Paris

I have made it very clear to all my friends and family that I had a wonderful time in Paris last weekend and that I love it. The question is, why? Why do I like it so much? I think Paris revives that romantic side of me that I so often try to avoid or push aside. When I say romantic, I do not mean the damsel in distress waiting for her prince romantic (kissing frogs was never my thing). I mean the inevitable acknowledgement that life is beautiful.

As we walked the Latin Quarter, where we stayed, the afternoon sun lit the streets full of cafés and boulangeries. The first place we went to was Notre Dame, which for our surprise was having Mass at the same time. The choir sang as we paced around the colorful and detailed stained glass.

Then we headed to the Louvre, which is free after 6:00 on Fridays. The huge glass pyramid looked beautiful as the sun set. Yet the beauty outside of the Louvre is only a preview of all the wonders inside. I still need 3 more days in the Louvre tho. There is basically a masterpiece in every corner!

After dinner, we didn't go out. Instead, we walked around La Seine and called it an early night. There was a lot to see the next day.

On Saturday, our group divided between those who wanted to take a bus tour and those who would walk and take the metro. Personally, I have no particular problem with bus tours but it

was not how I wanted to spend my day in Paris. I wanted to walk and soak up what Paris had to offer in a more genuine way which didn't scream I'm a tourist! I wanted to practice my french asking for directions or while buying some coffee and a pastry.

We were going on our way to the Catacombs, when all of the sudden my friend Andrea, suggested we stopped by The Pantheon. It wasn't really on our plans to go but we went inside and it was only 5 euro for students. Why not? I think Voltaire is buried here. So we went in the first floor. The Pantheon was ordered by King Louis XV as a Catholic Church but was taken over by civilians during the French Revolution and is now a Secularized Temple (sounds like a paradox to me). The ground floor has beautiful Neo-Classic sculptures and artwork. Then when you go downstairs, the mood completely changes. It is very modest and simple. Here I saw the tombs of Voltaire, Rousseau, Zola, Marie and Pierre Curie, Monet etc. It truly is the epitome of a secularized temple.

After an hour line wait, we got to the Catacombs.

I'm not going to lie they are kind of creepy. Seeing bones of dead people is not exactly my ideal Saturday morning. Yet, it makes you think of how ephemeral life is. There are about 6 Million people buried in the Catacombs I visited. Those are a lot of stories, laughs, tears... that are now merely stacked. Freaky, huh? It is when you face death straight in the eye that you realize the need to live your life.

Then we hopped on the metro to the Museum of Orsay, which was closed because of a protest. Typical Paris. But as my mom always says, you need a reason to come back. So we walked through the Champs-Élysées all the way to L'Arch de Triomphe. By this time we were hungry and all me and my roommate Alyson wanted was an onion soup. We looked and looked but couldn't find any restaurants on our way from the Arc to La Tour Eiffel. We found something different, maybe even better- a take away place full of baguettes, salads, sandwiches and so on. A picnic under the Eiffel Tower definitely beats an onion soup.

And so we sat on benches and ate under The Eiffel Tower until the night conquered the skies, and the Eiffel Tower began to sparkle back.

That night we went out because it was Steve's birthday. Good night, I'd say.

The next morning we went to Sacre Coeur before it was time to leave. We didn't really have time to go inside. We just marbled at its beauty and saw the view of Paris from the hill it's on. As we were walking downstairs back to the metro station a man was playing La Vie en Rose on the harp . That would happen.

Everyone who truly knows me, knows I'm a romantic. After I graduated high school and went to college I thought I lost that about me though. I couldn't write poems like I use to. I couldn't express myself the same way. I thought it was part of growing up and not having the fresh emotions you do when you are a teenager. Yet, I go to Paris and I get some of it back. That inspiration, that love of love, that love of life.