Wine + Cheese + Crepes = Paris

The Louvre

The next morning, we woke up and took the metro to the Opera House, and then the Eiffel Tower, which was really fun to see in person. The metro here is crazy...super complicated and dirty, but after a while I think we all got the hang of it. The Opera House was amazingly pretty, and it was nice out, so it was fun hanging around outside and enjoying the streets of Paris. We went to the Orange Museum and that was amazing to see huge Monet works (one of my favorite artists), walked down the Tuleries and went to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa and the Venus di Milo. It was crazy there though and the museum was huge and overwhelming. Kjell came to visit, which was fun, and that evening the two of us met our friends Sam and Masera from Morris for a night out.

The Opera House

The next day we went out to see the Notre Dame and the Luxembourg gardens. I loved the area where the Notre Dame is...with musicians playing in the streets and Parisians riding their bikes all around the island. The Luxembourg gardens were also in a great area, and after visiting, we ate at a cute outdoor cafe in a bustling neighborhood. That evening, Kjell and I met up with Masera and some of her friends and went to a bar called Cafe Oz, where they line up all these tables against the walls and people dance on the tables. It was really fun hanging out with familiar faces and I loved catching up with everyone!

Street Market in Paris

On Sunday, Mom, Dad, and I went to the D'Orsay Museum, which was also very cool. They had an amazing selection of some of my favorite painters: Monet, Van Gogh, Gaugain, and Renoir. It really is truly amazing to see these works of art in person, being able to examine every brush stroke and use of subtle differences in color to create a masterpiece. We walked back to our apartment in the Le Marais district, and made sure to grab a falafal from the famous stand in the Jewish Quarter.

Monet in the Orange Museum

My last day in Paris was probably my favorite day of the trip. We woke up earlier than usual, and headed up to the northern part of the city to see the Moulin Rouge and the Sacre Cour. The Moulin Rouge wasn't much to see, but the Sacre Cour was really amazing. It sits on top of a hill where you can see the whole city, and even though it was busy there, it wasn't in the crazy touristy, sell-out way other monuments around the city were. The inside of the church wasn't the most magnificent interior in the world, but the hundreds of candles that people lit that sat around the Cathedral is really something to see. That afternoon, I met Masera and we went shopping at Les Halles, which is a pretty interesting shopping mall. We visited her favorite crepe stand, and I got to experience my first Paris crepe, which was super huge and very sweet. The rest of the afternoon, we just wandered around the city by the Pompidou center. Later, we met up with Sam and the three of us walked along the Avenue de Champes-Elysees to see the Arc de Triomphe. It was nice catching up with them, and we got to see all the famous designer stores as we walked to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at the Trocadero. I think that seeing that monument lit up, next to the lights of the river and the surrounding city, was the defining moment of the trip. It was absolutely stunning.

Eiffel Tower

Today, I unfortunately had to wake up at 3:30am to meet the shuttle. The trip was long, but I thankfully made it back to Bilbao without a glitch and to warm, sunny weather. I think the only thorn in my side to the travel today was this one couple that took the bus from Biarritz to Bilbao with me. No wonder people always say that American tourists are some of the worst crop. This couple was just awful. When we reached San Sebastian, the bus driver asked all of us to leave the bus for a 15min bathroom break, so he could go refill the bus with gas. This couple didn't think to grab their coats, even though it was clearly raining, and continued to blame the bus driver for this. Once they got on the bus, they continued loudly complaining to anyone who would listen how the driver "wouldn't let them grab their coats" and how the driver was a jerk because "he clearly knew that we didn't understand him speaking french" (the bus driver was speaking Spanish). Having to get off a bus for 10 minutes apparently added "too much extra stress", even though the 80 year old Spanish lady who was traveling with us didn't seem to have a problem with this simple request from the driver. If you travel, please don't ever do this, it's horribly annoying and ruins the experience for everyone else who has to listen to you. Thank you. Alicante in two days with the girls, so I'll have another update soon!

written by  Laura Hanson on March 30, 2010 from Paris, France
from the travel blog: Un Semestre en España
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