Paris (Je t’aime…?)

They say Paris is one of those cities in which one either loves it or hates it.  As an American-English speaker and having an American passport, I was dubious of the attitudes that Parisians emanated towards Americans.  I prepared myself mentally for all the rudeness a Parisian might send toward an American tourist (it’s only natural, as New Yorkers give tourists the most unpleasant time in New York City) and played back every unpleasant travel tale I’ve heard from colleagues and coworkers from their trips to Paris so that I could prepare myself for the worst case scenario. 

But one can’t help but be excited about being in Paris.  I started taking French class in 5^th grade.  Even before taking French, as a little girl, I would dream of going to Paris, dressed like a little Parisian, eating baguettes.  Taking French class from grades 5 through 12 made Paris into a fantasy wonderland.  My French teachers filled my head with monuments, parks, boulevards, food and drinks in France, and over the years France became one of the top places to visit on my list of ‘places to go before I die’.

We arrived in Paris after a train ride from London.  Unlike the weather in England, it was hot and humid in France.  We made our way through the station and onto the Metro, where I had to whip out my poor French in order to buy train tickets.  While we waited in line, we were asked a couple of times by people who I think were Gypsies, if we spoke English.  Foolishly, we answered honestly the first time.  They then begin to try and sell you train tickets so you don’t have to wait in line but they were so shady that no one was buying tickets from them.  Then there were the Gypsies who held up a sign asking for money in English.  They walked up to a tourist and asked them if they spoke English; if the tourist was foolish enough to answer honestly, the Gypsy help up the sign and waited for the tourist to read it.  It probably said the same bogus stories that every homeless/drug addict in Newark, NJ says when they beg for money.  I don’t know what the signs actually said because every time a Gypsy came up to me, I told them that I didn’t speak English or told them to go away. 

Eventually we made it to our hotel.  Yes, we stayed in a 2 star, budget hotel because all the hostels in Paris were either booked or too expensive.  Our hotel was right outside of the ‘Periphery Boulevard’, meaning it wasn’t located in the heart of Paris.  I didn’t care, as long as there was a metro stop nearby.  Our neighborhood was a predominantly Middle Eastern neighborhood called Malakoff, with plenty of sidewalk cafes and kebab/pizza/hamburger joints.  They had a park nearby, where they had a flea market on some days. 

Each morning we took the Metro to our various destinations: Versailles, Montmartre, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumphe, and the Louvre…there was a lot to see in Paris.  We splurged on the ‘museum pass’ which lets you free access into selected museums for 2, 4, or 6 days.  For 4 days, we paid 48 Euros per person.  In the end, it was worth it because we it got us into many museums and saved us a lot of time from waiting in line to buy tickets.

We had 6 nights in Paris, which meant really planning out our time.  I’ll jot down what we did each day in a nutshell, and if there’s anything worth going into details, I will in future posts.  Our itinerary was as follows:

Day 1: Arrival.  Check-in at budget hotel.  Explored the ‘Malakoff’ area and lunched in the park with baguette, meat, cheese and wine.  Watched the world up at the hotel café, before heading to bed.

Day 2:  We had the unfortunate opportunity to be bitten by BED BUGS!!!  Aside from itchy arms, the thought of bugs in my bed disgusts me.  Thank goodness we had silk sleep sheets and sleeping bags to substitute.  Didn’t let those bed covers touch our skin ever again.  We took the Metro to a stop along the infamous Champs-Elysee and walked along the Seine River to the Louvre.

We bought the museum pass and used it to access entry into the Louvre where we caught a glimpse of the Mona Lisa.  I’m guessing “The Da Vinci Code” had a lot to do with bringing the fame of the Louvre up a couple of notches because people were crowded around other paintings that were mentioned in the book.  After another Parisian lunch of baguette, cheese and meat, we walked over to the Pompidou Centre by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers.  Again, the museum pass gave us free access.  The façade of the building is so different from the surrounding Parisian apartments, it’s almost comical.  I guess the French accept it because it’s a museum that houses contemporary art, and the building is contemporary architecture.  The plaza in front of the building is dominated by vendors and artists, trying to catch the attention of tired, seated tourists. 

After we explored the Pompidou Centre, we walked over to the Notre Dame, but as all the tours were done for the day as were our feet, we decided to head back to the hotel to catch the England vs. USA soccer game before we called it a night.

Day 3:  It turned out to be a gorgeous day so we decided to head out to Versailles.  Aside from the place being incredibly crowded, the chateaux are highly ornate and detailed; a little too much gold decorations in my opinion.  The gardens are beautifully planned with axes and lines of symmetry.  I didn’t care much for the palace; most of the wings were just a long room with shiny chandeliers, mirrors and exaggerated paintings of all the kings of France.

We left Versailles around 3pm and decided to hit up Villa Savoye, which is located outside of Paris.  This turned out to be quite an adventure as we didn’t buy the right tickets and as a result, we couldn’t get out of the train station at Poissy.  We explained to the station manager where he told us that we were ‘lucky’ that we didn’t get caught with the wrong ticket, as we would’ve been fined a huge amount of money.  I don’t understand why France doesn’t allow you to add money onto your tickets at your destination train stations like they do in Tokyo, so that in the end, you’re still paying the amount of fee required.  As it was a Sunday, the buses weren’t running as frequently as they would on a weekday so we decided to walk to Villa Savoye.  Poissy is a really lovely suburb of Paris, and I wish I got to see more of it while I was there.  But we were in such a rush to see the infamous villa by one of the most famous architects ever existed, I can only recall a few details.  The place closed at 6pm, and we got there exactly at 5:50pm.  I consider ourselves lucky because we actually got to go in, see and experience this masterpiece.  Some people got there and were turned away without having to even go inside the building.

We took the train/Metro back into Paris to the famous Arc de Triumphe.  Our museum pass gave us access to the top of the structure where we caught a magnificent panorama of the city of Paris at dusk.

 

Day 4:  If you’ve ever seen the movie “Amelie”, you’ll know that the movie was based in Montmartre, an artsy neighborhood in Paris.  Being a geek and a big fan of the movie, I dragged Alex off to this hilly neighborhood.  It worked out really well because we took the Metro to Abbesses, which has the original Metro Station entrance designed by Hector Guimard.  It’s one of the three originals left in Paris, so we had to get a glimpse of it. 

We then walked up the hills to Coeur Sacre Basilica (Basilica of the Sacred Heart), a beautiful building perched up on top the highest hill of Montmartre.

We walked down the series of stairs and down the hills to grab lunch at “Les 2 Moulins” (The 2 Windmills), where Amelie worked in the movie.  The café is now a tribute to the movie, and there were many fans at this place just to snap photos.

After our over-priced lunch, we took the Metro to see famous residential buildings like 25b Rue de Franklin Apartment by Auguste Perret.  Remember the images from history class, my fellow architects? 

Nearby is Trocadero, in line with the Eiffel Tower across the Seine River.  There, if one visits the Cite de l’Architecture, one will be pleasantly surprised at the variety of exhibits they have on display.  I know I was.  They have replicas, models, analysis of traditional French architecture, collected from all over France.

In the back room, however, was where I had the most fun; an urban analysis of various cities.  Also the “Paris-Tokyo City into Pieces” exhibit was really interesting; I bought myself a book of the exhibit.

Day 5:  We ventured off to the Musee de Rodin, a museum dedicated to the French sculpture, Auguste Rodin.  If the name doesn’t sound familiar to you, his work will.  Most people are familiar with his most famous sculpture, “The Thinker”. 

This was our last day with the museum pass, so we made the best of it, visiting the Musee d’Orsay (where we caught Monet’s Water lilies and Van Goh’s Self Portrait).  Unfortunately, it was also a Tuesday, a day when many museums were closed.  We wanted to visit the Louvre one last time, but I guess we’ll have to come back to Paris for that.  We saw the Notre Dame and the Arab World Institute (designed by Jean Nouvelle).  The latter building is very pretty, and if you get a chance, visits it on a nice day.  The sunlight makes all the difference in my opinion.  Unfortunately, the museum was closed for renovations.

We also walked on the Promenade Plantee, a case study for the Highline in New York City.  I've been to the Highline, and has had my likes and dislikes for the structure, but I really think the Promenade is much more successful (it is older), and fits elegantly into the urban fabrics of Paris.  Businesses are tucked underneath the Promenade to utilize space efficiently, and one would feel as if they were walking through a park in Paris, not a raised walkway.  You're literally surrounded by greenery, its very calming.  Definitely worth a visit if you're in Paris.

Day 6:  Last full day in Paris.  And we were exhausted.  We took it easy by sleeping in and re-exploring our neighborhood.  We wandered over to see the Cartier Foundation, another building designed by French architect Jean Nouvelle.  Unfortunately, they wouldn’t allow photos inside the building.  We made our way toward the Eiffel Tower one last time, as I wanted to have the ‘picnic in front of the green of the Eiffel Tower’.  Call me cheesy and cliché, but I got my picnic of wine, baguette sandwich and beautiful weather.

We tried going out to Montmartre one more time to look for cheap souvenirs but nothing really looked worth buying.  My family is all about the food as gifts but I figured I’d find something cheaper, yummier and better in Belgium. 

We arrived in Belgium today.  You can smell the waffles in the train stations, it’s amazing.  Our train ran late and we couldn’t really explore the city of Brussels today, so hopefully tomorrow will bring more sites seeing and yummy foods from Belgium.  Until then, au revoir!