Paris!

I love Paris! I really do. It is an amazing city and I think I even prefer Parisians to Londoners. They at least apologize when they run you over in the street, although they will pretend they don't speak English when you are struggling to communicate. Paris is a lot grittier than London and in some ways seems more European. Everything in Paris is old, you will struggle to find any new buildings. The first thing I did when I got there was head straight to the Eiffel Tower. Thanks to the abnormally warm winter we are having I was able to walk around and enjoy a waffle with nutella, my favorite. I didn't go to the top as I tried that the first time I went to Paris and HATED it. You have to take an elevator and I really don't like elevators. I next went to the Musee de l'Armee which houses Napoleon's tomb. The tomb is pretty impressive, considering how small he was and the fact that he was cremated. This is also where the National War Museum is which I really enjoyed. They have a wonderful exhibit on the World Wars and I spent most of my time here. I was disappointed at the end when I went to the gift shop and they did not have any post cards or books or posters on the subject. Bastards.



I did so much while in Paris that I am just gonna kind of run through it. One thing I have to mention is that being a vegetarian in Paris sucks real bad. I found a few meat free places but the one close to my hotel was closed every time I went there. I did manage to go to another and was the happiest meat free person in all of Paris. The rest of the time I ate mozzarella with tomatoes and pastries.


A highlight was the Rodin museum. It is housed in an old Paris mansion and most of the art work is outside in the extensive gardens. Again, thanks to the mild weather I was able to walk around as much as I wanted and took it all in. I really love Rodin and it was neat to see so much of his work. Inside was just as impressive.



Another highlight was the Musee d'Orsay that has a ton of impressionism inside its doors. I could spend all day looking at the Monet's and Renoir's. And the best part of all is there was no one inside. All of Paris was virtually empty! Coming from London where there are a million people everywhere you go it was refreshing to be someplace where the streets are virtually empty as are the museums.



A friend from uni met me while in Paris and we went to Notre Dame. Inside is big and impressive of course but really you go to climb the 354 stairs (we counted) for the view of the top. Spectacular. And not a soul to be seen. You can also check out the bell in the famous bell tower which apparently weighs 13 tons. That is a lot. And it is rather big.




Also went to the Sacre Coeur which was in the neighborhood where I was staying. I think it is a beautiful church but apparently Parisians look at it as kind of an eye sore. Went to the top of that as well and there was literally no one up there with me, which was kind of freaky. Last time I went there was traffic coming up the stairs.



The most breathtaking thing I saw was Sainte Chapelle. Again, I had been here before but this time with the lack of crowds I could really take in the full beauty of the place. It is such a peaceful place without the crowds that I even thought how nice it would be to take my knitting in there and just hang out.

Paris like London is very expensive so that was kind of a bummer. I have a student ID card but apparently you have to be under 26 AND a student to qualify for the discount. I was a bit bothered that they asked my age the few times I tried to use my card but then I discovered today that my age is on the back of the card. Phew!