Paris Holds the Key To Your Heart

Saturday, March 12^th I awoke with great excitement for on this day Mom, Aunt Barb, and I were going to take the super fast TGV train to Paris. With TGV it only takes about an hour to get from Brussels to Paris, that’s pretty darn fast!

First thing we did when we arrived in Paris was we had some sketchy man convince us that he knew where our hotel was. I assured him that I knew were it was, but some of my fellow travel companions were not so sure, so we followed him. He had us walk in a giant square to get back to where we needed to be, and then he asked us for money. I was not about to give this man any money, but Aunt Barb in her infinite wisdom did, this is when I first started to worry that perchance Aunt Barb wasn’t quite ready for big cities, little did I know.

But, we got checked into our hotel and then we were quite hungry, so decided it would be best to go downtown see what we could see and eat there. After some confusion with the metro, where we learned you had to pay with coins or a credit card, but the card had to have a special chip in it because it had to be a French credit card, we arrived at the Louvre. It was so nice out when we first arrived! It was sunny and warm and we were in Paris! It was just like how I remember it from when I was 16 only this time I felt like I was appreciating it more. Also, I came to the realization of how little French I actually know. Being in Paris with two people who definitely don’t know any French, and one person who kind of knows French is a little bad news bears, but luckily everyone everywhere speaks English. So we walked around the garden of the Louvre for a while, then spotted a cute little sandwich place outside where we had lunch.

Mom outside the Louvre

Mom and I outside the Louvre

Aunt Barb and Mom at lunch in gardens of the Louvre

 After lunch, it was starting to get a little darker and chiller than I would have liked, but we saw l’Arc de Triomphe and decided that it didn’t look too far away from where we were, so we began the treck there. In case you were thinking to yourself, “Wait you walked from the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe, I thought that was a pretty long walk.” You would be correct! That is indeed quite a long walk, approximately 3 miles according to google maps. Now I don’t know how many of you know my dear mother and aunt, but they aren’t big walkers and it was getting to be quite rainy out, so this was definitely an experience to remember. By the time we got to the Arc, they were too tired to climb up it, so we just walked around it. Only later did we discover that it had an elevator inside! After the Arc, we took a little sit down where we snacked on some waffles and gave our legs a rest.

Mom found the Eiffel Tower!

Aunt Barb and I found some fountains

Walking to the Arc

Janice and the Arc de Triomphe

 Next, we decided it only made sense to continue walking to the Eiffel Tower because clearly that’s the one thing people go to Paris to see! We got to the Eiffel Tower and then waited in line for the elevator up to the top, there would be no walking up the steps for us, it was elevator all the way. When we first got to the Eiffel Tower it was again sunny out and warm, but the sun was getting ready to set. By the time we got to the first level, it was getting dark and cold again. But by the time we got to the top, it was freezing! We were all huddled in line together waiting for the next elevator shivering telling ourselves it would be worth it, and you now what, it was! Feeling all sentimental and old enough to drink, I ordered myself a glass of champagne, just to say that I had champagne on top of the Eiffel Tower, but the man who sold it to me judged so hard. He literally asked me, “Just one? Really?” Rough day, Monsieur, rough day.

On route to the Eiffel Tower

Inside the elevator going up the Eiffel Tower

OH NO! Its real cold up there! Mom looks displeased.

Janice and her champagne.

 We finished with the excitement of the Eiffel Tower quite cold and tired, we returned to the area near our hotel ate some Chinese food, went back to the hotel and went to catch some Z’s.

The next day (March 13^th) we woke up and had breakfast at the train station before we set off on another grand adventure in Paris. On this day, we decided to visit the Musee d’Orsay home to many impressionist paintings such as Van Gough’s “Starry Night” and Manet's “Olympia.” We spent a long time admiring many great pieces of artwork and then we got hungry. So being the wise tourists that we made the executive decision to eat at the classy restaurant in the museum and you know what, it was some of the best food I’ve ever eaten! I had a cheese platter that was truly delectable and some espresso with raspberry for dessert: completely the European meal.

Cheese Platter!

Aunt Barb and Mom at the Musee d'Orsay

 After our fine lunch, we went off in search of the Point Neuf where our boat tour would be later that night. Somehow along the way, we found ourselves back in the Toulieres gardens near the Louvre. Eventually, we found where we’d be heading for the boat tour and went in search of Notre Dame cathedral. What a site! First, we went down to visit the crypt of the church. Its always fun to see the ruins of what ancient cities used to look like, it definitely gives you a better understanding of the way life used to run. After the crypts, we came up and tried to find the entrance to get to the top of Notre Dame to see the gargoyles first hand. Secretly, I wanted to go to the top to pretend I was Quasimodo and sing “The Bells of Notre Dame” or “Topsy Turvy” like they do in Hunchback of Notre Dame. Sigh, if only my life were like a movie. But, instead of getting to the top we circled the entire cathedral only to then enter the church just in time to see the Vesper service, following the vespers was mass, so we stayed for that enjoying the rich heritage of the church service.

Aunt Barb at Notre Dame

Mom at Notre Dame

Janice at Notre Dame

Janice inside the crypts of Notre Dame

Aunt Barb and the backside of Notre Dame

Once mass let out, we went to the Pont Neuf for our night boat tour of the city. Unfortunately for us our tour consisted of some bratty American high school students who were quite loud and rude to our tour guides for their poor English. They were trying so hard to speak clearly, but those kids did not make their jobs easy. Either way, it was nice just to sit and look admire the city all-light up! Following the boat tour, we returned to the hotel in search of some more sleep. 

Pont Neuf boat ride on the River Senne

Eiffel Tower at night

 Monday (March 14^th) we got up and this time had breakfast at a little place next to our hotel. Our waiter clearly did not appreciate that we were American or the fact that we wanted breakfast, so that was a little rocky of a morning as we were overpriced for a simple cup of coffee and croissants. Once we finished with that high quality meal, we went off on our hop-on hop-off bus tour for the day making our first stop at St. Madeline’s Opera house to then get onto the bus which dropped us off at the Louvre. The bus was a nice way to see the city since you had the option to ride up top (it was a double-decker bus) or inside if you were cold. Plus, they provided you with headphones to plug in to hear all about the various landmarks that we were passing by. 

We got off the bus at the Louvre and from there did the whole Louvre scene. We took pictures of the glass pyramid, got our tickets, went in search of the Mona Lisa, saw some great works of art, got lost, ended up in African art, exited the museum, and then had lunch at the food court area. Not quite what we had envisioned for lunch, but overall still tasty! Then, we ventured back into the museum to see some German art, but since it was sunny and warm out we ended up leaving the museum early to go bask in the sunlight. We did this of course, by hopping back onto our tour bus and seeing the city that way! When the bus was done for the day, we wandered around near Notre Dame for a while and found ourselves some tasty crepes! NOM NOM NOM. Then we went in search of some shopping, I ended up with a new navy blue and white striped shirt and a pair of jeans, and Mom got herself a very French looking “Paris” beret.  By then, we had been walking for a while and decided it was once again a good time to grab some food. We ended up finding a cute little Italian place. After dinner, we headed back to the metro in search of our hotel and showers.

Checking out some art at the Louvre

Chillaxing with the fountains and the sun outside the Louvre

IT WAS SO NICE OUT!

Bastille

CREPE NOM NOM NOM

Mom and her Parisian beret

 Tuesday (March 15^th), our last day in Paris. We got up and packed up all our stuff and went off in search of Sacre Coeur in Montemarte. We found it easily enough and took the elevator-type dealy up the giant hill. When we reached the top we were in awe of the city-scape. It was such a lovely morning and there were almost no tourists out yet, so we decided to plop ourselves down on a bench and eat our breakfast of croissants enjoying the sunshine and the view. Sadly when I opened the bag with our breakfast I came to realize that my breakfast was not there, so I simply enjoyed the view and the sunshine.  While we were there, we obviously went inside the church and were in awe of its beauty and décor. We had hopes of visiting its crypt, but it was closed so instead we walked around the church and found ourselves in the Montemarte shopping/ food area, so got ice cream! Then we walked around looking at some of the artists works, then went back down the elevator dealy and took the metro back to our hotel. By now it was around lunch time and we felt the need for some lunch, and what did we spy with our little eyes? McDonalds, that’s right, we went to McDonalds. I got a Happy Meal and Mom kept trying to convince me that she wanted to cut out the box and use it to tile our kitchen. Please Mom, no. But then Aunt Barb began to encourage her, so that was quite the little excitement we had there for lunch.

Janice at Sacre Coeur

Mom at Sacre Coeur

Aunt Barb at Sacre Coeur

McDonalds in Paris!

 After lunch, we went back to the hotel to collect our luggage and walked back to the train station for our TGV to take us back to Brussels. Once we got to Brussels, we got to take another train to get Mom and Aunt Barb to Antwerp where they stayed for two nights. After about an hour we finally made it to Antwerp, got them checked in, and we ate dinner at a cute little Belgian place that served a fair amount of traditional Belgian food. Mom had Flemish stew, I had lasagna (not Belgian, but delicious), and Aunt Barb had some sort of sausage I believe. Following dinner, they walked me back to the train station where I had to take another bus back to Brussels. Its funny how the high speed trains can get you from Paris to Brussels in an hour and a half, but from Brussels to Antwerp with the national trains it takes about an hour to get from A to B. Eventually, I made it back to Brussels and collapsed having been so tired from all the traveling that that day had entailed.