Paris Redux

Last weekend, everyone on my program went to Paris! We left at 6:00 a.m. for the train station and got to Paris around 10:30 local time (9:30 a.m. London time, 3:30 a.m. Central time). We started out with a bus tour, which I was planning on skipping because (a) I'd already been to Paris and had seen all the major tourist attractions from the outside and (b) the London bus tour was not anything to rave about. But we were going to be on the bus for about a half hour and then eating lunch (a group lunch that we paid for as part of our program fee) and then riding the bus for another hour or so and then checking into the hotel, so it didn't really make sense to skip it. And actually, this tour was better than the London one because the bus slowed down when there were prime picture opportunities.

After checking into our hotel (which was really modern and funky and had views of the Eiffel Tower!), Kellie and I went down to the Latin Quarter, which was the number one thing on my list to see this weekend. It's the artsy, intellectual, liberal part of Paris on the Left Bank. We saw Place St Michel, a favorite gathering place of protesters. In 1871 (Les Mis era), WW2, and 1968, students and other passionate idealists set up barricades and fought against the establishment (or in WW2, against the invading Nazis) in that very area. There was a small Iraq War protest going on there when we were there. It seemed fitting to have some sort of political activity going on. We took a worthwhile detour to see Notre Dame from the outside. A gypsy asked me if I spoke English and, without thinking or even realizing that she was a gypsy, I was like, "Yeah." And then she handed me this hand-written piece of paper with some sort of sob story written on it. And then because of the foot-in-the-door phenomenon (I did the small favor of reading her story), I felt compelled to give her a bit of money. I really hate seeing beggars around because I always feel really bad for them and then I feel naive for feeling bad and then I feel coldhearted for telling myself, "As everyone says, they're only out to pickpocket you the minute you stop to talk with them."

Anyways, after Notre Dame, Kellie and I went to the Pantheon (also in the Latin Quarter) and saw the tombs of people like Rousseau, Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Alexander Dumas, Emile Zola, and the guy who invented Braille. We wandered around and stopped outside a crepe shop and debated about whether or not to go in. The proprietor came out and was all friendly, handing us menus and ushering us inside. And we were like, "Um...so I guess we're eating here?" I'm actually very glad that we were manipulated into doing so because our nutella-filled crepes were TO DIE FOR. Our waitress was not very nice, probably because neither of us could speak any French except "bonjour" and "merci." But then we accidentally gave her too big of a tip, and her eyes got wide and she said excitedly, "Merci, madamoiselles!" So she liked us after that, though we obviously just supported the stereotype of rich, ignorant Americans.

After that, we went to Shakespeare and Company Bookstore. Of the things to do in the Latin Quarter, this was on the TOP of my list. It's a bookstore that was founded by Sylvia Beach in the 1920s, when there was a huge influx of intellectual artists and writers from America to Paris. This was the "lost generation," a phrase coined by Gertrude Stein. People like Hemingway, Pound, and Fitzgerald hung out in Shakespeare and Company. During WW2, it had to be closed down and then it was reopened at its current location and it upholds many of the same ideals as the "first edition" bookstore. I really wanted to get a book there, but I didn't want to get something you can get just anywhere. A lot of their used books were older editions but not the amazing old editions, just the kind that came out like twenty years ago and went out of print. Much to my shame, I just ended up getting the 4th Harry Potter book in the British kids' version. But still, it has a cool Shakespeare and Company stamp on the title page.

We went shopping in the Latin Quarter, where I bought way more things than I was planning to do. We also went to the Luxembourg Gardens, which were really pretty. It was nice to see a garden of the sort that I'm always researching and writing about for my internship. Then we met up with Rahbi and Jessica, and the four of us had a nice dinner at a lovely French cafe. And it was there, in a Parisian cafe, that I had my first glass of wine. (You can't get a much more romantic setting than that.) I had white wine, and I actually really liked it! It's definitely the best drink I've had so far, though I still like alcoholic cider. After dinner, we went back to Shakespeare and Company because Rahbi and Jessica wanted to see it too. Then we bummed around and did some more shopping. We tried to go up the Eiffel Tower, but the information we had about when it closed was wrong, so we weren't able to. But we got to see it all lit up and take some pictures.

The next day, we tried again to go up the Eiffel Tower but the line was about a thousand miles long so we decided our time would be better spent elsewhere. We saw the French version of the Statue of Liberty (the one that's in National Treasure 2), and we went to the Arc de Triomphe and then walked down the Champs-Elysees. We saw the largest Luis Vuitton store in the world with purses that cost about 2000 euros. We also went into two stores with concept cars. The first one had hybrid cars and the second one had sports cars and racing cars. Normally, I don't care one whit about cars, but these were so interesting! We also stopped in the Disney store just for the heck of it. Another surprising interest for me: We went to Haagen-Dazs and I actually enjoyed ice cream! I got a scoop of raspberry meringue and a scoop of double chocolate chunk, all covered in dark chocolate sauce. When ice cream tastes like that, it's heavenly.

About halfway down the Champs Elysees, barricades were set up to prepare for the Bastille Day Parade (which went on this morning, 14 July). We ended up walking by the river, past the Pont Neuf. Then we finally came to the Louvre and had only about two and a half hours in it. Fortunately, I spent a whole day in there the last time I was there so I could be a little bit more leisurely and see some of the things I hadn't seen the last time. I made sure I saw Cupid & Psyche though because that's probably my absolute favorite piece of art in the Louvre, if it's possible to pick a favorite from among all that amazing art. I also always like Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People."

Then we went to the Sacre Coeur, which I hadn't seen before. It's a beautiful domed cathedral. They had organ music and were singing hymns when we walked through, which was nice. When I visited Westminster Abbey during non-mass times, I felt like it was very commercialized. But this church, while obviously touristy, felt like it was trying to maintain some sense of the sacred. I'm not sure which is better because Westminster felt like it wasn't trying to hide anything. I went there last time I was in London during Holy Communion, which was very meaningful. But it seems to say, "Okay, during tourist hours, we are truly a tourist facility." But then the Sacre Coeur seems to say, "We'll allow tourists, but we want them to know that we are primarily an institution for worship and encountering God."

Then after that, we went back to the Gare du Nord train station, with incredibly sore feet and drooping eyelids. I normally can't sleep on trains, but I actually slept for about half the ride home, which was exciting. So anyways, my overall reaction to a second time in Paris: It's a beautiful city and I had a lot of fun, but it wasn't quite magical, the way my first time there was. I felt like I wanted more than a touristy experience, but I just couldn't get it in such a short time and with my non-existent French skills.