Reading week (or Spring Break part 1 for me)!
Another quirky aspect about studying at the University of Warwick is the emphasis placed on self study. The result? An English college invention known as Reading Week where students are able to catch up on their books, perfect their essays, or have another excuse to be lazy (and from what I saw of my flatmates, no one actually read). In the case of the international students, we traveled... And where better to spend a lazy week than to start off the first 4 days in Paris!
I arrived in Paris on Saturday, February 7th after spending a night a day in London (which consisted of strolling and taking a picture next to Platform 9 3/4, yes, I am a dork). The quickest way to get to the City of Lights is via the Eurostar, from London, which is famous for going underneath the English channel. That popping sound that accompanied the trip was a little bit disconcerting when you realize it's caused by the water pressure that's just above you. Yet, the journey only took 2 hours so if anyone is in a rush and don't mind missing the sights in between Paris or London, then it's definitely worth the money (our fare was only 60 pounds round trip since we went at a non-peak travel time, which was really cheap considering it's normally 60 pounds one way).
The city of Paris is divided up into 5 zones with the center being zone 1 and the suburbia areas taking up zones 2-5. For anyone looking to spend a couple of days in Paris, do not even think about wandering outside of zone 1 (save for a day-trip to Versailles but even then, the journey 45 minutes from the center of the city each way). Instead, look to spending 10 euros (give or take) on each famous sight and eating copious amounts of food; I am now officially addicted to crepes and nutella, especially when eating them while walking down Parisian boulevards.
The Haussmann buildings which cover zone 1 of Paris date from the 1850's. The railings along the buildings were made so that soldiers can run along buildings and shoot down insurgents. I learned that during my art history classes. I find it so incredibly amazing that the buildings are still there, complete with the wide one-way boulevards to accompany them. It was as if my art history books came to life and readings about Haussmanization came back into my head, a very surreal experience.
On Sunday morning, after spending a restful night at the Hotel Cheapbeds, we took the metro into Paris. The first sight? The river Seine. Up close, it's actually quite murky yet somehow, that didn't ruin the magic, especially considering that most, if not all of the Parisian sights we saw was located around the river.
In the center of the river is the Notre Dame, which means Church of our Lady, made famous within Victor Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame and the Disney movie that ensued. The cathedral, with its flying buttresses, iconic facade, and gargoyles just seemed to inspire both feelings of awe and fear. It's so hard to believe that such a beautiful piece of architecture could have been used to store cattle after the French Revolution. Mon dieu!
I almost wanted to shout "Sanctuary!" when we got to the top of the bell tower, or open my arms a la Titanic.
For anyone wanting to go up to the top of the Notre Dame, beware, it is 400 spiraling steps up and 400 down (though only 5 euros, which is not bad considering you're doing most of the work going up and down). The sense of vertigo increases dramatically when you are going down since by that point, your legs are waiting to drop off from exhaustion and the circular direction is almost dizzying. But the view? Worth the burn.
"This is la vie en rose." This picture represents Paris for me.
Then, there was the piece de resistance: the Eiffel Tower...
Which sparkles every hour and boosts its own little revolving beam of light at the top (it's like a really tall lighthouse). Apparently, according to Gregoire, a French exchange student I met at Warwick, every New Years, Parisians congregate with wine and food on the Champ de Mars (the lawn in front of the tower) and cheer whenever the sparkles go off.
Even though going up the tower was overpriced (12 euros to take the elevator up!), it doesn't change the fact that the view of the city at night was amazing to behold, made all the more romantic (and freezing) since it was snowing at that altitude. If you, like me, have never been to France before, then going up the iconic tower was a necessity. If not, it's like going to New York City and not going up the Empire State Building, you're missing the chance to experience an iconic symbol. As my travel mate Allison puts it, they can charge you as much as they want because they know you're going to go up anyway. Qui...
Monday was the Louvre, which will be another entry in itself. Afterward, it was a 45 minute straight walk from there through through the Tuileries Garden (where sadly we didn't have tea like in so many a Monet and Renoir paintings)...
to the Place de la Concorde, the site where the Jacobins guillotined many during the French Revolution, including Marie Antoinette...
down the Champs Elysee with it's myriad of commercial shops which included both a Disney Store and Louis Vuitton...
to the Arc de Triomphe. After all, Paris was a city meant for strolling and enjoying the sights around you, with the lights, sounds, and clean streets (contrary to popular opinion, people do pick up after their dogs).
"It's a triumph just walking to the arch," says a very tired Lana, one of my travel mates.
Tuesday was Chateau de Versailles, located all the way in the 4th level of Paris. It was the home of the French monarchy from Louis XIV up to the Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and can only be described in one word: shiny. And looking at the Rococo styled rooms lined with gold, made of marble, at the luxuriously woven tapestries, at the detailed paintings at the ceiling, at the ornate light fixtures, you understand where the French stereotype of excess comes from. It's gaudy, purely ornamental and almost tacky. But is overwhelming? Definitely. I had never seen so much gold in one place. It was almost frightening.
This is where the Treaty of Versailles was signed after WWI (which subsequently led to WWII)
Then Wednesday was the Musee de Orsay for me (since I am an art geek) and the French Catacombs for everyone else, (which was basically 2 miles of underground tunnel filled with human bones).
Afterward, we met up again and wandered into the bohemian district of Montmartre (it's where the Moulin Rouge is located) a bit north of the Seine, and up to the Basilique du Sacre Coeur (the Basilica of the Sacred Heart).
We encountered some very aggressive hecklers at the front of the church, who were trying to sell us severely overpriced bracelets. The key is to walk forward, keep your hands to yourself, and ignore them, especially if you don't want to spend 15 euros on a piece of string around your wrist. Despite that and the heavy walk up the church's steps (we were carrying our luggage on our back which made the walk seem akin to a pilgrimage), the view of the city late in the day, accompanied by an impromptu concert on the church steps (with the guitarist leading a sing along of "All You Need is Love") was the perfect ending to Paris.
I couldn't ask for a better last look.
To describe Paris in one word: magic. It's history, culture, and romance all rolled into one. And four days was just long enough to get a satisfying taste of it but just short enough so you are tempted to return. I know I want to.
Look out for my next posts on Parisian art and food since they were so good, they deserve their own post.
Frenchisms:
- Most place names in Paris are very direct, with names such as "Japanese Restaurant," "Bakery," or in our case, "Hotel Cheap Beds."
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