So, we left Arizona on Wednesday morning, and arrived in Paris on Thursday morning...their time. David slept on the flight, but of course, I couldn't. As we flew into Paris we saw lots of farms; many were bright yellow, which I finally figured out was mustard crops. I didn't picture it being so agricultural on its outskirts.
When we got off the plane we had to first navigate the airport to find the counter that sold the transportation pass we needed for the five days in Paris...needless to say, after a few hours of lines, misinformation and money exchanging, we finally got on the train that would take us into the downtown (which is what we think of when we think "Paris").
So riding on the train, our first views were this: lots of run down, what used to be quaint (I am sure) old houses .....and graffiti! I don't think they ever clean the graffiti, it is everywhere!
We arrived in Paris in one of the metro stations, which are underground, just like the New York subways. After lugging our bags up many stairs....we were treated to a much better view! Everywhere
we looked was French Provincial architecture....it was amazing. They obviously had some pretty strict building codes at some point!!
Our hotel (Hotel Dacia) was in a great location: St. Michel, just a
few minutes walk from Notre Dame, the Seine, and lots of cafes. It is close to St. Germaine, in the Latin Quarter, on the Left Bank (really it is on the south side of the Seine...so I could never remember whether that was considered the Right or Left Bank). We got to our hotel around 4:00 in the afternoon and so decided to see some of the monuments and sights that were close by. The room was beautiful and perfectly kept, but 
very small, the smallest I have ever been in...and that 
includes Manhattan! The elevator was the size of a small coat closet. So when it opened the first time,
When we got off the plane we had to first navigate the airport to find the counter that sold the transportation pass we needed for the five days in Paris...needless to say, after a few hours of lines, misinformation and money exchanging, we finally got on the train that would take us into the downtown (which is what we think of when we think "Paris").
So riding on the train, our first views were this: lots of run down, what used to be quaint (I am sure) old houses .....and graffiti! I don't think they ever clean the graffiti, it is everywhere!
We arrived in Paris in one of the metro stations, which are underground, just like the New York subways. After lugging our bags up many stairs....we were treated to a much better view! Everywhere
we looked was French Provincial architecture....it was amazing. They obviously had some pretty strict building codes at some point!!Our hotel (Hotel Dacia) was in a great location: St. Michel, just a
few minutes walk from Notre Dame, the Seine, and lots of cafes. It is close to St. Germaine, in the Latin Quarter, on the Left Bank (really it is on the south side of the Seine...so I could never remember whether that was considered the Right or Left Bank). We got to our hotel around 4:00 in the afternoon and so decided to see some of the monuments and sights that were close by. The room was beautiful and perfectly kept, but 
very small, the smallest I have ever been in...and that 
includes Manhattan! The elevator was the size of a small coat closet. So when it opened the first time, we both started laughing...we were both going to 
get in, but realized only one of us would fit with one bag! So I went up first and then sent it back down for David.
get in, but realized only one of us would fit with one bag! So I went up first and then sent it back down for David.We first visited La Sorbonne, the first university in France (and still a working
university)... there were lots of students and a cool courtyard with a fountain and cafes. The street signs all look like this one, and they are always on the sides of the buildings. Therefore, you would have to go around the corner a bit before you would know what street it was! Good thing we weren't driving... Also, Paris is set up in sections called arrondissements, which are sort of like our zip codes. This particular one was in the 5th Arrondissement, as you can see at the top of the sign.
university)... there were lots of students and a cool courtyard with a fountain and cafes. The street signs all look like this one, and they are always on the sides of the buildings. Therefore, you would have to go around the corner a bit before you would know what street it was! Good thing we weren't driving... Also, Paris is set up in sections called arrondissements, which are sort of like our zip codes. This particular one was in the 5th Arrondissement, as you can see at the top of the sign.
After La Sorbonne we went down the street to the Pantheon. It is where some of the French heroes are buried. It was modeled after St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
Then we went across the street and visited Luxembourg Gardens (Jardin du Luxembourg); this used to be a palace (it seems everything in Paris used to be a palace) and now it is a government building. What was weird was how many people were just hanging out. These are not tourists! It seems everywhere we went there were loads of people just relaxing, picnicking, talking, 
watching their kids play....oh yeah, and smoking!! It seems that everyone in Paris smoked! 
After that we went and ate at our first french cafe (the first of many!), in the courtyard at La Sorbonne. I had a Croque Monsieur (grilled ham and cheese) and David had french onion soup. It was
fabulous...but very expensive. All the food in Paris was expensive! We also made the mistake of ordering water without specifying "tap" and got 2 very small bottles that cost 5 euros each...that would be about $8 each!! Any drink was around the same price, small bottle of pop, or juices, and of course there is no such thing as a refill! The house wine is usually the least expensive! We learned to order "tap water" and got a small carafe with lukewarm water in it. And sometimes there was no ice to be had :)
After that we went and ate at our first french cafe (the first of many!), in the courtyard at La Sorbonne. I had a Croque Monsieur (grilled ham and cheese) and David had french onion soup. It was
fabulous...but very expensive. All the food in Paris was expensive! We also made the mistake of ordering water without specifying "tap" and got 2 very small bottles that cost 5 euros each...that would be about $8 each!! Any drink was around the same price, small bottle of pop, or juices, and of course there is no such thing as a refill! The house wine is usually the least expensive! We learned to order "tap water" and got a small carafe with lukewarm water in it. And sometimes there was no ice to be had :)On this first day, we were trying to stay up late so that our jet lag wouldn't be too bad, so we decided to walk to Notre Dame. We didn't go in, as it wasn't open, but we did walk all around it, and the whole island that it is on;
Ile de la Cite. This is the island that sits in the middle of the Seine River. 
It is where Paris began, in about 250 B.C. I think what surprised me most about Notre Dame, is that there were all these people around it just hanging out again. Having picnics and playing with their kids as if this building is no big deal. It ended up having a strange effect on us, it seemed so "normal". Here we are seeing this impressive cathedral that has been immortalized in movies and literature, and yet it was so "just there ". Hard to explain.... Around the back of the cathedral were pieces that had fallen off.
They seem to just put them in a pile, until they get around to fixing them, I guess. 
Also check out the creepy gargoyles, they were all over the building and stick waaay out. (Almost every cathedral we ended up seeing, both in France and Spain, had these same type of gargoyles.) It is amazing they have lasted this long! Notre Dame was started in the 1100s and took almost 200 years to complete.
No comments:
Post a Comment