They call it the city of love; the city of lights. I have always dreamed of coming here. I am not sure when or how it first started but I did think it would be a special place. I had different ideas of what the city would be like at different times of my life; from dreaming I’d go there and fall in love or just experiencing the city with someone I love.
I have spent the last week in Pairs with my husband and I loved all of it. The expectations I had for this city where high and while on the airplane I was wondering if I had set myself up for a major disappointment. Thank god that was not the case; especially since I had insisted to husband we spend a full week of our holiday here.
Once we arrived from London England by the train (again another thing I fantasize over doing in Europe), we laced up our running shoes and headed out for a run along the river bank straight to the Eiffel Tower. The run was about 11km. Seeing the Eiffel Tower up close for the first time was such an unreal feeling. It has this simple elegant appearance. The tower in itself is constructed with wrought iron and really shouldn’t be all that pleasing to the eye, yet it is somehow elegant. It is full history. You can feel all the moments that have taken place beneath wrought iron. It felt as if I was in one of the many stories I have read about Pairs, and of France. It was romantic, engaging, it was a placed filled with hope and contentment. Within in all this love, within the story, just at the very edges of the pictures it can be touristy. Everyone climbing up the tower, fencing around the base and just purely the amount of people taking photos. Still, despite these edges to picture, when you simply live in the moment it everything it was intended to be.
A lot of people do make the trek up the tower steps to see the view of the city- we choose not to do this for two simple reasons one we thought it was expensive and secondly we would not be able to see the tower anymore. We simply had a picnic, and enjoyed the view. If you are seeking a view from the city there is great view from Sacre-Coeur, and even better it is free!.
Right across the street from the Eiffel Tower is a cute little carousel that I convinced my husband to ride with me. It has the tower in the background; so simple, so childlike and undoubtably fun. The joy in this experience of riding the carousel of acknowledging wow I’m in Pairs at the Eiffel Tower with someone I love so very much; created a magic moment in Paris, a feeling I will never forget. The small moments tend to be biggest moments in a person’s life. My husband says one his favourite moments in Pairs was seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time on our run. It was truly the perfect way to start our time here.
The next few days we spent wandering around the city and exploring our neighborhood. We had decided to stay in thee 3rd arrondissement; also known as Marais. We were close to the river, we could easily walk to all the spots we wanted to see, but removed enough from the central tourism so we could enjoy the everyday culture of the city. The buildings are gorgeous, they have all this character and warmth to them. Many of the buildings have window flower boxes, and colour painted front doors. The buildings flow together, they are in unison with each other. We found later this was because during Napoleon the third’s reign he had the city reconstructed. There is a lot of history just within the streets of Paris you don’t even need go and see all museums, gardens and churches it just the city breathing.
I personally love history, I do not personally know a lot about art but I still appreciate it. We both wanted to go the Louvre, because we felt you need to go when you are there and wow it is was an experience. The outside of the building is stunning. The architecture of that age wow. I still marvel at how they were able to build such creations. I was shocked when I walked into the building, the sheer size of it was overwhelming. I’m really glad we spent a bit of time before hand planning what we actually want to see and where it all was. There is no way you can see it all or even half of it without being burnout and not appreciating it. I also realized I enjoy paintings much more then I enjoy sculpture work. The paintings were so incredibly impressively; they were massive floor to ceiling type, so much detail each image depicted multiple different things at once yet completely cohesive. We didn’t end up exploring the gardens too much either because we pretty tired once we finished going through the areas inside we wanted to see. What did see if the gardens were very pretty and we could easily have spent more time in them. I was hoping we would get back to them later in the week; we will just have to save it for our next visit.
Later on the week we went to the Musee de L’Orangerie where we saw Monet’s water lily series. It has been my favourite work of art I have seen thus far on this trip. It was displayed so perfectly in the two rooms forming the infinity symbol. The series of 8 paintings each so different from the next but following the same themes and colours patterns. It was a place I wanted to just hang out in alone for hours. It felt peaceful being completely surround by these works of art; they were all encompassing. The pictures I toke of each work do not it justice, however this one above was favorite of the 8 painting series.
The next day we moved to a different area of the city for the rest of our time there. The reason we switched locations was because we decided after we booked the first place that we wanted to extend our time in Paris, therefore having to book a different place. I didn’t really appreciate this before we moved locations, but where you are are staying will really influence how you view Paris; and overall how you will experience the city. We moved into the Latin quarter. The couple street right around us were fun and interesting, a lot of younger people/students in the area. It had completely different feel that 3rd which we were previously staying in. It had such university student vibe to it, especially at night really toke me back to days I was in university.
Over the next few days we explore more of the city going to the Musee d’Orsay, Versailles, the catacombs and basically enjoying all the pastries I could eat in given day. Each of these experiences was unique and I’m glad we went to go see them all. The catacombs was really good because it was new view of the city something a little darker. The catacombs are display of skulls and femurs. They were moved into the underground tunnels when the cities cemeteries were overcrowded in the 18th century. The story of their creation and then housing the cities dead, adds to the pulse of Pairs, the life, and culture of the city, that is endless to explore.
Our last night Pairs we went out for a fancy dinner at Michelin star restaurant; an experience I would recommended for everyone to try once during the life. We finished the night back to the Eiffel Tower to see in all lit up at night. We could not leave without seeing one last time.
Paris was everything I was hoping it would be. It was as if I was in dream, more precisely a novel. We spent enough to time to enjoy the city at relaxing pace and explore what life in Paris can be like. The pastry, the coffee, the architecture, the history the life in the city itself. I will always be ready to go back for more.
