The Time Fireworks Illuminated the Tour Eiffel

It's time to update you all on Bastille Day on July 14th!

We spent the morning packing, though at noon my class walked to the nearby park with a gazebo down Rue de Commerce, the location of our first lecture, to have a picnic lunch. As we've been doing all month, we carried baguettes and fruits and cheeses and cold meats (like a small round sausage with spots of white fat inside).

It was a kind of sad goodbye because this was our last official event as a class. I can't believe it's been a month because it feels like we just got here. On the other side, however, I do feel like I got a full taste of Paris and I'm feeling alright to come back.

In the afternoon, I went with one girl to Berthillon one more time to get ice cream by the Seine near Notre Dame. This might be one of my favorite areas of Paris because it's just so quintessentially iconic with the towers of the cathedral and people painting by the river and those hideous love locks and street performers playing accordion music.

We waited in line at Berthillon on the Ile de St. Louis. I got chocolate and pistachio; this time the chocolate seemed darker and more bitter than before, but the textures were just so good.  I spoke French to an employee to order my cone, but I overheard the tourists after me in line trying to talk to her and the other employee told them she doesn't speak English. The annoying tourists then said, "Oh, sorry. Can we have blackberry?" to the girl they just found out speaks no English. So stupid. However, I was pleased that I managed to communicate with someone who doesn't speak English and only French.

Sitting by the river, we licked our last best ice creams and said bye to the wonderful Seine. The ride back was our last time on the metro, so we said bye to that too. The metro had been so convenient, as we finally got the hang of it and knew which lines to take in which directions to get to most common places, often without looking at the maps.

Before we returned to the hotel, we stopped at Monoprix to get food for Bastille Day like baguettes and pasta salad and peaches and soda. Some of the people on our program (including me) met with Teo and Ryan at about 5:30 for us to go to the Champs de Mars to claim a spot for the firework show tonight.

I didn't really see any celebrating in Paris at all before the firework show. There were no streets lined with French flags, no shouting, no music. I'd heard about a parade on the Champs Elysées, but it looked like a completely regular day in Paris everywhere.  Except at the Champs de Mars.

We arrived and the entire lawn was already covered with people - every inch. This picture was taken at 5:30...for a show that begins at 10:30. It became infinitely more packed as the night progressed - the walkways were covered and you literally could not move from your spot.

We went to the righthand side and sat in the grass in a huge circle, with a view of the tower over the trees. The waiting game began, as we dug into the leftovers from our picnic lunch and the other items we brought. It was sunny, so we were sweaty and hot laying in the grass. Naturally, it reminded me of Fourth of July with happy people and summertime and celebrations, though there weren't any French flags or French clothing as there would be in America.

I spent an hour in line for the bathrooms at 8 pm and when I got back we played games with the group. Like "Most likely to..." and then we all point to that person. A lot of them were Paris-themed like "Most Likely to Get Lost in Paris" or "Most Likely to Offend a French Person" or "Most Likely to Buy the Most Souvenirs" or "Most Likely to Be Recognized as American on the Metro."

At about 10 p.m. it started getting a little dark so the tower lit up and sparkled every few minutes, taunting us before the show.

Finally, around 11 p.m. the show started. I went in with wrong expectations - I'd been told it was a 45 minute firework show by the Eiffel Tower. I was thinking, how can we watch fireworks explode for 45 minutes? No, no. This is a 45-minute synchronized light show and concert with fireworks shooting OFF OF the Eiffel Tower. There were like canons that shot the fireworks off in patterns and designs, with different songs featuring a theme and colors and new rhythms. Some of them were Mexican themed because the President was visiting, but they also played Skyfall from James Bond and the last song was the ET theme song.

 (Yay I got to see the Eiffel Tower lit up like the French flag. Goals.)

 It was just so much better than any other firework show I'd seen. Not even because it was by the Eiffel Tower, but literally just the fireworks were better - controlled. It seemed like they were painted into the sky, purposefully placed and designed, instead of just shot off in an uncontrolled circle pattern. They were like little fairies moving where you want them to go.

It was a firework concert. I loved it. I think it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

However, getting out was a nightmare. Someone said (aptly) that it reminds them of the stampede in "The Lion King." Imagine thousands of people packed like sardines, body to body, trying to get out of a park via only a couple entrances. In the dark. It was a flood of people trying to get to the metro. Our hotel is a 10 minute walk away, but the metro station is in front of our hotel so everyone was swarming down the Motte Piquet, with us in the crowd.

There were cars just stopped in the middle of the streets, some abandoned, because people covered every inch of the roads and sidewalks. It took us so long to get back, navigating the crowds and trying to stick together with five others.

At one point, an ambulance had to get through the road, and we all had to cram together super tight to make a path on the sidewalks. I was completely jammed up against a parked car, smashed.

From the hotel room, I looked out at the metro stop to see the hoards of people.

It was amazing to see how Bastille Day is celebrated in France. A perfect last night to watch the Eiffel Tower for six hours one last time, with a great show and two picnics in one day.

It feels weird to be done now, because I feel like I've been here for a while but at the same time, no time at all has passed. I can't comprehend what I was thinking or how I was before I came to Europe, because now it feels like something I can't imagine myself without. What would I have done if I wasn't here? I've been packing periodically yesterday and today, and I leave tomorrow at 10 a.m from the hotel. It's been an adventurous month - I will post my concluding thoughts later once I've had time to digest my experience. For now, I leave you with "Bonne Fête!"

The Time I Climbed 1,091 Stairs

Yes, 1,091 stairs in one day because Notre Dame has 387 and the Tour Eiffel has 704. But apparently 387 + 704 = 2 amazing views.

Today we got up extra early to leave at 9 am for Chateau de Vincennes, a medieval castle! It was like a fairytale castle, except the real thing in its antiquated state. The color was very faded, with many tones of yellow or brown or beige. 

We had tickets to cross the bridge over a field of grass (like a mote) and go up into the tower. There were spiral staircases here, too, as we climbed up to see the small rooms and chambers. No furniture was present, but merely rooms of brick and old fireplaces. A balcony was on the other side of the little bridge, where we could see the grounds. The building across from us (which we didn't go into) kind of looked like Versailles on the outside. This medieval castle was never taken during the wars.

Across the castle towers was a church, which was as white and clean as the Chartres Cathedral. The stained glass never comes out as radiant in my photos, but I really enjoyed sitting in the bright church with those common arched ceilings.    

For lunch, we walked around the back of Chateau de Vincennes to a park-like wooded area on the other side of the street. It was a really nice park with dusty gravel paths and even a pond with lilypads. Teo had brought us sandwiches, so I ate a curry chicken one with avocados while sitting on the grass among the flowers. 

After the picnic, Teo led an optional walk to Canal St. Martin, so I went along to see it. Though the area was perhaps a little grimy and grungy and not as nice as the Seine, I liked seeing people hanging out around the canal with the water so high.

At one point, we saw a boat coming up the canal so we waited to watch. Since the canal is tiered, they have a special process to open the canal and let the water levels equal out, raising the boat, so it can sail through. Here is the blockage when it's closed, but we watched it for about 15 minutes while it opened.

We also met up with one of Teo's old students who gave us each a slice of a fruit tart that was brilliantly flakey. After this stroll along the canal, I branched off with two girls to go to Notre Dame, since we embarrassingly have been here over two weeks and have not gone inside. The line in the front was about 30 minutes to get inside the church. 

It was really similar to every other church we've been to, to be honest, with arched ceilings, stained glass rose windows, and gothic details. However, I was surprised by how dark it was inside, with very little light shining through even with several chandeliers and candles around. Posters described the history of its construction, and I could see what Teo was talking about when he said that it was built over such a long period of time, adding other styles to change it.

Another line greeted us outside, this time an hour long wait to pay to climb the 387 stairs to the top. I'll repeat: waiting in line to pay to walk up stairs. That's right. Despite the winding spiral staircases, it was worth it. We stopped at the first level to see the complete 180 degree view of Paris in front of us, with the array of gargoyles and rooftops of Notre Dame behind us. Really stunning, even on this cloudy day. In fact, it started raining while we were up there but oh well. 

 (The view is so breathtaking in person, seeing all the perfectly Parisian buildings and all the landmarks that we can now recognize.)

We walked up more stairs, first to the bell tower to see the giant bells and then to the top of the left tower. We had five minutes at the top, but you can even see the Arc de Triomphe from here, though much of the view was the same as the first level. I was so glad I went to Notre Dame - I can never get over these aerial views of Paris.

Once we wound back down the stairs, we stopped along the bridges nearby to look at art for sale. There are a lot vendors here drawing caricatures or selling paintings or prints of Paris. I LOVE these artworks because they try to capture the fleeting nature of this city, so it makes sense why the impressionists loved Paris. It started to downpour, so I quickly bought a little impressionist painting of the Eiffel Tower, but every stand I passed had wonderful pictures. Wish I could collect them all. 

For dinner, I went to the grocery store Franprix to get cheese-filled pasta. I'm discovering little hidden foods of Paris in these markets that aren't exactly famous Parisian but that I enjoy. For example, there's this fig and nut cheese that has the texture of chunky cream cheese and a salty and sweet taste. And there are these sodas called Oasis (not oasis like the desert, but pronounced oh-ay-sees). They will correct you on your pronunciation if you say oasis. Anyway, I've had both raspberry and tropical flavors, the latter of which is the best soda here. I don't think these are even French things, but I've never seen them at home. 

Post-dinner a group of us decided to climb the Eiffel Tour because it was one girl's birthday (yes, another birthday!). We left around 10 p.m. so we could see it sparkle starting at 11. However, apparently we should've gone earlier because they said that once you walk up the stairs to the second level, you have to buy another ticket to ride the lift to the very top and it might close soon. 

So we tried to climb the tower really fast, but I actually ended up losing them for a while because I stopped on the first level to look at the view. Then I spent a long time just looking for them, climbing the next set of unbearably endless stairs. It's really cool being inside the tower at night, when it's lit up so you can see the intricate metallic weavings illuminated. 

We didn't make it in time to buy tickets to the top, but the view from the second tier is still amazing at night. I especially love the northwest view of the Seine.

And, as always, at 11 p.m., the tower sparkles for five minutes, which was unbelievably neat to see from right there. The lightbulbs just flicker on and off and create weird shadows when you're up there. It was great, other than the part about losing my group for 20 minutes. 

So, all in all, like I said - 1,091 stairs at Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. Even more if you count Chateau de Vicennes. But, it was a day of breathtaking views as well. 

The Time We Toured at Night

I started off Wednesday with the local market again - this time I got peaches and a quiche lorraine for breakfast.

On this hottest day of the week (102 degrees), we had the afternoon free. Some people went to museums or just stayed inside to rest. I decided to visit a mall for a bit because it was air conditioned and took less time than a museum. Galeries Lafayette is a really fancy mall with a huge dome roof like some of the churches we've been to.

Inside, it's almost like a bazaar with stations of different brands, instead of rooms. They just have their products laid out on tables and in shelves out in the open, with lots of security guards around to watch you. This is probably the most expensive mall I've been to - the stores are all designers from Coach, Marc Jacobs, Gucci, Chanel, Prada - all those. Around the circumference are the stores, and then in the open center there are little stations for makeup. The bottom floor is purses, where I looked the most, then clothing on the upper levels. 

Edit: I went back another day and bought a Marc Jacobs wallet. Even though he's American, I can still say I got a designer handbag in Paris. Woohoo! I really needed a new one so it was a special treat.  

The mall was insane. Since all the sales are going on in Paris, all the designer items were 50% off, so people were shoving left and right to grab up whatever they could like some sort of weird shopoholic horror movie. Even though the sale has been going on for a week! Shopping is the only area I've noticed where Americans are more polite than French. Even in local boutiques, people have no personal bubbles. If I'm looking at a rack of clothing, people come up and look at the shirt right next to yours and put their hands in your space. It's normal here apparently. 

At 6:45 p.m. we all met to go on a class picnic near the river by the Mabillon metro stop. It was really nice eating cheese, meats, breads, fruits, juice and cookies on the edge in the golden light. The whole bank was covered with people picnicking - it's definitely a favorite pastime here. 

Though we had a night walk, it was still unbearably hot. Between the humidity and the smoke, the air is just so thick and stuffy. It felt like a sauna as we embarked on a 2.5 hour walk. People kept buying water bottles for like 2 euros each every time we passed a market because they were dropping like flies.

The theme of this trip was kind of rags to riches, as we first started in the more poor, scandalous neighborhood where prostitutes hang out in the streets when it's darker. Teo said in Paris, prostitution is legal and even unionized. The streets still looked nice because it was Paris, but we saw a huge cluster of pigeons and even a rat (i.e. Remi from Ratatouille).

Soon we turned towards the nicer streets like Boulevard des Capucines. The sunset was radiant as it peeped over the rooftops.

 I enjoyed this part because it felt like a vibrant city with lights, marquees, cars, and a large road. Teo said there was no shame in going back if we were collapsing from heat, but someone shouted "Come on, if Teo can do it, we can do it." And Teo joked that he is four times our age so we can make it to the end. And we did!

Soon we turned down the Rodeo Drive of Paris - the richest address of Paris lined with extravagant stores. The flagship Cartier, the Hyatt, the Ritz (which was under construction), Chanel and others all on this Rue de la Paix.

This is where we ended our tour. Teo pointed some of us towards the Tuileries Garden to savor the carnival at night. It's very weird to see places I've seen in paintings - the Tuileries and Capucines - now turned modern with cars and amusement parks.

A group of us watched people on the rides and a few people went on one or two. We waited at the bottom of a water slide ride and splashed each other discreetly because it was so hot (even back at the hotel at 1 am, I checked and it was 82 degrees). One of the French people at the carnival noticed we were American and asked if we know Kanye West, which was so funny.

I boarded the ferris wheel with one girl, so we could see the whole city at night. It was very beautiful, with lights illuminating Sacre Coeur, the Eiffel, Notre Dame, the Louvre and the Arc, which were in all different directions around us. Magnifique!

Well, now I'm off to London for our long weekend with another girl. I think I might accidentally speak French to people there. Hopefully I will have Wifi to write about this upcoming adventure - au revoir! 

The Time We Escaped the Heat with Macarons

Walking in the heat in Paris is pretty awful. Though it's funny when we complain, because then we realize how ridiculous we sound. "Oh help me, I'm spending my summer walking around Paris. Poor me." But regardless, it's hot.

Today our walking tour consisted of the Palais Royale, Galarie Vivianne, Place de Victoires and walking through the Louvre exterior, which used to be the palace. 

(Church at St. Germain l'auxerrois. Good escape from the heat)

(A man was playing Bach on the guitar in front of the arches and glasswork)

(Example of classic style)

(A hot garden pathway with rows of shaded trees with light peeping through leaves)

(The fountain in the garden)

(A modern art installment)

(The Louvre pyramid)

I really enjoyed walking through the galleries today. There were tons of rich stores, but I liked that they're inside like a mall, but very fancy with gold decor, glass ceilings, and plants. It felt like walking through a train station in the jungle or something. 

After our tour, a few girls went to Laduree - a famous macaron shop that's apparently really popular as an upscale dessert place, though I hadn't heard of it. We think this is the original one. 

I went and tried three mini macarons flavored rose, licorice, and "Marie Antoinette Tea" which turned out to be the best. I can't place the flavor - I'm guessing it's tea-related but it was almost coconut-y as well. The black licorice, though I usually enjoy that flavor, was not very memorable. All the tastes were mild and the cookies were incredibly light and not as chewy as I've usually had before. So airy! These must be the correct way to make macarons, since they're Parisian.    

The decor of the room was Chinese-themed, with bamboo style print wallpaper and Mandarin writing that some of the girls translated to "Ear, hand, nose" etc. At the front we found the dessert counter with rows of pastries and the macarons of course. Worth the little experience. 

A few of us went back to Marais to look at shops, but everything was either really expensive even with the summer sales, not my style, or available in the US. We found this store called COS that had really simple clothing but it was edgy, with weird shapes and cuts that looked like French fashion. Wish we could wear holographic or waist-less dresses in America.

For dinner, I had a crepe in the upper part of Paris because I met a high school classmate there. This just proves that the street crepes across from our hotel near the Eiffel Tower are really the best, as Teo says. My crepe, while perfectly decent by all American standards, was boring compared to the street crepes. It wasn't as soft or harmonious or cheesy, but instead the fillings were layered and not stuck together nor mixed together in one bite. 

Then we spent midnight in Paris on the Seine, which looked like an impressionist painting. 

The Time I Just Wanted a Necklace

This week's going to be a hot one with temperatures in the high 30s...celsius.

Our morning began learning about the 1300 era like Louis the Fair. We had an hour break before our walking tour, but I went back to my room to make lunch with some pasta and cheese I got at the market.

The tour today took us across the love lock bridge (it really does look hideous to me now) on the Ile de St. Louis, the island in the Seine. The walks are becoming less about destinations and more about just soaking in the neighborhood it seems, as we become more familiar with Paris.

Marais was a new neighborhood we meandered through, which Teo says is a heart of gay pride and young fashion. Many boutiques we passed were filled with colorful and stylish clothing.

He pointed out a synagogue that was designed by a non-Jew, which he said is an example of France's secular culture. Teo had told us earlier that French were surveyed and found that 95% of them first identify as French before another label, like a religion. Americans were 60% Christian first, he said.

Our group also stuffed into St. Paul's cathedral today. We had a treat in that there was a children's choir that sang songs and an organ solo piece. The church was filled with parents snapping photos of the kids, and it was very peaceful to sit and listen while looking at the the ever-high ceilings.

The tour ended at a park that Teo called one of the most popular of Paris - Place de Vosges. It's tucked between brick buildings all around it, as you have to go through an arched tunnel to get in. The place is completely symmetrical in four quadrants, each with a fountain and a statue of King Louis XIII in the center.

From there, we were on our own. A few girls and I went to shop at some boutiques in Bastille nearby, which have unique handmade clothing. I've noticed the fashion here is very light, thin and simple. While I didn't buy anything, I liked looking. They wanted to go back to the hotel afterwards, but I decided to travel back to Odeon, where there was a necklace in a shop that I'd wanted.

After a few metro transfers, I was back at a cute boutique. Once I was inside, and asked the young employee to open a glass cabinet to see the necklaces, she told me to wait until after the other two customers left. I thought that was strange but just looked around until they walked out. Then she grabbed the phone and told me she had to call the police because they'd been shoplifting. She made several phone calls and talked in lightning speed French, and when she got off the phone she was crying. I tried to help her by telling her it wasn't her fault and I hoped they'd get it back. She said, "Yes but it's just I've worked here a long time." And I said, "Yeah, it's important to you." She said, "Well I need this money, I need to live." And I just felt really bad so I waited until the police came and they looked at the surveillance video. I hope they find the two girls who stole.

I did buy my necklace - it's a small sterling silver gold-plated star necklace (etoile). It is the city of lights after all, so it's a nice souvenir.

For dinner, we decided to try a Thai restaurant near the hotel. Yes, sorry, once again we are not having Parisian food but we need a change at times. Three of us shared beef basil, pad thai and another noodle dish.

We later decided to have a picnic on the Seine river near sunset, since it was about 9:00 p.m. by then. At a bakery, we got a few dessert tarts. The employee gave us a paper bag filled with little sweet breads for free, probably because they were closing soon but it was really generous of her. The chocolate tart was amazing - very soft and rich with a crumbly crust.

It's very pleasant to sit on the edge of the Seine, with feet dangling over the concrete above the green water. You can see people walking by and boats sailing and the sunset. When we walked back, we got splashed with water from some people who were chasing each other with vases of water outside a café, and then later a bucket of water dumped in front of us on the sidewalk from outside a window. Such a strange day!