Weekend in Paris

As with most major European cities, the airport serving Paris, France is located far outside the city.  So, the first adventure in really any city is navigating the public transportation system in what is hopefully a timely and cheap manner (a single taxi ride from airport to hostel often costs at least €50 and can run upwards of €100).  In Paris the metro system is the best option.  For about €20 a three-day pass will let you ride the metro to anywhere within the city 24 hours a day.  By the end of the weekend I had been on the metro easily 15-20 times.  Buying the pass was well worth the time I would have spent walking around the city.

It is possible to spend hours in every site in Paris.  Therefore, there are some sites that you have to merely stop outside of for pictures.  For example, this is what I did at the Arc de Triomphe,  Invalides, Moulin Rouge, and the Pantheon.  Other sites are almost mandatory for tourists, such as the Eiffel Tower, which I went to nearly every day.  I took the trip to the top the first morning of the weekend.  By climbing the steps to the first level I was able to avoid waiting several hours in line for the elevator.  As you continue to climb, the views become more and more spectacular until at the highest level you can look over all of Paris and see the Seine stretch for miles before it disappears into the horizon.  Looking at it from the ground the Eiffel Tower is more impressive after dark.  The light show on the half hour and the rotating search lights from the top draw a crowd every night.

The only other site I visited more than once was Notre Dame.  On the way to the Latin Quarter for dinner the first night I walked by the front of it.  The next day I came back and went inside.  Similar to many other major European cathedrals, the inside was really best described as a tourist carnival.  The sides of the church are a sea of tourists attempting to take pictures of all the altars and works of art housed by the cathedral.  In the main part of the church, hundreds of Catholic believers are lined up to kiss whichever relic is on display that day.  Even from the short glimpse I got of Notre Dame I could tell that it is rightfully one of the most well known churches in the world.

Although I only spent a few hours in the Louvre, it would easily be possible to spend days and days there without seeing everything.  After a relatively short wait to get in (with free entry because I’m a student in the EU) I headed towards the Mona Lisa.  Along the main hall there is large room to the right.  I had heard that I would be under-impressed by the size of the painting, but I didn’t really think it was that small.  And the crowd’s interest didn’t imply anyone else was unimpressed either.  Every individual in the enormous group swarming in front of the painting was attempting to jostle past the others and take a picture.  Eventually, I was successful too.  Then, on the way out of the museum I walked past halls of ancient Greek sculptures and paintings as big as the wall.

While there were many aspects of Paris I liked (the crepes are fantastic), two of my favorite things were Sacré Couer and the numerous bridges spanning the Seine.  Several of the bridges are works of art in themselves and are heavily adorned with carvings.  Several others are lock bridges, which I spent a long time taking pictures of.  Sacré Couer is rather far out of the city centre but is well worth the trip.  It is on a hill, so the steps leading up to the basilica have a great view of the city.  Also, several really good street performers can be found here, so many people sit on the side of the hill with friends to relax and enjoy the atmosphere.  Crowing the hill is the magnificent cathedral with one of the most beautiful interiors in Europe.  Pleasantly, there were less tourists than I expected inside.  The acoustics are amazing too.  The music from the nuns’ service could be heard perfectly in all corners of the chapel.

 

Unfortunately, I only had one weekend to spend in Paris.  But in the space of one weekend it became one of my favorite European cities and one that I will definitely try to return to in the future!

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