Paris

Hello. My name is Lisa Towns, I am 26 years old, and I have conquered the Paris Metro System! I arrived in Paris on Monday the 18th June at Gare Nord (North Train Station), at around7:30pm. I then had to make my way to my hotel, which involved catching a couple of trains on different lines on the Metro System. I know that this sounds simple enough, and after I had travelled on it once I found that it actually was (quite simple), but standing all alone in the metro station at Gare Nord, faced with a map that didn't seem to have the station on it that I wanted to travel to, and 2 ticket machines, each selling tickets for different kinds of trains, it certainly felt quite overwhelming. I am SO grateful to Elise that we made the (almost pointless) journey while we were in Brussels to check out the Art Nouveau houses, as the trains that we travelled on there were also on the Metro system, and so it was a very similar system (actually, it could be an identical system, but as Elise was there with me and seemed to know what she was doing, I must confess that I didn't really pay that much attention to the process of buying the train tickets and I let Elise just lead me onto whichever train line she felt we needed to catch. But even still, had we not even used the Metro then, I would probably be sitting in Gare Nord still, in a corner in the foetal position).

So, after taking several deep breaths, and having another look around the hall, I found ANOTHER map, that actually had my station on it, and thus, I was able to work out what line I had to eventually end up on. I had to catch 3 metro trains, but I got there in the end! I also found it quite handy that the ticket machines had a language button on them, so buying tickets was also very easy, and as the ticket I bought let me throught the gate, I assumed that I had used the correct machine for the correct line (plus they had a little 'M' on them).

One of the problems with any underground train line is that they entirely mess up your sense of direction, so that once you get back above ground at your stop, you have entirely no idea which direction you are facing. After staring at my map of Paris in my Lonely Planet for something like 5 minutes, I took a stab at which direction I was supposed to head in, and fortunately was correct, and found my hotel with not too much effort. Although I actually haven't had any problems as yet, I am still always relieved to find that the hotel that I have booked actually exists and is expecting me! The hotel that I eventually chose to stay at (after having no takers on joining me in Paris) was located in the heart of the Latin Quarter, which is in Central Paris, just next door to the Ile de Cite, which is where Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris is located (and is measured as the true centre of Paris). My room was located on the 6th floor, and so I had a pretty good view over Paris, although I couldn't see the Eiffel Tower because of the direction that my room was facing.

On Tuesday I decided that I would walk from my hotel, past the Cathedral Notre Dame, to the Musee de Louvre, and possibly to the Eiffel Tower. I thought about catching the Metro again, but wanted to get my barings a little of the city and besides, you don't actually get to SEE Paris if you are travelling underground the whole time! The main police station in Paris is situated just across the road from Cathedral Notre Dame, so I had to pass it on my walk, and it seemed that there was some kind of Police/military parade occuring, and I had to pass lots of spunky looking young French fellas in uniform!
It was on my walk here that I also had my first sight of the Eiffel Tower. It is a lot bigger than what I had imagined, and certainly towers over everything else in Paris. It really isn't a very pretty structure, but I was always very excited to see it (as my 1200 photos of it will show) as it proved that I really was in Paris!

It took me about an hour to walk to the Musee de Louvre, and this is also a very impressive building. There is a courtyard in the centre of it which has 2 huge glass pyramids. It was just as well that I didn't actually want to visit the museum that day, as most of the museums in Paris are closed on a Tuesday. So from there, I went to the Tourist Office to buy my Museum pass (a must purchase for anyone heading to Paris and wanting to visit more than one museum or monument) so that I could avoid all the queues when I did decide that I wanted to visit some museums. From the Tourist Office, I headed towards the Eiffel Tower, and walked through the Jardin des Tuileries on the way. These gardens are just adjacent to the Musee de Louvre, and are full of statues, and grassy areas, and a fountain and lots of seats to sit on. While I was passing through the gardens, I was stopped by a pregnant woman who asked me if I spoke English. When I replied "yes", she thrust a note into my hand that said that she was from Bosnia, had been in the country for 2 months, and that her father was in hospital and please help. So I gave her about 1€ in change, then went on my way. I bought a lovely Italian style soft serve chocolate/vanilla icecream from a street vendor just outside the park, had 2 licks of it and then the icecream fell off the cone onto the ground. I was so disappointed because it was sooo good, but I resisted the temptation to go and buy another one.

When I got to the Eiffel Tower, I was stopped by another woman who asked me if I spoke english. This time I answered "no". At first, I thought that it was the same woman who had asked me at the gardens, and I was a little offended that she hadn't recognised me after I had given her money, but then I realised that this woman wasn't pregnant. During my stay in Paris I was asked on several occasions if I spoke English, by very similar looking women, and each time I told them "no".

I waited in line to climb the stairs of the Eiffel Tower for about an hour, then climbed the stairs to the second platform (which is as high as they will let you climb), and then took the elevator to the very top. It wasn't as scary as what I thought it would be (I'm not really that keen on heights), and actually, the going up in the elevator was the scariest part, as it felt like I was flying through the air. After climbing the stairs back to the ground, I then bought a strawberry and vanilla icecream, and this time managed to eat it all without dropping it on the ground.

The next day I visited the Louvre again, and this time I caught the Metro there. I also managed to find a metro station which was actually closer to my hotel than the one I had caught the train to on my first day, and it also meant that I only had to catch one train, as it was on the same line as the stop for the Louvre. I spent about 4 hours at the Louvre, looking at all the exhibits, but of course, I couldn't manage to see everything as that would take months to do. I got an audio guide at the start of the day, and managed to resist the temptation to get "The Da Vinci Code" audio guide, and got the guide for the general collection instead. I had a little wander around some of the paintings, before deciding that I really should just go straight to the "Mona Lisa" which is really what I was most interested in seeing. The line up to see it really wasn't as long as what I thought it would be, and it really is a beautiful painting, although I'm sure I don't have to go into detail, as I'm sure everyone knows what it looks like!

One of my favourite parts of the museum was actually the Napoleon III apartments, which were decorated with original, remarkably preserved furnishings. The actual Louvre building is also worth just looking at in itself (even if it didn't have all that art work inside) as it is a beautiful, grand building.

At about 4pm, I decided that I had seen enough (my head was beginning to buzz from Museum over-load), so I headed towards the Opera House, which is also, coincidentally, right near lots of shops, including Galleries Lafayette, and The Grand Magazins (big shops). So I had a bit of retail therapy to refresh myself, although all I ended up buying was some soap.

Paris has a large number of historical sights and monuments, and on Wednesday I visited several of them. In the morning, I went to The Pantheon, a giant basilica, which houses the bodies of many famous French men and women, including Victor Hugo (the man who wrote "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and Marie and Pierre Curie (and others). The tombs of these people are in the crypt, below the building, and inside the building is a cathedral, with a statue paying homage to St Genevieve, and many tableaus on the walls of the naves. It is another beautiful building (there are many in Paris).

After lunch, I visited St Sulspice Church, which I must confess I only went to because it is mentioned in the Da Vinci Code!! Here, I saw the "Rose Line" as mentioned in the Da Vinci Code, and there are many signs in the church in a couple of different languages which explain that The Da Vinci Code is a fictional work, and that the line inside the church is a meridian line, and was never called "the rose line" and that it is actually part of a scientific device (a gnomon) which is used to measure the movement of the sun and the moon, or something like that, and not a line dividing Paris into North and South, as mentioned in "The Da Vinci Code".
I then went to the Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris, where, after queueing for about 10 minutes, I entered the church and had a quick look around. I then lined up for another half an hour outside the Cathedral to have a self guided tour of the towers of Notre Dame. Here, I got to climb up the North tower at the front of the Cathedral, cross the arcade of gargoyles where there are many gargoyles and chimeras (the gargoyles are projections from the cathedral which are used to drain water, whereas the chimeras are statues), and see the bell in the Belfry.

After my tour of the Cathedral, I then had an hour to visit the Conciergerie, an old prison which had amongst it's prisoners Marie-Antoinette!

On Friday I had to get up early to get on a tour bus to go on a tour of the Champagne Region of France! Our first stop was Piper-Heidsieck Caves in Reims, where we had a very entertaining (although slightly kitsch) tour of the cellars on little motorised cars. We then had our first tasting of the day, at 10:30am! We then visited the Grand Cathedral in Reims, the church where Clovis, the first French King was baptised. It was destroyed by fire in 1210, and completely rebuilt. It is currently undergoing restoration as it was fairly damaged during the war in September 1914.

We then had free time for lunch, and I visited a restaurant where I had pasta with escargots! They weren't too bad, a little bland, and tasted a little like dirt. I probably wouldn't order them again though. They were served with something that looked like the lining of a cows stomach (and probably was). I ate it anyway and it wasn't too bad, and was actually a bit tastier than the snails.

After lunch, we passed near the village where Dom Peringon, the monk who invented champagne, lived, before arriving in Eperney and taking a tour of Moet and Chandon Cellars. This tour was a more traditional guided tour, finished with another delicious tasting. I certainly learnt alot about the production of Champagne on that day, but it was really quite interesting.

On Saturday, I had another day of visiting monuments and museums in Paris, including the Hotel des Invalides, where I saw a chapel constructed by King Louis the XIV, and the tomb of Napolean I. I also visited the Arc de Triomphe, which is a huge Arc which was comissioned by Napolean to commemorate his great victories, but finished not in his lifetime (construction stopped when he started losing battles, and it was later finished by one of his following kings). I climbed up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe, and had yet another great view over Paris. After visiting the Arc, I walked back past the designer shops on the avenue de Champs-Elysees, and back towards the Grand Magazins, and on the way, bought a crepe filled with Nutella from one of the street vendors. My friend Karen's sister, Jacquie, had told me that I had to do this, and I am only sorry that I had left it until my third last day to try it. Had I known how good it was going to be, I would have had one everyday I was in Paris!
The next day, I walked to Luxembourg Gardens, which was also close to my hotel, for a look. Once I was there, I decided that I really should try another crepe, and this time tried a sugar and Grand Marnier one. It was also very good. I had a wander around the lovely gardens, then headed back into the museum district of Paris, and spent much of the afternoon at the Musee d'Orsay. I saw some really beautiful paintings here by Monet and Renoir, including Monet's "Poppy's" (or Coquelicots) which was my favourite. The painting that will probably stick in my mind the longest though, is probably "Origin of the World" (or L'Origine du monde). Mum, if you are looking this one up on Wikipedia or Google and are a bit shocked by the picture that comes up, then you probably have the right one! The most amusing thing about this painting is watching the reactions of the people as they first walk in the room and see it: first a blank expression as they turn to look at the painting, then a startled look of recognition, as they realise what it is that they are looking at, then a little smirk comes over their face, as they whisper and giggle with their companions. It didn't matter what the age or gender of the viewer was, their initial reactions were the same!

After visiting the museum, I then had to seek out another street vendor to buy another crepe, this one filled with chestnut cream (also a very good flavour, it is a close call out of the Chestnut and Nutella as to which was the best!). On my walk back to the metro station, I passed a tea shop called Lauderee and decided that I had to go in, as everythime I had passed the shop, there had been a line up out the door, and I felt that I might have been missing out on something. They seemed to be doing a roaring trade in Macaroons, so I bought several different flavours, and they were GOOD!

That night, I decided that I should go to a traditional French Restaurant for dinner, as it was my last night in France. So I went to one, where I liked the look of the menu, and it wasn't until I had sat down that I realised it was actually Maroccan! Oh well, the meal was lovely anyway!

I spent my last morning in Paris, just pottering about the area around my hotel, before I realised that I really should get a move on and make my way to the airport, otherwise I was in danger of missing my plane! I made it though, with plenty of time to spare, and it turned out that my plane was delayed anyway!

I had a lovely time in Paris, but I'm definitely going to have to go back, as there are so many things to see and do, and I'll have to go back to do some shopping when it doesn't matter how full my bag gets!

Thanks everyone for your emails!

Love,
Lis x.