Finally, PARIS.

I've been in French classes pretty much as long as I've been in school.  I've had countless Paris posters, trinkets and the like displayed in my room for years.  I've taken many courses about Paris, seen many films about Paris and listened to much music about la ville lumière.  I'm a French major for crying out loud.  However, only after last week can I say I've actually visited the city, and, I can honestly say, it lives up to the hype.
I definitely had sort of mixed feelings about my first trip to Paris.  I know, sounds dumb; but, I had heard so many horror stories about visiting the city - it's dirty, it's dangerous, forget about finding an agreeable Parisian, etc - and I was a little worried that my idea of Paris would be shattered.  Au contraire! I found it to be no more dirty than any other big city (let's leave the Métro out of this...), felt relatively safe pretty much everywhere I went, and to my surprise found just about all of the people I came across to be incredibly inviting and, dare I say it, friendly.
We started the week off on the right foot, with a nice French dinner followed by a short trip to the Eiffel Tower- made it there just in time to see it sparkle on the hour!.  Paris is quite an expensive city to indulge your foodie-ness, but it's 100% worth the splurge.  Fixed-price menus are definitely a wise decision and wine by the carafe is budget friendly, and, unlike in the States, is actually pretty good quality wine.  I had my first (and second!) experience with duck in Paris and ate a good amount of steak - two of the dishes the French do particularly well.  See my Paris Restaurant Reviews for more information about my dining experiences! (coming very soon!!)

 

Paris is a HUGE city.  There is so much to see and do, I could have easily spent another week or two exploring.  We started our Sunday in the Bastille Market (a food market), it was really cool! Too bad we didn't have access to a kitchen to do some cooking!  It was fun to simply walk around, the sight of all the products, shoppers and vendor; the sound of the vendors shouting out "Vous-désirez?!" and such, the performers singing/playing the accordion or street organ; the scent the fresh produce, fish, cheeses, breads and pastries.  To sum it up, basically foodie heaven.

The following day was my favorite of the trip.  We started in Musée de l'Orangerie, which houses several of the massive Water Lily murals by Monet among other Impressionist works (my fave kind of art!), walked around what came to be my favorite part of Paris - Saint-Germain, climbed to the top of Notre-Dame and Sacré-Coeur and what really took this day over the top - picnic of baguettes, cheese, wine, etc right in front of the Eiffel Tower.  It really doesn't get much better than that!

Tuesday's big activity was a trip to Versailles. The palace and especially the grounds were magnificent.  However, were less than thrilled to fight through the crowds (even in March!!).  The best part was definitely walking around the extensive grounds.  I can see why Louis and Marie-Antoinette didn't want to give it up!! All of the flowers were just started to bud and the statues were unfortunately still covered for the winter.  I can imagine Versailles would be breathtaking in the summertime, but I'm sure it's packed to the brim!



















Some other highlights of the trip include the Musée d'Orsay (Impressionism), strolling the Champs- Elysées, climbing the Arc-de-Triomphe and enjoying the best view and, of course, best shopping in Paris at Galeries-Lafayette.  By the time we made it to the Louvre on the last full day, we were too tired to truly appreciate it.  Walking through the main hall, I was thinking to myself, 'Wow.  I've been to more castles than grocery stores in the past three weeks, seen more priceless works of art and ancient artifacts than I could possibly process...' Museum overload!!  What an experience!

So yes, Paris is worth the hype.  Could I ever live there?  No, probably not; too big and busy for me.  Would I like to go back?  Absolutely.  There is so much more to see and do and of course EAT!
I was ready to get on that train back to Munich.  After over a month away, I was, believe it or not, actually looking forward to getting back to my StuSta apartment.  I've been enjoying a little bit of downtime and being back in the city I've come to call home for now :)  I am truly, truly grateful to have had this wonderful experience.  Three more weeks of break (including a few days in Budapest!) then classes will start again.