Monday, June 16, 2008
A Weekend in Paris...
(St. Chapelle)
(Me and Daniela being queer at St. Michael's fountain)
(Gargoyle's view from Notre Dame)
(The huge Louvre)
(Eiffel Tower lit by the sun at sunset)
We did sooooo much in Paris in only 48 hours; it was incredible. Besides eating the delicious Nutella Crepes, croissants, and pastries we made it to nearly every major site: Notre Dame, St. Chapelle, St. Michael's Fountain, Pantheon, Garnier Opera House, Luxeomburg Gardens, Park, Champ de Mars, Eiffel Tower (4 times), Louvre, Arc de Triomfe, Basilica, Moulin Rouge, Montmartre, Villa LaRoche-Jeanerette (LeCorbusier's house - the one I modeled)...and more.
My favorite was the Eiffel Tower, of course. It's more beautiful in real life. At night, the Tower sparkles in a light show for probably 10 minutes every hour. On Friday night, the 3 of us met up with 3 girls living in Paris (one of them is Daniela's friend) and we all sat on Champ de Mars, the long park in front of the Eiffel Tower, and drank wine while watching the light show and listening to a band play.
My second favorite was a tie between the Basilica church and St. Chapelle because both were extremely inspiring structures. The Basilica church is situated on top of a hill in Montmartre and is so welcoming to outsiders. The inside contains amazing architecture and murals touched by ample natural sunlight. It was beautiful. Also I've been dieing to see St. Chapelle, which has been the picture on my desktop for the past year, and it was absolutely beautiful. The church is covered in stained-glass ceiling to floor. It's an extremely lacey and delicate Gothic structure. It's just amazing how they designed it, constructed it, and how it has survived all these years.
The whole trip seemed so cliche. Everything about Paris is cliche but wonderful. There are Parisian lovers kissing down by the Seine River, chic and fashionable men and women everywhere, crepe stands on every corner, people drinking wine and enjoying the Eiffel Tower, picnics in the parks, beautiful gardens with statues, kids racing sailboats in the pond, Parisian wearing striped shirts....
It was a little intimidating at first being in a country where I knew absolutely nothing about the language but it all worked out in the end. And actually the French people were very friendly to us even when they found out we were Americans...ESPECIALLY if you said "No Bush. Obama." Haha. I was extremely impressed with the city as a whole and one day I will go back there with Mom and we'll make it to the top of the Eiffel Tower. There's even something for Dad besides the breath-taking art and architecture - THE BEST MACAROONS I'VE EVER HAD are in every patesserie and bakery. And for Matt and Liz - the Tour de France will be ending in Paris sometime this summer. See, there's something there for everyone EVEN if you say you have no interest in going to France. :)
I felt very privileged to have the opportunity to travel to Paris for the weekend. Paris is the most beautiful city I've ever seen and it's something I'll never ever forget.
I miss you all. I was thinking about all of you while in Paris and I can't WAIT to get home and see you all again: some good home-cooking (a little BBQ), beating up on Matt, looking at bridal magazines with Liz, and having helicopter battles with Dad. It'll be great. There's nothing like home. Love you all.
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(Eiffel Tower at night)
(Basilica)
(My LeCorbusier house)
(kids in the Luxeomburg Park)
(Daniela and I on the 2nd level of the Eiffel Tower)
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It's not letting me upload pictures right now, but I promise I will tomorrow. :)
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