Parisian Excursion

This past Saturday my API group hesitantly left for Paris; our international excursion through the program. When I say hesitantly I am referring to the French worker’s strike which has been making quite an impact in the country, canceling flights, causing riots, car bombs and the like. With all of this information clearly displayed on our during the week before we supposed to leave, most of us did not even think we were going to be able to get to Paris, never mind enjoy the city and return to Granada without a problem. I must say now, sometimes the news makes situation appear much worse than they are in reality because we did not experience one problem while we were traveling during what the news considered, “the days of the mass strike.” Needless to say, we arrived in Paris Saturday night and were able to fully enjoy our time until we left on Tuesday morning.

When we first arrived to Paris the weather was miserable and for a couple of minutes I wanted the pilot to turn the plane around and go back to Granada. It had to be in the 40’s, raw, and raining. By the time we arrived at the hotel I was ready for bed but instead a large group of people went to get dinner. Since only person in my group of friends speaks any French, we all lucked out that our waitress was fluent in Spanish after studying abroad in the Canary Islands. I have never felt so helpless before because I have never traveled to a country where I couldn’t speak the language at all. It was pretty humorous though because for the whole time we were in Paris we continuously switched around the languages we spoke. When I was asked questions in French I automatically responded in Spanish until I realized that they had no idea what I was saying. Even in some places where they could speak English I found myself answering in Spanish; I have Spanish on the brain.

The next day I went on a bus tour that brought us all around the city including the Eiffel Tower, Arc of Triumph, Concorde Palace, Luxemburg gardens, Notre Dame, Tracadero, Bastille, and the Hospital of the Invalids. The weather was crisp and it only rained briefly when a group of friends and I were taking a lunch break. That day I saw the Eiffel Tower in the daylight and at night and in my opinion it is much more impressive at night. During the day it looks smaller that what I always imagined and it just looks like a huge metal structure; structure being the keyword. I did not have any feeling of true awe looking at it during the day. On the other hand, at night, the lights twinkle every hour on the hour and the mere structure turns into a silent glowing giant. I thought it was majestic. I stood in front of it eating a chocolate filled beignet and it was one of the best moments of my life.

On the following day we went to the Louvre Museum and while it amazing to see all of the famous works like the Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, etc, for me seeing these masterpieces up close in person made them seem less mysterious and notable. The Mona Lisa is quite small and it was almost impossible to get a decent view considering the huge line of people wrapping around the center of the room. There is absolutely no way anyone can see everything they want to during one visit and so my friends I left after our guided tour ended. The museum is overwhelming; just being in the museum itself was overwhelming to me. For the rest of the day I ventured around the city, saw Napoleon’s monstrously large tomb, went to the Armory Museum, ate some crepes (my new favorite food) and just took in the sights. I wanted to go back to Shakespeare n’ Company, a bookstore that I went to on the first day but there was not enough time. The store was fantastic, full of new and used books including some that writers produced while living at the bookstore. The store is and has been a haven for aspiring artists and I was lucky enough to stumble upon a hand-bound book that was full of poems of gratitude from the people who sought refuge in the book store. I sat in a little cubby and read all of the poems (in Spanish and English; they were in all different languages). Something as simple as that experience will be one I will not ever forget.

All in all, Paris is a city drenched in history. I feel like almost everything in the city has some sort of historical value regardless of its modern day reputation. If I ever went back I know it would lose some of its magic; the first time, although it is touristy and crowded, it is special and exciting. I feel that if I ever went back, I would be too distracted by all the hustle and bustle that managed to sneak by during my first visit. It is something to cross to off my list of things to do in my life…