Paris and Normandy

We had our first long travel break this past week! I spend the first 5 days of the break in Paris! Paris has always been one of my favorite places in the world, so I was very excited to go back! I left with a group of 5 other people on Thursday night! We took the overnight train out of Milan and arrived in Paris on Friday morning. The overnight train was not the best way to sleep, but I did get a little sleep and it was very convenient way of traveling to Paris. Once in Paris we found our hostel, which was outside of the city- in a not so nice part of town like it was not bad or dangerous (at least I do not think it was) but it definitely was not as nice as downtown Paris. Our hostel was very nice though it is part of a nice line of hostels called St. Christopher’s, it was very clean and the pillows were comfortable- so that’s all that really matters in terms of hostels! Anyways we dropped our stuff off at the hostel and went to tour the town. We went to Notre Dame first. The first time I was in Paris I did not get to see the inside of the cathedral, so it was exciting to get to see the beautiful stain glass and church this time! While we were at Notre Dame a few girls and I wondered down the side street and got some tea, coffee, and desert! We ordered a crêpe, which had homemade ice cream, fresh raspberries, and chocolate sauce on it; it was probably one of the best things I ate the entire trip! After we had crepes I was walking back by Notre Dame to meet the rest of the group and I ran into Sarah and Amanda, who are two girls who are in my fraternity back at Tech. It was crazy to run into them on such a chance encounter! After catching up with Sarah and Amanda, my group continued to the Latin Quarter. We walked up the main street and looked in some stores, which was very fun! We then walked through the Luxemburg Gardens, which were really pretty! Then we went back to our hostel to get ready for the night. That night we decided to go to the Eiffel Tower for dinner (we took a baguette, cheese, and wine) and ate under the shimmering Eiffel Tower. The Tower was stunning all lit up and when we went up on the tower later I really understood why they call Paris the city of lights! It was gorgeous and one of my favorite things I have done since I have been in Europe.

The next day Liz and I just wondered around Paris— we went to a café, went shopping, and simply had a relaxing day! However at the end of the day, when we were in the Latin Quarter a large electronic concert was taking place down the street from the store, apparently the people there got out of control so they sent in to Paris squat team, who in turn set off tear gas! So we got a little bit of the effects from inside the store! My eyes got all teary and my throat got all dry, but overall it was not that bad! Needless to say however we left that part of town and returned to our hostel!

The third day in Paris I went to Normandy, which is where the D-Day. This trip was on the top three things I have done along with the Eiffel Tower at night and Mount St. Georgio. We left really early in the morning and rode the train to Bayeux, which is a small town up near the beaches of Normandy. When we got there we went to the tourist office and booked a tour for the afternoon. Then we wondered around the town for an hour or so until the tower started— it was a nice change of pace from busy Paris! The church in the town also called Notre Dame was stunning and I really enjoyed just walking down the small cobble stone streets! In the afternoon we joined our tour, which consisted of us and a couple on their honeymoon. The couple was very nice and the tour group was the perfect size. We went to the floating road, Port Winston (where the Allies installed a port that they floated across the English Channel from England), the American Cemetery (which was beautiful and very humbling to see how many people had died in the battle), Omaha Beach (where the U.S. troops invaded), and finally Pointe Du Hoc (where the Rangers scaled the cliffs to capture a German fort. The tour was truly wonderful and I learned so much about the D-Day invasion. After the tour, however, we sadly had to get on the next train to Paris.

The fourth day in Paris I went to the Louvre. Everyone else in my group had already gone to the Louvre the day before, so I went alone. It worked out perfectly because I could take my time and not worry about the rest of the group and taking too much or too little time in one spot. I went to every room that I could find and get to in the Louvre. It took me 6.5 hours, but it was a great day! I saw the three ladies, and literally everything else. My favorite parts were the ancient Egypt section, Rembrandt rooms, Napoleons apartments, Winged Victory, and the French painting section. I took art history back at Tech and found it very exciting to see in real life all the paintings I learned about in that class. After the Louvre I went and found myself a pair of black shoes, as I didn’t have any! Then I wondered around the opera and high end shopping stores for a little bit! I got a banana chocolate crepe, which was excellent and sat outside a random church to watch the children play in the park below. Overall it was a wonderful day, which was made even better when I returned to the hostel to find the Steelers game on the TV. So I happily enjoyed the game at the hostel (even though they lost), while the rest of the group went out for the night.

On our final day in Paris we went to Versailles. When we first came up to the house I couldn’t believe how big the house/grounds truly were! I had heard that it was large and extravagant but it really blew my expectations away. We went through the main palace and I saw the house of mirrors and all the rooms to the house. Then we went out to the gardens, which I found far more impressive! I loved just walking around the grounds- I think you could spend a few days just touring them! We went in the smaller houses outside the main house too- I think they were guest houses but I am not totally sure! They were nice and felt much more like houses than the real palace. To end the day we sat on the grass outside the main canal and peacefully watch the people walk by- everyone but I fell asleep for a bit as we sat there! On the way back to the train station we stopped at a Mexican restaurant, which was interesting because it was so different than Mexican food in the U.S. Finally we made it back to Paris and went to bed because we had to wake up early the next morning to catch the train to Amsterdam!!

Sep 18, 2009

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