Thanksgiving in Paris

I left for Paris on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. When we arrived in Paris, we had some trouble finding our hotel. No one spoke English (or Spanish or Italian) and so we asked: "La Villete?" and people would point in a direction. We found out too late that there was a La Villete avenue as well as a La Villete boulevard. Of course we were at the wrong one and they were 30 minutes apart by foot. So, we decided to stop for dinner at a place that looked a little fancy. We ordered pizzas because that was the cheapest thing on the menu. I got one with cheese, vegetables, and honey, and it was actually really good. I have been converted to believing that honey and cheese go together. 

During our meal, the waiter came up to us and awkwardly asked: "Would you like some apple juice or something?" We were confused at why he was trying to sell us apple juice and said no thanks. He explained that they guy over there (the only other customer in the restaurant) was paying for it. So we said, "Sure, bring us whatever is best." We each got a glass of mango orange juice and it was so good! It was hilarious that some guy was buying us... juice. He did not even speak to us at all, either. We told the waiter to tell him "merci."

The next day, on Thanksgiving, we climbed to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower (because that was cheaper). Seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time was amazing! It was cloudy so we could not see the top of the Eiffel Tower at first. We kind of freaked out when the clouds cleared for a moment!

Climbing the tower was fun because I really got to see it up close. Did you know that the Eiffel Tower has a restaurant in it? It's expensive, of course. We were freezing when we climbed the tower because we were not prepared for the cold.

After, we saw a Statue of Liberty in Paris. Did you know that there's more than one Statue of Liberty? This one was also made by Frederic Bartholdi, who made the one that is in New York. This one is much smaller, though. She was made before the one in New York and I believe that she faces her sister in New York.

We had a late lunch at a French restaurant, and this was my Thanksgiving meal. It was rabbit with pasta. It was actually very good! But of course it is not the same.

At the Arc of Triumph, we learned that with our Visas we are treated as EU students! That means that we got to climb this arc and go into the attractions FOR FREE!!! That saved so much money! Points for the French!

This is the view from the Arc of Triumph. Here we learned that every hour on the hour, the Eiffel Tower does a light show for five minutes. It was super windy, so we waited huddled up. It was worth it. Pictures and videos cannot capture how amazing the tower looks when the lights go crazy. Seeing it that first time is something that I am going to remember forever.

The next day, we went to the Louvre! This is where the famous pyramid from the Da Vinci Code is!

The Louvre was massive, so I probably only saw a fraction of it. But what I saw was really cool. I'm not really an art history lover, but it was refreshing to see French art after seeing a bunch of Italian art.

Venus de Milo

Da Vinci's Mona Lisa

The most famous painting in the world was painted by an Italian... just sayin'. :P (Italy is still my fave.<3) The Mona Lisa was protected by bulletproof glass, and there was a swarm of people trying to get closer to her. I enjoyed my Louvre experience, and it was nice that I could take as many pictures as I wanted, without flash of course.

After, we went to La Sainte-Chapelle, which is this beautiful church full of stained glass windows! I was very impressed. It is so different from the other churches I've seen.

And this is the Locks of Love bridge in Paris! It was cool to see that there were locks with writing on them in all different languages. 

This is me in Paris, nbd. 

Here we are on "Point Zero" of France, which is where all distances in France are measured from.

These are the two towers of the Notre Dame.

Inside the Notre Dame

Here is the Notre Dame at night... kinda creepy.

On Saturday, we went to Sacre Coeur, which is a lovely white church.

And after, we went to the Pantheon. It had a neat pendulum in it that moves with the Earth's rotation.

The Pantheon was really cool because it turned out that there were tombs underneath it! I got to see where Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Rousseau and Marie Curie are buried! Alexandre Dumas is one of my favorite authors.

The last thing that we did in Paris was chill by the Eiffel Tower. We watched the light show, because it never ceases to amaze. Why can't my city have one of these?

And I will leave you with a video of my new favorite tower. (Of course the video cannot capture it.)

"En art comme en amour, l'instinct suffit." ~ Anatole France [In art as in love, instinct is enough.]