J'adore Paris (To a Degree)

Now that I've been "home" in London for several days, I can properly reflect on the whirlwind that was our trip to Paris.

I ate some great food and some not so great food, saw some great art and some not so great art, and had some great experiences and some not so great experiences.

My friend Brenda and I traveled to Paris together and arrived there at about 8:30 AM last Thursday morning. After our relatively smooth metro ride to the arrondissement of our hostel, we happened upon what would become our favorite bakery in the world. I bought a baguette to eat throughout the day. Then we met up with our friend Sylvia who had arrived in Paris the day before. We went with her to see the Champs-Elysees (not that impressive, unless you think Louis Vuitton is a god) and the Arc de Triomphe (very impressive, especially in comparison with the Washington Square arch). Later we ventured to a couple of different areas within Paris and grabbed lunch at a quaint little restaurant. I ordered the cassoulet avec canard, which was by far the best meal I had in Paris (aside from the baked goods). Upon returning to our hostel, Brenda and I both took much-needed naps, as we had been awake since about 3:00 in the morning to catch our train. We woke up and decided to go to the restaurant which was adjacent to our hostel for dinner.

And then I made one of the biggest gastronomical mistakes of my life by ordering veal kidney. Our French waitress told us it was "very special but very good." So I took the plunge and ordered it, thinking that if I like haggis then I must like veal kidney. I was quite wrong. However, I ate most of it anyway and washed it down with some delicious French wine. As we were eating dinner, the rest of our crew arrived at the hostel and stumbled upon us eating outside at the restaurant. They sat down to join us and, being sane, ordered much more mild dishes than I did.

And then I made one of the biggest general mistakes of my life, which was to go out barhopping in Paris without knowing how to get back to the hostel, and without knowing how to speak French. We got lost, were accosted by an angry Frenchman who thought we were prostitutes, and if it weren't for a lovely Francophone British girl named Helen who directed us back to the hostel, we would have been in deep doo doo, to put it most eloquently.
Luckily we redeemed ourselves the next day by going to the Louvre and touring around central Paris. Perhaps the best moment of the trip was when I saw my favorite piece of artwork ever created--the Winged Nike of Samothrake (pictured at left). I also saw the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa, to name a few. I hate the Mona Lisa so I didn't take a picture of it. Sorry to disappoint you.

Anyway, I'm going to stop there even though I could go on and on about how much I despise that painting. After the Louvre, we ate lunch by the Seine and enjoyed the lovely weather. Then I went to le Tour Eiffel to meet Sylvia while the other girls took a boat ride along the Seine. It was a beautiful evening to be near the tower. The next day was relaxing and fun. We spent a big chunk of our day sleeping in a park next to the Notre Dame, and then ate some less than satisfactory French food in the Latin Quarter.

Overall, it was a good trip. I think it could have been much better if I knew French. Good thing that's the next modern language I plan to "master."

So now we're back to reality in London--back to classes, papers, grad school applications, thesis writing, and pints, of course. Stay tuned for a link to all of my Paris photos.