My Week in Paris

Bonjour mes amours. As most of you have heard or gleaned from Facebook, I recently spent a week in Paris. This was my one big trip outside of Ireland for the semester and I couldn’t have picked a better city. People give the French a hard time for snobbery, but I can’t blame them for high standards. After a few days, part of me wanted to be Parisian too. If you’re the sort of person who is easily charmed by pretty things (ahem, like me…) Paris is the place to be.  The architecture, the people and even the food are all gorgeous. Duck may be my new favourite meal (although escargot is also delicious!). After a week of chocolate croissants and French pastries for breakfast, it was somewhat disappointing to return to my regular buttered toast and tea in Rathmines. That said, there was one culinary fiasco during the trip—after reuniting at the airport, Olivia, Whitney and I made our way on the RER into the city and found our hotel. Unfortunately, by the time we settled in, every restaurant nearby was closed. Since I stupidly skipped lunch, the mints at the hotel weren’t going to cut it for me. And so, our first meal in Paris was at McDonald’s. The horror.

It’s impossible to cover Paris in a weekend, but we gave it a shot. From Thursday night to Monday morning we saw the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, the Palace of Versailles, Sacré Cœur, and the Louvre. We also made time for a night of clubbing at Le Duplex on the Champs-Élysées, and a morning of shopping in the Barrio Latino. Oh and thank you GW, we registered for our classes next semester.  Some highlights, stories and impressions:

• Late Thursday night we waited for traffic to slow at the top of the Champs-Élysées so we could bolt across the very large roundabout and see the Arc de Triomphe up close….only to be informed by security that it was past visiting hours. No problem, how should we get back? Same way we came of course.
• Champagne at the top of the Eiffel Tower, need I say more?
• The Palace of Versailles. While it was absolutely worth the visit, my final thought on leaving the “hunting lodge” was that I don’t blame the French for beheading the gluttons who lived there.
• A lovely Moroccan man at a souvenir shop in Montmartre gave me an Eiffel Tower key chain because he thought my eyes were pretty <3
• The Venus de Milo! To see the actual statue was almost surreal. Granted, I could say the same of nearly everything at the Louvre, but I was especially awestruck by Venus.  

For our last night together in Paris we stayed with my cousin Cecilia and her daughter Catalina. They were so warm and welcoming, and Catalina even played the harp for us. The next morning was bittersweet—we had a fun morning shopping in the Latin District but after such a wonderful weekend it was hard to say goodbye. I’ve been dreading leaving Ireland for weeks now, and while I still will be sad to leave, spending time with Liv and Whit was a reminder of how much I have to come back to in the States. A funny realization I have come to in Dublin is that while quality always trumps quantity where friendship is concerned, you feel their absence more strongly when you don’t have many friends around. I’ve been pretty lucky in Dublin to have great roommates and wonderful friends from Trinity, but company isn’t always just a text away. In that vein, it will be really nice to catch up with everyone at GW in January. Fortunately, I was quickly distracted from missing my friends by my Gamba family in Paris. I don’t know whether this is a big-family-phenomenon or something special to the Gambas, but the beautiful thing about their company is that you don’t need to have met them before to feel at home with them. I didn’t know Cecy or Monica before staying with them, yet meeting them felt more like a reunion than an introduction. One of my favourite parts of the trip was my insiders’ tour of central Paris by Monica and her lovely daughter Jade-- très charmant. Between my friends and my cousins, I couldn’t have asked for better company over the week. I hope to return to Paris, but for now I’m happy to be back in Dublin. Until next time, au revoir.

Avec l'amour,

Lauren

 

P.S. for anyone who knows French, sorry if I botched it...blame Google Translate lol. Also, enjoy the pictures below but there are many more on Facebook