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In Paris!
Our U.S. College Student Visits This Romantic City
IFrom SacreCouer,
with Paris in the background.
The famous landmark lit up at night.
•
Amy
Arrives in London
•
Acting
Like a Touris in London
•
Amsterdam
– The Full Report
•
The
Best Time Ever!
•
The
Whirlwind Weekend
•
Romanced
By Rome
•
In
Ireland For St. Patrick's Day
By
Amy Jones, Cal State-Fullerton Senior
I hoped on the Eurostar train to Paris.
It is an underwater train that connects London and Paris and only takes
2 1/2 hours. I stayed in this district called Montmarte and it turned
out to be really cool. It is the artist district where Picasso, Renior,
Degas, Manet and a bunch more used to call home.
Getting to Paris from Londo by crossing the English Channel.
THE BUS TOUR
The first two days we took a hop-on/hop-off tour around the
city. It stopped at nine major sights around the city. We picked it
up at the Eiffel Tower which on first sight was absolutely amazing.
Oh yeah, on the way there this French guy taught us how to cheat the
Metro system...it will come into play later. So we saw the Eiffel Tower,
Notre Dame, The Louvre, the Musseu d' Orssay, the Arc d' Triumph, the
Opera House, the March, and a few other places. We stopped at the Louvre
and spent the whole day there.
THE LOUVRE
The famous Mona Lisa and the Rueben's Room highlighted the the Lourve.
Now, I knew that the Louvre would be big but when
you actually get there you see how absolutely gigantic it is. I mean,
it is huge. Once inside there are four wings, which are each like their
own museums. The most famous attraction is da Vinci's Mona Lisa
so I headed to find it.
It is in a room, cased in glass (which is probably a
wise idea because it has been successfully stolen 9 times) and everyone
crowds around it. You can totally take pictures in front of it, so of
course I did. Another area which interested me was the Rubens Room.
It was full of his paintings.
Be advised, if you come to Paris, the Louvre is a mission
and if you really want to see everything it will take all day.
THE ORSSAY
Another fantastic museum in Paris is the Musee d' Orssay.
It focuses on Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works and has a whole
floor of Degas, Van Gogh, Manet, and Monet. That was a cool museum for
sure.
VALENTINES DAY IN ROMANTIC PARIS
From the top of the Eiffel Tower on a romantic French day.
So, we were in Paris for Valentines Day which was cool.
It was just my girlfriend and myself but nevertheless, it was fun to
be in the city of romance on V day. It was one of the days we were taking
the bus tour so we did that and then ended up at the Eiffel Tower once
again. We figured that given the day, we just HAD TO eat dinner by the
Eiffel Tower so we found a cute little restaurant, ordered a few glasses
of wine and enjoyed the city.
NOTRE DAME
The amazing Notre Dame cathedral.
This cathedral is amazing! It is where all of the Quasimodo
and hunchback stuff is set and it is just so cool to see it in person.
The stained glass windows are so ornate and you can climb the towers
to see views of the city from the top.
LAPINE AGILE
The Lapine Agile literally means "the crazy rabbit."
But, it is also the name of a cabaret that Picasso used to frequent.
It was right by our hostel so we went there one night. At first we thought
that it was going to be a cabaret with dancing girls and all that jazz
but then we found out that the traditional French cabaret is people
singing French folk songs. It was so much fun!!! They sit you in a circle
facing everyone and the people who sing are in the middle. A lot of
the audience knew the songs but they had us even singing! You know that
it is good times when they have three American girls singing in French!
:)
MOULIN ROUGE
The outside of the Moulin Rouge was disappointing.
Now, I was looking forward to seeing the Moulin Rouge
because it was so glamorized by the movie but I was a bit disappointed
when I found a red windmill on top of a white building...and that was
it. But, I guess when you are in Paris you just have to see it because
it is so famous, but it really wasn't all that big of a deal.
PLACE DE TETRE
The artists at the little square proved to be a favorite place in Paris.
Okay, now this is what made me fall in love with Paris.
It is this little square in Montmarte, lined with small cafes, where
painters come to paint and sell their work. People wear barres, carry
baguettes, and all that French stuff. It is so cute...the kind of place
that just made me smile.
GETTING CAUGHT FOR CHEATING THE METRO
So, you know how I said that a French guy taught us to
cheat the metro...well we got busted. Right after going to the top of
the Eiffel Tower the four of us cheated the metro and went in though
the exit. We were laughing and having a great time until a street clothed
officer stopped us and gave us all 40 euro tickets. So...pay the 1 euro
40 that it costs to ride the metro because the ticket is not worth it.
HANGING OUT IN PARIS
What's Paris without wine (above) and a wine bar (below).
Most of our nights in Paris consisted of getting a few
bottles of cheap wine and hanging out in the hostel. I met some of the
coolest people ever on this trip and had so much fun just chilling and
talking to them. Plus, the wine here is cheap, it's like 2 if you want
a good bottle.
We met this guy Reggie, who works at the hostel and is
a painter from DC who moved to Paris to pursue his art. He is so freaking
cool! He worked the night shift so we would chill in the lobby with
him until all hours of the night and paint with him. Daniel was this
guy from Australia who is traveling Europe.
The party continues, but watch out for those crazy drivers!
Ruben is the cat from Mexico who lives in London. He is
fantastic. We have the same taste in music and he is one of the most
interesting people in the world to talk to. He has very unique views
on the world and life.
Giselle is a girl from Mexico City that I shared a room
with one of the nights. She was awesome as well. She just came from
London and hooked me up with all kinds of information about a cool church
out here.
One night that was extra-fun, though was the first night
we went to the grocery to get some wine. We asked the guy who worked
there to help us find some good ones and he did. Then he offered to
take us around the city and show us Paris. We saw all of the cool things
by night and he also showed us some cool stuff that is more for locals.
It is always a treat to have a local show you around...they tend to
know the good stuff.
Amy Jones is a Cal State-Fullerton student on an exchange program
in London. She arrived in January and is filing regular reports for
PubClub.com.
The Eiffel Tower from ground level and from the top.
A cool cafe
Amy in front of the Arc 'd Triumph.
 Amy
In Amsterdam!
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