Today's Date: April 3, 2013 (Wednesday)
Easter Weekend in Paris
March 29, 2013 (Friday)
The train from Strasbourg to Paris was scheduled to be a 3 hour ride, from 5:45am to 8:45am... we arrived in Paris by 10:45am. SO, we were much more rested than we thought we would be when the eight of us set off to find the hotel. After lunch, rest, and settling, we explored the streets and subways of Paris before heading to the Louvre. (We got in free after 6pm if we showed our student IDs.) The Louvre is enormous. Fully unpacking and exploring all of the secrets and history of the artwork there would take a lifetime commitment, BUT, we gave a wing of the museum our best go.
After eating dinner, some of the group headed back to the hotel while the rest (five) of us went to venture up the Eiffel Tower at night. It. is. BEAUTIFUL. The boys and I walked up the windy, chilly, 10pm, golden stairwell of the first two floors of the tower while the ladies headed up in the elevator. The walk was quite breath-taking with each step (ha!), but the view from the very top will forever be imprinted in my mind.
March 30, 2013 (Saturday)
We woke up early this morning to leave for Saint Michael's Fountain. Rumor had it that a free tour met there, so we were going to check it out. The game goes like this: A college-aged tour guide leads groups around the city. At the end of the tour, patrons pay him or her based on what each person felt the tour was valued. This was the best tour I've ever experienced. Not only was our tour guide charismatic, but he was helpful, informative, protective, and welcoming. The anecdotes he provided about various historical figures or back-stories in Paris were amusing, shocking, or intriguing. This was a lot of fun for us all.
After the tour, we all went our separate ways. Four ladies went to participate in a bar crawl that the tour guide was attending, two members missed the tour entirely and were enjoying the wonders of Euro-Disney, and Ryan and I went to a Moulin Rouge dinner and show. Originally, the plan was for everyone to go to Moulin Rouge, but after a while the menu and/or price became too undesirable or seemed less worthwhile for some people. I have to admit, I was skeptical of whether or not the price would be worth the experience and leery of the potential nudity involved. Thankfully, it was absolutely worth it--I went to say I've experienced it and I returned absolutely satisfied.
After dinner and live music (the three-course meal and bottle of champagne was wonderful), Ryan, four other guests at our table, and I witnessed awe-inspiring acrobatics, unbelievable displays of strength, agility, ventriloquism, costuming design, lighting effects, dancing, singing, and acting. At some points, animals were involved in some skits. Another time, a huge tank and pythons became props for a dancer. The whole show was indescribably impressive. From 6:45pm to 11:00pm, Ryan and I sat in blissful entertainment.
March 31, 2013 (Sunday)
Today was Easter Sunday and I am sorry to admit that I did not make it to a physical church. Instead, I headed with five other members of our group (two couldn't make it) to walk a guided tour around the gardens of Versailles. This tour was provided by the same organization as the Free Tour, but this time we paid up front. Versailles is a spectacular display of human ability and selfishness. Regardless, it is a lovely display of controlled agriculture and waterworks. While walking around the gardens, we learned about the lives of King Louis XIV, XV, and XVI. The five-hour tour ended after the actual palace closed to visitors, so we could not explore the inner beauty of the site. Everything achieved there is absolutely amazing to me.
Again, the large group split into smaller groups for shopping, exploring, and dinner. Ryan, Drew, Sarah, and I went to visit Napoleon's museum. We could not go inside, but the portions we could explore was lovely, as always. Most of the shops, restaurants, and museums were closed by 5pm due to the holiday. After eating at a local restaurant (with heat lamps and a portion of the wall open to the outdoors), we paced our trip back to the hotel with the sun--all of us were content to rest by the time we got back to our beds.
