In A Word: Magical

This past weekend, we went to Paris! It was the most wonderful weekend. Early Friday morning, Allie, Theresa, Cameron, Cole, Mary Grace, and I all woke up and headed to the train station. We boarded a super-fast train to Paris (yes, we rode a train to Paris! I've always wanted to go on a trip on a train. I'm still holding out for NYC to New Orleans, but from Brussels to Paris was pretty great too!), left our stuff at the hotel, and then got on the metro for Versailles. Freshman year, I was in a FYS on Marie Antoinette, so seeing Versailles was especially cool for me.  I loved walking around, seeing all of the cool historic places, imagining what it was like for MA, etc. I absoutely had to go to the Petite Triannon and MA's hamlet. It was so cool to see these places.

All the glory of France

MA's bedroom. That small door to the left is where she escaped.

After Versailles, we went back into Paris, stopped at a bakery for some baguets, went to a small shop for some Brie and a Rose (can't do the accent, sorry) champagne, and then made our way to the Eiffel Tower for a picnic! It was absolutely stunning. I can't even explain how perfect that night was! The food was delicious, the Rose champagne not so much (shocking, right? At least I tried it...), the weather was great, and of course, the scenary was wodnerful! We met the sweetest honeymooning couple. He taught us how to open the champagne (MG and Allie shot those corks off like pros thanks to his help!), and we talked with them for a while. Cole actually ended up saving the wife from some ruffians, but that's another story. We all had such a great time. Another one of those perfect memories that I hope never to forget!

The Eiffel Tower

Theresa, Cameron, Mary Grace, me, and Cole - you can abrely see the Eiffel Tower behind us

 

On Saturday morning, we got up and headed to a market on the north side of Paris. After a short time, Cole, Cameron, and I decided to head to Musee d'Orsay. I fell in love. The Musee d'Orsay is absolutely incredible, with so many amazing paintings (Degas! Renoir!) and the building itself (an old train station) is stunning! There is a view of the Seine, and the whole place is so wonderful. If you are ever in Paris, definitely go to the Musee d'Orsay!

A totally illegal picture of the inside of Musee d'Orsay. So beautiful!

Cameron and I outside Musee d'Orsay

The boy who ruined Rome. At Versailles, we overheard this mother telling her son to behave, saying, "You ruined Rome; you aren't going to ruin this!" And then at Musee d'Orsay we spotted him again! Wearing an Italy shirt, nonetheless.

After the museum, we headed briefly to Notre Dame. After a while, we met back up with Mary Grace and Allie at the Luxembourg Gardens. These gardens were so odd (palm trees? Didn't really seem to fit), but so beautiful! A storm was coming in, so the sky looked really intense. We made it to a restaurant in La Sorbonne just in time to get shelter from the storm! We had a wonderful dinner, and then we headed back to our hotel for the night.

The aforementioned palm tree

Mary Grace and I took the bus home Sunday, so we set out earlier that morning than everyone else. We made it to the Louvre just in time! Its free on the first Sunday of the month, and we got there just before all of the crowds. I loved strolling through the Louvre, taking our time, away from the throngs of people, enjoying Delacroix and van der Meer and many more. Afterwards, we walked through the gardens of Tuileries, grabbed a crepe, and then amde our way to our bus station.

Outside the Louvre

The bus ride home was actually really fun and beautiful. The countryside was great. We talked non-stop. There were lots of interesting characters on the bus, so that was funny. Plus we kind of had no idea what was going on, in fact we weren't even sure we were on the right bus for a while, but we just laughed and talked and eventually made it home to Brussels. When we got off the bus, Brussels had never looked so good!
Overall, it was a wonderful weekend. Paris was more than I remembered from my visit about 10 years ago. It was so beautiful and magical and perfect.