Saturday, May 9, 2009

Parisian Weekends




This weekend was my third to last here in Paris. Since finals and papers are coming up, I decided to take advantage of the fairly good weather, and do some more sightseeing that I haven't done yet. I feel like I've been so busy in the past months on the weekends, it was great to not have any pressing engagements.

On Friday, Morgan and I went to Notre Dame and waited in a very long line to climb the stairs to the top. I've tried to go up about four times, and each time the line is too long, so this time we decided to just wait it out. After about 45 minutes, we got up, and it was well worth the wait. I haven't climbed the stairs to Notre Dame for about five years, but now I remember why I had wanted to so much. I think Notre Dame offers the best view of Paris...the height is high enough that you can see everything, including the Eiffel Tower (which you can't see of course going up it), but not too high as to make the panoramic view fuzzy.

It was a nice day -- a bit cloudy but not hazy, and with big patches of blue sky showing through. It was also warm. We spent about an hour on the south tower of the church, and then decided to head down for lunch.



We ended up wandering around Paris for four hours instead of eating! We looped through Ile-Saint-Louis and watched a jazz band play for a bit, we went across the river and through the Marais, then through the Chatelet area, and then down through Palais Royal to the metro. It was a beautiful day, lots of people were out enjoying the weather and holiday, and it was nice to just walk around, something we haven't had the time to do in ages.
That night, we made a delicious dinner of steak, potatoes, and salad, and watched a movie at Morgan's because her host family was out of town.



On Saturday night, Madame took me to the opera at the Opera Bastille! It was "Un Bal Masque," and was absolutely beautiful. The opera was in Italian and the subtitles in French, so it was great practice for me to read the subtitles and understand the story that way. It was actually my first real opera, and what a way to start! The Paris Opera is one of the oldest establisments in the city, and the performance was unbelieveable. It is hard to believe that those voices are coming out of people, and the music really transports you elsewhere. The opera lasted three hours, but it felt like nothing!



On Sunday, I went with some friends to one of the Paris fleamarkets. It was a little picked over and I only found one shirt (I was looking for a hat, but they were all too small!), but it was very interesting to see another side of Paris. The flea market was all the way on the East side of Paris, actually right at the periphery, and there were all sorts of people there. After an interesting perusal of items, we went to the Marais and wandered around, smelling all the falafel being made in the Jewish bakeries and markets. There are all of a sudden a lot more English-speakers and other tourists here...it's as if as they filter in, they're pushing me out and are signalling my time to leave. I'm so glad that the time of year I came was fairly "authentic" in terms of how few tourists there were! Now I can really see the difference -- people are wearing less as it becomes warmer, and there is more movement and boisterousness in the crowds.

We got some falafel and fries and sat in the Place des Vosges to eat it, and then headed home. I love the Place des Vosges right now; it is warm and sunny on a good day, and everyone goes there to have lunch. Last week we went there on a week day and there were students, business people on lunch breaks, older couples sharing benches, and a few scattered eccentrics here and there. The birds love it there too...lots of free food!


I'm sad to be leaving in 18 days, but as the atmosphere becomes more summery, I am becoming increasingly excited to be back in California...that will be very soon!

On the right are a few new photo albums from my walking in Paris recently! Please check them out, I got a lot of great shots!

Bisous,
Ashley

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