Au Revoir

I write this final post from the Paris apartment, poised to shut down the laptop, and pack it up with everything else to journey to Charles de Gaulle, where I’m catching a flight home today.  I took the TGV from Lille to Paris yesterday afternoon, and it’s given me a nice sense of closure to return here one last time…where the trip began, where I spent most of the summer, and where I am now leaving.  Paris is in the height of vacation season: the weather is humid, and some of my favorite nearby shops have closed for the month. 

Paris metro, one of the modes of transport I used to get here and back again

Just because it’s the end of my European travels for the summer does not mean I’m done writing.  I’ve enjoyed it so much and gotten enough positive feedback that the blog will live on.  Of course, I won’t be writing as frequently (because honestly my daily life is just not interesting enough for that), but I’ll keep posting about interesting places and experiences, whether far or near from home.  In particular, check back for an update on my trip to New Orleans and Mississippi in a few weeks, interesting discoveries around Charlottesville and Princeton, my class trip to Sicily in October, and whatever else might unexpectedly come up in between.

To my fellow travelers, bonnes vacances.  To those at work, bon courage.  To everyone–thanks for reading.  Back to the States I go!

Lounging in Lille

Lille, where I have been staying since leaving Brussels on Tuesday night, is part of a fairly large metropolitan area in the north of France.  The city is much smaller than Paris though, without major sights or a large metro system.  Lille feels more like a university town, which it is, and it has a very cute downtown area, with several large public squares and winding cobblestone paths that make up vieux Lille, the oldest part of town, with pricey shops and cafes.

a view of downtown Lille

The last few days have consisted largely of shopping and meandering in downtown Lille, where I am staying with my friend Lise.  Yesterday we went to the Lille marketplace, an overwhelming hubbub of vendors selling fruits, vegetables, roasted chickens, spices, and so on, where we made off with a large bag of groceries for less than 5 euros.  Tonight and tomorrow night I am going with Lise and her boyfriend to a music festival called Les Nuits Secretes, which is about 50 minutes away.  I’m not entirely sure what to expect so I’ll be sure to update when it’s over.

In other news, my final Bonjour Paris articles are up on the website:
Paris on the Cheap
Corsican Adventure
Corte and Vizzavona
Once again, only the introduction is available for free for most of these articles, so just let me know if you’re interested in finding out more.  The Corsica articles are a three part series, so the third and final article will probably be up on the site in the next few weeks.

Adieu, Paris

I’m now in Germany, enjoying a quiet week at home with Clara’s family in the small town of Bad Iburg after leaving the Parisian city lifestyle behind.  Now that I’m finished with my internship, several of my articles have been posted to the Bonjour Paris website. 

Feature articles (some of these might be available only for paying members of the site, but if you’re really interested in the full text, let me know):
Top 10 Views of Paris
Top 10 Picnic Spots in Paris

Destinations:
Highlander Pub
Puces St. Ouen (market)
Versailles
Palais de Tokyo (art museum)

Tour de France

We took a break from packing this afternoon to fight the crowds downtown to catch the finale of the Tour de France, which was finishing in Paris today.  We found a spot on the Place de la Concorde, which is at the end of the Champs Elysees, where the bikers make a final few laps.  It was almost anticlimatic: swarms of people packed on the hot pavement, excitement rising as they found out the bikers were approaching, cheers, and then zip…a pack of cyclists flew by.  And then another 5 minutes until they would zip by again on their next lap.  Still an incredible experience though and a fun place to be on my last day in Paris.

eager fans at Place de la Concorde as the bikers arrive

Tonight, we returned to trivia night at the Highlander for a final go after being stumped last week, and walked away victorious.  Second place, not first, but our pride was intact this time.

Aux Champs Elysées

At the end of every summer, Paris imports tons of sand and palm trees from the south of France and turns the banks of the Seine near Notre Dame into a boardwalk/faux beach area, called Paris Plages.  The several-week long event just began, so yesterday we spent the afternoon basking in the sun by the river, reading and listening to a bagpiper playing for money on the bridge above.  It felt just like the beach…well, except for the fact that getting in the water was the absolute last thing we would want to do there. 

Paris Plages along the Seine

Today, for Carrie’s last day, we spent the early afternoon at the Palais de Tokyo, a modern art museum whose permanent exhibition is gratuit (free, aka. my favorite word to see here).  After that we walked along the famous Champs Elysées, from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde (concorde means peace, despite the fact that it’s where the public executions at the guillotine once were).  Though the Champs Elysées is not as glamorous as it used to be apparently, it’s still pretty posh, with the Louis Vuitton flagship store, Cartier, and so on (although McDonald’s made it in there too, somehow).

Trivia Night

Last night Carrie, Clara, and I decided to try our luck at a trivia night hosted by a Scottish pub we had discovered here in Paris a few days earlier.  As three current university students, who like to think we know at least a little about a lot, we were feeling pretty confident.  But this 40 question pub quiz was not so easy.  All of the questions were the kind that made us go “wait, wait I know that!”  And then realize that we actually didn’t, but should have.  I was wishing that we had the “phone a friend” option and that calls to the U.S. weren’t so expensive, because I could think of lots of people to help us.

-Anyone who remembers the 60’s or the 80’s.
Put these events in order: JFK assassination, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts released, moon landing, Canada adopts its current flag
Put these movies in order: Alien, The Empire Strikes Back, The Little Mermaid, E.T.

-Anyone with a greater knowledge of the Bible, old battles, or Europe.
The three angels named in the Bible (got Michael, Lucifer, forgot Gabriel).
Put in order: Battle of Hastings, Crusades, 100 Years War, Battle of Poitiers
Which four European flags have vertical stripes? (We forgot Ireland?!?)

We lost soundly to the older Irish men sitting at the next table (not fair, since they probably remember John Wayne winning an Oscar, which was another answer that we missed), but it was still definitely one of the most fun nights I’ve had in Paris this summer.

The one question we did ace?  The twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac.  Must be from studying the placemats at the Ming Dynasty.

Fit for a King

Ornate chandeliers, gold plating, immaculate lawns, complete visual overstimulation–today was spent in Versailles.

L'Orangerie, the orange garden

The palace was one of the few main Paris sights I hadn’t seen before this trip, and now I understand why.  Not only is it at least a 45 minute trek from the city, but there is more to see than can even be properly done in a single day, and the admission is so high that it calls for another French Revolution.  But I’m not complaining, because the palace and gardens were nothing short of spectacular.  Boisterous string quartet music was pumped into the gardens through hidden speakers, so I almost felt like nobility, strolling around and commenting on the statues…if only it weren’t for the other tourists.  The palace is ornate almost to the point of nausea (I seriously felt like I had a headache from all the shining gold after we left), and it’s so enormous its hard to imagine anyone actually living there.

Hall of Mirrors

To Market, to Market

Yesterday afternoon my friend Carrie, from high school, and a friend of hers that she met in Besancon (Charlottesville’s sister city!) came to Paris to stay with us for a few days.  This morning we all trekked out to the Puces St. Ouen, a lengendary flea market just outside the city limits to the north.  As soon as we got out of the metro, it was as if we stepped into a shopping city.  Guys on streetcorners tried to push fake designer bags and sunglasses, while others ripped off tourists playing three card monte, and in between the streetside stands of the “renegade” market sold everything from batteries and combs to clothes.

Paris puces: the everything market

We had the best luck at these renegade market stands because they sold the less expensive scarves and jewelry that we were looking for, but we also ventured into the labyrinth of the “real” market, which had its own maps and “submarkets.”  Here there were lots of antiques: old maps, jewelled crowns, mirrors, rugs.  Basically anything and everything. 

I didn’t think I was going to buy anything, since I usually despise haggling over prices…it’s somewhere up there on the list of things I hate most with splinters/discovering too late there’s no toilet paper in the bathroom/drying off with a wet towel.  But somehow this time, maybe because it was in French, or maybe just because I really didn’t want to spend a lot of money, I actually had a lot of fun bargaining and walking away feeling like I had gotten a good deal.

Destinations

Finally some more of my writing is up on the Bonjour Paris site, for those who are interested.  None of the other longer articles have been uploaded yet, but I have some short one-paragraph “destinations” pieces that have been put up, basically quick reviews of places I’ve been.  Click the links below to check them out.

Paris Mosque
Les Deux Magots (cafe)
Berthillon (ice cream)
La Defense district
Statue of Liberty
Parc Citroen
Catacombs

Vive la France!

My most recent lesson on life à la française: Parisians really know how to party.  The Bastille Day celebrations began here on Monday night, with the bals des pompiers (firefighters’ balls).  In just about every neighborhood, a firestation was open starting at 9pm, with a band, a bar, and dancing.  Entrance was free, but donations accepted, and money from the drinks went to charity.  What a much more effective fundraiser than phone calls… 

Happy Bastille Day!

Clara and I met up with Joe, a friend from high school, and his girlfriend, who have been studying here for a year.  The first place we went was packed, and lines wrapped around the block just to get in.  For a Parisian firefighter, it seems, this is a moment of glory.  Their finest moments are not battling the fires of Paris, but getting to be the hosts of the city’s best parties.  After spending an hour packed into the small courtyard, where lights were strung overhead, and the crowd swayed to a band covering American 80’s songs, we decided to find somewhere with a little more breathing room.  The second firefighter’s party we found was held in the Arène de Lutèce, an old Roman gladiatorial arena in the middle of the city’s Latin Quarter.  The scene was much the same, but instead we were dancing to bad 80’s rock in an ancient ruin.  Only here…

After our night with the pompiers, Clara and I decided to skip the military parade in the morning on Bastille Day, but went to Invalides (the gold-domed military hospital) to see the exposition during the day.  All sorts of jeeps, helicopters, and tanks were around, and uniformed servicemen explained how they worked and posed for photos with kids to inspire the next generation.  There was a short gymnastic show, and a parachuting demonstration.  The last parachuter to land had jumped with his German Shepherd strapped in with him.  Seriously well-trained dog.

visual overload!

At night, the Champs de Mars, the park leading up to the Eiffel Tower, was packed  for some pre-fireworks concerts.  The music was mediocre, but we came early to claim a sitting spot on the grass to picnic and wait for nightfall (it never gets dark until after 10 here).  When the show finally started, it was, in short, incredible.  The Eiffel Tower herself was being honored for her 120th birthday, and so the fireworks framed the tower, which was lit up with different colors.  With millions of other spectators gathered around, and a perfect view, it was an unforgettable “right place, right time” moment.  Paris, je taime!