Paris was an interesting city for Ryan and I. First of all, when we got to Paris – we were pretty exhausted. Physically, mentally, even emotionally. Almost halfway through our trip and we had been going going going nonstop. As well as, we had just climbed a whole mountain the day before. We got an airbnb and had planned to just rest our first day in the city. Travel days are long and we really needed to recharge. But as luck would have it – we realized that it was a Wednesday, and the Louvre is open late on Wednesdays. So we bucked up and quickly got unpacked and headed back out into the city.
I’m very glad we decided to go on the day that the museum is open later, because the crowds were way thinner. We didn’t even have to stand in line to get in. Once again, we saw amazing art and history including the Mona Lisa, Hammurabi’s Code, Venus de Milo, and so much more.
The next day we strolled around Champs Elysees and came upon Laduree. Laduree is a luxury bakery and one of the world’s best known sellers of incredible macaroons. Of course we had to get some. And let me just tell you, well worth it. Ryan wanted to go back and just get macaroons for dinner. We walked from Laduree down the Seine River to the Musee d’Orsay. This was Ryan’s heaven – tons of Impressionism art. There were more Van Gogh paintings here than Ryan has seen total throughout his life! (But we haven’t been to the Van Gogh Museum yet!). In art history – the Musee d’Orsay picks up where the Louvre leaves off. Realism starts to fade and the artists begin to put their own spin on things.
So far we have had a wonderful time in Paris. The third day we were going to wake up and head to the very famous Palace of Versailles. However, this day was full of frustrations. I’ll give you a run-down. We began the day with the metro. We had to take the metro to a train, and then the train to Versailles. The total trip would be about an hour and a half as Versailles is outside the city of Paris. As we are getting off the metro to switch to the train to take us to Versailles, we notice at the bottom of the stairs metro security guys scanning tickets. However, we don’t have them. Ryan had thrown them away in the other station when we scanned it in. (You have to insert your metro ticket to even get into the station).
Ryan and I explain that we just threw our tickets away and obviously don’t have them. With no warning, explanation, or anything the man tells us that since we don’t have our ticket he is going to have to fine us. Ryan is getting extremely upset with the manner in which this is being handled and the injustice of the fine. I attempt to reason with the guard by asking “Were there any signs telling about the need to keep our tickets. We have never had to have our tickets leaving any station before”. He responds with “Yes there are signs. They’re in French.” How in the heck were we supposed to know about them then. We don’t read French! Long story short, the man fined us 35 euros and this whole thing made us miss our train to Versailles and we had to wait for the next one. Ryan is fuming, I feel defeated, and the day hasn’t even really begun. It’d have been one thing if they had been nice about it – but they were cold, insensitive, and intentionally targeting tourists.
Ugh. So we arrive and walk down to the palace. We had bought our tickets online the night before to save some time in line. Oh Victoria – how naive you are. We STILL stood in line to get into the Chateau for 2.5 HOURS. Baking in the hot sun, no covering, pebbled ground so it hurts your feet after while, and when we finally get inside is it better? No. There were still so many people in there that we were just swept away. Couldn’t stop to really look at anything because you’re stuck in the crowd and when the crowd moves, you move. To be fair though, it was pretty amazing being in a building with that much history. The treaty of Versailles, the French Revolution, so many things and more happened there. And the Hall of Mirrors and the gardens were pretty beautiful.
To top off our day, our bus was overcrowded (because they pack everyone on like sardines). And we couldn’t see out the window to know when we were at our stop. We missed it of course and ended up having to take over and hour detour to get back to the right station and get home. Poor thing, when we got back to our flat Ryan looked at me and said “There’s a McDonald’s 5 minutes away. I am getting McDonald’s for dinner”. I think we both needed a little bit of America in our lives at that moment. Paris is beautiful, but the culture here is hard, cold, and difficult to bear sometimes. Walking on the street people don’t move aside for each other. There are no smiles. If we dared to ask for help with something we were usually met with very little attention. After our McDonald’s fix we were able to laugh about the day a little more.
We still had a few days left in Paris and weren’t going to let one really terribly bad day ruin it all for us. We walked around this artistic area called Montmartre, saw the Moulin Rouge, visited the Arc de Triomphe, and took a sunset river cruise. However, I think my favorite moment was our last night in Paris. Ryan and I decided to pack a picnic dinner, my book, and his sketchbook, and go sit on the lawn under the Eiffel Tower. At 10 pm, just as the sun was down, for 5 straight minutes the Eiffel Tower sparkled – like literally had flickering lights. It was magical and easily the best part for me about Paris. I think I’d go back to Paris and spend more time relaxing and slowing down my pace instead of trying to see so many things at once. I’d spend many hours on the lawn with my book. Go to a cafe. Eat more macaroons. That’s how you should do Paris.
