J'adore Paris!

Tuesday after lunch most of our group went to see Windsor Castle, which is located just outside of London. We’ve seen a lot of palaces and castles over the trip, but this one was the best for sure! It’s been in use for centuries, so it has so much history. It’s built like a fortress on the outside, and sits on top of this hill with a beautiful view. Henry VIII and Jane Seymour are buried in the chapel, as well as King George and his wife (the one from The King’s Speech!). But the best part of the castle is that it’s still in use! The Queen spends many of her weekends there, and many state events are held there. Hampton Court was fun, but the interior is all just a restoration – Windsor Castle was a million times better knowing that what we’re seeing is real!

There’s an exhibit as you walk into the palace that has the dollhouse of Queen Elizabeth when she was a little girl. This has to be the most intense dollhouse ever made. It was huge – easily as big as my kitchen back at Liberty Square – and it was entirely functional. Everything from the plumbing to the miniature vacuum worked! Don’t ask me why a doll needs indoor plumbing. But all of the details in the furniture and rooms were beautiful.

While waiting in line, the couple behind us heard us talking and asked us if we were American. When we told them where we were from the laughed and said they guessed we were from Utah from our accents (Is it that obvious?!). Anyway, we started talking and somehow I made the connection with them that they are my mom’s cousins! Kent and Pat Parker. It’s such a small world – what are the odds that I would happen to be standing next to my relatives in line at Windsor Castle?

That night I went with a group to see Legally Blonde, the musical! It sounds so lame – but it was really fun! The music was good and the actors were really talented and funny. I’m so glad I went. Also, the play was in the Savoy Theater, which is in the very fancy Savoy Hotel. After the play, we just walked through the lobby and it was so nice. I kept waiting for someone to call us out that we weren’t really staying there.

Our free travel weekend began as soon as class was over on Wednesday (that day I had to give two presentations so it was so nice to get them done!) so that evening we took the Eurostar to Paris! The train ride was fun – we went through the English and French countryside, and for 20 minutes we were all the way under the English Channel!

Stopping by Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station!

At the train station

We arrived in Paris about nine o’clock, and only had to endure slight confusion before making it to our hotel. First, we were trying to buy our metro tickets at the station, but the machine would only accept exact change (which no one had), wouldn’t accept our cards, and the ticket office was closed. We had to leave the station and go to one of the cafes across the street to ask if they could break a twenty so we could use coins to pay for our tickets. Finally we made it on the metro and somehow maneuvered our way through all the French-named stations and trains to make it to our final stop. Once out of the station we walked in the wrong direction for ten minutes before we finally figured out where we needed to be. Needless to say, I was very happy when we were all checked into our hotel! Since it was just us four girls, it was a little strange to be the one who had to figure out where we needed to be going, and not having my always-reliable dad to just follow around!

The next morning we woke up bright and early to start our first day in Paris. We met some of the other girls from our study abroad at the Louvre. Did I say that the V&A was big? Because that was nothing compared to the enormity of the Louvre. There were so many masterpieces and amazing things to see – I think Uncle Mike would have been horrified at how fast we were walking through that museum, but we wanted to see as much as possible in our very limited time! I loved the paintings, but this time I think my favorite part was the sculptures. Psyche and Cupid, by Canova, was so beautiful! Hammurabi’s code was also a highlight!

After the Louvre, we grabbed a sandwich on our way to the next museum – Musee d’Orsay. FAVORITE MUSEUM of the whole trip! It’s all impressionist and post-impressionist art, and includes some of the most beautiful and recognizable pieces. They have rooms full of Monet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, and Cezanne. They have Renoir’s Moulin de la Galette, the painting I wrote a seven page paper for in art history my freshman year. That was amazing to see that in real life after I had spent so much time on it! It’s even more beautiful in person. I also just did a presentation in my art class here on post-impressionism so I got to see a lot of the works I had just been studying!

Next up – we went to see the magnificent Notre Dame. It was fun to walk around and see the inside, but it was even better to sit in a chair after being on our feet for six hours. (Museums really take it out of you! Two in a row was brutal, but it had to be done.) We all sat in silence for a solid half hour before we could get back up again.

Notre Dame

We did get up again eventually, so we made our way over to the Eiffel Tower. I can’t explain how awe-inspiring it is to see it in person! After seeing so many pictures of it, I wasn’t expecting it to be as cool as it was, but I couldn’t stop looking at it! I love it, I love it, I love it.

Our next activity was taking a river cruise that started at the Eiffel Tower and went all the way down the Seine, showing us many of Paris’ best sights. It was the perfect way to see the city! After so much walking, it was nice to see the sights while sitting down, and we went at sunset so it was finally starting to cool off and it made the view even more beautiful. I learned a lot of interesting things from the audio guide! For example, during WWII, when the Allies were approaching France, the Germans were supposed to destroy Paris so that the Allies wouldn’t be able to benefit from its capture. The only reason we still have the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and countless other monuments is because one German general refused to burn the city.

After the river cruise, we finished off the day with a birthday dinner for dear McKenna at a delicious Italian restaurant near the Eiffel Tower. We made it back to our hotel around 10 and I was asleep in less than a minute.

The next morning we were up bright and early again – first destination: Versailles. We took the train to the city and then walked the rest of the way to the palace. We got there by 9:30 and there were already hundreds of people in line! It moved fast, so we didn’t have to wait too long to get in, but as we walked through the palace it was packed with people. It was fun to see the inside, but we were just trying to get through as fast as possible so we could get away from the crowds. The gardens were much better! They’re so big that the crowds weren’t a problem, and we had a good time wandering through all the paths and trees.

The Hall of Mirrors in the palace

The gardens at Versailles

Alison’s family has spent a lot of time in France throughout the years, and they’ve always loved this French candy called CaramBars. They’re kind of like caramel, chewy Tootsie Rolls. Anytime someone from their family goes to France, they have to bring them back for everyone, so as soon as we got to Paris we were on the lookout for a grocery store so she could buy them. On our way back to the train in Versailles, we finally found a store so we went in and Alison literally bought the store out. The French lady checking her out, who spoke zero English, could not understand why this crazy American girl was buying so many CaramBars. She kept laughing in bewilderment and pointing her out to all the other people in the store. Finally, someone who spoke English explained they were for her family, but I still think she thought it was odd – I don’t think CaramBars are that popular here. It was worth it for the ridicule though – they were so good!

We got back to Paris, and after we dropped off the huge bag of CaramBars, we headed back out. We went to the l’Orangerie museum, where they have the huge oval rooms with Monet’s Water Lilies. After that we had dinner in the Latin Quarter at an outdoor café, where we were able to people watch (very interesting here!) and watch the French Open. I’m so disappointed in myself – I didn’t even realize that the French Open would be going on while I was there! Maybe I would have tried to get a ticket or something, but it was still cool to watch a match in a café in Paris, I think.

Monet's Water Lilies at l'Orangerie

Crepes after dinner!

Next we walked up the Champs Elysees to get to the Arc de Triomphe. After figuring out how to cross the street (it’s a huge roundabout with no obvious crosswalk – we finally discovered the underground tunnel you use to get across) we climbed up the stairs to sit on the top! The view was amazing – you can see the whole city.

View from the top

The only thing left on our list for the day was to see the Eiffel Tower at night, but we still had about an hour before it would get dark, so we meandered down to the tower, got some ice cream, and sat on the hill across the river from the tower and enjoyed the beautiful evening. They turn on the lights around 9:40, and then right at 10 it sparkles! I can’t even explain how magical it is to see this – it was my favorite moment of the whole trip!

Our last morning was again, bright and early. A little too early, apparently, because we got to the Rodin Museum at nine and it didn’t open until ten. We wandered around until it opened, and then looked at all of Rodin’s beautiful impressionist sculptures. Four museums in three days – I’m kind of proud of us! We had these awesome museum passes that got us right into all of the museums and monuments so we didn’t have to wait in ticket lines, we saved money, and we didn’t feel like we had to stay a long time to get our money’s worth.

After the Rodin we went back over to the Eiffel Tower to meet up with the rest of the group and to have lunch. We ate our delicious baguette sandwiches and drank Orangina’s on the grass underneath the Eiffel Tower – no big deal (it was awesome). Next we went back to the Champs Elysees to look at the stores a little bit more, since we were kind of in a hurry to get to the Arc de Triomphe the night before. We also wanted to go back so we could go to this restaurant/patisserie called Laduree so we could try their famous macaroons. I thought I had had good macaroons in London, but there is no comparison. They’re so soft and light and so generous with the filling! I didn’t even know I liked macaroons before this trip. Just what I need – more sweets to love :).

The last sight we needed to see was the Sainte-Chapelle chapel. It’s a small 13^th century church near the Notre Dame famous for its incredible stained glass windows. The stained glass covered all four walls, and it was so bright and colorful! We just sat and enjoyed the view for a good 20 (okay, 30) minutes.

For dinner, we desperately wanted to find savory crepes for our last night in Paris, but we had to walk around for 45 minutes before we were able to find a good place! I was surprised how much harder it was to find crepes over the weekend there than I thought it would be. I was expecting creperies to be on every corner I guess! But it was always worth the wait/walk! That night I had a ham and cheese one for dinner and butter and sugar one for dessert. Perfect end to a great holiday in Paris!

I feel like I said “next” and “then” a lot in those paragraphs – we did so many things! Those three days were action packed and I was completely exhausted when we got home. But it was so worth it – I absolutely loved Paris and am so glad we got to see and do all of the things that we did! As much as I loved Paris, though, my heart belongs in London. I love it here – it always feels so good to be home! There are many reasons why this is so, but here are just four of them. First, Paris was miserably hot and muggy most of the time, and London’s weather is perfect. Second, London is much cleaner and doesn’t have that constant cigarette/body odor smell that Paris does :). Third: English. I felt like an idiot any time I had to pronounce something in French, and it was stressful when someone didn’t understand you! Fourth, I don’t have to consult a map every step of the way in London – I actually know my way around!

I do need to give the French some credit though. I’d always heard that the French were rude, especially to American tourists, but everyone I met was so friendly and helpful! There were a few times when people would stop to give us directions when we were standing on the street looking confused. And many people would start up conversations even though they didn’t know that much English. That never happens in London! The English people ignore you. A few others in our group had some bad experiences with the French, but I really enjoyed them!

Today was our last fast Sunday here (only one more Sunday – so crazy!) so the bishop invited all of the BYU students to bear their testimonies. It was the perfect opportunity for me to reflect on my time in the ward and remember what a great experience it has been! Though I won’t miss the two hours on the train plus the half hour walk to get to church, and my primary class was out of CONTROL today, I really have loved it. The people have been so welcoming and kind. And I love my primary kids. Every week I’m blown away by how much they already know about the gospel!