From Paris With Love

Since coming back from Paris everyone seems especially interested in this trip and my thoughts on it. Let me just say, I don’t want my personal opinion(s) to deter anyone who hasn’t and really wants to visit this beautiful country but to sum it up in one word Paris was… eh. Yeah I’m rather shocked by this conclusion myself but every country has its positives and negatives for everyone. Now keep in mind I only had time to really visit Paris itself so this is more of a reflection on the city then it is on the entire country. Arriving in the city and seeing how old the city truly is, I was amazed but the buildings aren’t that tall and they seem to look like replicas of each other. I can see where our founding fathers came up with the architectural designs when building some of the famous monuments around our country’s capital. 

There is a language barrier and the French are VERY particular about the use of their language. Even if you just know a few words, that’s better than no words. Use them. In fact, use them as much as possible. As long as you are attempting to try the French will respect you, but if you refuse then good luck. Some friends have asked me about the people and the city’s attitude towards Americans, however, I think people are being too specific when they ask about just one nationality. I think it’s a tourist thing overall. I grew up in tourist city and it drove me nuts when people would stop me and ask questions so I can see where some French individuals have short tempers when it comes to this. A few girls even learned it’s usually best to ask at least two people for directions instead of one. Some locals can’t stand tourist and they will tell you to walk in the wrong direction. I remember that joke as a teenager well. The best way to put it is, if you’re planning a trip with family or friends to visit what some call the city of love… handle the people with kid gloves. Don’t take it personal when they turn into a teenage girl on a hormonal roller coaster with patience the span of 10 seconds or less. It’s not you, its honestly them. 

Which brings me to the next thing… the city of love? Really? I don’t see it. Yes the city is nice, the streets are relatively clean but aside from the Eiffel Tower I don’t see the city of love anywhere in those 33.5 square miles. I see persecution from centuries of the church, I see people that can’t be bothered but will take your last dollar for a souvenir keychain to say you’ve been to Paris and the pick-pocketers LOVE tourists. One girl on our tour learned this when her entire wallet and passport was stolen while visiting Norte Dame (Paris rule #1, NEVER take anything of importance when visiting this beautiful church as it’s the number one place for thieves. Better yet... just leave the valuables locked in the hotel safe for the duration of your entire trip). Don’t get me wrong, I liked some things I experienced. For one, the food is fantastic! I don’t think its as good as the food in Italy but I will have a comparison for you on that by next summer. However, it’s definitely better than British food (sorry friends but it’s true). Fair warning though, the French LOVE their carbs, so unless you are dying for thick semi-hard bread at every meal then I suggest you visit the local market for some good substitutes. Another exciting thing was walking around the city and experiencing different pieces of history.

My absolute favorite thing about the city though was the area behind Moulin Rouge. Silly sounding I know but as you walk to the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre you walk through where artist used to live one hundred, even two hundred years ago. Maybe further back in time as well. The buildings are beautiful with their cream and peach colors yet untouched by time because most are not allowed to be updated with things like elevators. Yes that can get annoying if you live on the 5th floor or god forbid the penthouse but to those who would complain I would say, you don’t hear the people living in New York complaining, do you? Seriously though, the interior of some of these buildings have barely been touched with time because the government won’t allow to many changes to occur. There are hills (something you don’t find throughout Paris very much) small parks, stone streets as well as single film cinema houses. In a way it’s like stepping back in time into nothing American’s have truly experienced because our history is so limited in the time span of history itself. 

Overall, the city is pretty as it does have something to offer those who have never been but I think after maybe one or two more visits sometime in my life that I would be ok with never returning. Nothing there, other than the area surrounding Montmartre truly swept me off my feet. However, the Netherlands… now there’s a place I am in love with. What can I say, I’m an architecture geek at heart. 

The Musée du Louvre Defines Gravity aka Paris the 1st Evening...

The first time you visit a new place you can't help but take in the scenery and Paris is no exception. We started our journey from London to Paris before the sun decided to show itself and after two exciting hours on the Eurostar we arrived. As we drive through the city you begin to notice such amazing places as the Arc de Triomphe and Les Invalides, not to forget all the fashion shopping ones credit card or bank account can handle on the famous Avenue des Champs-Élysées. After arriving at the hotel and relaxing for a bit we were off on our first trip thanks to the metro (France's idea of the tube or subway). Our destination, the Musée du Louvre or The Louvre as it's known to tourist.

To give you a bit of history about this landmark its one of the world's largest museums and a historic monument. The museum is housed in the Palais du Louvre, originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century under Philip II. Remnants of the fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace. In 1682, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection. (Thanks Wikipedia! ^_~)

I wanted to see the wing where Mona Lisa herself is housed. I knew around this one oil on poplar DeVinci piece would hold hundreds of other beauty's... I was not disappointed. Others included Louis XIV and Liberty Leading the People. At one point we found ourselves in the Egyptian area of the wing and as I knew I would quite enjoy myself, however, I didn't expect to be in awe of these timeless artifacts.  Most noted were the dozen or so mummy coffins that were on display. Beautiful drawings of color and design on each internal and external box. The one thing that stuck out the most were the oil stains against the inner backing of the coffins. Hundreds of thousand of years after being laid to rest inside these boxes you can still see the remains of the individual by the oils that leaked thru their dressings and found a home on the surface of the wood in which they laid.

As history would have it, 17 years ago my humorously mocking husband-to-be was in the same museum looking at many of the same art pieces, including Venus de Milo. Somewhere there is a famous amongst friends photo of the man I am to marry in the upcoming months pointing at something only found to be funny to himself. Well when I visited this famous sculpture I had no choice but to take a photo in reminder of Tony's humor. He was not disappointed.

The best part of the evening came when we decided to leave. I was already suffering from a back injury I had sustained early in the week at the gym and truth be told had decided I would crawl my way thru Paris if I had to because my money for the trip could not be refunded. Thankfully the awesome doctors in London gave me some decent meds to get me by and I was feeling a bit better by the time we arrived in Paris. Anyways… as we left the museum while walking down the marble steps (do you see where this is going yet?) I somehow slipped on some dust and fell flat on my not so squishy anymore butt. I couldn’t help but laugh because we were still at the top of the staircase and there were plenty of people to stop and look. Poor Catherine… she had a classic ‘OMG I broke it!!’ look on her face. What’s even funnier… by the time we got to the bottom of the stairs the security guard was complimenting me on my landing. I could only smile and say ‘merci’ because I knew at that point all I could do was smile. As for my back? It felt so much better the entire rest of the trip. ;)