Last weekend, I along with a group of classmates from my study abroad in Oxford, England, took a pre-planned trip to Paris, France for a weekend. To say it was an amazing time full of wonder would be an understatement.
Firstly, we had to make a trip to London just to get to St. Pancras International Train Station to be able to get on the train to Paris, and yes this is the train that goes through the ‘Chunnel’. It was relatively uneventful and train station security was far easier and simpler than that of an airport, but it was still rigorous all the same. The train was fast and within 2 and half hours we were in Paris. Moving through the metro all thirteen of us arrived piecemeal to our apartment. Tired and hungry we managed to get food somehow at 11 at night and not long after went to bed. The next day, July 14th, was Bastille Day. The parades started after we had just visited Notre Dame Cathedral, as flights of planes went overhead. The people stopped in the streets and on the bridges over the River Seine to watch the flyovers on a perfectly sunny Parisian day.
I along with two friends managed to snag tickets for Bastille Day to go to the Louvre, and to say it was a monument to human artistic achievement would be an understatement. We entered the courtyards of the Louvre with an opera singer giving an impromptu performance of Nessun Dorma. Magic was in the air as we went into the main courtyard to see the massive palace that is the Louvre. The architecture, grand scale, and statues were truly awe-inspiring. We spent four hours inside, and I would wager we only really saw 40-50% of the entire collection. With every new wing and floor to explore, shivers went throughout my body due to the beauty set before me. Leaving was painful, but we had to meet others and prepare for the night.
The last item on the agenda for Bastille Day was to go watch the fireworks at the Eifel Tower. It began at 11 at night, and so a couple of groups formed to attend the show. It was quite a long walk, but it was entirely worth it as I saw one of the most impressive fireworks shows in my life that night. Combine that with the fact that I was in France and there you go. A truly amazing trip. And that was only the first day, I still had another day to see all sorts of amazing things, and I made sure I did so!
