Saturday, May 14, 2011

I love Paris in the springtime.

Paris is lovely in the springtime. As you may remember I spent one day there in March and I vowed to return again, well over Easter break I did. I went there with a few classmates and fell in love with the city.
The temp was 25C (~80F) and there were people out everywhere! The parks and the streets were filled with people. Actually, every place I went to was filled with people. So many people that the queues outside the Louvre and at the Eiffel Tower were hours long. I decided that I didn’t go to Paris to wait in line and I vowed (once again) to return. I think I’ll never go up the Eiffel Tower because when I do, I’ll probably saw now I’ve done it all in Paris and I don’t need to return. L

Even though I didn’t do the “big ticket” items I did get around and see the city.

I went to the Eiffel Tower at night and took a boat tour. (I had a lot of fun playing with my new camera this trip!)


I went to the early Easter mass at Notre Dame and it turned up that it was a special mass for the Boy Scouts. The place was packed and I had to sit on the floor. (I thought of you Katey & Mark!)


An alumnus from last year’s class and fellow American invited us over for Easter brunch – THANKS AGAIN ROB (I’m so upset I forgot to take a pic of the event!). The menu was a mix of the best of USA, France & Belgium: French toast, crepes, mimosas, jello shots, can o’ cheese and chocolate fondue. Delicious!  Similar to my new Thanksgiving Tequilla tradition - I think I will have to make Easter jello shots next year. I wonder if mom still has those jello egg molds?

After brunch we took a hike up to the Sacré Cœur for amazing views of the city. We found ourselves in a swarm of people which was far worse than being at the mall on a Saturday afternoon!

Later that night a few of us went to Bar Hemingway at the Ritz. This small bar was a hang of Hemingways and was named after him. To say this place was exclusive is an understatement; I’m surprised they didn’t kick us out. Cocktails here ranged from expensive to really expensive to extremely expensive (one was 500 = $750).  We each ordered one drink and took about 3 hours to drink it, just to get our money’s worth!  Drinks for ladies come with a rose I guess Hemingway sure knew how to treat a woman.

This brings me to my last day in Paris. Easter Monday is a holiday and I found out too late that the museum I really wanted (d’Orsay) was closed but we found l’Orangerie open that’s home to Monet’s water lilies collection. I was shocked to discover that these paintings are huge and so much more beautiful than the pics in a book.

Before I left Paris I set out to find the Statue of Liberty Replica…or the Statue of Liberty. It was an item marked on my tourist map and I wanted to see it for myself. Here it is!
It’s 1/5th the size of the original and faces her bigger sister to the west in NYC.

So these are my highlights from Easter in Paris 2011. I apologize that this post is longer than normal, but as you can see there is just so much to do in Paris. The first time I visited the City of Lights it was for 1 day, this time it was for 3 days, next time I think I’ll need to spend a week there. Hopefully I can fit that in before the end of the school year!

Au revoir!
-Annie

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