Now that I'm home for summer, I guess it's time to write about my springtime trips and adventures, which took up many a-weekend in April and May. I shall begin with the first of my weekend adventure: Paris with my cousin!
From a sign in the teacher's lounge, I thought the last weekend of May was a long weekend at school. It wasn't. But since my school is so great, they let me make up the day later on. I took advantage of my cousin living in Paris to pay her a visit...and see the city for the first time. After living in Europe a few years, it was finally time to see the City of Lights. Of course there is a ton to see there, so for the weekend I gave up my characteristic afternoon siesta time, and started drinking coffee. Since so much happened I'm just going to bullet point the highlights.
- Notre Dame: Usually I'm of the belief that once you've seen one cathedral, you've seen them all. But Notre Dame was actually very interesting inside. The outside, iconic.
- The Eiffel Tower: The Parisian landmark is actually way bigger than I imagined. I knew there was an elevator (thankfully!), but thought the tower was just big enough for one large elevator to go up the middle. In reality, there are four different elevators which climb up the legs. We went up just before sunset, so we were privileged with two views: twilight and late night. From up top it you realize just how enormous Paris really is. Seeing dolled-up couples getting off at the restaurant made me wonder how many marriage proposals they see there in a day.
- The Louvre: So much to see, so little time! I'm honestly not a huge fan of art museums, but of course this was a must-see. There are some great pieces there. My cousin was smart to get a museum membership so she could peruse the art on a daily basis. My favorite section was probably the ancient statues. The Mona Lisa that everyone fusses about was not worth it to me. Plenty of other nice paintings from the same time, with less people.
- Versailles: As a fan of old-timey royals and wealth, this was another must-see. It's just a short trainride away from Paris. My only complaint is with the way it's set-up. You have to go through 3 different check-points to actually get into the palace. Which means waiting. Outside! Aside from that though, it was lovely. The gardens were swell--too bad it started hailing while we were out for a royal walk.
- Montmartre neighborhood: Nice place for a stroll. There are still a lot of artists there who want to paint your portrait or sell Parisian landscapes.
 |
| Cousins in red outside Le Moulin Rouge |
- Dining: Definitely took advantage of the wide selection of restaurants and food not available in little old Lugo. Most importantly, I ate a Nutella and banana crêpe everyday. Yummo! Aside from that we also savored French cuisine from Bretagne and Southern France.
