This week was a very fun week because it was a short school week and a long travel weekend! Monday we did not have school because of Veterans Day, and this weekend we went to Paris Thursday-Sunday! Tuesday we also hiked the Bastille for one last time (since it was probably the last day of good-ish weather,) and we timed it perfectly so that we could see the sunset in the mountains. It was absolutely beau
tiful, and I really am going to miss Grenoble! I love this city! Further, I only had two actual days of school! It is stressful having to do makeup work, but the professors are very understanding here, and Paris was totally worth it. I’ve already been once with Lisa and her parents, and it was absolutely amazing, but this time was equally as magical because I got to explore completely different parts of the city! We also met up with the group of students studying abroad in Cannes, France through AIFS, so we got to meet new friends and have fun with them!
Thursday we went on a tour of the Garnier Opera House which I had not done before, and it was absolutely beautiful! I would say it was even prettier than the palace of Versailles which we saw later. I loved the room of gold because everything was either made of real gold or gold-like paint, but the chandeliers and the paintings were absolutely incredible. It was fun to read about the history of the Opera, and we got to see parts of Phantom of the Opera—one of my favorites! After the Opera, we walked around the nicer area of Paris with all the expensive shops and fancy hotels. We saw the famous Ritz hotel and the Place du Concorde where Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were beheaded. It was so cool waking around Paris and learning all the history. Plus, they decorated for Christmas already, so the lights were absolutely beautiful! We then went out to a group dinner and travelled to see the Eiffel Tower. It is so beautiful at night all lit up and sparkling📷. We did not climb to the top, but even from the outside, the tower is a work of art.
Friday we toured Paris’ Hôtel de Ville in the morning. This is where the mayor stays/works, and we even got to see a glimpse of her walk by us during the tour! President Regan also visited the Hôtel de Ville when he was president of the US. It is a beautiful place, and it has a lot of history with it. We got to see the room where Emmanuel macron was welcomed as French President, and we even got to sit on the same stage where he stood. It was a very cool experience! Then, we got a first-hand tour of the Louvre! The tour was only 2 hours, which is nothing in the biggest museum in the world, but we saw all the BIG things like the Mona Lisa, Eugene Delacroix, and famous French/Italian paintings. I really liked our guide because he took time to describe each work of art in detail, explaining the history and making it more understandable to someone like me who doesn’t know as much about art/history. For example, the Mona Lisa was left unfinished because Da Vinci did not believe in God, so he didn’t know what would happen to Mona Lisa after she died. Very interesting! After that, we got to walk on the Champs-Élysées and climb the Arc de Triomphe which I did not get to do the first time I was in Paris. An extra bonus: every museum/historical monument was free to me because I have a visa and I am a student in Europe! It was so fun to see Paris from above, and the view wasn’t great because it was cloudy, but we did see it at night too so everything was beautiful all lit up. Finally, we visited the Galleries Lafayette’s which I did see the first time, but it looks so different at Christmas time! They had a huge tree and a beautiful painting in the dome. It was absolutely marvelous! We did not buy anything, but we did go to the top to see the view!
Saturday we woke up early to walk around Montmartre (the part on the hill of Paris). I absolutely loved Montmartre last time I was in Paris, and it did not fail me again. We saw the wall of love where “I love you” is written in more than 300 different languages! We also saw street artists/performers and famous cafés along the streets where movies have been shot or famous people have eaten. I really liked Sacré cœur and the view from there, but I went in the church with Lisa and her parents so I did not wait in line this time. It is a beautiful church though and the view is awesome up there! Then, for the rest of the day, me and two of my friends made the long trek out to Versailles, France. It was a good choice too because Saturday Paris was full of Gillets Jaunes for their one year anniversary, and there were a lot of riots with violence/tear gas. It was kind of sad and scary, but I’m glad we avoided it. Versailles was amazing! We were a little rushed for time, so we didn’t spend as much time as we would’ve liked exploring the history of the building, but we did see everything except Marie Antoinette’s résidence. I personally thought the Opera was prettier than the palace, but the palace was beautiful. The hall of mirrors really is something else. However, I feel a hidden gem at Versailles is in the wonderful gardens. I enjoyed the gardens a lot because I love just walking around nature and exploring, but me and my friend walked to the Queen’s hamlet (servant quarters) and we absolutely loved it (see pictures)! It looked totally different from the castle (much more rustic and down to earth,) but I thought it was so pretty. The lake was beautiful and the houses were so old and cute, made out of stone. I really enjoyed this part. We then explored Paris’ night life a bit, but we were really tired so we didn’t stay out too late.
Sunday was a more chill day. We took a nice river cruise on the Seine, seeing the Eiffel Tower, all the beautiful bridges of Paris, l’île de Paris, and notre dame. It was sad to see notre dame especially since last time I was able to go inside, but it is still an amazing structure from the outside. I’m sure they will restore it, and it will be amazing, but right now you cannot get too close because the air quality surrounding the cathedral is not the best. After our cruise, we went on a walking tour of the Latin Quarter seeing the outsides of places like the chapelle, the pantheon, and the Luxembourg palace. My friends and I walked more around the gardens after the tour since Sunday was the only sunny day the whole weekend (it was very rainy and cold otherwise,) and we explored other gardens/places too. We then ate Chipotle (yes I know, very American, but I really missed it!), and we walked around the city/along the seine more. Finally, we had to get back on our train to Grenoble. Unfortunately, it looks like we will be getting in a lot later than we expected tonight because Grenoble has been slammed with snow over the weekend, but hopefully we will still get some sleep before school tomorrow. I’m excited to see Grenoble covered in snow and the mountains, i think it will be beautiful. Paris was very fun, and I am sad/excited to think that the next time I’m there will be in their airport waiting for my flight back to the US! I can’t believe this was our last big group trip, and it was amazing! It has gone by so fast!
Side note: a Parisian told me and my friends that we are very good at French: that’s a big compliment coming from a Parisian! We also did not immediately get spoken to in English when we tried to speak French, so that means that we really are improving. I’m happy with this, and I’m excited to keep improving my French. I’m going to try and get some sleep on the train, but hopefully the snow doesn’t get too bad here because I do not want to walk 3 miles to class! We shall see 📷. Thanks for reading! I hope everything is going well in the US!
Until next week,
Rachel