TRIP TO PARIS - DAY ONE

DAY ONE

THE TRAIN RIDE TO PARIS

I tried to clean up my house before I left and eat all my food that would go bad. Unfortunately I almost missed my train. I was on the platform with only 9 minutes to go. Luckily I finally decided halfway through walking to the station to take the tram because otherwise I would not have made it. 

My ticket to Paris was First Class but it was actually the cheapest for that day due to a special deal they have where random first class tickets are on sale. The only difference between first and second though is they give you a fancy lamp, a tiny bit more room, and hand out a menu.

My seat

Luckily, to make the six hour ride bearable Annie, a friend from school and a fellow American from California, was in another car going to Paris to meet her husband. I went to her car and talked with her most of the way, but the people around me must have thought I was crazy to pay for first class and than spend the trip in second. The strange thing is that no one talks on the train, even if they're traveling with someone, and you're not allowed to use your cell phone! The cars are even called VOITURE SILENCE or SILENT CAR. There is no reason for this.

What was really nice of Annie and her husband is they offered to take me to my hotel. Unfortunately we got lost many times and it probably took longer than if I would have walked the two miles, but it was definitely warmer in the van.

THE HOTEL

My hotel room

The Hotel was pretty ghetto, but this was expected. The bed was so inelastic, though, that all week walking around the museums you could see me cracking my back and rolling my shoulders in immense pain. However, with expedia I paid about half the tariff the hotel normally charges (a whopping 135 Euros to basically sleep in a closet).

This is me not happy about my hotel, but glad I am warm.

LE JARDIN DES PLANTES

In the morning of my first day in Paris I walked around my neighborhood and then visited le Jardin des Plantes, which is a large grounds area across the river from me. Unfortunately the museums adjacent to it, along with most of the others around Paris, were closed that day.

Remaining snow from the previous storm.

Le Jardin des Plantes

LA CATHÉDRALE DE NOTRE DAME

I next made my way to the l'Île de Cité, an island in the middle of the river Seine which was the original beginning of the city, and took a tour of Notre Dame, trying to ignore the guy dressed up like "Quasimodo." The most shocking thing to me was that not only do they try to sell you something every ten meters once you're inside, but they have a souvenir shop inside the church and automatic vending machines at which you can buy "prayer cards" and other ridiculous things. Not pictured here, but Annie and her husband took me to a spot in front of Notre Dame where there is a marker in the pavement denoting the "center of all roads" in France. If you walk over it you get good luck so we all walked over it. Somehow it did not stop my train home later that week from being nearly 7 hours long.

Here are some shots of the exterior:

Where the Seine splits with Notre Dame on the left.

From a distance

The rear with flying buttresses (no puns intended).

Monument in the garden just behind the church.

Row of gargoyles. Ooh! I feel guilty already!

The Façade (guarded by submachine gun)

A Gargoyle up close.

Gothic detail on the tympanum.

Here are some pictures of its interior:

Main altar

Some stained-glass works:

My favorite!

LATIN QUARTER

As soon as I got out of the cathedral, Annie called and I met her and her husband, who lives in Paris, for some sightseeing and lunch. They showed me around the Latin Quarter, south of the River, anchored by the Sorbonne University. There I saw the Panthéon, a sort of mausoleum for scientists, and we ate at a small shop where they take the French crèpe, but use it like a taco to add cheese, meat, eggplant, and whatever else you want in it. Then they took me to a Moroccan café where we had some of the sweet mint tea that is their national drink (since they are Muslim and cannot drink alcohol). It was very good.

Le Pont des Artes

Locks with little inscriptions on them left by people.

Tradition started when artists used to lock their
works of art to the bridge when selling them.

The river Seine near Notre Dame

Le Panthéon

Christmas Tree at Galleries Lafayette (like Macy's)

LA TOUR EIFFEL AND L'ARC DE TRIOPMHE

After I left them I went to the Concorde, which is a large piazza near the Louvre where they have some fountains and a Christmas carnival. For some reason, the French love to set up carnivals and ferris wheels in the dead of winter (they have one in Nice now as well). And they operate even when its snowing!

Fountain in the middle of the Concorde

La Roue de Noël

Something Napoleon stole from Egypt

I then took the Champs-Elysées, where at this time of year they set up a large "Christmas" market, to the Arc de Triomphe. If mom ever comes out during Christmas she'll spend all of dad's money on all the crap they sell there because its mostly the cheap decorations that she loves.

Le Champs-Élysées with the Arc de Triomphe at the end

A Christmas display (you can't see it but the lights
are animated)

L'Arc de Triomphe at night

From there I walked down to an area called the Trocadéro, which is a raised area near some museums and institutes where you can get really great shots of the Eiffel Tower. Even though it was nighttime and cloudy, I think the shots turned out alright.

La Tour Eiffel from the Trocadéro

From beneath

By this time it was cold as Hell, so I made my back to the subway and ate at an Italian restaurant near my hotel because Annie's husband suggested that Italian food is actually one of the best things in Paris. I had the saltimbocca alla romana, which is chicken (usually veal) topped with prosciutto in a red caper and mushroom sauce.

Stay tuned for Day 2.