The Final Countdown

The last three days in Paris were a whirlwind. All of the sudden we realized there were still 10+ things we swore we'd do before leaving the city but were running out of time to do them. Plus we had the added bonus of a tax midterm due the morning we left for Normandy, so needless to say sleep was a secondary priority between that Monday and Thursday. I'll construct this post day-by-day in order to recount the details of the highlights as concise and orderly as possible.

Monday


This day was dedicated to a visit to the Louvre, sponsored by Rick Steves. The travel specialist has a number of free podcasts on iTunes that offer audio guided tours through Paris' main attractions. It even comes with a handy dandy map because lord knows you need one to find anything in the Louvre, even with the giant arrows everywhere that point to MONA LISA. While it took a couple wrong turns to finally get on track, my friends and I enjoyed an informative stroll through the Denon Wing of the museum.

You have no idea how many Asian tourists I had to bodycheck in order to get this close.

And of course no trip to the Louvre is complete without visiting the famous glass pyramids at the main entrance. 

We're actually standing on a cement block that they've placed for people trying to get that perfect picture of themselves touching the tip of the pyramid.

Been there done that.

We got into the habit of taking the Metro to places and then walking back, which worked in our favor because there's a lot to be seen as you stroll through neighborhoods that would otherwise be known only as a stop in the darkness of the subway tunnel. Which is exactly how we found a lovely French cafe and a chic shopping area along Rue de Rivoli. I made my first clothing purchase in France, which was a casual orange and white "color block" sweater. I thought myself very trendy at the moment, so I splurged on dinner at the nearby cafe.

I'm bringing croque monsieurs back to the U.S. Can't be too much of a culture shock, it's just an inside out grilled cheese.

Tuesday

More tax and more museums. Today was the Musee d'Orsay, home to Monet, Cezanne, Van Gogh, and the like. Way better than the Louvre in my opinion because the painting was more modern and creative. Instead of recounting events or glorifying the gods (as every single painting in the Louvre did), the painters in the Musee d'Orsay experimented with different styles and techniques to add texture as a new dimension to their art. 

I forgot to mention that we tried to go to this museum on Sunday afternoon after a long day of studying, but arrived at 5:16pm only to discover they stopped letting people in 45 minutes before closing at 6. On Tuesday we arrived at 5:14, but freaked out when the main entrance was already shut. 

Are we kidding?

Yup. We got in. 

Turns out Museum Pass holders enter through a priority gate, which remains open slightly longer than the main door, so we snuck in just in time. Best 40 euros I ever spent. Unfortunately they don't let you take pictures inside the museum so I can't share the amazing works with everyone, but I highly recommend this museum over the Louvre and it's definitely on my list of things to see again the next time I'm in Paris.

Wednesday

We all knew this day would come. And it went by too quickly, even though we managed to extend it by 12 hours or so (with sleep receiving the shaft). There was just too much to be done.

Our third and final group walking tour had been pushed back to Wednesday, which was one of the major sources of mayhem on our last day. We saved one of the best for last however--The Catacombs. Literally blocks of tunnels underneath Paris comprise this ossuary containing the skulls and femurs of nearly six million French people. Created when they ran out of space in the cemeteries, the tunnels were also used by the French Resistance during World War II. At first it was kind of creepy, but in the end I quite enjoyed it.

I see dead people!

I'll take what I can get.

After walking several miles underground, we resurfaced to walk another several miles to the Pantheon. Don't be mislead, even though the facade is modeled after the one in Rome, it is nowhere near as impressive in my opinion (spoiled having seen the real thing). To a tired, foot-aching me, this was just another ginormous old church.

Over it.

The one cool thing about it however is the crypt below. It contains the graves of all Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo... those infamous authors that tortured me in every high school English class. 

Thanks for all the sleepless nights, fools. 

We had tax class in the afternoon that day because our appointment time for the Catacombs was in the morning. I find tax much easier at the start of my day when I'm too tired to daydream. And it wasted precious afternoon hours that could've been spent taking our last strolls around the city, or completing that midterm due at 8am the next day that the majority of us hadn't finished. Afterwards we all worked on the midterm until around 9pm when we couldn't work any longer and the warm Paris night was calling us. 

First stop of our study break was a formal dinner at a traditional French restaurant. I had eaten nothing but cookies all day since I was out of food and too cheap/lazy to go to the grocery store the day before I was leaving, so needless to say I was ready to wolf down anything that resembled a non-carbohydrate. I tasted foie gras for the first time; it was weird. After that I skipped out on the escargot, as memories of the first time I tried the "delicacy" still haunt me. If you drenched cat feet in butter and garlic I think people would still eat that too. Then we headed to the bars around our area in the Bastille for the last time as well.

I already miss this. Especially while I listen to techno music coming from the gay bar outside my window in Geneva.

We stayed out too late, had the professor called by the hotel manager for excessive noise on our floor, and pulled all-nighters to finish those midterms we were regretting procrastinating on all week. I wouldn't have wanted my last night to be any other way. 

***

While the thing I'm really excited to share with you is my trip to Normandy, I've been blogging for over four hours so its about time I get back to my law final since I want to get it out of the way before I tackle the tax beast. Hopefully these few posts keep you entertained for a day or so until I find time to write more, and cross your fingers for me that I find some source of sustenance in Switzerland for the next six days. Later skaters!