Paris, still my favorite city in the world

I went to Paris six years ago with my family when I was 15 years old. I was a freshman in high school, and even then I thought Paris was the most beautiful city I had ever been in. Of course, being with your parents and following their agenda is a bit different when you are 15 vs. when you are 21 and studying abroad in Europe. Spring break this year was my chance to go to Paris and again and see it from my own perspective at an older age (and more mature outlook). I can say that Paris is still my favorite city in the world. I traveled there with Anna and Mary, my two roommates from Rome, and we met up with three of our friends from CUA who are studying architecture in Barcelona (Mike Hoak, Alec Higinbotham, and Mike Iskandar). On day one we went to the Eiffel Tower and went to the top! We took the stairs to the second tier (680 steps!). To get to the top level we had to take the elevator (and pay more, but it was all worth it). Despite the haze that day, the view was still incredible.

The Eiffel Tower

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After the Eiffel Tower we walked along the streets of Paris and went up the Champs Elysees, one of the more famous streets in city, and went to the Arc de Triomphe. We made a stop in the Louis Vuitton store (way to expensive but still fun to browse) and bought Starbucks coffees (a treat! Starbucks does not exist anywhere in Italy).

underneath the Arc de Triomphe

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On day two we went to Notre Dame Cathedral. It is a Gothic cathedral and it was so beautiful inside and out. It amazes me how people built these churches without modern technology. We spent over an hour inside taking it all in. After this we went to the Louvre! We saw the sculptures Cupid and Psyche, Winged Victory, The Dying Slave by Michelangelo, Venus de Milo, and many others. Of course we saw Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, and other paintings including the Raft of Medusa, the Wedding Feast at Cana, and Madonna of the Rocks by da Vinci. We also went to see the Pompidou Center, the building itself looks like a slap in the face to Paris because of its industrial design, yet it is the most visited museum in Paris today. We also stopped by the Moulin Rouge to see the windmill.

Notre Dame at night

the Louvre and the glass pyramid entry

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The last day in France we went to the Palace of Versailles, just outside of Paris and home to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. We saw the dauphin's, king's, and queen's chambers, the chapel, as well as the famous hall of mirrors at the back of the palace. Unfortunately the gardens weren't as spectacular since it is not yet spring, but we did get a sense of how large the grounds actually are. On the way back to Paris from here we stopped to see one of the famous Art Nouveau metro stops by Hector Guimard.

the massive Palace of Versailles