Paris: Part Two, Versailles

11:00AM April 3

I got up early on Saturday morning, around 7:30, with the intention of meeting John for coffee and pastry before heading off to Versailles. I told him to meet me at Notre Dame by 9:00, but he was nowhere to be found. By 9:20, I called him to find out what was up, and he told me that he'd just woken up. We bagged the cafe idea, instead planning simply to meet at Versailles around 10:30 along with Rishma and Marielle.

Seeing as I still had some time to kill, I walked around the Latin Quarter for a bit. Like most of Paris, it was really wonderful, but the Latin Quarter tends to be a night district, so few stores were open until 10:00, at which point I stopped into a great looking patisserie for a chocolate brioche, an apple fritter, and an elegant chocolate pastry.

At that point I hastily made my way to the nearest station, but the next train out to Versailles didn't leave till 10:22. By the time I got there it was nearly 11:00. I didn't see any of them at the train station, so I headed over to the palace and walked around the gardens there a bit, eating my first two pastries, but they were still nowhere to be found. Around 11:20 I got a text message from Marielle asking where to meet, and soon after all four of us met at the front gates. John had apparently been there since 10:45, but Marielle and Rishma had just arrived. I then pulled out the chocolate pastry to share with them. It was more like chocolate bliss. The thick and creamy chocolate was supported by a fine graham cracker bed. I don't think I've ever had something so tasty.

The palace itself was simply stunning, full of everything you might imagine from Louis XIV. It was simply gaudy, with a seemingly endless number of rooms—700, with 2153 windows, 67 staircases, and 6,123 paintings—each one decorated in a different bright colored cloth. Over and over again we were provoked to ask the question, "why?" Why have so many rooms? Why have a bed with a bed if it isn't a bedroom? Why would anybody need a church in their house, let alone a two-story church with a grand organ? Why put an obelisk inside? Why have a hall of mirrors? The only reasonable response we could come up with was, "why not?" It seemed that at least every other room had no function and was simply furnished with chairs around the perimeter of the large space, to which we asked, "when would anybody use such a room?" Would they inquire for tea in the slightly mauve room one day? "I think we'll take tea in the scarlet room tomorrow." For this we could only come up with one answer, "if you have the means, why not?" To the common man or peasant, Versailles was reason enough for a revolution.

John by the window


An incredible fresco at the Versailles Palace


The grand two-story church


A seemingly useless sitting room, one of hundreds that populate the palace, each decorated with a different color cloth.


The famous hall of mirrors


The palace was really gorgeous, and I particularly liked a room where maps were painted on the walls. It was fascinating to see the depiction of a vastly different looking Paris, and it's hard not to appreciate a room as grand as the hall of mirrors. After a bit though, the palace became numbing, as we seemed to be seeing the same rooms over and over again decorated in different colors. The whole place reminded me of Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, where an Irish peasant lucks into considerable wealth during the second half of the eighteenth century, somehow marrying into nobility. That movie, for me, depicted just how pointless much of the space really was, as some scenes showed the family sitting around in silence, basking in their own glory, not sure what else to do with it.

The gardens were equally endless and fabulous. We walked towards Marie Antoinette's private abode, twenty minutes out onto the property by foot. Of course, it began to rain halfway there, and we stopped in briefly at a cafe to grab some shelter.

There were not many flowers in the gardens, at least this time of year, but I think the French accounted for their climate, aiming to make it a beautiful landscape all year-round by filling it with fountains, sculpted bushes, orchards, and a gigantic cross-shaped pond that I can only imagine was used for rowing. It was built long enough to support competitions in both directions. As we approached the cafe, we saw two people coming off the pond in a small rowboat. Before long the rain subsided though, giving way to blue skies and brilliant white cumulus clouds. Just as we reached Marie Antoinette's house though, the next batch of rain began to pour down.

Outside in the gardens, looking back towards the east wing of the palace.


Facing the backside of the palace from the beginning of the gardens


Looking over the crossed part of the man-made pond--near Marie Antoinette's--which is nearly as big as the main length of the pond.


Marielle described this private residence as Marie's "Barbie" house due to its pink exterior. As she remarked, "even the orchard of trees outside is pink." Marie definitely loved this color, as a particularly intense shade of pink was used for the decorations in her bedroom. In keeping with the style of the rest of the palace, each room took on a different gaudy color. At least her house did not have nearly so many rooms, but upon seeing her large ballroom, we were again forced to ask, "why?" At least it seemed she had some hobbies, which could not be found in the main palace, represented in the form of a pool table and an easel.

When we were ready to return to Paris it was still pouring. We waited ten minutes for the shuttle to take us back to the palace. By the time we got back though, the weather had shifted back to blue skies and cumulus clouds. Even during our rainy season in Florence I didn't see this much shifting in weather.


The pink orchard in behind Marie Antoinette's house. If you look closely, you'll notice the edges are all trimmed at a right angle, forming a perfect box of trees.


Rishma and John walking up to Marie Antoinette's pink "Barbie" house


An example of the more functional rooms that seemed to populate Marie's humble abode

Out front of the Versailles Palace, with clear skies.


John departed when we got back to Paris, and Rishma, Marielle, and I went back to the hotel. We hoped to meet up with some of the other girls at the catacombs, but by the time we got back, it was already 5:00, and they were closed. Rishma and Marielle had yet to see the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower, so I left them for a bit, planning to meet up at the foot of the tower a bit later. I went off to see Montmartre and the famous Basilique du Sacre-Coeur.

The neighborhood of Montmartre, built up on the hill behind the Moulin Rouge, was really wonderful. I had a great time walking around up the hill, and I finally witnessed my first street artists in Paris at a plaza near the top. I'd expected to see artists around many of the major tourist sites, but today you mostly just find cheap copies of paintings others have made of the Eiffel Tower or Notre Dame sold by street hustlers.

The Basilica was really fabulous, topped by white stone domes which appeared to me to have a large muslim influence. Of course, I went for the view though, which I'd heard was possibly the best in the city, and it did not disappoint. Up on the hill, you can see out over most of the city, although trees mostly obstruct a view of the Eiffel Tower. The great thing was, only thirty minutes earlier I had said to Rishma, "I'm surprised we haven't see a rainbow today with all of this sunny and rainy weather," and there at the top of Montmartre, I spotted the beginnings of a rainbow over one of the business districts out to the east. How much more could you ask for than a rainbow in Paris?


The neighborhood our hotel was in


Montmartre


The Basilique du Sacre-Coeur, atop Montmartre.

Looking east towards a business district, the small rainbow on the right side.


I then scrambled down to meet Rishma and Marielle at the Eiffel Tower. By the time I got there, they hadn't ascended it yet though, so I walked around the surrounding neighborhood for awhile, eventually making my way back towards the tower through the Jardin du Champ de Mars just as the tower lit up for the night. When I reached the foot of the tower, Rishma and Marielle were nowhere to be found. I knew we had to meet back at the hotel soon though, so I thought they might have already left, and I headed back myself.




In front of the cavalry building, at the bottom of the Jardin du Champs de Mars.



When I reached the hotel, only Alex and Jen were there, but they informed me we weren't going out until 11:30. We were having a large dinner for Kate and Jen, who would each be celebrating their twenty-first birthdays in the coming week. I used the spare time to catch up on my sleep, as I napped a little while watching the French-Lithuania soccer match.

We went to a fancy place in the Bastille district for dinner. They had the best butter for bread, and Jen's dad treated us to two bottles of champagne. I was tempted by foie gras again, but I thought once was enough for the trip. Instead, I ordered a pumpkin-chestnut soup, which was quite tasty. For an entree, I did get duck though, this time in the form of a confit over sauerkraut. I liked the duck, but I didn't really enjoy the juxtaposition of flavors with the sauerkraut. Dessert was my favorite, as I got a chocolate cake which turned out to be closer to a fudgy mousse, like I'd had earlier in the day. It was served over a layer of vanilla sauce with a hint of rum.

By the time we left the restaurant it was 3:00AM, and we had an early flight that morning. Tryson, Jaimie, and Marielle decided to head back to the hotel, and the rest of us decided to stay up, killing the next two hours between a few bars near the restaurant. At 5:00 we had to head back in order to make our 6:45 bus to the airport. I was mostly packed though, so I headed off in advance of the group, and I went to see the Arc de Triomphe at night.

When I reached the Arc, it was 5:55. The giant roundabout, known as the Place de L’Etoile, which surrounds the Arc was practically empty, and I was able to walk straight across all twelve lanes without being passed by a car. I stood outside the chains at the perimeter of the Arc, taking pictures of the Champs-Élysées, when at about 6:03, a police office came up to me. I was a little nervous that he was going to make a fuss, and as soon as we sorted out what language to speak in, he told me in broken English, "you are not allowed to be here until 6:00, you have to leave, but now that it is past 6:00, you can come in and take your pictures." The whole encounter was quite odd, and I had no intentions of going under the Arc in the first place, but seeing as he was now inviting me in, I took the opportunity to walk through and observe it up close.

I then headed down Avenue de la Grande Armée towards the bus station, and was there with plenty of time to spare, so I stopped for a cappuccino at the cafe across the street. It took me a while to adjust to the Italian concept of drinking coffee while standing at the bar, but now I quite like the idea, and I was happy to find that this French place did the same. I was at the station by 6:35, and soon thereafter met up with the rest of the group as we departed for Beauvais, Pisa, and eventually Florence.

Paris: Part One, Eiffel-Dame-Louvre

3:00PM April 2

I took off immediately after class at 4:00 on Thursday and left the apartment with John in time to catch a 5:30 train to Pisa. At the station we met up with a large group of the girls and Tryson along with a few other NYU students who were also traveling to Paris that weekend. The Florentine airport is so tiny that many airlines don't fly there, using Pisa or Rome instead. As most Italian travelers get around by train, I'm sure this is not a big issue. People who want to see the city can fly in somewhere else and stop by Florence along their trip. For our purposes though, it meant an extra two hours of travel each way.

I sat in the aisle seat, and it was dark anyways, so I didn't get any pictures over France or Italy, but the flight was smooth. The only problem was that Ryanair, besides flying to Pisa instead of Florence, also flies to Paris Beauvais instead of Charles de Gaulle, which is much further out. Much like getting into Barcelona, we had to take an hour bus ride to reach the city. Several people in our group, including John, knew other students who were studying in Paris this semester and got to stay with them. The rest of us stayed in a cheap hotel--the girls didn't want to take any chances with a hostel after the Barcelona experience--not too far from Montmartre.

It had been a long day, and by the time we got set, around 2:30AM, we were all starving, so Jaimie, Tryson, Marielle, Rishma, and I headed out for a late night bite. It took a little while for us to find anything, but this was Paris, not Florence, and we eventually stumbled into a fine restaurant open on the edge of the night district where the Moulin Rouge is. I'd say it was like a nice version of a Friday's, with very American-tinged food, but of course, in France, they had items such as foie gras on the menu. At that early morning hour I was in the mood for breakfast food, so I got poached eggs, while everybody else ordered burgers or fries. The food was all fine, but we were also ready to sleep, excited to take on our first day in Paris.

I still got up on the earlier side Friday morning, and I was out walking around the city by 8:15. I headed south towards the heart of the city but with no particular destination in mind. Eventually I reached the Place de la Concorde though, and that's when it really hit me that I was in Paris. I remembered seeing this large plaza at the beginning of American In Paris so many years ago. It was yet another reminder of how attainable everything is in Europe. Back in America all of these incredible places seem so distant, but there I was, standing in the footsteps of Gene Kelly, staring down the Champs-Élysées towards the Arc de Triomphe.

A church on Boulevard Malesherbes


Place de la Concorde


The fountain at the center of Place de la Concorde


As I made my way down the grandest of boulevards, I called John, and we planned to meet up by the Eiffel Tower. Apparently his apartment was only a five minutes walk from the greatest of all landmarks. Kate, who was staying with a friend in Montmartre, met us there too, and the three of us took the elevator to the second platform--while waiting in line, the top level was closed as there were too many people up there. It was just as wonderful as I'd imagined, and the views of the relatively short city were spectacular (I say relatively because there are far more skyscrapers on the outskirts of the city than I've seen anywhere since I've been in Europe.) We took the stairs back down, which was really great, exposing all of the great geometric shapes created by the vast maze of criss-crossing beams.

Need it be said what this is?


John, underneath the tower, soaking in the city which he hopes to call home someday.


Looking towards the new business district from halfway up the Eiffel Tower


Looking south towards the cavalry from halfway up the tower


Walking down the stairs






The three of us then went to meet up with a large majority of the other girls at Notre Dame. The church was certainly spectacular, but at this point I've gotten a bit burnt out on incredible gothic churches. I've seen so many of them that I've become a bit numb to their effect. In comparison to the brilliant marble facades and floors of the Duomos in Italy, Notre Dame was not anything I found as noteworthy. The French did not have the abundance of marble that the Italians did though, and they focused more on the stained glass, which was far more dazzling than any I've seen in Italy. John was telling me that the French actually took out all of the glass during World War II, for fear of the Germans stealing or breaking it, and it was then all replaced after the war.


Outside Notre Dame


Inside Notre Dame




After Notre Dame, we headed over to the Louvre, planning to go in for a few hours after 6:00, when it was free for students. I certainly loved the grand exterior to the building, and I quite like the new pyramid entrance, but I completely understand where others see it as a scar on the museum and the city. I've always enjoyed the juxtaposition of new and old structures, but the biggest problem with the addition is that it makes no attempt to connect with the existing buildings. Alone, it is brilliant, but as an addition to such an antique set of buildings, it doesn't quite work.

City Hall


Walking along the Seine towards the Louvre


The Louvre (new) framed by the Louvre (old)




Marielle posing in front of Jen, Rishma, and Kate.


Jen and John


I started out walking around the extensive Egyptian section with Kate, Marielle, and Rishma, but I separated before long, as I wanted to see other things at the massive museum, and we'd all planned to meet at the exit after only two hours. At that point, I tried to do too many things, and it became difficult to enjoy any of it, especially given the massive number of people populating the museum and crowding around such landmarks as the Venus de Milo. The Mona Lisa was a mess, as a body of smelly tourists, at least five or six people deep, was forever huddled around it. Even from the front of the crowd, there were at least ten feet in between the barrier and the painting, which is not large enough to be appreciated from such a distance. That one experience really reflects my entire time at the Louvre. It is a wonderful museum but hard to enjoy in that atmosphere and with that time constraint. I would love to come back during January and spend several hours over a few days on each floor, in the same manner that I was able to take in Uffizi--I hear from others that there is quite a line outside those doors these days as well. My time at the Louvre was probably my least favorite part of the trip, which is unfortunate, given all that the museum has to offer.

A fresco on the ceiling in the Louvre




I always enjoy a good Artemis statue


In the Louvre

That night, I went out for dinner at a small family-owned French (I say that because there were at least as many Italian restaurants as French and several Indian ones as well) restaurant near our hotel with Marielle and Tryson. It was really nice to have the intimate dinner because eating with the large group can be a little much sometimes, and the conversation is usually better. As I was in France, I ordered foie gras as an appetizer. It came over a bed of salad in a vinigarette dressing, which was also quite good. The foie gras was served on a crunchy piece of bread, and I gave a little bit each to Tryson and Marielle, neither of whom had eaten it before. Marielle was so enamored by it that she had to order her own. It really was spectacular. For an entree I had a dish of scalloped potatoes with ham and eggplant, which was also really excellent.

After dinner, around 11:30, most of the group was planning to see a cabaret near the Moulin Rouge, but I was already feeling pretty tired, and the show cost a good bit, so I declined and went to bed knowing I had another day in Paris to enjoy.

Foie gras. It's a little tough to take a picture before eating sometimes because the food is just so tempting when they set it down in front of you.


Scalloped potatoes