Paris!

This entry is certainly overdue, but better late then never, right?

Two weekends ago my roommates and I headed to Paris. We had to wake up at 4:45 am, and caught the 6:45 fast train to Paris. It was exhausting, but it was totally worth is, since it allowed us to get to Paris for cheap, and to spend more time exploring this amazing city.

When we got there we split up, Lori and I headed to Montmartre to check into our hostel, Celeste spent the weekend with friends, and Judith went to meet up with her boyfriend (but would catch up with us later).

We dropped our luggage off at the hostel, and headed over toward l'Arc de Triomphe. We walked around it, snapping pictures and marveling about the fact that we were in PARIS staring at something that had been built for Napoleon! Then Judith met up with us, and we headed to the top for some fantastic views. Seeing Paris from fairly high up, I realized immediately why everyone is so in love with Paris; It's absolutely beautiful. We spent a good while up there, soaking in the views, then headed down Avenue des Champs-Elysées.

We walked down toward le Grand Palais, and le Petit Palais, and then stopped on a bridge overlooking the River Seine. I was just blown away by how beautiful this view was. I felt as though I could stand on that bridge for the rest of my life, and not get sick of looking at it. Actually, I felt that way about most of Paris. It was truly stunning.

We headed back to our side of the bridge, with promises that we would explore the other side the next day. We walked down and saw the Palais Royal, and its beautiful garden. We stopped by the Colonne Vendôme, went into Église de la Madeleine (a spectacular church), stopped in the nicest public bathroom I have ever seen in my entire life, saw the Opera house (which is gorgeous), and lounged in the sun by a pond in the Jardin des Tuileries, before heading into the Louvre.

On Fridays at 6 pm the Louvre is free for people under 26. We took advantage of this. The Louvre was beautiful, but overwhelming. We enjoyed what we were able to see, but there is just so much art! We saw the Mona Lisa, and got really excited when we stumbled upon a few rooms full of paintings from Rubens (if you recall, we toured his house in Antwerp, and we were able to see some of his famous paintings that had been described to us on that tour). By this point we were exhausted, so we headed back to the hostel.

We got our room assignment, and went upstairs only to discover that there was only one bed left in our six person room. Apparently there was an Argentinian man that had forgotten to check out and, though he was out and about, his stuff was occupying my bed. The desk clerk gave me fresh linens, and told me that the bed was rightfully mine. I spent the night in a fitful sleep, worried that an irate man was going to come back to the room and, finding me in what he believed was his bed, either beat me up, or climb into bed with me. Thankfully, the night passed without incident, and I think the desk clerk gave me my sheets for free for the trouble.

We began the next day by heading off for the Eiffel Tower. It was really thrilling to be there. A day earlier I had kind of dismissed the Eiffel tower as kind of an eyesore that we only find charming because we learn about it as important landmark from a very early age. I have to admit, though, up close the tower was pretty freaking cool. We took about a thousand pictures of the tower and of ourselves with the tower, then headed out to see more sights.

We walked over and saw many more beautiful buildings then I can name, and ducked into several little gardens. The weather as absolutely gorgeous, and we just had a great time walking in the sun and enjoying the beautiful city.

We went into the Musee de Orsay, which was definitely a highlight of the trip. This museum has lots of really famous works from people like Monet, Manet, Cezanne, Degas, Vangough, Toulouse Latrec, and many others. It's also in an old train station, which is really cool.

We saw a couple of gorgeous churches, then walked over the Jardin Luxembourg. This was one of my favorite places in Paris. We sat in the sun by a pond, and watched little children push boats around on the pond. It was adorable. While waiting for Lori to come out of the bathroom I also had an interesting run-in with a French man who, with no prompting, formally welcomed me to Paris. When I asked him how he could so easily tell I was American he said "Well, Because I look at your face and I know you are not from Senegal." The entire encounter was so incredibly pleasant that it left Lori and I wondering if, in an attempt to change their reputation, the French government has started offering tax breaks to those that are friendly to tourists.

Next we grabbed lunch/dinner (eating at about 3:30 PM is a clever travel trick to avoid spending too much money) and then we headed toward Notre Dame. It was pretty cool, but Notre Dame was maybe the one thing in Paris that I wasn't blown away by. It was beautiful, but the touristy aspect of it made it difficult for me to see it as any sort of sacred space.

Then we headed over to meet Judith and Adam (who is studying in Paris), and some of his friends at a bar for drinks. Being an American in Paris, and heading out to meet up with other Americans for drinks made me feel a bit like I was in the Sun Also Rises (without the War induced injuries, of course).

Lori had promised me a romantic walk by the river, and I held her to it. We walked along the river and then hopped on the Metro back to the hostel for some well deserved rest.

The next morning we set out to explore the Montmartre region, which is where we were staying. We walked down toward the Moulin Rouge, and only then did we really how incredibly close we had been staying to the red light district, haha. Oh well, we never felt unsafe. Sunday morning was probably the best time to explore this region, as there were not many shady people. Seeing the moulin rouge was pretty cool. Then we headed up through narrow streets to see more the neighborhood, which quickly turned from being raunchy to being beautiful. We came across some beautiful sights, including more windmills, and an open-air market where lots of artists were selling their work.

Then we saw the Sacre-Coeur. This was another true highlight. It was gorgeous! We walked around inside, then I went in for mass. This was actually one of the longest masses I had every been to in my entire life, which was only frustrating because it was (obviously) in French, and Lori was waiting for me outside. Still, it was beautiful, and a really wonderful opportunity.

We climbed the many stairs down the hill in front of Sacre-Coeur, then headed over toward the area near Notre-Dame. Hit up the Shakespeare book Shop (in large part due to Savannah's high praises of the place Thanks Savvy!!) It really was neat. Then we headed over to St. Chapelle's to see the light streaming in through the beautiful stained glass. It was gorgeous.

We hopped over to the cemetery where Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison were buried, but we weren't able to find either of their graves. Still, the cemetery was huge and pretty cool, although it was no Mount Hope.

One of my goals for the weekend was to see the Eiffel Tower shimmer, which it does on the hour at night. So we grabbed crepes, and headed back up to the Sacre-Couer to lounge in the sun, watch street performers, watch the sun set, and have a prime view of Eiffel Tower shimmering. Watching the Eiffel tower sparkle was the perfect ending to the trip. We headed down and walked back to the train station to make our train back.

I had heard from a few people that Paris is overrated; nothing could be farther from the truth. Paris is absolutely spectacular. It is beautiful,clean, and sophisticated, and there is so much to see. It was most certainly a place that I hope to visit again soon.

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Em

Pictures:

On the Bridge looking over the River Seine. Also, Eiffel Tower shot #1

View from the Arc de Triomphe. Note Montmartre and the Sacre-Couer in the distance.

The Arc de Triomphe


The view of the Eiffel Tower from the Sacre-Couer at sunset. This is the exact point where I watched the Eiffel Tower shimmer. Eiffel tower shot #2.


Sacre-Couer! Please note the gorgeous blue sky! I actually got a little sunburned sitting outside of this building.


Lori and I in front of Notre-Dame


Children playing with Boats in the Jardin de Luxembourg. I thought this was so cute.


I love this painting. It was so cool to see the Original.

Me in front of the Eiffel tower. Eiffel Tower shot #3.

I'm a little behind...

It has been awhile! I've meant to update but I've been so busy with midterms, amendment deadlines and (the most exciting of all) VISITORS! The past two weekends were filled with spending fun times in Brussels with several good friends from the U of R. Because each weekend was unique (and because I really meant to give each their own entry before I got so lazy) I am going to divide this entry into two sections.
Section I. Kierstin Visits!
My good friend Kierstin is studying abroad in London, and she decided to make Brussels her first stop on the European Continent! I met her at the train station Friday evening and we headed back to my house to drop her stuff off, and then ran out to a noodle place for dinner. Then we headed down to Delirium so that Kierstin could sample one of their 2000 beers. We talked over drinks, and met some interesting people from Holland who may or may not have been lying about the documentary that they were making and their affiliation with Disney. Please note that all the pics in this section have been stolen from Kierstin.

Kierstin and I

The next morning we got up bright and early to take on the town. I showed Kierstin some of the sights, and we stopped at a waffle van to grab some hot gaufres au chocolat for breakfast. Then we walked down and I showed her around the Grand Place area before we settled down with Lori and Olivia to enjoy some Frites (with Mayo and a variety of other fine sauces of course) then we grabbed free balloons, and went to stake out a good spot for the balloon parade. In honor of two new murals in Brussels, the city was holding its first ever Balloon Parade. We weren't really sure what to expect of this parade, we were just hoping to see a smurf balloon or two.

Now as I alluded to in my post about Carnaval, Belgians have a very different view of what a parade is. An American parade would have the streets blocked off hours in advance, and the entire activity would be carefully coordinated. A Belgian parade is nothing like this. The parade was completely chaotic. First of all, I'm not sure why they chose to do a Balloon parade rather then a parade involving floats or something. The many low hanging tram wires made it incredibly difficult, and the balloons had to be pulled down every so often so that they cleared the wires.

Secondly, Belgians CANNOT control themselves when it comes to parades. They just get so excited that they rush the streets, and none of the police really care or try to stop them. This is exactly what happened. Within 10 minutes of the parade the street were packed with people trying to touch the cat in the hat. Similar to Binche, it was also incredibly slow moving. Overall the entire thing felt more like a festival then a parade, but I got a free balloon and had a total blast. I also got to see giant balloons in the shape of Mannekin Pis, the Atomium, the smurfs, Clifford the big red dog, and many other interesting characters.

After the parade we went to have hot chocolate, and then walked down to show Kierstin the Parliament and the Parc du Cinquantenaire. It was really a beautiful day outside, and it was just so nice to stroll outside and exchange stories of our study abroad experience thus far.

Sunday we headed to Bruges so that Kierstin could experience the beauty. We walked around and marveled at the sights. Then Monday it was time to say goodbye, but thankfully not for too long, as we decided to meet up in Dublin in a few weeks. Yay!
Section II. Kim and Mike
As if having one visitor wasn't enough excitement my friend Kim and Mike came to visit last weekend! Kim is studying in Granada and Mike is studying in London. Unfortunately both of them had some difficulty making it to Brussels.

Kim's flight left from Malaga, and a late bus, construction and general confusion caused her to miss check-in for her first flight. She hadn't missed the flight, just check-in, but they were very strict. Determined to make it to Brussels, Kim shelled out the extra money for a new flight and I'm so glad she did (thanks for coming to visit Kim!).

When poor Kim finally showed up we hung out in my room for a bit, then headed to the train station to get Mike. Now Mike had forwarded me his itinerary saying that his flight was going to come in at 8:56. When we arrived at the station we discovered that there was no train coming in at 8:56. In fact, the next train didn't make it in until 9:30. Kim and I nervously waited around, praying that Mike was on that train. When he walked down from the train platform we were so relieved! Turns out that the travel agent mike used to book the tickets thought that he meant 6 AM, and Mike turned up for his train about 12 hours too late. He also had to shell out the money for an extra ticket (thanks Mike!).

Well given that they had both gone through so much to make it to Brussels the pressure was on to ensure that they had a good time. Thursday night was spent with me studying for my midterm and the two of them enjoying part of a movie.

Friday I woke up and went to take my test and sent the two of them on a walk involving some pretty scenery and a lovely bakery. Then we met up by the European Commission Building and headed to Parliament. I showed them around the giant complex, and they managed to get some pretty cool pictures of the plenary chamber and some committee meeting rooms. Then we headed downtown and set out to see some of the sights. We experienced Mannekin Pis, the Grand Place, the Bourse, and Belgian Waffles.

Kim and Mike sharing a waffle.

Mike eating a waffle in front of Mannekin Pis. Please note that this is a different waffle from the one in the picture above.

The next day we arose fairly early and met up with my friend Catriona (a fellow intern) to check out the flea market. The market was great! There was such a variety of things: Funny hats, crates filled with buttons, China sets, violins, piles of clothing, painting, and tons of other interesting things. One man attempted to sell me an old quill set for 7 euros insisting that I wouldn't regret it. Another man showed me a figurine of the statue of liberty and insisted "This is Obama." I asked him if he liked America and he proclaimed "I love America and I love Obama." I bit my tongue; at least we agreed on one half of that sentence.

The three of us on the steps of the Cathedral

Next we left the flea market to go grab some food. We grabbed some Frites and sampled more sauces. I'm amazed at the sheer number of sauces that there are. Then we walked around the St. Catherine area, and headed home to get ready for Museum Night Fever.

Museum Night Fever is an event where 7 Euro gives you admission to 14 museums for 5 hours. We made it to 4 museums. The Belvue (it covered the history of Belgian royalty), the Museum of Musical Instruments, the Musee De Ville (which covers the history of Brussels and includes all of the several hundred outfits for the Mannekin Pis), and the costume Museum. The Museum of Musical instruments was by far the coolest. We were given free do-rags, and headphones and headed in not knowing what to expect. It turns out that as you walk by a glass cases your headphone picks up a radio signal, and you begin to hear music that gives you an idea of what it would be like to hear someone play that instrument. We had a blast there.

Kim and Mike dancing at the Museum of Musical Instruments

After that we headed back home, and said farewell to Kim who had an absurdly early flight that required her leaving in a taxi at 3 AM. The next morning Mike and I woke up so early and, due to the slow metro system, I had nearly had an anxiety attack trying to get him to the station before his train.

Overall the weekend with Kim and Mike was filled with tons of good conversation, good company, and far far to much chocolate. My teeth hurt just thinking about it.

Section III. Other highlights of the past two weeks include...

...Include
-Dance parties with the other interns at the Parliament to "Heat of the Moment" and other classics
-having a pseudo-sleepover with Lori that involved facebook stalking, watching the west wing, and reading magazines

-reading 88 pages of Fisheries policy, it made my brain hurt, but I liked it.
-EPA brunch. It was all-you-can-eat, enough said.
-the pretty decent weather (up until today)

-Heading to a free showing of the movie Bella at the Parliament and the question and answer with the main actor/producer of the film.
-Skyping with my insane parents. I fear that the Great Christmas Light Scandal of 2009 will never be solved
-Listening to Celeste's account of assaulting a 12 year old Belgian Boy (believe me, he had it coming)

That's all for now! This weekend is Paris and I couldn't be more excited!

Au revoir!

Em