Paris en l'automne est belle.

“Deux pain au chocolat s’il vous plait…” Ordering in French, or perhaps more accurately, occasionally attempting to order in French was just one of many new things I experienced this weekend during my stay in France!

On Friday morning I set off early for the airport to meet up with Phil for a weekend trip to Paris. I took French lessons for a brief stint when I was 8 then began again in high school, studying the language for four years plus a semester in college. I have long been fascinated with the language (although my own French communication skills are rubbish) and have considered Paris a dream trip location for a long time!

We flew from Dublin to Beauvais (about an hour bus ride outside of Paris), on a flight which was a little under two hours. After the bus ride into the city we took our first of many metro trips and arrived at our hostel. It was my first experience staying in a hostel, and St. Christopher’s far exceeded expectations. We stayed in a dormitory with four sets of bunk beds, the room was clean and spacious, and the people who worked at the hostel were very friendly. The whole atmosphere was really cool. The hostel won the best hostel in France this past year and I can certainly understand why. It was a little far from everywhere we went, but there was a metro stop very close by, making the whole city easy to access.

After settling in, we grabbed a bite to eat at a nearby café/pizzeria. To my delight there was cherry coke, something I haven’t seen since leaving the States (and actually didn’t see during the rest of the trip either). On our way into the city we stopped at a crepe stand where I enjoyed a nutella (chocolate-hazelnut spread) filled crepe and Phil introduced me to the delicious simplicity of butter-sugar crepes. We then headed to the Louvre, which is free to young people (ages 26 and under) on Friday nights. We spent a couple of hours there, looking at the art. We saw some of the more famous paintings, like the Mona Lisa, and sculptures, like the Winged Victory. I left feeling very uneducated about art, but also very appreciate of the creativity of others! For the rest of the evening we walked along the river and down the Champs Elysee, enjoying the beauty of the city at night.

Saturday morning our first stop, after a quick breakfast at the hostel, was to a Monoprix grocery store (a recommendation from my friend Madelyn who studied in France) to buy some supplies for a picnic lunch the next day. It was fun poking around the shop a bit. For those of you interested in price comparisons, Paris appeared quite a bit less expensive (for a large majority of things) than Dublin, however I still wouldn’t go as far to use the word cheap... :)

After stocking up for our picnic we headed back into the city center area and walked along the river, stopping now and then to browse at book vendors, to the Musee d’Orsay (another art museum). It was much smaller than the Louvre, but still had several very famous pieces in it and it was very easy to see more of the museum. We then headed towards the Eiffel Tower, stopping to eat lunch at a café. The Eiffel Tower truly lived up to my expectations – it was breathtaking. We rode the lift up to the second floor and enjoyed the views of Paris. From the Eiffel Tower we took the metro to Notre Dame, a beautiful cathedral on the river. We stayed in the Latin Quarter that night for a nice leisurely French dinner (onion soup, beef, and crème brulee for me). Later in the evening, upon recommendation from a couple we met in the restaurant, we took a boat cruise of Paris. It was lovely to see the sites by the water, particularly the Eiffel Tower all lit up. It was a nice and relaxing to not be walking or finding metros; a perfect end to the evening.

Sunday we enjoyed our picnic in Jardin des Tuileires, and then walked for a while in the garden, and enjoyed people watching. We also stopped at another crepe stand. For the rest of the afternoon we walked along the Champs Elysee to the Arc d’Triomphe, and then returned to the Eiffel Tower to take some pictures and enjoy the remainders of our picnic in the park by the tower. That evening we visited Sacre Coeur which had spectacular views of the city. We walked through the cathedral as well, which although was beautiful inside was also somewhat of a tourist trap, with loads of souvenirs for sale all around. For dinner we ended up at a hole-in-the-wall looking Italian pizzeria, which had a nice laid back atmosphere and delicious pizza. We then went to a creperie (another quaint, unassuming place) for dessert, and enjoyed delicious caramel filled crepes topped with creamy vanilla ice cream.

Leaving Paris was hard, especially since we had to do so at 5:00 AM in order to catch a taxi, then an airport shuttle, before the flight. Then after the plane ride and another bus trip I made it back “home” to Dublin. I headed straight to Trinity where it was right back to reality, with a lecture on the Enlightenment. The weekend flew by, and already seems a long time ago. I had such a good trip though, it was well worth the sleep lost and the euros spent.

A few Paris-Dublin comparisons...
*Paris is such a clean city. I found it to be much cleaner than Dublin
*The metro system is so easy and accessible in France- it really was a great public transportation system to use.
*Although most things were cheaper in Paris than Dublin, drinks at restaurants and cafes were ridiculously priced. Soda was often 5 euro for a small can (no refills), with water being only slightly cheaper (once again for just a single bottle).
*Paris is huge! Things are very spaced out, and it’s much less walk-able (in terms of going to different quarters) than Dublin, but this is remedied by the convenience of the metro.

I'm sure that's more than enough for now... I'll try and do a picture post eventually! Au revoir!