Day One
Wednesday March 18th our big group miraculously got ready and out the door in time to catch the 7:45 AM train to Paris. It’s a 3 hour and 40 minute ride, that enters flat territory almost as soon as it leaves Switzerland. If you don’t look too closely at the old buildings it looks quite similar to rural Minnesota.
We arrived at the Paris station Gare de Lyon then had to figure out getting to the two apartments that my mom had rented located on Île Saint-Louis. The subway system in Paris is huge, dirty, and crowded. Our route required one transfer… at a station under heavy remodeling. The wires hanging from the ceiling, half finished walls, and long winding detoured corridors made a chaotic scene that reminded us, we weren’t in Switzerland anymore.
It was no problem finding the apartments and checking in. We then spent some time getting settled. My mom, Dan, and Ann went grocery shopping, while Melissa and I checked out the neighborhood boulangerie . Then we figured out what to see.
We decided to see the Arc de Triomphe then walk the Champs-Élysées to the Louvre. Kevin was feeling a little sick so he and my mom decided to stay back. Melissa and I were also separated from the group for a while because we decided to grab a sandwich and eat it along the banks of the Seine. We ended up finding the group after a while, by the Place de la Concorde, without even calling them. They had just been slowed down by a McDonalds visit.
Just outside the Louvre, we found a street performer that Mike said was his favorite part of the day. He was a skinny long-haired homeless looking pigeon whisperer. He had a whole flock of around 50 that would follow him and land on him as he danced around. If someone gave him money he’d shake their hand and a pigeon would fly up to land on them too.
Inside of the Louvre was overwhelming. It’s huge! There were so many things to see we could have spent a week just there. It’s no wonder the French people resented the king if this was just one of his palaces. We made sure to see a few of the famous things, like the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, then left after a few hours. Dan and Ann had split up from us earlier and they stayed much longer in the Louvre.
Melissa and I went to dinner together while the rest of the family ate from the groceries. The restaurant we went to was filled with other English speaking tourists. I shouldn’t have been surprised because we were always in touristy area’s, but Paris seemed to be filled with English speaking tourists and all the places seemed happy to speak English with you; not at all like the stereotype Americans have of the French.
Day Two
Being a big group means sometimes there are a lot of different things that everyone wants to see. On Thursday we ended up splitting up so everyone could see what they wanted. We all started the day together walking through the Latin Quarter toward the Luxembourg Gardens. Dan and Ann were the first to split off, leaving to see the Panthéon. After the Panthéon they went to the Eiffel Tower then back through the Luxembourg Gardens before heading to the apartment.
Kevin also went off on his own before the Gardens. His day was spent first at the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, then he used the Rick Steves guidebook to walk around looking at more churches.
After walking through the Gardens my parents, Mike, Melissa and I headed off toward the d’Orsay Museum. We stopped at the Chapel along the way, looked around and talked to Kevin. When we made it to the d’Orsay Museum, Mike and my mom decided to split off to go on a water taxi tour- the boat goes along the Seine and has stops at all the main sights. They ended up getting out at the Eiffel Tower and seeing a military ceremony.
My dad, Melissa and I walked through the d’Orsay. It contains mostly impressionist art, which is an art form made famous in Paris in the late 1800’s. Prominent artists showcased are: Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Gauguin, and Van Gogh. It’s smaller and less crowed than the Louvre, but that’s not saying much because the Louvre is huge and very crowded. After a couple hours Melissa and I had seen enough, but my dad decided to stay a little longer by himself.
Melissa and I then walked along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower, and took a Metro back to the apartment. That night we found the awesome crêperie just down the street from our apartment. Banana and nutella was my favorite kind.
Day 3
Friday Mike was feeling sick, so he and my dad stayed in the apartment while the rest of us went out sight-seeing. Our first stop was the Rodin sculpture garden. The garden has lots of bronze and marble sculptures by Rodin of which his thinker sculpture is probably most famous.
We ate lunch just outside the sculpture garden, then walked past Les Invalides on our way to the Petit Palais. We stopped at the bridge called Pont Alexandre III along our way to take some pictures. The bridge is named after a Czar to honor a French and Russian Alliance. It’s very ornate and extravagant
Our next stop was the Petit Palais which is an art museum with pieces from ancient times to modern. Truth be told, the paintings were starting to all look the same to me by this point, but the price was right so I guess it was ok.
After maybe an hour of looking at art we left to find souvenirs. We walked past the Palais de l’Élysée, where the French President lives, and along a street called Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré with very high end stores. Ann had wanted to go to a particular store called Maille that sells mustard. We found it, then she and my mom both bought some for a souvenir.
We then had one more planned sight to see: La Basilique de Sacré-Cœur. It’s a basillica finished in 1914, built on the highest hill in the city. It required a metro ride and we found a station next to a different church modeled off of the Parthenon called L’église de la Madeleine. I didn’t think the Paris metros could get much more crowded, but the ride to Sacré-Cœur was push-your-face-against-the-glass crowded.
It was a relief to get off at the station called Château Rouge. When we got above ground we found a neighborhood very different than the one we left. It was not touristy at all and full of African people speaking French. We were a little worried we might have gone the wrong way, but after a four block walk to the church we found the crowds of tourists again.
The church is pretty cool because it’s like the old cathedrals of Europe in size and detail but nothing has weathered on it yet. Also from the hill we got a panoramic view of Paris. The only negative was that we couldn’t see very far due to smog.
After walking around the cathedral and grabbing some gelato, we then went back to the apartment to have a wine and cheese dinner for the Olson’s last night in Europe.
Day 4
Saturday we said our goodbyes and the Olson’s left at 7:30 AM for the airport. Melissa and I spent a little time shopping (it seems like the prices everywhere in the world are cheaper than in Switzerland) then caught a train home at 4 PM. Interestingly the metros were free on Saturday. When we got home I looked up why on the internet and apparently it was to help reduce the pollution we had seen all week.
