I can sum up Paris in one word... Unbelievable! Paris is one of the most AMAZING cities ever! It is definitely one my top three favorites!
Paris. Wow. Where do I even begin? There was so much to see and do in Paris, we (myself Anna and Sheila) tried to do everything! Thankfully Sheila has been to Paris in the past so we were lucky to have some grasp on what to do and when. The architecture in Paris is gorgeous! It honestly reminded me of the movie Mary Poppins! The details in the façade and even the architecture of the buildings as a whole just screamed elegance and beauty. The three of us met up with a few friends from the Barcelona study abroad crew which was so great to have the chance to be able to meet up and hang out! Our first full day there we walked up the Eiffel tower (YES! walked up to the second floor observatory level. 680 STEPS!) The view from this level was amazing (thankfully we had amazing weather so it was a clear sunny day)! From here we had to take an elevator up to the tip of the Eiffel Tower, I honestly felt like I was on top of the world! It was pretty cool to see the urban fabric of the city from above, the streets pan out in a spider web affect!
Eiffel Tower
The View from the top of the Eiffel Tower
After the Eiffel Tower we continued to walk through the streets of Paris making our way to the Avenue des Champs Elysees, one of the most famous streets in Paris that connects the Arc de Triomphe to the Palace de la Concorde. Making our way down the Avenue des Champs Elysees we saw some familiar stores such as HAGAN DAZ (!) and STARBUCKS (!) woo! We stopped in the original Louis Vuitton store (the design of this store was AWESOME!) and some other stores along the way.
Arc de Triumphe
Notre Dame Cathedral was one of the most beautiful gothic cathedrals I have ever seen! The detail that was evident on the exterior and the interior was amazing, must have taken forever to build something with such great detail in that time of day! Seeing architecture like this makes you appreciate it that much more. After the Notre Dame Cathedral we walked along the river stopping at these little side venders that sold hundreds of postcards and Art Nouveau posters. Following the river we found ourselves come to the Louvre! I never thought I would ever have gotten to see these places, especially not when I was 21 years old! It was incredible to see the structure designed by I.M Pei. As we made our way into the lobby to much of my surprise (I actually forgot about this!) was the famous spiral staircase. To me it was amazing to see because I had used this as a precedent for my ARCH 302 studio project Urban Townhouse for an Artist. Of course we saw Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (I think she’s smiling!), Madonna of the Rocks also by da Vinci, Raft of medusa, and the Wedding Feast at Cana. It was so interesting to see the pieces of art that I studied way back in high school and that have also played a great role in my love for art and architecture. After the Louvre we pass the Pompidou Center and made our way to Moulin Rouge to see the windmill.
Notre Dame Cathedral
The Louvre
The Pompidou Center
Moulin Rouge
Our last day in Paris we went to Versailles for the day to see the Palace and the gardens! The Palace was home to the famous Louis XVI and Marie Antoniette. We toured the Palace with cool (emphasis on the cool) hand held audio guides, seeing the king and queen’s chambers, the chapel, and the Hall of Mirrors. The gardens I am sure are gorgeous in the spring and summer time, however being the last week in February/first week in March, they weren’t as spectacular as they are known to be (the grounds of Versailles is MASSIVE though!!) After Versailles, we did not make it to see Villa Savoie, however we did stop to see one of the last standing famous Art Nouveau metro stops by Hector Guimard. It was adorable! It was small, unique and screamed Art Nouveau!
(!) TIPS: France is known for their crepes, get one a day ATLEAST or ten (like Anna), its really okay we don’t judge... but really, they are amazing!! Paris is a city of love, you will see many couples expressing it publicly! Chinese tourists never fail to go where you go, you will always see them!! Paris really is a great city, there is so much to see: the architecture is fantastic as well as the gardens dispersed throughout the city. Thankfully I do have the opportunity to travel back to Paris with Anna after the program is over. I hope to see a side of the city (in the spring time!) that we may not have really seen when we went in February!
No comments:
Post a Comment