Wednesday, August 10th:
The Arc de Triomphe inside the Jardin des Tuileries and the Eiffel Tower at Sunset:
A return to the city of lights!
After a rather annoying morning motivating my hungover travel companions to get
to the airport in Barcelona, we finally made our way to Paris, France. Bonjour!
For both Matt and I, this was the second time we had been to Paris, but the
first for Max. Both of us thought we had the city figured out pretty well, but
our inability to get to our hotel proved us wrong. After multiple cab rides
because there are apparently three hotels with the same name as ours, we
arrived at the Marriott Rive Gauche. Thanks again to Matt’s father for putting
us up in a wonderful hotel after so many nights in hostels!
Matt and I immediately hit the
ground running, as it was already late in the day and we wanted to get some
sightseeing in. Luckily we had heard that the Louvre was open late on Wednesday
nights, and Matt was eager to show me around as I had not visited the Louvre on
my first visit, so we headed straight there, leaving Max behind to rest.
Entering the Louvre:
What a remarkable art museum. It
seems cliché to say, but the Louvre truly is spectacular, and it would take
months to take in all the magnificent works. We opted for an accelerated tour
of just the highlights, focusing on key items in the museum’s collection. These
key items included the Greek sculpture known as the “Winged Victory,” another
Greek sculpture in the “Venus de Milo,” the Egyptian collections, and, of
course, the Grand Gallery including numerous Italian Renaissance artwork and
the world-famous “Mona Lisa.” Our visit consisted of about two hours running
around the world’s largest art museum, and we didn’t even get to more than half
of it!
Winged Victory and Venus de Milo Inside the Louvre:
Following our Louvre visit, we
decided to walk towards the Eiffel Tower while the sun was setting to meet up
with Max for some dinner. The walk across the city of Paris was certainly not
short, but definitely made us realize why it is nicknamed the City of Lights.
At night, the city really comes alive with beautiful shades of red, white,
blue, and gold. We walked through the Jardin des Tuileries, passed the Grand
Palais and Hotel des Invalides, where Napoleon rests, and finally met Max at a
restaurant called Café le Dôme. I ate some traditional Steak Frites and gulped
down some Kronenbourg beer after a little bit of waiting on a disgruntled
waiter.
Notre Dame Cathedral at Night:
Immediately after we fueled up, we wandered over to the park in front of the Eiffel Tower, now illuminated in beautiful gold light. Every hour, on the hour, for five minutes, the entire structure twinkles with thousands of light bulbs for the whole city to see. We remained here for a long while, speaking with other tourists and college students, all of whom have gathered to drink beer and wine and enjoy sitting underneath what is perhaps the most recognizable landmark in the entire world. After a while, and a few beers, we decided to return to the hotel to turn in and get some rest before a long day of sightseeing tomorrow. After all, we are only in Paris for a short time, and there is so much to see!
The Eiffel Tower at Night:
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