October 31^st through November 2^nd – Paris!

This weekend I went to Paris with my usual traveling buddies of Lauren, Carly, and Angie. We however, had a new addition to our group, as we met Lauren’s friend Josh who was visiting from home at the airport in Paris. It was a great weekend, despite getting lost on our way to the hostel, it being frigidly cold compared to the more soothing cool temperatures of Italy, and the dreary rain clouds overhead. I regret to say that we did not have any really “French” food, per say, other than the croissant at breakfast. We were on a strictly low budget that weekend, so we had brought a bunch of food along to eat, and did any of the rare food shopping in Paris in the cheap supermarkets, buying yogurt and pear sauce.

We saw as many sites as we could cram into our one night on Halloween (which apparently isn’t a big deal over here as I only saw one person dressed up in all of Paris), and the one full day on Saturday. Friday night, we went to the Arc di Triumph and from there, walked down the busy, twinkling-lit main drag that leads all the way to the glass pyramid of the Louvre. Friday nights are free after 6 pm for people under the age of 26, so it fit in perfectly with our measly budget!

Saturday, we got up and moseyed over to the Picasso Museum, which I really loved. I never knew how many different mediums and art forms Picasso used until seeing all his sculptures, collages, paintings, etc. in this museum! We then walked to the Notre Dame, which was amazing! I especially loved the gargoyles, who with their bulging neck muscles, scream down at you from the top of the outside walls, and, literally, drooling contemptuous rain drops from their foul mouths. But really: they have holes in the tops of their heads, so the rain runs through and out of their mouth, making it looks like they’re either really hungry, or foaming from the mouth in anger! This was also free, which was even more amazing!! After the Notre Dame, we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower, so we could see it during the day hours – impressive, of course! But we left to do some shopping and browsing elsewhere before coming back to see it all lit up – in blue! The soft glow of the electric blue was made even more fuzzy by the haze from the light sprinkling. We waited around, our mouths hanging open as we looked up and up, until the clock struck a new hour, and behold! The tower looks as though it were on fire with twinkling white lights dancing playfully and feverishly, eager to show off in their short moment of fame! It was beautiful! Apparently they light it up every hour on the hour for a few minutes – I know it was longer than one minute, so maybe 5 or 10? I’m not quite sure, but I loved every short minute of it!

Of course the day we left, Sunday, was sunny and beautiful, which was greatly appreciated as we reluctantly made our way back to the Charles de Gaulle Airport, the light streaming in through the glass ceiling of the building. I didn’t want to say goodbye to the French airport efficiency and cleanliness – Italy’s Fiumicino airport is so chaotic, and the lines to get through security are always a hair-tangling mess! The efficient French staff, however, rushed us through security before we could say merci, and out of their lovely country, back into the arms of the sometimes endearing, other times frustrating chaos of dear, old Italia. Au revoir, Paris!