Friday in Paris

I’ve delayed this about as long as I could out of dreading the massive task of blogging about Paris. But I’m just going to go for it and hope I’m done in a couple of days…

Getting to Paris went off without a hitch, taking a bus to Madrid, and then flying out Friday morning. However, I did learn that it’s a lot easier to say you’re going to sleep in an airport than to actually do it, and come Friday morning I was ecstatic to be leaving that Madrid airport.

I took a bus from the Paris-Bouvouis airport into the city and got to see some French countryside, which was incredibly pleasant but looked a lot like…Missouri. After a few metro stops I found my way to the 3 Ducks Hostel, which would be my home for three nights.

After settling in, I headed to the meeting point Mark, Sam (a guy from Clark University), and I had planned on: The Eiffel Tower, 2pm. I found Paris strangely easy to find my way to and it was beautiful weather. I just kept walking and then all of a sudden, the Eiffel Tower was standing right there over me. The thing I noticed on the approach was that the tower is far bigger than I imagined and must weight a million pounds. I can’t remember what the total weight is, but I do remember that there are 50 tons of paint on the tower. Just paint.

Side Note: The policeman under the Eiffel Tower carry some of the biggest automatic weapons I’ve ever seen and probably average 6 foot 5.

Meeting up with Mark and Sam, we realized we were in the capital of all of Europe, and had no plan. But luckily we had the combined knowledge of one travel book and a few podcasts, all of which from Rick Steves, and his advice would guide our trip to the point where we referred Rick as “he”, as in, “Hey, do you think the Latin Quarter is worth checking out? What’s he say about it?”

And anyway, Rick’s advice for Paris is just to walk. So walk we did,

right up the Seine River and I’ve gotta say it was great. We walked past the Orsay Museum:

The Louvre (Yes that's all the Louvre):

Napoleon’s Tomb:

The famous riverside book stands:

And these gold things:

Since we were headed that way anyway, why not check our Notre Dame? Here’s me out in front of the bell towers where Quasi-Modo was said to have watched the chaos of the French Revolution:

And this is the even more famous backside with its flying buttresses. Despite adding an undeniable grandeur to the cathedral, the buttresses actually reinforce the walls to such an extent that the incredibly weighty top doesn’t need so much support from the walls, allowing for the walls to house the massive stained-glass windows.

While we were there, a mass was actually taking place, and despite all the beautiful sights, the most memorable part was how Notre Dame smelled, kind of a combination of jasmine and cinnamon.

It’s tough to describe the size and beauty of Notre Dame, but like everything else, you’ll just have to take my word for it. The outside is covered with some of the world’s first gargoyles, a name which actually comes from the French word for “gargle”, which is an apt name for the creatures which in addition to scaring off evil spirits, shoot rain away from the precious stained-glass.

Afterwards, we took a little walk through the beautiful and historic Latin Quarter of Paris, which was historically the intellectual center of town, where in medieval times, the only way to communicate in elevated social circles was with latin. We ended up at Luxembourg Gardens, where we took in the beautiful Parisian sunshine and people. I should note that it was supposed to rain the entire weekend, so even if we only had one day of sunshine, I was very thankful.

The Latin Quarter waterfront:

Luxembourg Gardens:

The night brought even more opportunities of things to see, but since the Eiffel Tower had peaked our interest earlier, we headed that way again. On the way, Mark’s nose for sweets led us to a bakery where a French woman passed us on the way out and said, “Such a good baker”. As if we weren’t already convinced. Here’s a picture of the sweet I got, the name of which I have no idea, but I assure you it was delicious. I’d say pecan flavor mixed with a really gooey shortbread.

Then we made it back to the Eiffel, which is much less imposing and more romantic at night.

The ride up was interesting because there’s only a few small little windows to look out , and at night it was very ominous.

But the views at the top were absolutely incredible and even though we were in an inescapable cage, the howling wind made it a bold adventure.

We caught glimpses of the Arc de Triomphe,

Napoleon’s Tomb,

And that same riverside walk we took earlier in the day.

And on the hour every hour, the tower lights sparkle for about 10 minutes, and though I didn’t catch much, I did take a little video of what we could see from the top.

Afterwards, we headed back to the hostel, stopped at a little restaurant where we saw some American friends, and then spent the night in the hostel courtyard, which was an experience ranging from incredible to disturbing. The highs were meeting Dave, from Australia, who just was straight awesome, and listening to a guy from Finland rock some Oasis and Chili Peppers on a beat up guitar. Really the only low was that I met a couple guys who have done a tour in Afghanistan, and I asked the dangerous question, “What is the war like”. Though I respect them for their courage and also honesty, that’s a world that should make us all weep.

But all in all day 1 in Paris was a sweeping success and I could barely sleep waiting for whatever Saturday would hold.