Greetings!
Sorry this has taken so long, this past week has been a whirl of excitement and stress with papers and travel.
On Thursday, my mom came to Oxford. We went out to dinner and walked around the various monuments of town. On the proceeding Friday at 3:00AM, we took a taxi to the bus station in order to catch our morning flight to Paris. Neither of us wanted to miss anything and made sure we used all available time in France. Unfortunately earlier in the week I caught a cold that was going around campus, so waking up early proved to be rather difficult. Luckily we found Sudafed at the grocery store the night before, and I was able to sleep the entire way on the plane.
As soon as we arrived at de Gaulle, I was sort of shocked. Absolutely nothing was in English and there were no signs that pointed to transportation options to take us to the hotel. After finding an information desk and witnessing an airport employee strike, we made it onboard to our late bus and headed to our hotel an hour away in Paris. As soon as we arrived in the city, my mother and I were swarmed by gypsies. Their tactic was to press themselves against you to make you physically uncomfortable and release your bag. Luckily, I scared the women off me, but they still would not leave my mom alone. After a brief but effective interaction with one of them, the gypsies decided it would be best if they stepped away from her. Nevertheless after a rocky start, we persevered and arrived at our hotel just before noon.
Hotel Lumen was absolutely stunning. The lobby was decorated with crystal and black and silver decor. My mom and I had lunch at the neighboring restaurant while we waited for our room to be ready. I had a delicious antipasti salad that had roasted summer vegetables and fruit. Mom and I both had a cold coke with ice and lemon; the drink soon became a regular occurence. Once we were able to go up to our room, we were greeted with a half bottle of wine compliments of the hotel. There were two all white beds and a marble bathroom with fluffy white robes and slippers to match. On the outside there was a winding balcony that overlooked the main street that the Louvre is located off of. Needless to say, after being so sick and so shocked by our fancy accommodations–I could have easily spent the weekend there alone.
My mom and I had other plans, however. Immediately after freshening up, we walked towards the Louvre. Weeks previously my mom bought us museum passes that allow you to skip the long lines and enter at a special location. This was incredibly handy because upon our arrival, a massive line wrapped all the way back towards the Louvre’s front lawn. At the museum we saw The Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory. They were all equally beautiful. The crowds however, were not. Sections of the museum had to be closed because of too many people entering the exhibits. The AC was also virtually not working because of the body heat, so everyone was drenched in sweat. It was rather disappointing so we decided to head towards the Eiffel Tower to take pictures outside of it and to then catch a river cruise. The boat ride was relaxing and cool after walking all around in the sun. We ended the day with a pizza at a local Italian restaurant down the street from the hotel.
The next morning we had a fantastic breakfast at Hotel Lumen and took the train to Notre Dame. The outside architecture was intricate yet simple. On the inside, my favorite part was the vaulted ceilings and colorful stained glass. Unfortunately the line was too long to climb to the top, so my mom and I headed towards Museum Orsay to have lunch at a cafe. There we ate the best quiche I’ve ever had; it was fluffy and just the right portion size. Once we entered the museum, I immediately knew Orsay would be one of my favorite visits. Formerly a train station, Orsay was roomy and decorated in a super modern fashion. The van Gogh and Monet paintings were quite popular as expected, and I was thrilled that I got to see one of the Starry Nights and van Gogh’s self portrait. Before we returned to our hotel to clean up for dinner that evening, mom and I stopped at Cafe Angelina’s to try the famous macaroons and African hot chocolate. I however, ordered the chilled version of the drink and it was incredibly tasty. It was almost like a mix of dark and milk chocolate with a frothy consistency. My favorite flavor of macaroon was easily the guava and chocolate selection. My mom got a pistachio and raspberry tart that we immediately finished.
For dinner that evening we went to a restaurant that Fodor’s recommended. There was a line literally around the block. After a wait, my mom and I had champagne with steak and mashed potatoes. The meal was wonderful like all our others, but the restaurant was so busy that unfortunately we did not receive the best service. Despite the slowness, we were able to head towards the tower once more to see it lit up at night. We were told by our concierge that the Eiffel had a light show every thirty minutes after dark . This proved not to be quite true though, because after waiting for an hour amongst the aggressive champagne peddlers–the tower only sparkled for a mere five minutes. Despite the disappointing show, the Eiffel Tower was still extremely impressive at night.
Our final day in Paris was spent wandering Montparnasse. There the city has a tall skyscraper that enables visitors to see a 360 degree view of Paris. This was another one of my favorite stops because I got to take lovely photos of major monuments all from the same location. From there my mom and I went to Crêperie Josselin, and finally tried the French delicacy. While waiting at Hotel Lumen for our taxi to take us to Orly Airport, my mom and I heard lots of shouting at the Louvre. It turns out that the final day of Tour de France was happening and bikers were passing our street. After killing time watching all the screaming fans and honking cars, our cab arrived and we headed to catch our flight.
After checking our luggage at Orly and looking for a place to have dinner, police officers with machine guns began to run past us. Soon enough we saw the same men using caution tape to seal off our terminal while a French woman announced something. Confused as to why we were not allowed into that wing of the airport, we asked the closest employee what was happening. Instead of trying to help, the gentleman criticized my mom and I for not speaking his language and told us to ask someone else at the information desk. It turns out the reason why the wing was closed, was because there was an unattended bag that the police believed to be a bomb. The woman at the desk was surprisingly casual and redirected us a different way to get to our terminal. All the while the police obtained the bomb and destroyed it outside the building. My mom and I could hear the detonation go off as the task force terminated the bag.
As I’m sure you can tell, I have mixed feelings about my time in Paris. Prior to visiting, I had this romanticized idea of how magical The City of Love would be; yet it fell rather short. Most people would die to visit this place, yet the man at the airport spent the potential last moments of mine shaming me for not knowing French. It was just a completely different culture then what I was expecting. Servers there did not seem to really care about their customers. Pickpockets and beggars were rampant, while the police presence seemed to be almost inexistent. I was probably most shocked by how unwelcoming and not user friendly the city was. There was a complete lack of signage (yes, even in French) and a lot of the monuments were poorly maintained. There is no way the amount of people that were in the Louvre all at once would have been legal in the US. Additionally I can only imagine it taking years for someone to be able to navigate those streets.
Despite a lot of the unpleasant experiences, I still had a good time. I loved Museum Orsay, and all of the exhibits within it. I could have also spent hours sitting outside at the cafes with its friendly waitstaff and delectable meals. Montparnasse was rather unknown compared to all the other attractions and it was relaxing to just admire the view. Our concierge at Hotel Lumen ended up being incredibly helpful and one of the locals even made sure my mom and I found our steak restaurant.
All in all though, the thing I enjoyed the most was getting to travel to Paris with my mom. Good and bad, we proved that the two of us could handle it all and still end up on top. She planned everything perfectly and let me have one of the best times of my life right before I graduate college. I could not be more grateful. Once we returned to Oxford, I even got to spend more time with her exploring the city and eventually meeting up to see my dad. Having the two of them here with me was so memorable in itself, and made me truly miss home.
Now after the great adventure and lessons of Paris, tomorrow I will be visiting Stonehenge and Bath with friends from Oxford. Expect a post about that within the next week.
Wish me luck, and I will see you all in fifteen days!
A Broad Abroad 