Last weekend, I had the wonderful experience of visiting Paris. The city of love, lights, crepes, bread and cheese, and beautiful views. And I have to tell you, Paris totally surpassed all of my expectations.
Before I left for Paris, I wasn’t sure how to feel. I know, that sounds crazy, it’s Paris, how could I not love it? But I had heard differing opinions on the city, ranging from it being a tourist-invaded hell to a city that held on to its cultural roots and beauty. What I have discovered after my weekend there, is that it’s a little bit of both, but regardless, Paris is enthralling.
My weekend was a whirlwind of cramming in everything I wanted to do, walking 10-13 miles a day, and still taking the time soak in every moment. I took a short and sweet, about 2.5 hours, Eurostar train from London to Paris Gare du Norde train station. Upon arrival, I met up with my friends, we dropped our stuff at the hotel, and ventured forth.
First stop, Notre Dame. This cathedral was breathtaking. Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame did not do this place justice. The stained glass windows were huge, and filled the cathedral with a nice, soft glow.
Next up, a quick visit to Moulin Rouge. The walk there was extremely entertaining and almost better than the Moulin Rouge theatre; this is because the street is full of sex shops, with non-inventive names such as Sex Shop, Porn Shop, Porn Sex Shop, Sex Toys R Us, and Pussy’s. The window displays were hysterical; most of them were full of mannequins in very unfortunate (fortunate?) situations and eiffel tower shaped vibrators. Yes, that is real. I could not make that up.
Within walking distance of Moulin Rouge was Sacre Coeur, a cathedral built on one of the tallest parts of Paris. The hike to the church was through the older part of the city, full of architectural delight. The church itself was overlooking the city and a lovely green park.
As no one in my group had any data on their phone, the weekend was a lesson in map reading. I had some serious regret that I never took the time to actually use the Mapsco my friend Rachel bought me in high school, and that I let it sit in my car for an emergency that never came. Reading maps and figuring out where you are, and where you need to go, is difficult to say the least, if you haven’t had to do this before. Which I hadn’t. I developed a supreme appreciation for data and all mapping apps ever designed; I am convinced God inspired all of them because they are amazing and wonderful and life saving. Alas, without my CityMapper of Hopstop, I had to go it alone. On the bright side, by the end of the weekend, I was adept at both getting lost and getting un-lost, and I can ask “how do I get here?” in French.
Despite a couple of wrong turns and miscommunications, over the weekend I still made it to the Louvre, Pont de l’Archeveche (the love lock bridge), and the Eiffel Tower. Of everything I did, it’s a tossup as to whether the love locks or the Eiffel Tower were my favorite; both were so awe-inspiring I simply cannot choose.
The Louvre was incredible, more massive than I could have ever imagined. The main entrance sectioned off into separate wings, which were really buildings. My personal favorite part was the glass pyramids in the courtyard, but the Mona Lisa was pretty cool too.
The Eiffel Tower. Where do I even begin. I mean, I knew it was pretty. But I didn’t know. When I first saw the tower, it was at night, lit up, and it was humongous. Humongous and yet elegant. I have no clue how, but the Eiffel Tower was this delicate, yet mechanical, and overwhelmingly large, yet still beautiful, and ultimately dazzling installation. Even better, every hour on the hour, the Tour Eiffel literally sparkles. I’m talking dazzling bursts of light running up and down this massive tower in the middle of Paris. It does not get better or more impressive than this! (Or so I thought to myself, until the next day, when I saw the Pont de l’Archeveche.)
This does not at all do justice to the sparkles of the tower, but it gives you a taste
Pont de l’Archeveche is one of the two love lock bridges in Paris. This bridge is rumored to be the bridge for lovers, and that’s why it is full of locks, even more so than the other bridge, Pont des Arts, which is for committed love. From photos I had seen, I knew this bridge was full of locks, but once again, the sheer immensity of how many locks were on the bridge was unbelievable. It’s impossible to capture all of the locks in any single photo; there are locks on top of locks on top of locks, locks on the light posts, locks on the benches, the hand rails, the bike racks. The amount of love signified in all of those locks was beautiful. Unfortunately, the local government had started to set up boards in front of the locks, in order to prevent more locks from being put on. Fortunately, people persevered past this and continue to put locks in inventive places and work around the boards. My roommate and I put a “roomie love” lock on the bridge ourselves. Supposedly, you’re supposed to throw the key to your love lock into the Seine River so that your love will endure until you find the key (which is nigh impossible). I wasn’t completely on board with littering the Seine, so luckily we lost our key sometime during our photo taking, and that was that. I choose to assume it’s in the Seine, blending in with rocks and not causing any damage.
See that AR+LL? That’s US! Our very own roommate lock!
The boards were full of colorful graffiti, but the locks still peek through.
Overall, Paris was lovely. I had a blast. I think I fulfilled every touristy thing possible; I embraced my tourist status and it was great. And, bonus, Lola ran into her grandma outside the Musee d’Orsay.
I can totally see the familial resemblance.
And, Lola got a selfie with the Mona Lisa! Although the guards gave us a weird look.
xoxo,
Lauren
