Paris
My final stop was in Paris and unfortunately, it was a very short stop. I was only there for 2 full days. I was staying with Charlie who is another friend from Los Alamos. We were staying at his parents house because he hasn't gotten an apartment for himself and friends yet. It was a really nice apartment. After settling in we walked to the basillica on the hill in montemarte. At this point we had a pretty awesome view of Paris and it was really nice to see it at dusk. After wandering here for some time, we met with his friend Edward(you must pronounce it the french way) for dinner. It was fun because Edward spoke english as well and we had a good time trying to chat and sometimes figure out how to explain something that wasn't translating quite right. Our dinner was very delicious and the guys were kind enough to ask for an english menu for me. After dinner we did one of my favorite things of the trip partly because it felt very parisian. We got some beer and jumped the fence at the basilica and looked out over the city and night while talking and getting to know eachother while also people watching. The guys told me that they did this when they were teenagers. It was simple but just felt like being more part of the city rather than a visitor. The next day we did pretty much the opposite. We toured!! We saw the eiffel tower in the morning and did the whole thing! We took the stairs to the 1st and 2nd floors and then we took the elevator to the very top. Overall we didn't spend too much because we did the stairs. It was Charlie's first time actually going to the top. I'm glad we did because you could see the layout of the streets and it was striking. Then we met with Edward again for lunch. We had amazing crepes. I got a breakfast one with eggs, cheese, tomato, spinach etc. It was so good. We then went to the Pantheon which was really neat. It has a fascinating history which I won't go into right now :) Afterwards we went over to the Notre Dame. It's a stunning piece of architecture. I preferred it from the outside because inside was so full of tourists and it was very dark but it was still really interesting to walk around the cathedral. One thing that was interesting is they have a priest who speaks like 5 languages for confessional and even more unusual is that confession occurs in a "glass box" type room which I thought takes away from the privacy of it all. When we got out of the Notre Dame, the weather had turned rainy so we decided to go to the modern art museum. I also really liked this museum. I used to really dislike modern art but I've realized that I just don't like some modern art. A lot of it is really interesting. I'm particularly fond of minimalistic and design focused works. Since eating out can get expensive, we bought food at the store and made dinner. It turned out okay but we ended up overcooking the salmon :( BUT we had dessert crepes and they were yummy. Nutella all the way! They even had a legit skillet for crepes and the stick spreader thingy. The next day we did museums. First we did the obligatory Louvre tour. That was CRAZY. I know they say it's huge and you'll never see it all but really they really really mean it. But I saw the Mona Lisa and a bunch of famous old paintings. I was less excited about those than I thought I would but I prefer more modern art, I guess. I did really love the two floors of sculpture. The rooms they have for them are flooded with natural light and you can really appreciate the forms. I've always loved how people can turn stone into something that is so lifelike and full of emotion. It's incredible and those works are classics. Following the Louvre we went to l'Orangerie which is home to the famous oval rooms of Monet's lilies. I could've sat there for hours. Monet has always been my favorite artist and I was in heaven at the opportunity to see these paintings in person. Sadly they didn't allow photos so I don't have any. The museum also has a permanent collection with art by many artists I also like. That museum was one of my favorites. Finally we walked through the king's gardens and visited the Invalides. Something I haven't mentioned is that the guys discovered that most places let young people under 25 who are from the EU into museums for free. Since we arrived at Invalides close to closing time, I told them to go in and check it out and I would happily wait outside. I got some cool photos of the church's gilded top and of the gardens. We cooked a yummy dinner the second night :) I left the next morning by train for Amsterdam and then to Utrecht.
I chose the above phrase because it's the only french that I can remember how to say and that the guys taught me on this trip :)
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