Paris: City of Love

Gladys Roberts
Oct 16, 2017
12 min read

There are only two places in the world where one can live happy: at home and in Paris. This city is full of so much history, art, beauty, and wonder that you could explore its streets for weeks and never tire of it. Walking down a common alley way you are instantly transported into what seems like a picture perfect postcard. The quiet morning air carries the smell of fresh baguette and pastries from the local patisseries. And at the night the city comes alive as the Eiffel tower dazzles you with her hourly light display. Of all the places in the world, I’ve never been to one as dreamy as this.

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It was a long 12 hour flight plus a layover to Paris. Luckily the plane was decked out with touch screen monitors full of games, movies, TV shows, and even a chat room to talk to other people on the flight! They gave us dinner and breakfast which was great, and the time was mostly spent sleeping.

I remember looking out the window when the plane first landed and thinking, “Where are we? It’s already so beautiful!” The airport is surrounded by trees and green pastures, it was like something out of a movie.

Getting out of customs and immigration took less than 10 minutes. An hour train and metro ride later, we were at our AirBnb in Boulogne-Billancourt, just south west from the center of Paris. It was the perfect size 2-bedroom apartment being that we were traveling with our friends Emily and David. The fifth floor setting gave us a gorgeous view of the Eiffel tower from our living room window; Staring out it was my favorite past-time when in the apartment.

Once at the apartment we just decided to take the first day to relax and settle-in. We walked around the town, took pictures at a nearby church, and stopped by a bakery for a baguette, a fromagerie for cheese, and a boucherie for some cured meats and made ourselves a yummy lunch platter. We got groceries, unpacked, and made plans for our first real day in Paris tomorrow.

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We woke up bright in early this morning for out first outing, but we wouldn’t be spending it in the city, instead we took an hour bus ride to Giverny, hometown of renowned artist Claude Monet. We stopped at the local market for picnic food trying to use our best french. More baguette sandwiches, some of the sweetest peaches I’ve ever tasted, and jus de pomme (apple juice). Travis with his insatiable sweet-tooth got us some AMAZING eclairs. And when I say amazing, I mean I could weep they were so good, unlike eclairs in the states, the real deal is filled with chocolate cream. It’s the most heavenly bite you’ll ever put in your mouth!

Then we took a bike tour with our market goods, through the town, over a beautiful bridge, and to a nearby park to have a picnic by a very scenic lake area. It was beautiful!

After our picnic and a never-ending history lesson on the multiple french revolutions by our tour guide, we continued on our bike journey to the house of Monet. There was a beautiful scenic bike path to the small town that gave us a glimpse at what the country life of the french is like.

Once at the gardens, it’s as if you’ve been transported to some magical fairytale. There are flowers in full bloom displaying colors from every spectrum of the rainbow! It was absolutely breathtaking. We walked through the flower beds, took a tour inside his home, and also got to see the lily pond that inspired his famous paintings of the water lilies.

After the tour of the gardens we were able to stop by Monet’s family grave which was pretty neat. Then it was a the bike ride back through the town and the hour bus ride back to Paris which was perfect timing for a nap because we were exhausted! Back in the city, we decided to stop by the eiffel tower for some lunch and to grab a couple pictures.

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And we thought we were tired yesterday! Sunday we started out our morning at church of course. The set-up of the ward we attended in Paris was pretty incredible. They had the french-speaking members in the chapel, as normal, and in a separate room there was about 40 of us english-speaking members (all likely tourists) watching the meeting through a TV screen as the missionaries translated the proceedings to english. It was so fun and really nice since we were expecting to have to attend an all french meeting and not understand a word of it.

From here we went straight to the travel office to get our museum passes and then on to the Louvre! By the way, the Paris Museum Pass is a MUST if you’re planning a trip here! It get’s you into all the attractions, it includes extra tours, you get to cut the lines, and it saves you a lot of money! Out of everything we did while in Paris, the only things we paid for separately were the catacombs and going up the Eiffel tower. And even though we had to pay extra for those, we got student discounts with our BYU ID so definitely a small tip for any of you looking to go ;)

The Louvre was spectacularly ENORMOUS! We ended up spending the entire rest of the day here and kinda had to rush towards the end because they were closing. What’s also crazy is that it was connected to the metro and a mini-mall underground so there’s a lot going on in that area, it goes on for miles. Here are some of the more renowned pieces of art we saw while there.

Amphitrite- Goddess of the Sea, Antoine Coysevox

Winged human-headed bull entrance

The Mona Lisa, Leonardo DaVinci

Winged Victory of Samothrace

Joseph Ducreux, self portrait

Venus de Milo by Alexandros of Antioch

After walking 7 miles total in the louvre, during which we took a short lunch break to have a Croque Madame and a Croque Monsieur (yum!), we then headed off to a much deserved sweet stop at Laudurée for their infamous macarons! I wouldn’t say their macarons are unlike any I’ve had in the states, in fact the texture is very comparable and I’ve had just as good macarons in Utah to be honest. But what makes them unique is their flavor combinations like the garden inspired collection they had while I was there with rose, lavender, and jasmine flavors along with your more traditional hazelnut, pistachio, and chocolate flavors. Here’s a list of the one’s I picked up: Raspberry, Passion Fruit, Mint, Salted Caramel, Mango Jasmine, Rose petal, Lavender, and Hazelnut.

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Next on the list was cathedral hopping, the first one we checked out was Notre-Dame de Paris. Technically we got a glimpse of it on the way to our AirBnb from the airport because we had to switch lines at the metro stop here. It is absolutely breathtaking, a piece of history sitting in the middle of Paris’ modern city. What a lot of people don’t know is that there are a lot of cathedrals named Notre-Dame de_____ which means “Our Lady of ____” usually the cities name goes in the space. But this is the most famous one as it lies in the heart of Paris.

The inside was dark with dim candles and soft organ music playing. As you walk around the hallway that surrounds the middle chapel area with the pews, there are open spaces almost like rooms, but with an open wall, each decorated with statues of a saint, crosses, stained glass, and other religious symbols. One such space even had a wood model of the cathedral which was very common for a lot of buildings we saw.

One of the pieces that touched my the most was a timeline of the life of Christ carved in wood. It started with his birth, the visit of the wisemen, his baptism, and 12 apostles; It ended with his atonement in Gethsemane. I found the piece so beautiful and was astounded by the spirit I felt as I contemplated the core beliefs that tie all Christianity together, irregardless of our distinct doctrines. Many would think that it’d be difficult to feel the spirit in such a dark and ominous place, but I teared up in more than one of these majestic buildings.

Our second cathedral was Saint-Chapelle, which had the most impressive stained glass windows of any cathedral we saw in Paris. They completely surrounded the room which glowed a purple hue.

Next was the Pantheon, which is basically the burial place of a lot of famous french dignitaries and historical figures. It had incredible architecture and artwork inside including a giant swinging pendulum. On the way there we passed by the Paris river which lies in the heart of the city and we crossed about a dozen times while here.

Last stop was the Center Pompidou which houses the museum of modern art. Full of odd and abstract pieces and installments. After walking a total of 8 miles that day a much deserved gelato stop- mango and raspberry flavored topped with a macaron, yum!

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This day’s adventures first took us to the Luxembourg gardens. This place was totally not what I expected, I was hoping to tour the huge palace you first see upon arriving, but it was surrounded by military personnel with huge guns! I don’t know what they keep in there (I tried googling why entry wasn’t allowed, with no luck), but whatever it is must be extremely valuable. The rest of the area is a huge public park, in fact, the largest in Paris, full of rows of trees, sculptures, a pond, and benches scattered around in hidden corners full of trees and flowers.

Then it was on to an attraction we’d been DYING to see- the Paris Catacombs! Many have asked me why the catacombs exist, so here’s a little history lesson: In a time where Paris’ graveyards were overflowing, they began emptying cemeteries and transporting the remains to these ancient limestone quarries and mines, which had now been blessed and consecrated for the dead. The catacombs now hold the remains of more than 6 million Parisians and is a work of art in itself as the bones were meticulously placed to form structures, patterns, and designs within the tunnels. Getting down there took about 15 minutes straight down a spiral staircase that seemed never-ending. As you see in the pic below, we’re completely below the sewers and subway system! It was a long 2 hour line to get in (the only thing besides the Eiffel tower that wasn’t included in our museum pass), so don’t be like us and buy tickets online ahead of time to skip the long line. You could say people are DYING to get into this place…lol okay I’m done with the death jokes ;P

Next stop, something much less macabre, the Rodin Sculpture Gardens which are full of the bronze casts, along with some original pieces inside what used to be the famous artist’s home.

The Thinker

Monument to Victor Hugo

The Gates of Hell (from Dante’s Inferno)

Ugolino and his children

The Kiss

Le Cathédrale

The Waltz by Camille Claudel

Afterwards we went across the street to see the Hotel des Invalides, the final resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte. Known for his short height and HUGE ego, it was no surprise that his body lies at the center of this building in a coffin so huge 20 people could probably fit in it.

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First thing on our list for the day was the Arch of Triumph. Our museum passes got us access to the rooftop which had the most spectacular view of Paris! The arch is in the middle of a round-about with all the roads jetting out around it, such a cool spot to take in the city!

Then we made a pit-stop to the Petite Palais, the fine arts museum, to check out some more art. The Petite Palais was just as it sounds…petite. But it had a lot of beautiful pieces of work and I loved the light and airy feel of the museum.

Then it was back to Notre Dame to do their rooftop tour. We had so many things planned the first time we went and were so excited to go inside Notre Dame that we had no idea our museum passes also gave us rooftop access! So we went back to grab some lunch down a narrow alley we discovered that was full of little eateries and had our favorite kabob place. Then we did the roof tour where we got to climb up the over 300 steps up the spiral staircases all the way to the belfry tower. Afterwards, we fed the pigeons and got completely swarmed by birds! I ended the day with another gelato rose, this time hazelnut and dark chocolate, mmmm!

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Today we took to the outskirts of Paris, and hopped on a train to Versailles! The palace was the home to many french royalty including the infamous King Louise and Marie Antionette. Your first glance of the palace was its elaborate iron gate entrance covered in all gold. The entire building was full of gold, marble, statues, paintings, and elaborate details from ceiling to floor! Even the outside of the palace had enormous statues and gold leaf trim everywhere. The tour allowed us to see many of the now mostly empty rooms of the palace, including their own personal chapel, bedrooms, galleries, and the famous Peace Room where the treaty of Versailles was signed, ending WWI.

The Hall of Generals

Palace Chapel

Marie Antoinette’s Chambers

Ceiling of Marie Antoinette’s Chambers

King Louise XIV’s Chambers

Battle Gallery

Peace Room (where the treaty of Versailles was signed)

Then we headed out to the luscious green gardens and did a golf cart tour of the extensive grounds which included a lake to canoe on, fountains, orchards, and even mini getaway houses where royalty would go to escape the confinement of palace life.

Since we were in the neighborhood, after touring the chateau, we made a pit-stop to the Paris LDS Temple to explore the temple grounds. The set up is amazing, as you walk in through the arched entryway, to your left is a genealogy center with giant touch screen TV’s logged into Family Search to help you look at your family history and a senior missionary couple was assigned to the area. To the right was a visitor center with models of temples dating back to the ancient tabernacle, and Herod’s temple, leading to a cut-out of the Paris temple. A beautiful stain glassed window welcomed you to the area as well as the sister missionaries who are always the cutest. In the paved gardens were fountains, shrubbery, and the most beautiful Christus standing with his arms in an open embrace. The simple spirit of the temple was an obvious contrast to the elaborate cathedrals we had visited and a beautiful ode to the God we all worship.

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This morning we woke up early to go up hill to Sacre-Cour or the church of the Sacred Heart. But on our way to the metro, we noticed the local market was open and decided to walk around and explore. It was full of the most fresh and delicious fruits, vegetables, meats, olives, flowers, you name it they had it! Everyone who’s asked me about our trip to Paris has asked what my favorite part was, and my answer was always the same, the food! The produce here is so ripe here, everything is fresh and ready to be eaten same day, unlike the bananas I bought at Walmart last week that were so green I had to wait 3 days before they even started to look ripe. There were figs the size of my fist, an entire stand of dehydrated fruit, I got a bag of dehydrated strawberries that were sweet as candy! It was the best!

Getting to Sacre-Cour was quite the feat. The cathedral stands among a giant hill in the outskirts of central Paris known as Montemartre. It seemed like a never ending spiral staircase up from the metro stop, only to climb up several dozen more stairs to where the cathedral sits. But it was totally worth the climb once you got a glimpse of the breathtaking panoramas from the top.

The rest of Montmarte was adorable, a place where artists of all kind gather from musicians to painters. The entire central plaza is full of people selling their artwork and doing self-portraits of others. Watching them paint was absolutely incredible!

We made a pit stop in front of the Moulin Rouge for some pictures, in front of which a catholic church strategically placed a chapel ha ha. Once in the city we made a stop at the Paris Opera house and then called it a day.

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Our last day in the beautiful city of Paris! We decided to make it a solo-day and do our own thing as couples. Our first stop was the Musee D’ Orsay where we got to see some incredible original artworks I remember studying in my humanities classes.

Water Lilies by Monet

Water Lilies by Monet

Haystacks by Monet

Woman with a Parasol by Monet

Lunch on the Grass by Manet

Ballet Rehearsal on Stage by Degas

Self Portrait by Vincent van Gogh

Starry night and Lake by Vincent van Gogh

If you look closely you can see Sacre-Cour

For lunch we went to Le Train Bleu, which is a restaurant LITERALLY in the middle of Paris’ train station. It took us a while to find it, but once we did it was like walking in to a Museum. There were elaborate murals painted on the ceiling and everything was covered in gold, in fact, a scene from Mr. Bean was filmed in this restaurant apparently so that was cool to find out later!

Last on our to-do was to climb up the Eiffel tower. We had walked by and taken pictures earlier, but never made the climb to the top. It was a long line through security and to get the elevator tickets to the summit, but a couple hours later we made it! The Eiffel Tower has 3 levels to it. The first level actually has a restaurant, bars, gift shops, and really cool glass sections of flooring where you can see straight through to ground level!

The views from the second floor are breathe taking, you can see the entire city and beyond, but the view from the third floor was even crazier, I swore we’d be able to touch the clouds! It was super windy and also super scary!