Thursday, July 4
Fourth of July! Instead of celebrating with BBQ, watermelon and fireworks like our friends and family back home, us european travelers spent the day....on a bus. We got an early start from the Hague and said goodbye to the Netherlands. We spent the entire day driving to Paris. It was a relatively uneventful trip with most of the group sleeping on the way there. There was a lively episode dealing with the emergency exit door almost popping off, but it worked out. After a whole day of traveling, we finally made it to Paris. And now, my love affair with Paris begins.
After we arrived, we wandered around to find some food. We were staying by the Bastille, so we just meandered by the restaurants until we stumbled into a crepe place. This would be the first of MANY crepes during my week visit. After dinner, our professors led us on a short walking tour to the Notre Dame.
Here, are some original stones from the Bastille prison. After the Bastille was stormed and destroyed, the original stones were separated and shipped to various places around France. Kind of like a traveling exhibit in a museum, these stones were spread around France to show the people outside of Paris what had come about from the Revolution. To this day, many of the original stones can still be seen around the countryside. These are located in what is now a children's park. And that's my professor's shoulder because I don't take good pictures....
We walked along the Seine all the way to the Notre Dame and stopped at this ice cream face favorited by my professor and his wife. This ice cream was seriously some of the best ice cream I have ever had and we would return 3 more times for late night snacks.
After the ice cream, we walked to the Notre Dame. It's really quite beautiful at night. We were warned to watch our bags for pickpocketers, as they tend to be most concentrated in the tourist-y areas. So we ended our July 4 with ice cream in front of the Notre Dame and under the stars. Not a bad ending to American Independence Day.
Day 19
Friday, July 5
After class in the morning, we departed for what would be the most walking we would do on the entire trip. We were staying by the Bastille, so we set off walking west along the river. On the way we passed the Pont de l'Archevêché or the Archbishop's bridge. As you can see there are locks covering the sides of the bridge. These locks are called Love Padlocks and basically couples attach a lock to bridge together, usually writing their names and a date on the lock. The symbolically "lock" their hearts together and to the bridge. I had a couple friends who "locked" their hearts to Paris and threw the keys into the Seine below. Either way, there are thousands of locks along the bridge and of course many places along the bridge to purchase said locks.
After walking past the bridge, we continued onto the world famous Champs-Élysées. The street starts out at the Place de la Concorde which is a public square most known for its revolutionary activities. It was here the King Louis XVI was executed by guillotine in January of 1793.
Champs-Élysées is also home to the famous final leg on the Tour de France, which was actually going on while we were there. Unfortunately we were not in Paris for the last stage, but some dedicated fans from our group still made a trek out to watch the Tour live at Stage 12.
Champs-Élysées is also the
shopping mecca of Paris. The main
street has everything from luxury stores like Louis Vuitton to a Toyota store
where they actually sell cars at their storefront. But perhaps the most famous attraction of Champs-Élysées is at the end, where the Arc de Triomphe stands.
This famous monument stands to commemorate those who lost
their lives fighting in the French Revolutionary (not the same as the French
Revolution of 1789) and Napoleonic Wars.
Inscribed inside the Arc are all of the French victories and the names
of victorious generals. Underneath the
Arc lies the Tomb of Unknown Soldiers from WWI.
The beautiful Arc completed construction in 1836 and is modeled after
the Arch of Titus in Rome. The Arc is so
large that after the Paris victory parade in 1919 (celebrating the end of WWI),
Charles Godefroy, a French aviator, flew a plane through the Arc. This Neoclassical Arc has become my favorite
monument, barely surpassing the Eiffel Tower.
After the Arc, we proceeded to walk down across the river to
the Eiffel Tower. Along the way we of
course stopped for crepes.
After many pictures along the way, we finally got to the
Eiffel. Le Tour Eiffel was constructed
in 1889 by engineer, Gustave Eiffel, as the entrance to the 1889 World’s
Fair. Since then, it has become one of
the most recognizable structures in the world.
It is the most-visited paid monument in the world and a friend told me
that it is the most photographed object ever.
Standing at 324 m (1,063 ft), it is the tallest structure in Paris and
provides the most gorgeous view of Paris.
From 1889 to 1930, it was the tallest structure in the world, but was
beat out by the Chrysler Building in NY.
However, after the addition of the antenna top in 1957, it now stands 17
feet taller than the Chrysler Building.
When you get to the Eiffel, there are two options: stairs or
elevator. Being the gung ho UCLA hill
climbers and cost conscious group that we were, we chose the stairs (stairs are
3 Euro while the Elevator is like 13 Euro).
There are two levels accessible to the general public by stair. In total there were 669 steps from the ground
to the second level. After walking up
the seemingly endless spiraling staircase, we reached the second level
observation deck to be greeted with a breathtaking view of Paris. It’s definitely the best place to see the
city in its entirety.
After spending a good amount of time taking in the view, we
descended the Eiffel and made our way back towards our hotel at the
Bastille. In total, we had walked around
10 miles, including going up and down the Eiffel. So of course we rewarded ourselves with the
amazing ice cream from the first night by the Notre Dame. This would only be the second of many visits.
Day 20
Saturday, July 6
After a Saturday morning class, we departed for the Notre
Dame to see it during the day. Notre
Dame or “Our Lady” is perhaps one of the most famous churches in the
world. It’s considered a prime example
of French Gothic architecture. It’s a
Catholic Church and there was actually a service going on while we were
visiting. Unlike Westminster Abbey,
visitors are allowed inside the Notre Dame during service. It’s also free, which is always a plus.
Notre Dame by day
Beautiful stained glass windows
We didn’t spot any hunchbacks or talking gargoyles while
there, sorry Quasimoto.
When we were all done with the Notre Dame, we just walked a
little ways down the road to the less famous Sainte-Chapelle. This became one of my favorite churches of
the trip, out ranking the Notre Dame, Westminster and St. Paul’s. Sainte-Chapelle is a smaller medieval Gothic
chapel located on the side of the Palais de Justice. It was originally commissioned by King Louis
IX to hold his collection of Passion Relics, including Christ’s Crown of
Thorns. It was consecrated in April of
1248. The most striking part of this old
chapel is the beautiful stained glass windows engulfing the walls of the small
main room. The 15 windows are considered
to be one of the most extensive collections of 13th-century stained
glass in the world. The windowpanes
still clearly show the stories of the Infancy of Christ, John the Evangelist,
Genesis etc. the back wall features a
beautiful rose window and it is definitely one of the most beautiful sights in
Paris.
We then had to head back to the hotel early because we were
taking a class trip to a Château outside of Paris. So we all piled into the buses and went to
Vaux-le-Vicomte. This baroque Château is
located about 55km away from Paris. The
chateau was finished in 1661 for a superintendent of finances for King Louis
XIV. The architect Louis Le Vau and landscape architect André Le Nôtre worked together to create this magnificent
palace and rounds. It can actually be
seen in the James Bond movie Moonraker as the home of villain Hugo Drax.
The Château is beautiful and the grounds are even more
picturesque. The go on forever and the
giant pool reflects the back of the palace creating a serene and stunning
sight.
At night, they lay candles throughout the grounds and
individually light each one as the sun sets.
Here we are with our professor Barry O’Neill.
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