Un Weekend a La Ville-Lumière

I wasn't sure what to expect in my return to Paris. I was there about 4 and a half years ago, on a program through my high school. Last time, I really enjoyed Paris though I remember not being as impressed as I thought I would be. This time, however, I was able to enjoy it a lot more. It was definitely nice to see the city on our own time and see the sights we wanted to see without a time schedule. 

There were 5 girls on the trip this weekend (myself, Maria, Lindsay, Patty and Marissa). We 

arrived late Thursday night, and decided to head to the Sacre Coeur and Montmartre area, which was a close walk to our hostel. The view was absolutely beautiful, we were able to see the city at night. The Sacre Coeur is located up on a hill, so it makes for a great views of the city. I remembered it as one of my favorite places in the city from the last time I was in Paris. It was great to go back there, and it was exactly as I remembered it. After looking at the Sacre Coeur, we wandered around towards the Montmartre artists district. In this area, we sat at one of the small cafes, had a glass of wine, and listened to two old men play guitar and sing. It was a perfect way to spend our first night in Paris, and I was extremely happy to go back to a place I knew I enjoyed the first time around. 

The next morning, we woke up early to grab breakfast at the hostel. Right after that, we jumped on the metro and headed into the main city centre. The first spot we hit was the Notre Dame. It was beautiful, and there was a Catholic church service going on while we were there, which was interesting to see.  The church was more beautiful than I remember, which was, of course, a pleasant surprise. 

Above is a picture of four of us girls (Maria, Patty, Lindsay and myself) in front of the Notre Dame. 

Later that afternoon, we headed over towards the Eiffel Tower. We decided to take the elevator up to the second viewing level, which was a great choice. The view was great, and I was glad we were able to do it on Friday (it was the sunniest day we had in Paris!).

After the Eiffel Tower, we jumped back onto the Metro, and headed to the Arc du Triomphe. It was bigger than I remembered it, which was a great surprise. I loved having the opportunity to see things twice and be impressed by them.  After a quick stop there, we were able to head back to our hostel and clean up before dinner. During this small break, we met a guy who was traveling by himself. Turns out, he was a student at MSU, on spring break. We invited him to dinner with us. It was fun to get to know someone new, and it was nice to have a new addition in our dinner conversation. We went to a small restaurant with a great french menu (including canard a l'orange, a french specialty). Afterwards, we went to the Eiffel Tower, and wandered around the park in front of it. 

The next morning, we woke up and headed straight to the Louvre. As it's such an immense museum, we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to visit all of the different artworks that we wanted. 

First, we started with the Mona Lisa. After this, we saw Michaelangelo's Dying Slave, the Winged Victory and Venus de Milo. We also saw the coronation crown of Louis the 16th (I think). I appreciated all of the artwork a little bit more this time around, how many people get the chance to see the Mona Lisa more than once in their lifetime?!

After visiting the Louvre, we headed towards the Champs Elysees, and did some window shopping. No one bought anything, but it was fun to look at all of the expensive window displays (like the Louis Vuitton one!). 

The rest of the afternoon was spent on a riverboat tour. We were on the boat during the sunset, which was absolutely great. The perfect part was that we were there during sunset, so we were able to see all the monuments in the daylight on one half of the tour, and in the nighttime on the way back. It was so beautiful and the great way to end our last full day in Paris. We went to dinner in the Latin Quarter, which is near La Sorbonne, the major university in Paris. 

Sunday morning, we went to the Catacombs, which are basically underground tombs for bodies that were moved out of the cemeteries in the late 1700s. This was one thing in Paris that I have never done before, but it was very, very cool. When you walk into the start of the actually Catacombs, there are lines and lines of bones. 

It was creepy but cool at the same time. It was additionally creepy because it was raining that morning...and the rain was seeping through the ground. The smell, let me tell you, was not the most pleasant. Regardless, I really enjoyed our hour with the dead :).

Afterwards, I separated from the rest of the group and went to lunch with cousins Scott and Becky and Becky's parents. We went out for falafels, which were fabulous. I also really enjoyed seen all of them again. It's so nice to have familiar faces and family in Europe. Overall, it was a great weekend in Paris. I loved going back a second time.