Ah, Paris

  Paris, France
Friday, April 8, 2005

Certainly one of my favorite cities in the world, Paris was something I was not going to miss. I had traveled to the city of lights four years earlier with a group from high school and I was eager to brush off my French with which at one point I was technically "fluent". We arrived via Easy Jet and set off for the Louvre.



We wandered through the different exhibits hitting all of the major works. The Mona Lisa had recently been moved from its old area to a new viewing space on the second floor.



After we had gorged ourselves on some of the world's finest artistic treasures we decided to satisfy our appetite for crepes. We took the metro to the Eifel tower and dined on the fluffy confections before making our way to the top of the World's Fair wonder.



To finish off our site seeing for the day we walked past the Arc de Triumph on the way to dinner on the Champs-Elysees.



Dinner was spent at a local Brasserie where they featured a variety of meats in thick, savory French sauces. Dinner ended, quite deliciously I might add, with a traditional creme brule and espresso.



The next day we awoke bright and early to make the most of the time we had left in Paris. I spent a good part of the morning and afternoon at the Pompidou center as I love modern art.



After being in Florence for such a long time and being overwhelmed and inundated with classical artwork, it was nice to be among pieces that were completely devoid of convention and full of fresh, daring creativity.



Once I pulled myself away from the Pompidou, after seeing the seasonal exhibit of Picasso's cubist works, I decided to end the journey with a trek to the top of Paris, Sacra Cour.



At this point we had checked out of our hostel already and to maximize time for site seeing I had brought my suitcase with me so I could go directly to the airport in the evening. I neglected to remember that the climb to Sacra Cour involves a number of very steep staircases up a never ending hill. I struggled to continue but after twenty minutes I reached the church and stared out over the surrounding city. I had conquered Paris, one of my favorite cities in the world.