My time in Paris
(October 25th – 27th) is without a doubt the highlight of
this entire study abroad experience thus far.
Descriptive words and vibrant pictures are not enough to express the
delight to the senses that is Paris. The
lights, the colors, the people, the language, the rich history – all of these contribute
to the thrill of The City of Love. Call
me a hopeless romantic, but I really did
fall in love with Paris. Besides the
rain that followed us to France on Friday, this weekend was absolutely perfect. I look forward to returning to Paris at least
once more before I leave in December.
On Friday morning I was
up at 2:30am. I didn't need to be at the
train station until 4:25am, but my body just decided to get excited and wake up
two hours earlier than necessary. After
a 45 minute drive to St. Pancras International Station (yup, that’s Pancras –
not Pancreas) I was off to France via EuroStar.
The EuroStar is similar to a high speed train, except that it goes under
the English Channel to transport people to and from London and Paris. The majority of the ride is above ground, but
I could definitely feel my ears pop as we dipped underground. And two hours later we arrived safely in
Paris.
Crystal and I on the EuroStar!
Boarding the EuroStar
Here we go...
We were transported to
our hotel by coach from the EuroStar station.
The driver took a rather scenic route through some of the main streets
of the city, and our tour guide provided some helpful information about the
attractions we passed. We caught
glimpses of the sights we were soon to see in person, including the Arc de
Triomphe, the Moulin Rouge, and the Louvre.
After our arrival at the hotel, we toured Paris by riverboat on the
Seine. Although it was cloudy with
showers on our boat tour, the city was glowing and sparkling in the steady
stream of rain. Historic landmarks like the
Notre Dame Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower loomed ominously in the clouds and
glistened in the rainfall. The weather
gave a certain element of mystery to each landmark as we drifted by. The Seine itself was dark and swollen with
the extra water; the swift current carried us along effortlessly. Our tour ended at the foot of the Eiffel
Tower, where we promptly got in line to purchase tickets to get to the
top. In typical French fashion, we had
to queue twice – once to buy the actual tickets, and once to enter the
tower. Nearly 45 minutes later, we were
at the second floor, also known as the first viewing deck. The view from there is spectacular.
Truly a dream come true
Waiting in line to get tickets
A million pictures
later, we were ready to queue a second time to reach the very top of the
tower. The elevator ride up was cramped
and crowded, but the view was SO worth it!
I felt like I was on top of the world!
Nothing I could say or write would adequately describe that feeling of
awe and wonder which I experienced at the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was magical (sorry to get so cheesy, but
if you’ve ever gone to the top, you’ll know exactly what I mean). Because it was dark by this point, the city
was aglow. And just as we were arriving
at the top, the glittering lights on the tower went off. These lights go off every hour for about ten
minutes. WOW. All I can say is WOW.
** The City of Light **
On top of the world!
The rest of the evening
was spent at a little café called Bercy Café, where we had a modest meal and
enjoyed the quaint atmosphere of a real French bistro. It was so fun!
On the following day,
we went to Sacre Coeur, which is a church and historic landmark at the top of a
hill overlooking the city. Because it is
built of travertine stone quarried in France, the building stays almost
perfectly white. The travertine exudes
calcite, which is what preserves the white colour of the stone and protects it from pollution. Inside, soaring ceilings with large mosaics of
Christ and other religious figures cover every inch of the place. The mosaic in the middle ceiling is called
Christ in Majesty and is among the largest in the world! It is a most glorious sight. I had a few quiet moments of prayer at the
magnificent altar. Visiting these
historic places of worship has a profoundly positive affect on my personal
faith. I can say with confidence that my
trust in Christ is strengthened with every moment I spend in churches like
this. The amazing architecture and
magnificent art that decorates the inside was designed by people of my same
faith tradition with the intention to honour and glorify God. How awesome is that?! To think that this place is still standing
and that it is still used as a place of worship today! Soli
Deo Gloria.
The Notre Dame
Cathedral was the next stop on our trip.
Let me tell ya, Notre Dame makes the Canterbury Cathedral look like a
tiny apartment complex. The queue to get
inside was massive, but – like the Eiffel Tower – the view was worth the
wait. Unfortunately, my camera died
before we went in. I managed to steal
some epic pictures from my friends Sarah and Sarah, so thank you both for
allowing me to use a few of those.
How beautiful is this?!
Stained glass inside the cathedral
With my travel buddies<3
Thankfully, the sun came
out on Saturday and we had a beautiful day in the sunshine! That afternoon, we had lunch on the go and
went straight to the Chateau de Versailles, which is just outside of
Paris. It took about twenty minutes to
get there by coach. Again, a massive line
was forming at the entrance. As you can
see by the pictures below, Versailles is an extravagant and beautiful palace.
It’s impossible to catch every fine detail, every gold etching in the ceilings,
every lavish painting, every bronze statue, every marble staircase. However, the overall experience was extremely
stressful because of the sheer amount of people that were drifting from room to
room. Because photography is allowed
inside, people were pushing their way to the front of each room to capture the
best photos. It was really difficult to
enjoy the splendor of the palace because of this. I was shoved around by complete strangers! I much prefer the way the British set up the
tour at Windsor Castle: we were divided into groups of ten and guided through
each room in a timely fashion, no cameras allowed. I think that really forced me to focus on
taking it all in, instead of focusing on snapping the perfect picture of each
room. Anyway, I can’t really
complain. The palace is
magnificent! Despite the stress of
fighting the crowds, I really enjoyed my visit.
At the entrance to Versailles! Woah.
Hall of Mirrors
To conclude our trip,
we went to the Louvre on Sunday morning.
I started out a little irked because I had to pay the 12€ entrance fee
while my friends were able to get in for free because they had their student visa
support letters. But my annoyance was
quickly replaced with anxiety because the Louvre was exactly like Versailles –
crowded and full of pushy people. Can I
just say that I risked my life to see the Mona Lisa? I’m not even sure it was worth it… haha. Really, though. The crowd was insane. What a crazy experience!
Here’s all you need to
know about the Louvre: It’s full of ancient naked people statues, beautiful
paintings, and relics from all over the world.
I don’t mean to diminish its importance – the Louvre is definitely an incredible
place for learning. However, it cannot
be seen in two hours, which is what we tried to do. I feel as if we were disrespecting and
devaluing the great works of art in the Louvre by rushing through in two
hours. I would recommend setting aside
an entire day, maybe even two full days to explore it. It was extremely crowded, which was
surprising to me because I figured there would be significantly less tourists
at this point in the year. Oh,
well. I was able to see a good portion
of it and hope to someday return and look at everything in much greater depth.
Massive queue to enter the Louvre
RISKED MY LIFE TO GET THIS PICTURE
HI MONA
This is what nightmares are made of...
No shame here, people. This is art.
So there you have
it. My weekend in The City of Light was
absolutely incredible and I will never forget the things I saw! Hopefully, I will have the chance to go back
one more time before December 16th. Enjoy these random pictures from the trip!
River Seine boat tour
At St. Pancras with Pat, our lovely tour guide
The Lock Bridge, where lovers put a lock on the bridge and throw the keys into the River Seine below... HOW CUTE IS THIS?!
Moulin Rouge, anyone?
Boat tour with friends!
A little rain won't ruin this trip for us!
A lovely door at Sacre Coeur
Group shot at Versailles entrance! Love my travel buddies :)
Arc de Triomphe
River Seine on a bright, sunny day :)
Fall in Paris <3
Lovely hints of fall along the River Seine
Until next time,
-K
