We arrived into Paris late at night, having taken the Eurostar from London, where we'd spent our past couple of days exploring everything from the Globe to King's Cross Station. As we arrived, we were faced with rain, exhaustion, and a crowded hostel. We threw our bags into the room, and promptly went to sleep.
The next morning, we woke to even more rain, and a fair amount of chaos. We ventured via Metro to the Louvre, our first stop for the day. Since we had a big group to get together, we decided to divide and conquer; some people waited back at the hostel to collect a friend after her flight landed, some of us headed to scope out tickets for the museum, and others we met at the front of the queue for the museum. After waiting in line for tickets in the rain, splitting up and purchasing tickets indoors, and a quick breakfast at the cafes in the Carousel du Louvre, we had collected everyone in our party and were ready to explore one of the most famous collections of artwork in the Western world.
The Louvre is more than you think it would be, and that's really saying something considering I knew going in you could spend years and years and still not truly be able to see and appreciate everything in the collections the Louvre plays host to. Personally, I saw the Louvre as a chance to see for myself, firsthand, some of the pieces I'd studied in textbooks for years. These included Winged Victory, The Venus de Milo, The Mona Lisa, The Seated Scribe, and many, many other works.
My favorites were of course Nike of Samothrace and the Seated Scribe. To descend the stairs and see Winged Victory, and the detail of the marble was incredible. The Seated Scribe is one of the first pieces I remember from my art history textbook, and to see it in person presented the chance to realize that what you learn in high school really does matter beyond just getting into college.
After scattering throughout the Louvre, we reconvened for lunch. Together, the nine of us explored the city for a bistro for lunch. We settled on a restaurant, and settled in for some conversation, some exploration of local delicacies (escargot and rosé), and to relax for a bit before heading back out into the dreary weather to continue exploring the city.
Once we finished our meal, we said goodbye to some of our group members and headed off in pursuit of Notre Dame Cathedral. A short metro ride later, and we arrived at the Cathedral. Now, as someone who constantly has "The Bells of Notre Dame" stuck in my head, this was one of my most looked-forward to moments of the entire trip.
There really is no way to put into words the feeling I had when we walked up to the Cathedral. The inner Disney geek in me meshed with the inner art history geek, and it combined into a beautiful moment of sheer perfection of seeing a place I've dreamed about visiting for years.
Escaping the rain, we entered the Cathedral. The inside was absolutely stunning, from the intricacies of the rose windows, to the mighty of the construction of the nave, the building a was amazing on every level. Despite how popular a destination the Cathedral is to visit, it was not overtly a tourist trap. Having studied this building since elementary school, I can say that Notre Dame is checked off my bucket list, but I am most certainly going back to see it again.
After Notre Dame, it was finally time for my most favorite place in all of Paris--The Eiffel Tower. Now, anyone who knows me (or at least anyone who saw my dorm room last year) knows I am absolutely obsessed with the Eiffel Tower. Constructed in 1889 for the World's Fair, this tower has become universally known as a symbol of the beauty and romance of the city of Paris. I, ever the hopeless romantic, have wanted to visit it since watching Anastasia as a child.
Now, I'm not gonna lie and pretend like I didn't cry with excitement when we finally saw the tower, because that is exactly what I did. As we rounded the corner from the metro, bundled up in rain coats with hoods too big to see beyond, there it stood, the symbol of love, the symbol of the city of Paris that I had dreamed about visiting for so long.
We purchased our tickets for the elevator to the top, and prepared to head up and look out over the city of Paris.
Despite the rain, and the clouds, and the wind, the view from the top of the tower was stunning. To look out from hundreds of feet above the city, surrounded by fog, truly felt like we were in the clouds.
After gazing out over the city, we had planned a special surprise for while we were at the top platform. In order to celebrate the birthday of one of our friends, we purchased a glass of champagne and sang "Happy Birthday" while standing on the second tallest structure in all of France.
As we left the tower, our final stop for the day was dinner. We found a restaurant near Notre Dame, with the most gracious host. He recommended wines, extended special desserts to us, and even recommended some shops to try out the next day.
Content and full, we headed back to the hostel to get some sleep before out expedition to Versailles the next day.
Even though I didn't get to explore Paris with Bri, and even though we spent two days completely soaked through to the bone, the days I spent in Paris were some of my favorite of the entire trip. And, since it was raining, I know I have a valid reason to go back and explore the city in the sunshine. Paris, you have my heart.
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