Paris is so hyped up in literature, movies, music, everything really. I had in my mind Paris was so overhyped and wasn't actually going to be all that great. I hadn't really planned to go to Paris, but when Chelsea and I decided to go, I have to admit, I was pretty damn jazzed about it. Mainly, I was very excited to go to the Louvre... being a huge museum buff/nerd extraordinaire. When we got on the Eurostar, and emerged from the Chunnel (SO EXCITING), catching our first glimpse of France, I was a little breathless. It was our second sunrise in three days, and let me tell you, readers, sunrise over the French countryside is gorgeous. I was so tired, though, that I couldn't really do anything except poke Chelsea and say "look, pretty."
As we pulled into the terminal, I was incredibly worried that my credit card wouldn't work and I wouldn't be able to pay for our hotel, or the hotel would have lost our reservation, or I wouldn't have enough money to pay for the fancy dinner that my mom and dad sent us to eat for my birthday present (because in my head, my credit card would not work in France). I knew I had to get over it, but sometimes it is really hard for me to relieve anxiety or stop all the thoughts that swirl through my mind. We started off our time in Paris by climbing up the hill to Sacre Couer, a basilica that is the highest point in Paris. It was breathtaking. The sun was shining through the clouds and making rays of light all over the city, sprawled beneath us. But you know, even moments like that can be ruined. By gypsies. Now, I hate to be prejudiced here, but these people will stop at nothing to try and hook you. One lady literally tried to block Chelsea from continuing on the stairs.
Inside Sacre Coeur was beautiful as well, and I've been in a lot of basilicas, so I declare myself a fit judge. From there, we decided to go see the Moulin Rouge, just because it was nearby. That is one hell of a sketchy area. Every store pretty much was a really sleazy looking sex shop. So, basically we saw Moulin Rouge, and then we went to the Metro as quickly as possible to find out how to get to Montparnasse, where our hotel was. We got to the metro, and I had a little difficulty getting tickets. My card didn't work in the machine, which scared the crap out of me. In the end, I used cash and got my ten tickets. The Metro is so cute... it has tires. Awww. So we got off near the Montparnasse cemetery, and looked for famous dead people. We only found a few of the ones we were looking for, but it was so weird how packed the cemetery was. I guess that is what you have to do in a city where space is at a premium, but after the sprawling park-like atmosphere of the cemeteries in Sweden and Denmark, it was especially strange.
By then, it was about time to check into our hotel, so we found it and then waited until our room was ready. Chelsea was absolutely chuffed to be able to speak French to somebody, and we got up to our room, which was about the size of a closet. I had some serious claustrophobia issues with the bathroom, but it didn't really matter because we were only using the room for sleeping, and it was clean. After dropping our bags off, we set out again to accomplish the Hardcore Paris Sightseeing Mission™ (HPSM). I had ostensibly been in charge of picking out what we did in London, but we really left that to wandering about. Chelsea, on the other hand, was super organized and had a plan. The HPSM. We started by walking through the Luxembourg gardens, where apparently my father enjoyed playing with boats in a pond when my grandparents took the kids to France back in the day. I imagine they are much more beautiful in the summer. From there, we went to the Pantheon, which was absolutely amazing. It's basically a secular monument to France's greatest people. There is an extensive crypt, and we saw Marie Curie's tomb... among MANY others. Including Voltaire! Foucault's Pendulum is in the nave of the basilica. Super amazing physics/science geeking out occurred on my part.
Following that, we walked to Notre Dame. We were so excited when we found out that Notre Dame is free to enter (The Pantheon cost money!), so we went in and walked around. It is exceedingly beautiful. However, this volunteer lady cornered us and kept asking us Bible questions. Chelsea and I didn't really have much ability to answer most of them. Eventually, we managed to make our excuses, thank her, and continue walking through the cathedral. The rose window is one of the most awe-inspiring things I have ever seen. I have to say that I find it much easier to understand how people follow a religion when their worship takes place in a grand structure. Rather, I guess I understand how the building could inspire so much awe, especially at the time when it was built, as to really add to the whole deity power/mystique thing.
Next on the list was the Champs Elysee. I'm so glad we were there around Christmas, because it was lit up and awesome. The lights were icicle lights, but they were animated so they looked like falling stars. Sublime. The Arc D' Triomphe (did I spell any of that right?) was equally impressive, floodlit and surrounded by about a bazillion lanes of traffic as it was. Behind that, there was another huge Christmas market, and we enjoyed browsing through it on our way to Eiffel Tower. We actually had some trouble getting to the tower, and then from the tower to a metro stop that would help us get home, but first let's talk about the tower. It's actually a little disappointing. Yeah, it was really pretty all lit up at night, but in the day time, it just seems kind of pointless to me. I think the Ferris Wheel was a better World's Fair invention, personally., So, we were trying to get home, and we knew we were walking in the right direction, but we could NOT find the metro anywhere. We were starting to get a little worried, because it seemed like we were in a sketchy area. Eventually, we kept walking and found it, but then walked the wrong way out of the metro station near our hotel and got lost there. After being all turned around, we were SO hungry that we just picked up sandwiches and desserts at the grocery store and brought them back to the hotel. They were pretty tasty for being grocery store sandwiches! Yay for French food. We fell asleep FAST.
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