Viva La France!
Friday, December 1st, 2006I am gonna come right out and say it…I really liked Paris…there…you happy now? What a beautiful city! One of the cities that truly lives up to its reputation. I was pleasantly surprised and left Paris wishing I had a few more days to explore this majestic beauty. It is such a great city to go for a stroll. Everywhere you look there is a beautiful statue, monument or fountain. Night time is the right time in Paris. I am sure partly because it is the holiday season but the lights were spectacular. The first thing I did was go for a stroll down the Champs Elysees. Getting a look at the Arc De Triumph was great, alot bigger than I expected. Next it was on to the Eifel Tower. One of the only really huge landmarks that I have seen on my trip that exceeded my expectations, what an amazing sight at night when it is all lit up. I couldnt stop snapping photos of it, it was so beaituful. There are so many things to see and do in Paris and since I only had a few days I had to pick the big ones. First things first I had to pay tribute to Jim Morrisson. Oddly enough the cemetery where he is burried was a short walk from my hotel. It is a bit hard to find exactly where he is. He has a small little stone that is surrounded by flowers and tshirts. The site was blocked off a bit and there were two guards standing in close proximity eyeballing every person going near it. It is meant to be one of the top attractions in Paris.
Now as I have told you before I am not much of a lover of Museums and art, I like them about as much as a fat kid likes salads but you cant go to Paris without going to the Louvre…it would be like going to a movie and not getting popcorn, it has to be done. I spent only about 2 hours as that was all my attention span would allow. Of course you have to go see the Mona Lisa, very beautiful. The rest of the paintings I kind of just strolled by and had quick glances at. I think I figured out why I dont like the artwork so much. It is all religious. I know that was what people were painting during that time but to me it all looks the same after a while. I ended up going to look at the Egyptian exhibit, that was nice. All the old sculptures and artifacts were great. I have always wanted to go Egypt and see the pyramids and to get a little taste of it was really enjoyable. Now even if you loved art it would probably take days to see all the Louvre has to offer. It has to be the best collection of artwork in the world and is presented in such a nice way. I was quite impressed overall and would definitely go back and have a look around.
One of the other things I enjoyed was having a look at the Notre Dame Cathedral. What a huge church. It was free to go in and have a look inside. Huge ceilings and sculptures all around, well done. On my last day I decided to climb the Eifel Tower. I walked up to the 2nd observatory, that was quite tough and then took the elevator to the top…wawaweewah! Lets just say my palms were a wee bit sweaty. It offers the best panoramic view of paris, you can see everything. I didn’t stay up there too long as I knew I would feel better on solid ground.
The rest of my time in Paris was spent walking around and taking it all in. I probably walked more in Paris then in any other city, a good 5 hours a day, easily. The people in Paris were quite friendly, not rude at all. They all spoke english and where quite helpful for the most part.
I had a bit of an adventure flying from Paris to Barcelona. I flew with Ryan Air and paid about $25 for my flight to Barcelona. The problem with Ryan Air is that they only fly out of small airports outside of the big cities. I had to get up early yesterday morning and flag down a taxi to get to the bus station by 6 A.M. From there it took 1 hour to get to Beauvais Airport. After waiting for 2 hours my flight got cancelled due to fog and I had to wait til 10 last night to catch the next one. I went into the town of Beauvais for the day and had a look around. I didnt arrive in Barcelona until almost 2 in the morning, so I am a bit tired. However I wanted to give you all an update and that is what I did. I hope you appreciate my dedication.
So now I have slightly over 2 weeks to go. I can see the light at the end of the tunnell…and through that light is my dad walking towards me and telling me my shoes dont belong in front of the door and that they need to be put away…geesh! Anyway I am excited to be coming home and seeing everyone and being unemployed.
I’ve posted more photos as well…Enjoy!
Gagnonius