hello!

So, while the first two days of Paris were absolutely exquisite, the next two days.. not so much.  But it does end on a happy note!  So keep reading, if you’d care.

On Monday, our entire group took a walking tour around Paris.  Surprisingly, most of the big sights like the Louvre, the Tuilleries Gardens, the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, Pont Neuf, Notre Dame, and more are really close together.  Who needs the metro??  Our guide was pretty fun and knowledgeable about everything.  One of my favorite stories was about the man who assassinated Kind Henri IV. 

Now this king, though born Protestant, was probably one of France’s all time favorite kings.  So when his murderer was apprehended, the French decided that execution was not enough (and this, coming from the French).  Instead (beware, this is a bit PG-13), they took a hammer and smashed all the bones in his hands, cut up his body and poured hot lead into the wounds, and then they drew?  drawed? (whatever) and quartered him, a.k.a. they tied each arm and leg to a different horse and sent them running off in different directions.  And we think lethal injection is inhumane..

After that, I went with some girls who wanted to go shopping on the world renowned Champs Elysee.  I didn’t want to buy anything at those prices, but how cool is it to say, “Oh yes, I shop at the Champs Elysee.”   For those of you wondering what this weird word is (pronounced “shAms Aleesay”), it’s one of the various wide boulevards created by Napoleon III to de-stink Paris and is filled with only the highest end name brands such as Gucci, Louis Vitton, etc.  However, we did find an Abercrombie & Fitch.  It was enclosed by ginormous golden gates with two extremely attractive models/bouncers standing guard outside.  Ridiculous?  Not to the Parisians!

The packed, wide sidewalks of Les Champs Elysee

Hey, my birthday's coming up, remember?

You can only stare at things you’ll never afford for so long though.  The more practical minded of us went and sat down under the Arc de Triomphe (our dogs were barkin’) while the others continued to shop.  FOREVER.

 So I've heard that pictures taken from below make you look fat.  Well, this guy was like on the ground.  I couldn't agree more..

 Trying to get all artsy with the editing settings on my camera

 Inside L'Arc de Triomphe!

All of the ceilings here are so pretty!

Next comes my least favorite part of the whole trip (the whole 4 days of it) thus far.  I don't really know why I went- probably because it's ridiculous to go to bed at 10 in Paris or maybe because Moulin Rouge has grown on me- anyways, I went with a couple of girls to the red light district to check it out.  However, we were the ones being checked out.  I felt like a piece of meat.  Immediately, you could feel the spirit leave.  There wasn't a sign to be found without the words "erotic" or "porn" on it.  Not may favorite spot in Paris, and can't say I'll be going back any time soon.  Sick.

It's not called the red light district for no reason

The next day's adventures turned out somewhat better.  A group of us went to le Musee d'Orsay, a HUGE (though not as large as the Luvre) art exhibit in the heart of Paris.  Here, I viewed more portraits and sculptures of nude men and women than I have cumulatively in my life and learned in a most embarrassing manner that pictures are not allowed in museums.  To bad the French word for picture is "photo", otherwise I might have been able to pull a "dumb American".

Oh ya know, just ANOTHER music group serenading the ladies.

 Inside le Musee d'Orsay

"I like the different types of stone this guy used."  About the extent of my knowledge of art.

My favorite picture.  This time I actually figured out that the security people were yelling at me.

After that, I struck out on my own to explore.  I ended up in the Opera district where I found some BEAUTIFUL "les eglises" (churches) and an apparently popular macaroon shop.  A box of 14 was like 65 euros.  What?!  I still haven't looked up why it's so famous, but everyone was taking pictures, so I decided to take some too.

We ended the night all going out to dinner for Emily's birthday to this cute little restaurant, Le Chatlier, designed like a train station.  The food wasn't bad, but it wasn't up to par with everything else I've been eating (which is a lot).  However, the company was great.  All the girls in my group are way nice, and while I definitely have more in common with some rather than others, I like them all.

So despite the few low points, it's been another fantastic two days in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Feast your eyes  :)

Le Musee d'Orsay from across the Seine

 If you look hard, you can see the Egyptian Obelisk, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower even farther behind.

 Jardin Tuileries.  When a queen wants a garden, she gets a garden.  Can't wait to go running here!

 Entrance to the Louvre and the not so "invisible" pyramids.

 The Lauderee and their cher desserts

 Eglise de La Madeleine

 So beautiful

 Hopefully I'll be coming again on Friday to hear a Beethoven concert!

 Eglise Saint Augustin

"God only can be the response to the search for the truth and the love that every man bears in himself."

- Saint Augustine

Just a typical street in Paris.  No big.

Ermahgerd Perersh!

DAY ONE

Bonjour de Paris!!

Can you believe it??  because I can't!  I'm in Paris!!

Okay, not going to lie, I was REALLY nervous before I left Colorado, which is very unusual for me.  I mean, come on, I've moved every 3 years of my life!  I was definitely contemplating just turning around and going to Provo.

But I didn't.

The plane ride to Paris can be summed up in one word.  LONG.  I left the Springs at 8 in the morning and arrived in Paris around 9 THE NEXT DAY.  That gave me enough to for, eh, about 1 book, 15 games of solitaire, 4 movies, and 2 TV shows.  Who says you can't be productive on a plane?

On the second leg of my journey, I got up the nerve to talk to my seat-mate.  Turns out she's a Brazilian living in Texas for the past couple years and was visiting her daughter away at school in France for her birthday.  She was really helpful with calming my nerves about "the mean, snotty french" and using the transportation system, so much so I decided to skip meeting my group at the airport and try getting to my hotel on my own.

Maybe not the best idea.

After learning at the CDG (Charles de Gaule) info desk that the RER was undergoing major construction that day, I decided to take the bus.  Which I missed.  And I missed again.  Until an hour later, I finally (sort of) figured out which bus to take (just kidding, I was just so sick I waiting I hopped on the next bus and hoped for the best).  I met some really nice Iranian guys on the bus, but as soon as they asked where I was going, the "Taken" warning went off in my head, and our conversation ended there.  Couldn't really understand them anyway.

Turns out the bus took me straight past the Eiffel Tower and dropped me off at the Arc de Triomphe.  They are so beautiful!!  I can't wait to tour them this week.  From there I took the metro to several different wrong places before I finally got to Emile Zola, walked around a couple miles, and found my hotel.

So, though the journey was EXTREMELY long, I met some really nice people and saw some really beautiful sights, and yes, I am completely happy to be in Paris.

Please press play to more thoroughly enjoy the next part of this blog.. or to just help you get through the darn thing.

DAY TWO

AAAAHHHH!! Best day yet! Haha

So church was in VERSAILLES! and completely in French..

Even though I've taken, what, 8 years of French, I can't understand a lick of it, unless it's spoken by an American.  Their accents are terrible, wonderfully terrible.  However, almost everybody speaks at least a little English, so it was really fun talking to all the young single adults... especially the British missionary... beautiful English accent, beautiful French accent.  Who could ask for more??  Let's just say I'm REALLY excited to go back to Versailles for church next week, and it may not be for completely righteous reasons...

Anyways, I do believe my French has improved greatly, even in just the 48 hours we've been here.  Coming from the airport, I tried asking the bus driver "Where are we going?" (Nous allons ou?), but he couldn't understand me until some American translated my horrible French in to English.  How embarrassing.  In church today, though, I had a really good mixed English/French conversation with a girl who had just graduated from the French equivalent of high school.  Yay me!

Coming back from church on the train was just breathtaking.  All of the buildings are made of the aged looking yellow stone with wrought iron balconies, shutters that actually open and close, and beautiful flower boxes hanging out over the window.  It's so picturesque!  I've realized now I need to take my camera with me EVERYWHERE and not just to touristy things because everything is just so perfect.  I'm sorry fellow americans, but I may not be coming back.

After church, a group of us wanted to go to Notre Dame and just look around, but a girl forgot her metro ticket, so I ended up just walking around the grounds with her.

Oh my goodness, words cannot even describe how beautiful that part of the city is.  Cobblestone streets, lush gardens with cute wooden benches to people watch from, delicious smells filling the air, old men playing accordions on the street corner, and these gorgeous, towering monuments just everywhere.  The feeling you get just walking through the grounds of Notre Dame, looking up into the stone faces of the ancient Catholic saints, the "eyes of Notre Dame, is indescribable.  The majesty of of those stained windows and intricately carved walls (I know, I'm using totally obnoxious adjectives, but how can you not when describing Paris??) is just awe inspiring.

Then we headed over to a street market set up right along the Seine.  So cute!!  They were giving out tons of free samples, so of course I had to partake.  I ended up buying some type of bread with some type of confiture (jam) and cheese and a little piece of chocolate.  Now I'm not really a cheese or bread person, but oh my heavens this food was so good!  And completely filling!  I can see why it's so easy for the French to stay thin.  That tiny piece of chocolate, on the other hand, was completely DIVINE.  My mom warned me that European chocolate is not as sweet as American chocolate, and she was right.  However, it's not as sweet in an amazingly delicious way (and this is coming from a complete chocolate fanatic.  Trust me, I know the good stuff).  I can't wait to try more! (lots and lots more).

I was pretty flattered because some French guy came and sat next to us on the stairs, and even though he spoke hardly any English, and I any French, he still made a fairly long effort at conversation.  He probably just wanted my food.

Of course, on the rest of our tour of central Paris, we had to get fresh Nutella crepes.  Boy, I thought that skimpy piece of chocolate was good?  That was before I had this crepe.  Heaven!  It was really fun just sitting on a garden bench, talking, watching all the couples in the grass (France is dragging out the romantic in me.  I thought I had her firmly chained and locked away..), and eating our piping hot, chocolate dripping crepes.

We stopped by the lock bridge (where Jeff Holm and Emily Maynard stood!!!) on our way home and listened to a really attractive guy play the Beatles on his guitar.

Was it a great day?  No, it was perfect.  Absolutely perfect.

Please enjoy lovely picture until I take some of my own.  I certainly do.