More from Paris!

My week has finally settled down and I can tell you all about Paris! I had two presentations on Thursday so I had to get those done before I could write. When I last wrote, we were headed off to the Eiffel Tower to take the elevator to the top. It was definitely beautiful but I think the view is much better from across the river on the steps of the Palais. The elevator going up is really rickety and they cram as many people as possible into them so it was kind of scary but once we were off the elevator it was great! We couldn’t really see much because it was dark but the Arc de Triomphe is very well lit at night and was beautiful. It was kind of awesome… in the highest level of the Tower they have signs marking the distance to every major city in the world. I waved to all of you as I faced Los Angeles haha.

We visited the Cathedral de Notre Dame on Monday which was incredible. I’ve been in a few Cathedrals in Spain but nothing had the atmosphere of Notre Dame. People were EVERYWHERE but you could feel the presence of holiness. There were confessions going on in the side chapels, candles being lit, and a lot of beautiful gothic architecture to admire. The center section of the Cathedral was filled with chairs (for mass) and a silent area for people to sit. We sat there for a while just admiring, reflecting, and being in such a historical, holy place. It took 200 years to build the Cathedral!

After Notre Dame, we took a metro up to the Moulin Rouge (quite the opposite place haha). We took a few pictures and headed back downtown. We walked down one of the most popular streets in Paris, St Germain, did a little shopping, eating (of course), and ended up at the Pantheon. A little history lesson I’ll pass along, because I didn’t know what the Pantheon was until I got there... “The Pantheon was originally known as the Church of Saint-Genevieve in accordance with the last wishes of Louis XV. Following the Revolution, it became the Temple of Glory intended to house the mortal remains of great men. The crypt underneath the church houses the tombs of Victor Hugo, Emilie Zola, Voltaire, Soulfflot”… and many others. Architecturally, it looks like a church but is now mainly a tourist attraction. There is a giant pendulum that hangs from the center dome of the Pantheon and has been swinging back and forth for centuries. We never figured out the significance of the pendulum, but it was pretty impressive. I have a picture of it in my Paris album. From there we went to the internet café and to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

By Tuesday we were pretty exhausted. We spent the morning wandering around the neighborhoods between Le Louvre and Notre Dame until we had to take a metro out to the airport. It was truly a great trip! I was really sad to leave Paris and come back to Spain. It’s nice not being in that hostel anymore but I really liked the culture in France much better. It has become increasingly apparent how snobby the people of San Sebastian are even when compared to a “notoriously” rude city like Paris. It’s crazy how different the cultures are when geographically, they really are not far apart.

Well, I have a TON of pictures but am waiting for Kaitlin to send me more. My camera started dying early in the trip so they took most of our group pictures. The pictures I do have are posted on that same link.

Sorry if this post jumped around a lot. I was writing off and on all day. I have more updates but will write it in a different post!