Field Trip: Paris

When we got to Paris, our walk from the Metro to our hotel was immensely improved by a view of the Eiffel Tower right down the street. Naturally, we dropped our bags at the hotel and immediately walked the fifteen minutes to the base. The Eiffel Tower may be the most stereotypical monument in the world, but it is still awe-inspiring and made us all giddy to be in Paris.

You know those tourists who pose in front of famous monuments
and don't show a shred of enthusiasm? They are all over Europe.

In the afternoon some friends and I went to the Basilica of Sacre-Coeur up on Montmartre. We soaked in the view of the city (one of my fav things to do) and then took a quick trip inside the church. We were there as a small service was being held and got to hear the space filled with the chanting of the nuns. it was pretty sweet.

That evening our study abroad program invited the students to a (compulsory) 3-course dinner at a local, traditional French restaurant. It was delicious and so much fun. Let me pull a dad move and obsess over my food for a hot sec: I started with a dried fruit salad with fried goat cheese, followed by steak-frites, and ended by splitting the pot de crème and the crème brûlée with my friend Katie. That crème brûlée was seriously the most delicious thing in the entire world; “it rocked my world.”

As if our day wasn’t great enough already, a few of my good friends and I wandered down to the Eiffel Tower to see it all lit up. When it sparkled...oh man was it amazing.

Lit up...

...and sparkling

We spent most of Thursday in briefings at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and UNESCO (so interesting to hear about their work - definitely an organization I’d love to be involved with), with a quick lunch break to sneak a peek at Napoleon’s tomb.

We ate dinner by the Pompidou where many of us tried snails (!) and, long story short, ended our night walking up the Champs Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe and eating little circles of heaven in the form of the official best macarons in the world. Perfection.

chocolate, salted caramel (i die) and pistachio

AND THEN (it just got better and better), on Friday morning Anna and I went on a quick trip to all our favorite monuments:

Sainte Chapelle

Notre Dame

Shakespeare and Co. (and a Nutella crêpe break)

The

Panthéon

Luxembourg Gardens.

Then we went home, whomp whomp, but with another adventure for the weekend. What a whirlwind of a week, especially in Paris, but what an incredible experience. Makes me happy just remembering it! x