Pear-ee! Oh La La

Bonjour! As I sit here thinking about how I should begin my blog I am simply overwhelmed. I have just returned from Paris, France & I find myself coming off the biggest travel high. It almost compares to the feeling I get the moment I feel the sand of a Destin, FL beach, but better! This is saying something because Destin is my favorite place in the world. However, Paris definately gives it a run for its money. With that being said please enjoy the overwhelming enthusiaism that is this blog. Venture to magnificant Pear-ee with me. Feel free to fall in love with The City of Love... because I sure have!

Here we go...

Wednesday, 27 October 2010
Leigh, Jessica, Jessi, & myself set off on an unknown adventure to France. Excitement and anxious feelings filled us - we were somewhat hesitant due to the strikes throughout the country - but we were ready! Good news, except for a heightened presence of police we saw no animosity or strikes anywhere! We landed in Paris at 9:30pm and arrived to our hostel around 11:00pm. With my mediocre French skills in tow, we all arrived safe and sound.
[SCREECHING BREAK NOISE] STOP, Rewind, Hostel? Yes, you read correctly. I, Taylar Proctor, queen of the germ-o-phobs, the girl who brings her own blankets to 4 star hotels stayed for 4 days in a HOSTEL!! I survived & no diseases were contracted :) To be honest, I was expecting the worst from the hostel, but my 1st hostel stay was quiet pleasant. We had 2 bunk beds - aka a private room for the 4 of us - which were really nice. Aside from the mold in the bathrooms (thank you shower shoes) the water was hot & the mice were friendly... just kidding about the mice. It was really a nice stay.

Stairs 'o Doom

Our cozy little bunk beds. It's debateable as to whether these were more comfortable than our beds at Deree!

A mural at the hostel. In the words of Janine "nothing says Paris like Jesus playing at the Eiffel Tower"

Thursday, 28 October 2010
Free (yes, free! A word all college students LOVE to hear) walking tour of Paris was the first item on our to do list. A large group, cameras attached to hands, and speaking English is an accurate description of what our tour group looked like -- do we scream "TOURISTS" enough for everyone to see? I laugh about this now, but in all honesty this tour was one of the best decisions we made. 3 1/2 hours through the city of Paris & I saw sites I have only dreamed of seeing. Sites I learned about for 4 years in HS French class were now right in front of my face! Surreal is the best descriptor I can think of. Paris in 1 simple, yet perfect word is beautiful!

Here is a run-down of all the sites we saw on our walking tour:

St. Michel - this is where our tour began. It's a beautiful church right across the Seine (the river that runs through Paris) from Notre Dame.

Notre Dame - the one and only! The famous Catholic church in Paris. When built the French people highly disliked the church and during the Revolution actually used it to store ammunition and livestock! The church is still standing today because of Victor Hugo's famous book The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Keep reading... we went back to Notre Dame, so there are more pictures below :) It's absolutely beautiful!

Pont Neuf - in French this means "new bridge", but in reality it is actually the oldest bridge in Paris! It is famous for the carved faces that decorate it.

Central Police Station - this is not really a famous site in Paris, but I thought it had a neat story. On the front of the building small holes can be seen - these are bullet holes from WWII and some of the only remaining remnants of the war that can be seen in Paris.

The Art Bridge - this bridge has a chain link fence that runs the length of it. People etch their names on locks, attach the locks to the fence, and then throw the key into the Seine signifying an everlasting love. The funny part of this is that some of the locks are combination locks - in case the couple changes their mind about true love :) ha Creative, huh?

The Louvre - home of Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, & Miss Mona Lisa. 35,000 pieces of artwork call this place home! (We went back and went inside... more pictures of art below) This was orginally built as a fortress - excessive? I think so. The size of this "house" is disgusting! Shortly after the Revolution Napoleon turned The Louvre into a museum.



The Louvre is in a "U" shape - this is only one small section of one side!



This is a bigger view of just how MASSIVE the Louvre is.... the right side isn't completely in the picture either!




This is the infamous Pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre

Tuileries Gardens - These are the beautiful gardens that sit outside/ in front of The Louvre!

Opera Garnier - this is a distant picture, but worth noting. This building inspired the musical Phantom of the Opera!

Place de la Concorde - one of the most famous spots in all of Paris. This is where all of the beheadings by guillotine, during the Revolution, took place. 16,000... yes, that's right 16,000 heads rolled here! So many in fact that the water system was stained red for a period of time due to all the blood.



This hotel is the most expensive hotel in Paris. "Normal people" do not stay here. The rooms run at $50,000 a night! People like Madonna, Michael Jackson, & The Obama's have stayed here.

Champs- Elysees - the famous street of Paris know for it's high end boutiques and shopping.



How beautiful :)

Grand Palais Les Invalides - during WWII Hitler wanted Paris to burn, but the general he ordered would not be responsible for the destruction of such a beautiful city. He instead filled this building with furniture and other items and the general set it on fire. The pressure made the roof explode and from a distance Paris looked like it was burning. Hitler was fooled!

Arc de Triomphe - This was by far my favorite monument we saw. Unfortunately we did not have time to go back. Underneath the archway there is a flame - the tomb of the forgotten solider. This monument is a dedication for all those who have died in battle preserving France's freedom. Another interesting fact is that this is the location where 12 roads all meet in 1 round-about... this is the only place in Paris where you are not insured while driving!



Jessi, Jessica, Leigh, & myself



I hope I have not put you to sleep with all the boring facts, but they must accompany the pictures :) Paris is too unique to not share the stories that go with the sites. We'll consider this your intermission... grab a soda, use the restroom - there is definately more to read about!!!

...Welcome back. Let's get going once again. So as if our afternoon was not filled with enough walking and picture taking - we decided to do a second tour in the same day!! This evening tour was of Montmartre the famous 'red-light'/ artist/ hippie district in Paris. It's so fun and full of life - a really really unique area.. with again A LOT of history behind it.

Tour: round two...

We rode the Metro up to Montmartre, exit into the street... and what is the first thing we see? Oh, nothing more than the famous Moulin Rouge red windmill!!

  

Moulin Rouge is famous not only for the popular movie, but also for it's claim to fame by being the home of the Can-Can and the Strip Tease. Where would we be today without this place! (Please note the hint of sarcasm)

Vincent VanGogh - the famous painter called Montmartre home for many years. Walking along on the tour we come across a random blue door... it's VanGogh's house! No big deal.

VanGogh failed at nearly everything he did. Especially in love - he was so desperate that he cut his own ear off and sent it in the mail to confess his love. I don't know about you, but I would take that as a little creepy and desperate! He later killed himself while working on a painter - it was after he died that he became a world-renowned artist!

Lapin Agile - "The Agile Rabbit" a quaint little cabaret in Montmartre. A man used to to frequent this place for food and to get warm. He would pay his bill(s) in paintings of the dancers. He promised the owner he would become famous someday. The owner let the man eat here and stored several of his paintings in the basement. The man did up becoming famous - the owner sold the paintings and became a MULTI-BILLIONAIRE. The painter was... Pablo Picasso!! Amazing.

Last stop on our Montmartre tour... the beautiful Sacre-Coeur - this Bascillica sits upon the highest point/ hill in Paris. The architect that built this church used stone that is self-cleaning. The church absolutely gleams, the dark spots you see are places where the rain water does not reach. We got to see inside and they were starting mass! It was absolutely amazing.

Now that you are caught up on DAY 1 in Paris... yes that was all DAY 1!! Overwhelmed, exhausted? Yeah so were we :)

Day 2: Friday, 29 October 2010

In the spirit of Halloween weekend we found it quite fitting to go visit Les Catacombs de Paris - The Paris Catacombs. Orginally this started as a burial grounds after a cemetary was closed in the 1800s due to health reasons. It continued to grow, however, and the amount of bones found here is absolutely indescribable!!

Warning: The following pictures are not for those easily disturbed by death

By far, this became one of our favorite things we went to see.

bones and bones and bones and more layers of bones. Incredible!

Luxemborg Gardens - on the way back from the Catacombs we walked through this park. In all of the tour books/ websites about Paris this place was marked as a *must see. The gardens were designed by Napolean and sit around the Palace de Luxemborg. Most beautiful park I have ever seen. I feel like I've said this about every other thing I saw in Paris, but this was probably one of my favorite spots in Paris. Just to sit here and relish in life was truly amazing!



Greece doesn't look like this during the fall, so we were all really excited - it reminded us of home!




Palace de Luxemborg



Medicis Fountain

*this is a side note, but one everyone should know. If I could form a lasting relationship with an inanimate object it would be with one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen... Pierre Hermes macaroons! I feel as if my life, up to the exact moment of tasting one of these wonders, has been incomplete. My new found love: French Macaroons :)


When you open the package... Angels actually sing.

On our first tour of the city we were able to see the outside of the Louvre. However, we felt that it was a necessity to see inside the museum. Therefore, we took a little trip back to the museum to see some of the famous pieces of art.




Venus de Milo




Winged Victory




The Wedding Feast - please take time to notice just how MASSIVE this painting is.




Mona Lisa.

This woman may be one of the world's most high maintenance individuals. Not only is she behind glass and a velvet rope, but the glass is bullet proof and the box air conditioned! The picture is really small in comparison to what I had envisioned it to be...



Night view of the outside of the Louvre from inside.

So you might be wondering if I ever saw the Eiffel Tower - the signature symbol of Paris. The answer is yes. After the Louvre we ventured to the famous landmark to see her all lit up at night.



Every hour on the hour the Tower lights up and sparkles for a little show :) Beautiful

Saturday, 30 October 2010
For our last little adventure we travelled out to see the Palace de Versailles. The Palace was originally a hunting lodge, but became a place of refuge for Louis XIV & Marie Antoinette during the Revolution. The size of this house and gardens is unfathomable!



Palace de Versailles




me & Jessica outside Versailles




A painting inside Versailles. I found it interesting.. King Louis XIV was a slightly full of himself - if you look he is actually depicting his face being painted on by the Gods themselves! A humble man? I think not.




The famous Hall of Mirrors




The beautiful Versailles gardens!! They stretch for miles and miles




View of the Palace from the gardens

 After an exhausting morning of frolicing at Versailles we went back to see Notre Dame.

As our time in Paris came to a close we decided to spend our last evening under the Eiffel Tower. A perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

Here are a few random extra pictures, in case you haven't seen enough already :)



Jessi and I excited we made it safe and sound!



Jessica & I in the Luxemborg Gardens




Jessi & I




Parisian street vendors





Leigh and I at Versailles




Little old men playing Boche Ball :)




Isn't Paris the fashion capital of the world? I'm sorry but this does not match in any capital!



I hope you enjoyed the photo journey of Paris. This weekend was one of the best experiences I have abroad thus far! I will leave you for now, but there will be more adventures to come!

Au Revoir. Love and baguettes from Paris!