Looking at the forecast ahead of time, it appeared that Friday was going to be the only day with guaranteed sun. Since the palace of Versailles and its gardens were on our list of “things we must do”, we headed over there first after dropping our backpacks off at the hotel. We were excited not only because everything about this place is beautiful, but it’s also free for us. The gardens are usually free to everybody, and getting into the palace itself is free for European Union residents between the ages of 18 and 24. To get in, I didn’t even have to go wait in the long tourist line to buy a ticket. I just had to walk up to the entrance and flash my passport full of official stickers that say I live in France. It’s awesome. The palace was just as beautiful as I expected and it was insane to walk through the same room where they signed the treaty ending WWI. The gardens ended up being a bit more complicated, because apparently the day we were there was one of the six or so out of the entire year where we had to pay about 6€ to get in, which was slightly disappointing at first. But then we perked up because we realized it was because they were playing music throughout the whole outdoor space and the fountains were actually turned on. So it was nice to see the gardens in their full glory.
Saturday we all split up for the most part, with assorted things that we all wanted to do ourselves. I took the train across town a bit to find this little American grocery store so I could buy an expensive bag of peanut butter cups to help keep me sane while studying for finals. They were a bit pricey (9€ for a 1lb bag) but I regret nothing. But on my way where, the strangest thing happened. I was looking at a metro map on the wall after I bought my ticket to double check the lines/directions I was supposed to take, and a man approached me asking in French how to get from where we were now over to the Louvre. I showed him on the map a possible route and offered to go halfway with him because the station I was trying to get to was a place he could transfer to get in the right direction. He took me up on my offer and we chatted the whole way. He was about 50 and from the city of Lyon, and remarked on the irony of an American who wasn’t even studying in Paris showing him how to use the metro. We got off our train and I sent him on his way. It was a really random, yet welcome, event. And even stranger, as I was leaving that station, some other person asked me in French which way “République” was. What was so strange about it was that was the large square/station near my hotel that I had just come from, but we were no longer near. I was not aware that I was wearing a sign that said, “Hi, I speak French. Ask me how to use the Metro”. I spent the rest of the day doing a little shopping, going to see the tiny cemetery where General Lafayette (the main Frenchman supporting George Washington in the revolutionary war) was buried, and wandering around town a bit with one of my friends who came with.
Sunday began with a little project. A few weeks earlier I had tossed around the idea of doing a sort of “senior pictures” photo shoot in Paris with iconic backdrops and super French props. We selected Sunday morning as the best time to do this, because it happens to be time of the week when there are the least people out and about. IE…the least amount of people who will kick my ass for walking around in a blue/white striped dress, a beret, and carrying baguettes. So after stopping for coffee and fresh bread, my friend and I headed over to the park next to the Eiffel Tower. It was absolutely beautiful that morning, and we got some great shots. After that, we grabbed some rent-a-bikes and rode along the Seine and dropped them off at a station near the Louvre. It was super cheap and super fun. Paris has rent-a-bike figured out. We had picnic lunch at one of our favorite places along the river, and then toured the opera house in the afternoon. And in the evening, another friend and I headed back to the Eiffel Tower to see it sparkle at night one last time, once again pick up rent-a-bikes, and rode along the river a bit before dropping them off near the Champs Elysees/Arc de Triomphe. It was as close to a perfect day in Paris as you could get.
Monday, we checked out of our hotel and headed to the nearby Pere Lachaise Cemetery. It’s famous because well…it has a lot of famous people buried there, including Edith Piaf, La Fontaine, Moliere, Chopin…and tons more. We then split up a bit and one friend and I went to a café while the other two went to see some stuff that they missed the day before. We found THE MOST ADORABLE CAFÉ I have ever seen. It was on a little random side street, and there was no one in there except my friend and I and the owner. It was amazingly cute. I then spent the rest of the afternoon meeting up with an ex-resident of mine from my days as an RA who’s spending the semester in Paris. We grabbed lunch and caught up, comparing experiences in France and whatnot. She was actually the first face from home I’ve seen since I got to France in August. It is a little sad realizing that almost everyone else in my program has friends also studying all over Europe, friends coming to visit them, or family coming to visit them. Having not many friends in a place to study abroad nor having a few grand to drop on a trip to Europe, and family with other more reasonable/responsible financial priorities, I’ve pretty much been left alone here. I’m not complaining though. As much as I wish I could share this with some of the people I care about most back home, I’m really doing fine here by myself. Just commenting on the situation. But even more exciting, said former resident is coming down to the south for her spring break, so I’m meeting up with her and her travel partner and helping them get to a town extremely close to mine. But back to Paris…that evening we caught a train home.
It was a lovely long weekend and I really, really love Paris. It’s a great place to visit for a long weekend, but I’m still happiest where I am. I’m going to have an afternoon and evening in the city before my flight home leaves in June, so I didn’t have to say goodbye for good.
And it’s still surreal that I can say, “Oh yes, I just went to spend a weekend in Paris. Whatever”. My life is too cool.
Senior photos at the Eiffel Tower
General Lafayette's grave
One of the fountain shows we saw
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