Paris Perfection

Exams seem to have taken over my life. In the sense of preparing for them anyway! That, and the occasional random trip around Europe as as reward for completing some exams. This was the case a few weeks ago after a rather intense week of studying, final papers and exams. My reward? Paris!

While I briefly stopped in Paris on my way to the Loire Valley and on the way back to Brussels, I really hadn't seen much of the city beside the exceedingly beautiful Musée d'Orsay, which is now one of my favorite museums (Pergamon in Berlin is still winning though- it had an entire temple inside). Paris happens to have a great policy on museums wherein EU residents between 18 and 26 can get inside for free! Since I'm studying in Belgium, and I have a Belgian residence card, I count, and took full advantage of this.

My roommate Illy and I went for three days to explore the city, and it turned out to be a perfect amount of time to see just about everything. It also turned out to be the perfect weekend to visit Paris(as numerous people assured us- Parisians and foreigners alike), the weather was the best it had been in weeks, sunny and warm, great for walking around the city and seeing the sites.

One of the cheapest modes of transport out of Brussels is by bus, so we once again hopped on the oh-so-cheap Eurolines for a 3.5 hour ride to Paris at the glorious hour of 7am. Once we got to Paris, we had an hour or so to kill before going on another one of those free walking tours and headed to les Jardins Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens). It was beautiful, massive, and absolutely full of people. Everybody was out enjoying the day, from families with kids pushing little sail boats in a fountain, to students studying and having picnic to grandfathers having a drink. An interesting little fact is that there are almost no tables in the gardens, no any any other public garden in Paris despite the abundance of chairs. Instead, people just grab the nearby chairs and pull them into a circle to chat, or grab two and use one for a footrest  while sunbathing. We discovered loads of very square trees, and a seemingly secret fountain monument that might have been hiding in a forest in Italy before going to Place St. Michel for the tour.

Jardin Luxembourg- I loved the toy sailboats! also note the very square trees in the background

Illy and I and the not-so-secret fountain

As you've probably noticed by now, we've been doing quite a few of these "New Europe" tours because they're really interesting. You give as much as you think the tour is worth at the end, and get a really entertaining history lesson that brings the city, its buildings and monuments to life. It's one thing to see a building and notice some dents. It's another to learn that those dents are actually bullet holes from WWII as the French tried to take back their city from the Nazis. Much more interesting, no?

WWII bullet holes; we also learned that a Nazi saved Paris from being destroyed by tricking Hitler into thinking the city was burning by torching only the 15th arrondissement (neighborhood)

After the walking tour and seeing a wedding party just outside of les Invalides, we were hungry and got one of my favorite French foods: quiche Lorraine! If you've never had a quiche, try it. Essentially, a quiche Lorraine is a delicious pastry crust with a filling of eggs, cheese and ham inside. Yum. Being in Paris (again?) at last, Illy and I finally got to see the Eiffel Tower! It was strange in a way, having seen pictures of it and movies with it for so long to finally be standing there with this massive structure in front of you. "I think we're in Paris" was roughly our response. It was beautiful and hard to believe we were actually there!

Our next big Paris landmark was the Arc de Triomphe, and it's 284 steps to the top. Since we didn't go up the Eiffel tower (we're cheap students), and this was free for us, up we climbed! It was definitely worth it. You can see the entire city from the top, all the way down the Champs Elysées from the Louvre to the business district. I have a little bit of a fear of heights, so this picture was taken with much courage and clinging on to the rails...

We spent the night in the house of a friend of mine who happens to be studying in Paris for the year in Clamart, about 10 minutes outside of the city by train. On our way back into the city in the morning, we  started out the day all kinds of right by stopping in a legit french bakery (boulangerie/patisserie) and getting pastries for breakfast and a real, beautiful, baguette. The pastry plus a coffee in a nearby café was our brilliant breakfast before exploring the Louvre all morning!

I was pretty proud of my baguette. 

As most people have probably told you it's massive. What they probably haven't told you is that before you even enter and exhibit, you should name a meeting place!! Do it. Then, when you lose your friend by the Mona Lisa (like we did), you will not panic and think you will never see them again for another three hours. We did eventually find each other, after I geeked out on seeing "Grand Odalisque," a painting I had just studied in my France-Maghreb course. The Louvre has an incredibly diverse and vast collection, and we only covered one wing really (Denon and a bit of Sully if you've been) despite our four hours inside. While I think I prefer the Musée d'Orsay for it's ease in seeing the works, the Louvre is still impressive and it was really cool to see so many originals, from the Da Vinci's works to statues.

The Louvre!

Venus de Milo 

the Winged Victory of Samothrace

Pysche and Cupid

A picnic in the Jardin des Tuileries later (just in front of the Louvre), we checked in at our hostel in the quaint Montmartre for the second night and headed back into the city for a lot more walking. We checked out Île de la Cité again (Notre Dame and la Sainte Chapelle), walked along the Seine and eventually found our way to place de la Bastille and a sweet artsy market that was going on. I love discovering things by accident. After being thoroughly entranced by scarves, candied fruits, leather works and jewelry, we chilled in Place des Vosges, a lovely little courtyard with a garden/park in the middle full of students relaxing and fountains. Plus, there was a street harp player, which is a rather rare site, and Victor Hugo's house. We also found Centre Pompidou, which was surprisingly...well... ugly in trying to be modern art (which I unfortunately still have no appreciation for, I did try.) Lots of walking later found us having dinner in the bustling Latin Quarter, then walking along the Champs Elysées at night eating ice cream. We also discovered that Häagen-Dazs has a club above it on the Champs Elysées. Unfortunately, no invites scored, and we contented ourselves by seeing Paris at night from Sacre-Coeur. Seeing the city all spread out before you, lit up with a thousand lights made us realize just how big Paris is. Brussels suddenly seemed tiny compared to this sprawling metropolis!

An artist painting Irises in Jardin Tuileries

the market we discovered by la Bastille

Notre Dame's garden 

Place des Vosges, full of students!

the Seine by Île de la Cité

Champs Elysées at night! 

l'Arc de Triomphe all lit up at night

Our last day in Paris was another beautiful one, we got to explore Montmartre and it was also the day I got to meet up with two of my friends that live in Paris, one an old French house director from McDaniel! That meant we also got to see the business district where she works, by the Grande Arche de la Défense.

Montmartre: Sacre Coeur

Sacre Coeur in the day

La Grande Arche de la Défense, the business sector!

We left Paris a little sadly, clutching a baguette and a quiche for the road. It had literally been the perfect weekend, beautiful weather, seeing old friends and discovering both a fascinating, living and beautiful city. Until next time, Paris and France. Je t'aime.

Châteaux & Talking to Strangers: France II

The last two days we planned to stay in Tours, but since Amboise, another beautiful small town with a castle was on the way, I convinced my traveling-mate to stop with me! Amboise was just as picturesque as promised, especially because the day was beautiful and bright. We followed our now-typical plan of finding the tourist office and getting information and a map from there and exploring. Since the château was rather expensive, we decided to skip it in favor of going to Leonardo Da Vinci's house in Amboise- Clos Lucé! The compromise we made of not going in the main château was to walk all around it, which involved us discovering new paths that may or may not have been meant to be walked on, climbing an extremely big hill with our heavy backpacks (traveling makes you buff) and finally getting a fantastic panorama of the city.

Amboise!

Loire Valley, always beautiful

Panorama of the city

Clos Lucé was where Da Vinci lived for the last five years of his life, having been invited to France by Francois I, and actually died there as well. While Clos Lucé is described as a château, it's more of a house. The cool part was getting to learn a bit more of Da Vinci's life and about his inventions and artwork. There were models of many of his works, and several life-sized ones in the park around the house. The man truly was a genius, and talented across so many area. It was surprising at first to realize that many of his inventions were for war, but that actually makes sense if you take the time period into account- war was a part of life.

Amboise's castle

downtown Amboise, lovely little street full of shops and cafés

Clos Lucé!

One of Da Vinci's inventions in the park: a double bridge

A delicious crêpe with Nutella and a mini quiche Lorraine from a bakery later, we were on our way to Tours! Our second to last stop before going back home to Brussels, after two weeks of traveling for me. Tours is a bigger city, but there's not a whole lot to see there to be honest. We only stayed for two nights, and explored the city the first day, taking in the small castle, cathedral and garden in front of the Gallery Beaux-Arts that had a massive cedar from Lebanon? Our hostel was in the historical district which was fun, it has an amazing atmosphere at night when all the pubs, bars and restaurants come to life! Everything lights up and you suddenly realize how much Tours is a student town as well- there were university students everywhere, groups of friends out for a drink together, talking and laughing into the night.

Tours!

Tree from Lebanon? It as absolutely massive

I couldn't stop taking pictures of the river

Since there wasn't a whole lot to see in Tours, I decided to spend the next day going to see Chenonceau! This was absolutely one of, if not my favorite, châteaux. I went alone since Nele had had her fill of castles, but I've always wanted to visit and it was completely worth it. The château is beautiful, arching over the river with five arches, giving it a fairy-tale-like appearance. Two either side of the château are beautiful gardens, orderly and elaborate, laid out by two of the castle's occupants, Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de Medici. Fun fact about Chenonceau: it was mostly a woman's castle, nearly always overseen by a woman. A second fun fact is that during WWI, the long gallery full of windows over looking the river was transformed into a hospital for soldiers, treating a few thousand patients. The castle itself was lovely, as were the grounds. Extremely green, full of gardens and a big forest, it was fantastic just to walk around and soak in some nature- it's been sorely missed in Brussels. There was even a small labyrinth hidden in the woods! Suffice to say, I adored Chenonceau, and went back to Tours extremely content. We had a last dinner at a crêperie, and left for Paris the next morning.

The tree-lined entrance to Chenonceau

Some Sphinx guarding the castle. You know.

Gardens!

Chenonceau!!

Hall where soldiers in WWI were treated

Labyrinth

Proof that I was there

Our last stop before finally going back to Brussels! The weather was not amazing in Paris unlike when we left for Orléans at the start, so as we followed the Seine around towards the Eiffel Tower, we decided to spend nearly the whole day in the Musée d'Orsay! It was a fantastic choice- the museum is huge and well laid out. Plus, it was free for us being between 18-26, win for Paris. We lucked out because there happens to be a fantastic Dégas exhibit on right now, which we also got in for free and saw all these beautiful original works. Between that and the Impressionists exhibit on the top floor, we had an amazing time and saw a lot of famous pieces.

Inside the Musée d'Orsay

We didn't quite have time to make it to the Eiffel Tower, so we walked until Les Invalides and then headed to the closest métro station to get to our bus back to Brussels.

It was an incredible spring break, full of unexpected adventures, a few meetings with old friends and seeing loads of new places. I got to be immersed even more completely in French for a week which was a fantastic experience that reaffirmed how much I love the language. Plus, I love the food in France! We had some great experiences with people helping us out, and I am now completely comfortable talking to strangers in French, so asking for directions back home now should feel ridiculously easy! Now that I had been away for two weeks, coming back to Brussels felt like I was coming back home, back to familiar surroundings where I didn't need a map.

Finally, I was able to pick up my new debit card, my residence card for living in Belgium AND a week after I got back from France, my laptop! You never realize how much you depend on a computer until you don't have it.

Châteaux & Talking to Strangers: France I

The second half of my Spring Break, now a few weeks ago, was in France! From Italy I flew to Paris to meet up with a fellow Erasmus student (my friend Nele), and from there we took the train to Orléans to begin our crazy adventure down the Loire Valley.

This trip was unlike any I've ever taken before, simply because it was unknown. I'm a planner, I like knowing ahead of time how things will work out, and making sure the most is made of an opportunity or event. This trip was extremely vague. Not completely unplanned, and definitely researched, but the only things that were actually set ahead of time were the fact that we were going to stay in Orléans in a hostel for two nights, and that five days later we had to take the train from Tours to Paris, and the bus from Paris to Brussels. Essentially, it was a go-with-the-flow sort of adventure which led to some amazing, and sometimes scary experiences and learning a lot.

We started out with Orléans, at the top of the Loire Valley, a beautiful portion of France that follows the Loire River and which is full of châteaux, or castles, built by France's numerous royalty and nobility over the centuries. I've wanted to see the châteaux since I did a presentation on them in high school, so this was a bit of a dream come true for me. Orléans big claim to fame is Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc), a young peasant girl who rose up to lead an army of Frenchmen against the English invaders during the Hundred Years' War and successfully retake several cities. She was younger than 19 at the time, so well done Jeanne!  Orléans was the first city she helped to recapture from the english, and where she lived for a little while. The city is extremely proud of her, and there were statues, cathedrals and even a museum dedicated to her.

Orléans Cathedral to "Saint Jeanne" 

Jeanne d'Arc

Our first view of the Loire River!

The Loire!

The first of several crêpes in France! this one was savory: egg and cheese 

We managed to see Gien and Sully-sur-Loire by taking a bus our second day in Orlèans, as well as attempting to walk over 20km... Turns out the day after Easter in France is a public holiday, which means there is almost no public transportation available, and we somehow ended up hitch-hiking in France to get to Sully-sur-Loire for the only bus back to Orlèans. I have never hitch-hiked before and was terrified. After a few failed attempts, a lovely, somewhat hippie family with three kids gave us a ride half way, and then a young couple took us directly to the château at Sully! We've encountered some incredibly kind people in France and I'm really grateful. People have helped me exit the metro when my ticket mysteriously stopped working, let us in front of them in line for train tickets when ours was leaving in five minutes, given us countless directions and even the occasional ride.

Sully-sur-Loire!

Sully was a beautiful château, and you could explore everywhere inside too

After clean, white Orléans, our next stop was Blois! Blois was my favorite town of the whole trip, and the best way to describe it is charming. The château of Blois is the highest point in the city, and everything descends from there, cathedrals, ancient stone walls, winding streets and the occasional peaceful, green garden or park full of flowers. The Loire River cuts through the city itself, but we only stayed in the more historic half. Through the cobble stoned streets and stairs, we just meandered through the town which was actually our plan for every city we can across- find the Tourism office, get a map and information and go! I loved the feel of this town. Historic and charming, full of cafés and bakeries, restaurants, funky shops (we found the coolest spice and coffee shop and wanted to buy the entire store- the owner agreed), and original art galleries. Plus, it wasn't too touristy or loud, but livable. Since we loved the city so much, we decided to stay there for two nights instead of just one- the benefits of not having a set plan!

The Château Royal de Blois was pretty impressive, and we learned loads of French history through reading a lot in the château, and attending the "Light and Sound" show that evening at the castle, all in French with different narrators telling the stories of the château and those who had lived there. It was really cool and informative at the same time.

Me in Blois, overlooking the Loire River

Renaissance-style staircase in the Château de Blois

There were beautiful little gardens/parks all around the small city

The Château de Blois!

Charming Blois 

The Loire from Blois

From Blois we also took a trip to Chambord, one of the most famous of the Loire Valley châteaux, and it's also free for students! Chambord is incredible. Enormous, and very impressive. We spent over three hours just exploring the inside, where you could see nearly every room. One of the most impressive parts of the castle is the double spiral staircase in the center of the keep. Some people think it was designed by Da Vinci, a friend of François I who designed his castle after coming back from conquering Milan, full of Italian Renaissance ideas. If not, Da Vinci's designs probably influenced the architecture of the staircase.

Chambord!

One of many elaborate staircases in Chambord

view of Chambord's grounds from the top!

I took a walk down the canal (nearly missed my bus), but it was beautiful (Chambord's in the background)

The bus we took to Chambord also stopped at Cheverny, another famous château and the home of a Hergé museum. (Hergé, the author of Tintin, used Cheverny as inspiration for a mansion that appears repeatedly in the comic as Captain Haddock's mansion). It was rather pricey, so we didn't actually go inside, but we did meet another woman staying at our same hotel who happens to be from Brussels and work the University whose gym we use! Small world.

Those first few days in France were definitely an adventure, in which I got really good at talking to strangers, and comfortable speaking French all the time. It was amazing to finally be in France for a long period of time and be surrounded by such a beautiful language. Next up, Amboise!