An American Girl in Paris

Bonjour All,

Well for the first time in my life I got to see Paris in autumn. It was so beautiful. The leaves falling off the tress, the streets lined with colorful leaves, the beginning of Christmas decorations going up. It was quite a different experience from Paris in the summertime and very enjoyable. Well, let us start at the beginning.

After an excellent night out to the comedy club on Thursday, I came right home and went to bed. You might be thinking that is totally lame, but keep reading. The next morning dawned bright and early… AT 5 AM!!!!! Yes that’s right. I had to get up at 5 to shower and dress. The girls (Jamie, Christine, Megan, Nora, Hannah, Whitney, & I) were out of the door by 6 AM to head over to the tube station. We arrived at King’s Cross and found our advisor. At 7 AM we went through customs and boarded our train for Paris. I immediately went to sleep on the train because as you all know, I am not pleasant in the morning. We arrived in Paris about 11 AM and then we girls took the metro to our hotel. We checked in to this very nice hotel. It was on the same block as the Sorbonne (or the University of Paris). Once in our room, I discovered that my roommate and I had a balcony. Outside was an amazing view and we realized that we had some very nice accommodations. To the right you could see Notre Dame and to the left was the Pantheon. It was pretty sweet. After a quick fresh-up we went over and met 2 of our professors, Rachel Barnes the art history professor and Professor Pacey (aka Jay Hicks) professor of Culture by Design, for our afternoon/evening activities. We went to the D’Orsay Museum and saw some Monet and Van Gogh paintings. Then we went to Notre Dame and walked around the church. Finally we ended up at the Louvre. We went in and saw the Venus de Milo. We then went on to see some of Michelangelo’s sculptures. Then we saw “The Coronation of Napoleon.” Finally we got to the jewel of the Louvre and saw the “Mona Lisa.” It is still breath-taking and so amazing to look at. They have also changed the rules and you can now take pictures of it (see below). Afterwards we were free for the evening. The girls and I went back to our hotel to change. Then Jamie, Megan, Nora, Christine, and I headed out to enjoy Paris. We set by the river and talked while enjoying wine (except for me since I am not a fan of wine). We then went to the pedestrian bridge where many people hang out and eat and drink. We met up with some JMU Salamanca kids there and hung out with them for a while. It was a very chill and relaxed night. We finally go home and went straight to sleep.

Jamie & Christine on my balcony

Notre Dame & I

The Louvre

Just chilling

Mona Lisa!!!!

Saturday dawned bright and early. At 11 we had to meet our professors again for some optional tours. We went and got to see the Centre Pompidou, which is an art museum that looks like an ant farm or like it’s still in construction. I believe when Professor Pacey asked me what I thought of it I said “It looks like the designer was on crack laced with speed with some alcohol on top of it all.” We then moved on to the Branley Museum. And we finally ended up at the Eiffel Tower. We didn’t go up since the lines were horrible and we had other things we wanted to see. We took the metro over to Montmartre, the other church in Paris. It has some of the most amazing views of the city… and it’s free. We had lunch over there toured the church, took in the views, and then watched and listened to some entertainment. There was even this amazing guy juggling the football. He climbed up a light pole still juggling the football. It was awesome. We then went back to the hotel for people to shower and freshen up and nap. We then headed out to dinner. After dinner, the girls and I headed over to the Eiffel Tower to meet up with some of the JMU Salamanca kids. In their program, one of the girls was turning 21 at midnight. We chilled on the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower, again enjoying wine and champagne. I brought along some bread and cheese because it is so French. We watched 2 of the Eiffel Tower light shows. Then, on the 3rd and final light show, the one at midnight, we celebrated Suzie’s 21st birthday. The Salamanca kids and Nora went to a club, bit we decided to walk home since we were all tired and not in the mood to go to a club. Nora, our Paris expert, told us the walk from the Eiffel Tower to our hotel was like the walk from Piccadilly to Madison House in London. Nora was dead wrong. We walked for over an hour before we even got back to the Latin Quarter. But we stayed in the nice lighted areas and were safe so do not worry. We also had some excellent conversations about life on the way home and finished off my bread and cheese since we got hungry. Finally we were back in the Latin Quarter and went off to bed.

Centre Pompidou

Paris Holds the Key to Your Heart

Lawn in front of Eiffel Tower

Black & White of the city and I

Jamie and I watching the street performers

The amazing footballer

Eiffel Tower Light Show!

Me being French with my wine, cheese and bread

Sunday brought rain and gale winds. After checking out of the hotel we went and got some crepes for breakfast. Then we went in search of this Christmas Market a couple of girls from the JMU Florence program had told us about. We found it and enjoyed strolling the streets and hearing Christmas music, and see the different things on sale. At the end of it was the Champs-Elysees. We walked along this main avenue and ended up at the Arc de Triomphe. Since we didn’t climb up the Eiffel Tower, five of us decided we would climb up the Arc. The view from the top was amazing. You even got the Eiffel Tower in the pictures. It was definitely worth it! Afterwards we split into 2 groups with Megan, Nora, and Hannah taking the metro back, and Whitney, Jamie, Christine, and I walking back through the other side of the Christmas Market to the Latin Quarter. We did some shopping and then had dinner. It had been raining and windy all afternoon (Jamie broke 2 umbrellas within 10 minutes), so we decided to all meet up inside Notre Dame. When my group got there, it was to find the others sitting down. Before we knew it, Evening Mass had started. I can now saw I have been to Mass… in Notre Dame! Then we left and headed back to our hotel to grab our luggage. We made it to the train station with plenty of time to spare. Finally it was time to board and we were off to home. By 11 I was safely home and tucked away.

My last Crepe

Bridge we hung out on Friday night

Christmas Market

Merry Christmas

Champs-Elysees

Arc de Triomphe

Fire that burns for the soldiers

View from the top of the Arc

Church time

It was an amazing weekend to say the least. I got to experience Paris in autumn and enjoy it with some really cool people. Ok time to go. I’ll write soon.

Much love,
KP