Last day in Paris! I woke up around 7:45, before the 8am alarm. This was perfect because I am usually crankier after waking up to an alarm anyways. They seem to shock me from my sleep, yet not fully allow me to become conscious before I start the day. There have actually been surveys and research done to prove this theory as true – that a person is more alert during the day if woken up naturally than by an alarm. Interesting, but if we were all to wake up via our natural clocks, some people just wouldn’t make it to work.
Left the apartment into the brisk Parisian air, such a difference than the humid climate of Barcelona, and picked up breakfast from the bakery on the corner. I was tempted among a few options: hot dog/croissant, quiche Lorraine (although, last night’s was still positively in my mind, so didn’t want to ruin that), or a cream/chocolate croissant. Well, I had to choose the last option, along with a mini croissant, and boy it was the perfect choice. I am much more of a sweets person anyways, so the cream that was added to the pastry, made it even more delectable. I found that the chocolate croissant I purchased the other day was nice, but not nearly enough chocolate to match the buttery pastry ratio, something that is very important.
EIFFEL TOWER: From our stop, Pernety, we made our route under and above ground to the exit by the Eiffel Tower, one of Gustave Eiffel’s and Paris’s well-known quantities. Wow.
A Peace Monument in the front of the Eiffel Tower
I got some great pictures underneath it but due to the enormous line, it didn’t look like we would make it to the top. Tickets had been sold out and it was unlikely we would be able to scalp any. Ah well, a reason to go back. I had pictured there to be lots of cafes and restaurants right beneath the tower itself, but that might have been an image transplanted in my memory from various Hollywood films. The structure itself is just how it is portrayed around the world, but so much bigger in person. I really cannot wrap my head around how monuments such as these were even constructed, let alone, how they remain standing.
I was jealous of all the people running through Paris that morning. Liz says she has Catholic guilt if she doesn’t attend mass each week. Well, I guess you could say I have runner’s guilt. How fabulous to be running along on a Sunday morning before the day has begun and not to mention through one of the most famous monuments.
LUXEMBORG GARDENS: Had I not re-read my notes about important Paris sites, we would have missed this all together. After walking through the stretch of grass under the Eiffel Tower (Dad – there was a Dad, son, and daughter kicking the ball around and I thought of you and our practice sessions at Cornishon :), I found a metro and navigated through the depths of Paris to the exit by Luxemborg Gardens. While I do have a good sense of direction, it was a little more difficult in a new city, without a map, and without any sort of signs. We asked a few people in French, one lady ended up being an American, and were asked about the gardens by a couple of Spanish women. None of us knew, so Liz and I just walked in one direction and voila! There they were.
At this point I had to use the bathroom, typical Kaitlin, so I left Liz reading Wuthering Heights, and went exploring. For me this trip, I felt a different sense of comfort while in Paris. I am not sure how to describe it, whether I knew that there were so many Americans, so many people who did speak English, or that more people looked similarly to myself. When I did find the bathroom, I had to pay 0.4 Euro, but it was well worth it. At least it wasn’t the “Turkish” bathroom Theo was telling me about, with a lovely hole in the ground. From there I walked through the gardens and then back to pick up Liz.
Liz and Kaitlin at the Luxembourg Gardens
K with the ducks 🙂
I absolutely loved the flowers, dirt paths and overshadowing trees that hung over the people running and walking through the gardens. We sat for a while on the benches in the sun right by a pond with ducks (my friends :), and little children playing with boats. The entire setting was like something you would see out of a movie. From there, we searched out another metro and made our way back to Theo and Sallie’s to pick up our stuff and head back to Barcelona. Sallie and Theo walked with us back to the RER Station, where we split ways, us towards the airport and they to a nice café. I also stopped into a little bakery to try the mini-macaroons. It came with a set of four: berry, pistachio, vanilla/coconut, and chocolate. Or at least those are what I believe they were, based on how they tasted. Out of all of them, I would thoroughly recommend the chocolate. It was slightly crispy on the outside with a creamy chocolate filling.
During the day I was able to start and finish a complete book, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson that is about a high school freshman outcast. Quite interesting, so it made for a quite read.
AIRPORT: Arrived via the RER B to Antony station and then transferred to the Orly Train, which took us straight to our Oeste (West) terminal. Picked up some fun vanilla yogurt in the terminal. Overpriced as usual but tasted delicious and I’m keeping the cute glass bottle. The flight departed from Paris around 3:10 and arrived around 4:30. This was earlier than expected so after a quick taxi (about 14 Euros for each of us), we were back and settled in our room by 5. Perfect! I even noticed our dinner sitting out on the counter, which probably isn’t the most sanitary, but it does allow us to do our work and then break at our own pace. We ate it around 9…a quick gulp of sausages, ketchup/mustard, baguette, and a green bean/potato dish, so that we could get back to work.
Sausage - 10.16.11 - Not the most appealing, I know, but why not share it with the world.
After a weekend away, it is back to presentations, homework, and midterms. Tomorrow I have an art history presentation on Picasso and his political side. Tuesday, my art history class is meeting at the Picasso museum for a tour. The tour will probably be more of a rush through the building pointing out a couple of key pieces and elaborating too much on their features. Should be a nice review of Picasso for the midterm next week. Actually, I probably had the best studying mechanism by attending all the greatest art museums of Paris with all the important works that we have been studying. Now that is dedication to the class.
I find it interesting that after a weekend away, coming back to Barcelona was just like coming home. A place of known-quantity, I could understand the language more, and the fact I have a routine to return to and people to hang out with.
“One can make a day of any size.”
~John Muir
buen.viaje.a.espana 