A weekend in Paris and more.

Our two-week stage finished last Friday and so the group went to Paris for a long weekend to celebrate! It was a great trip, though thoroughly exhausting. I’m getting to know some of the Kalamazoo kids a lot better and I feel much more comfortable with them. I really love our group and that’s definitely worth a lot.

So! Paris:
Saturday morning we took the new TGV directly to Paris from Strasbourg. Everyone settled into our hotel in the early afternoon and wandered around that afternoon. We ended up visiting Notre Dame and watched a band play in one of the side streets. After that, the entire group ate at an Indian restaurant (Bengal Tiger in Seattle is better) and then went to see La Lecon by Ionesco in a small theater in the Latin Quarter. Oddly enough, I saw La Cantatrice Chauve in the exact same theater during my high school trip to Paris. Funny how things work out.

Sunday morning we were off to the Musée D’Orsay, one of my personal favorites. We didn’t have a guided tour this time, unlike in high school, which made my second to the museum much more enjoyable. I didn’t get to see everything, but I loved wandering into random exhibits and exploring. My favorites were the Art Nouveau collection and a photography exhibit exploring “La Main” (The Hand).
After that we ate a great lunch at the Musée’s restaurant and took some touristy pictures before leaving. France is hosting the Rugby World Cup and so there was a ferris wheel set up by the Place de la Concorde in its honor. Naturally, six of us decided that we needed to go on it. I’m pretty sure this was my first time on a ferris wheel and what a place for it! The sun was shining, we were in the middle of Paris, and I had a great 360-degree view. It was pretty spectacular. From there we walked to the Louvre, though we didn’t get to spend much time there. I don’t actually like the Louvre as much so that’s okay.
That evening we had dinner at a nearby café and then took a much-needed nap. Eventually we all got back some energy and took the metro over to the Eiffel Tower. It was pretty incredible, actually, to be there at night. We hung out underneath the Tower until we got too cold and made the journey back.

Monday morning we set off to the Palais Garnier aka the Paris Opéra for a guided tour. I wasn’t very excited about it, but it ended up being really cool and I could understand everything our tour guide was saying in French. It was fun to see Box No. 5 where the Phantom supposedly sits, though I didn’t realize that this was the Opera from Phantom of the Opera until halfway through the tour. Oops.
After the Opera, four of us set off to go shopping. Honestly, you can’t visit Paris and not go shopping. We eventually found a mall my mom told me about, which was huge and confusing. I didn’t buy anything, but found some prospective purchases for back in Strasbourg. Jill and Stephanie had already gone back on the metro, but for some reason Sarah and I decided to walk back to the hotel from the mall. It ended up being a really nice walk past the Louvre, the Seine, and Notre Dame back to the Latin Quarter.
That night we went to a mind-blowing restaurant located near our hotel. Seriously, this was one of the best meals of my life, though that might have also been the wine talking. I love all of the French food, though I think I should start walking more rather than using the tram every day.

Yesterday we had most of the day free until our train left at 4:30 so I decided to make the journey to Montmartre, something I’ve wanted to do for many years. A group of us went to Sacré-Coeur, which was stunning. The view was gorgeous. I could have just stayed there for hours looking out over the city. Then we went inside the church and the nuns were singing during a service. It definitely made me miss Italy, hearing the religious choral music in such a resonant church, but it was also gorgeous music and I loved listening. I just miss singing.
We then wandered to a small Salvador Dali museum. I adore Dali’s work and the museum was completely worth it. I really want to know even more about him now. His work is incredible, though I can’t even begin to comprehend most of it.
Finally, we walked down the hill to the Moulin Rouge. It was sort of unreal seeing it after so many years. I definitely thought about Cressa while we were there taking pictures, as the two of us spent countless hours in high school obsessing over the movie. From there it was back to the hotel and then to the train station to hop on the TGV.

So that was my weekend, more or less. A few of us are thinking about adventuring somewhere around Alsace this weekend, but we haven’t made any plans yet. Also, plans are starting to shape up for my free week at the end of October. I’m probably going to go to Turkey (Istanbul and Kusadasi) and then Crete with some of the LC kids in Greece. I’m excited.

Before I go, here are a few pictures from the past few weeks. I have to figure out a better way to post pictures.

The Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg had a light show the first weekend we were here.

Some of the group at Irish Times, a local bar. From left to right - Mike K, Mike Z, Corey, Shannon's sister, Shannon, Stephanie, Jill, and Sarah.

I live towards the end of this street.

Jill, Sarah, and I on the terrace at Musée D'Orsay.

La Tour Eiffel from the ferris wheel. Pretty cool.