On Thursday (June 19th), we began our trek to Paris by bus and plane. We
rode a bus from Leipzig to Berlin then boarded our flight at 12:50pm. The
beginning of this trip was very different from our experience in Salzburg because we had minimal walking to our hotel. We quickly took advantage of the
metro system in Paris, and we all agreed that it is very efficient! Luckily, our
little hotel was a few steps from Metro stop “Oberkampf.” That afternoon we
oriented ourselves with the surrounding neighborhood (in Arrondissement 3, which
is a district of Paris) and found some cute cafes and stores. Unfortunately, we
barely spent any of our time in Paris near our hotel. Then we all got dressed
up for the evening. Alex and I decided we would celebrate five years of dating
that night. The rest of the group went out for a nice steak dinner and went to
a jazz club. Alex and I went to a really cool steak and fries restaurant and
then put a love lock on the famous Lock Bridge. Both groups spent a lot of time
that night wandering around the beautiful streets of Paris and strolling along
the River Seine.
The next day, we woke up early to get in line at the
Catacombs to beat the crowds. We arrived an hour before the doors open and
still had a two hour wait. While we were waiting in line, the coolest thing happened! I'm sure you all have seen Coca Cola's new marketing strategy, putting names on coke bottles. Well, tons of coke cars drove up to the line and handed out unlimited free, ice-cold cokes! They were so nice, and we all decided we like Coca Cola company so much better after that. The Catacombs were well worth the wait. In these underground quarries are buried 6 million bodies, of course, now they are
skeletons. It took 130 steps underground to reach these ancient passageways, and they have been used as an ossuary since 1785. Many
of the bodies once lay in the graves of the Cemetery of Innocents, which had existed for over 1,000 years, but caused health problems
for the surrounding neighborhood, so the bodies were moved.
Mostly visible are the skulls and femurs. The people who lay down the bones
used respectful creativity, arranging the bones to create images like a cross or a heart.
The passageways were cold and moist, and sort of eerie, but it was amazing to
witness such rich history and see something unusual compared to the usual
museum. We all stared long at the skulls imagining the souls who used to occupy these bodies- they had families, memories, laughter, and hardships just like us.
The coke cars!
The creepy walk down the tunnels to the graves.
This one still had teeth!!!
That sight took longer than expected, so we stopped at (yes, I know) McDonalds for a snack/lunch. We needed somewhere quick and cheap because we had more on the schedule. We had to skip the Pantheon like we had planned, but went on to something much greater- Notre Dame Cathedral. Luckily the night before we left for Paris, we all watched the Hunchback of Notre Dame! This cathedral, though it is very touristy, is one of the most beautifully constructed cathedrals I have walked and will ever walk into. We spent a lot of time there looking around, seeing an artifacts exhibit, and sitting peacefully in the pews admiring the gigantic organ and tall ceilings.
a lovely walk
Notre Dame!
Cathedral Selfie
If you find one of these green things on a Parisien street, it is a drinking water fountain!
Next we visited the famous bookstore across the river,
Shakespeare and Co. Many famous writers have frequented there in the past like Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, and aspiring young writers sit in this cozy, old bookstore and write
daily. Needless to say, it was Zach’s dream. Well, we all loved it. There was
an old piano upstairs that had archives of sheet music next to it and a sign
asking to be played. I knew I had to buy something in this famous store; so
naturally, I bought my favorite children’s book that takes place in Paris,
Madeline.
Next we had dinner at a café near the Louvre, and then went
in the Louvre at 7pm. The Louvre has free admission for 18-26 year olds on
Friday nights, so we took advantage of that! Also there were barely any crowds so we
were able to get up close to pieces such as the Mona Lisa that, during the day
time, are almost impossible to get close to. We all split up and went to
exhibits of our interests. Alex and I spent tons of time in French and Italian
Paintings, Napoleon’s apartment, Renaissance Sculptures, and the Egyptian
relics. If you don’t already know, the Louvre used to be the palace of Napoleon
I. They still have maintained rooms such as the dining room, bedroom, drawing
room, and room where orchestras would play private concerts. It was extravagant
and beautiful.
Napoleon's Throne!!
Notice something in the right corner of his self-portrait?
Napoleon's Dining Room
Drawing room
In Napoleon's apartment, he had the walls painted to look like marble to save money.
Charlemagne's Sword
The next morning we awoke early for our biggest day yet! (We
had to move two of our main attractions from the day before to Saturday because
we ran out of time). First, we visited the
Sainte-Chapelle Cathedral. This cathedral is known for its stained glass (which happens to be the oldest in Paris), and
as you can tell from the pictures, it was AWESOME. There are 15 large stained
glass windows composed of 1113 little pieces of glass dating back to the 1200's! Each window depicts a different Bible story. We learned about how the stained glass was dyed,
cut, designed, and began to appreciate the high levels of creativity these
designers possessed.
After that, we had set aside time to have crepes at a Paris
creperie, so we stopped by one near the opera house. The chef/owner was
extremely friendly, and we all thought this was one of our favorite meals. I
had a fresh banana and sugar one, while most of us had bacon egg and cheese.
Next, we went to the Paris Opera House, Opera Garnier, which was the setting of Phantom of the Opera the book and what the movie was modeled after!! It looks exactly like the
movie. The architecture and ceilings are luxurious. My favorite rooms were the
grand foyer, the grand staircase, and obviously, the auditorium which contained the largest stage in Europe. We took many pictures
of Mikayla doing jumps since this opera house has shown many famous ballets. I
mean, it’s gotta be one of the grandest places in the world- the PARIS Opera
House.
On the Masquerade Staircase from the movie!
Auditorium
Grand Foyer
Admiring the foyer
Jump #1
Jump #2
Mikayla vs. Jack. Who wins?
Jump #3
Subway Encounter
Next we went to the famous Musee d’Orsay, a modern art
museum. We all loved it. There were tons of famous works, like Monet, Van Gogh,
Degas, and Cezanne! We only spent and hour and 45 minutes there, because we had
a schedule to keep! (We saw many famous paintings, but I didn't want to bore you with images you can find on google)
Next on the list was thrifting/shopping. We found a big flea
market called the Paris Flea Market online, but it took a sketchy walk to get
there…basically through the ghetto of Paris. We were safe though, and it wasn’t
a very far walk until we reached the Sacré-Cœur, a Catholic basilica, and the flea market was right by
it. The guys wanted to find places with cheap clothes, but we found was mostly fabric
stores! We finally found a really cool clothing store and got some touristy
items at some of the booths down the main street. While we were shopping here,
Mikayla shopped somewhere completely opposite- the number one fashion street in
the world. She bought some makeup at Dior and just gazed at the fancy shops
down the streets.
That night we went to the Eiffel Tower. That day, June 21st, happened to
be a summer festival for Paris, so all the shops closed early and there
was a huge concert at the Eiffel Tower... but it was neat to see it sparkle on the hour, and we ate crepes for dinner (again), right at the foot of it. It was
so special and magical to see!
Pont Alexandre III bridge!
Macaroons, of course!
Notre Dame at night
We got back late, but knew we had to wake up early for our
7:35 am flight! Unfortunately, though, even though we left almost 2 hours
early… we missed our flight. The metros barely run that early in the morning
(which we didn’t know), and train strike affected our train to the airport. We
spent 13 hours in the airport searching for alternate ways home, but since it
was a Sunday, buses weren’t running, flights were all booked, and there were no
options for trains. Finally, by an act of God, we found a flight back to Berlin
for 8:30 pm. If you want a more dramatic
retelling of our airport adventures, read Zach’s account: Trapped in the Charles de Gaulle Airport
This is how we spent our time in the airport...
This is how we spent our time in the airport...
Sleeping...
Jack wore his shirt inside out
who knows...
P.S. Don't forget to read about Wittenberg below! I posted about them back-to-back!
