We'll Always Have Paris, Part 2

Here begins part two of my post about last weekend in Paris.

Saturday morning we knew the first thing we wanted to do was head to Les Catacombes. Quick background on Les Catacombes: In the late 1700s the Council of State decided that the remains from The Cemetery of the Innocents needed to be removed due to the health hazard it had become for locals. There was a maze of unused quarries beneath Paris that they decided to place the remains in instead: now known as The Catacombs of Paris and open to the public for viewing. None of us had been to the catacombs before and we didn’t really know what to expect. Like many things in Europe: it required a lot of stairs. After going down what felt like an endless spiral staircase we found ourselves in tunnels, not yet lined with bones, that made us feel as if we were in Harry Potter. Like any other mature college aged students, we played the Harry Potter theme song as we ran through the dark tunnels. After our short time at Hogwarts, we arrived at the entrance to where the bones were located. The area had been blessed and above the entrance there was a sign that read “Arrete! C’est ici l’empire de la mort.” Which translates to: “Stop, this is the empire of the dead.” Creepy. Looking at the bones was a really weird experience, at first I thought it was cool but then I thought it was really sad and I guess my emotions ended up somewhere in between realizing that they were the bones of real people. Anyways, I would absolutely recommend checking out the catacombs if you are in Paris, but they are definitely not for the faint hearted.

After the catacombs we hopped on the metro to head to Montmartre and the Sacré Cœur. The only time I had been up to the Sacré Cœur before had been in the evening so seeing the view from all the way up there in the daytime was really nice. We walked around the shops, looked at the little artists’ area where they sell their work, drank some hot chocolate and walked around the inside of the church. After that we walked down the hill in search for the Moulin Rouge. Truthfully, other than the Sacré Cœur, I really dislike Montmarte. I know there is a lot of history there especially with many famous artists, but what it has turned into is not impressive. I feel that in a city as beautiful as Paris, there are much better ways to spend your day than walking around there.

So following Montmarte I really wanted to go to the top of the Arc-de-Triumph. Last time I was in Paris two of my friends and I attempted this but ended up accidently taking the metro to The Grande Arc which is outside of Paris; and following a serious of unfortunate events ended up being our worst day in Paris. So I was determined to get to the top of the Arc this time. While standing in line we (okay it might have just been me) misread the sign and thought entrance was only free to students from the EU. What came out of that misreading is something I will never forget. We decided to put on our best British accents to try to get in for free. Meghan went first and used what was THE WORST British accent I had ever heard, but she was committed. While she was being interrogated about where she lived, went to school and why she didn’t have any identification from her home country: I had decided to give the lady I was talking to my US identification and hope I wouldn’t have to pay. It worked. Apparently, entry is free to US students as well: the other 6 of us received our tickets before the guy Meghan was talking to finally pitied her, laughed in her face, and gave her a ticket. The view from the top of the Arc was really beautiful, you can see the entire Champs Elysees and the Eiffel Tower, we didn’t stay up there long because it started to rain, but now I can say I successfully made it to the top.

While are meat eating friends went to get steak frites for dinner at a famous restaurant, Meghan and I went on a vegetarian dinner date back at The Frog, which I mentioned in my previous post. We had a really good veggie burger, made with real vegetables and a falafel wrap, followed by a cobbler served with sour cream on the side: strange, but good.

Sunday morning we packed up all of our stuff, checked out of the hotel and then headed to Palais Garnier- Opéra national de Paris for a tour. I had talked about the architect, Garnier, briefly in my post about Monaco. The Palais Garnier is a must see if you go to Paris, it is so elaborate, elegant, beautiful and full of history. The ceiling of the opera was painted by Marc Chagall and incorporates all the important elements of Paris; the stage is where the dancers that Degas painted would perform; booth number 5 was the booth of The Phantom of the Opera; and every aspect of the opera was depicted by a famous impressionist artist.  

After the Opera we only had about an hour and a half until the bus left for the airport, so we grabbed a quick lunch at a Pizza Pino on the Champs Elysees: the pizza with goat cheese, honey and red peppers was absolutely delicious. Then it was off to the airport to head home. It was so fantastic to be back in Paris again, it will forever be one of my favorite cities and I can’t wait to go back, hopefully in the near future, and make it to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Friday I leave to spend spring break with my parents traveling all around Ireland! I am so so so excited and will try to blog as we go. I am also going to try to get another blog in about the trips I went last week to the Chagall Museum and Aix-en-Provence before I leave!