Falling in Love with the "City of Lights"

Is this not breathtaking?

As I mentioned previously in a post about Rome, I visited that city with huge expectations.  When I visited Paris this past summer with a group of my good friends I came with the complete opposite mindset, I had very little (if any) expectations.

Two of my best friends had previously visited the city with high hopes but ended up not enjoying their time.  While their opinions did make me think that maybe the city wasn't up to all the hype around it, the real reason I came without a view on Paris was because my true dream destination lay about an hour away in Giverny, France and for me there was no comparison.  So when my friends decided on Paris for their summer vacation so I could visit my dream destination I agreed: "Sure, why not.  I mean if I have to see Paris."

The Seine at night

And let me be quite clear, I had nothing against the city.  As I history major I had studied much of the architecture, art, and history that had been created in Paris, called Paris home, and/or has occurred in this beautiful city.  More than studied it, I both appreciated and loved it all.  But Paris, for me, was no dream destination.  It was Giverny and Monet's Garden that brought me to France.  It was my love for the artist and his work, the childhood promise my grandma made that we would visit together one day, and the crushing loss of her before that promise could be fulfilled that drove me to visit the gardens for the both of us.  So no offense Paris, you really weren't my priority.







But as our flight landed in Beauvais, I found that I enjoyed the bus ride through the French countryside on our way to Paris.  And as we stepped off the metro and hurried through the streets of Paris on the way to our apartment to get the key in time for the waiting owner I didn't even look around me.  We ran past the Notre Dame without even giving it a second glance in our haste.  As we made our way to our apartment in the Latin Quarter, and hiked up the four levels with our luggage in tow I hadn't even had the chance to look around at Paris.  For all I knew it could be completely unattractive, just like the apartment we were just about to step into... ... ...and as that apartment door swung open we all stood stunned in the doorway.  It was by no means large, fancy, or magnificent, but thas apartment was the coziest, quaintest, most bohemian apartment I could ever have hoped to have the luck of staying in while in Paris; complete with a breakfast balcony, various book shelves, and bedding for all six of us (winning).

And that was when I started to fall in love the "City of Lights."

Les Invalides

Because truth be told I loved Paris.  I loved the museums, the gardens, the monuments, the streets, the buildings; once when we were grocery shopping I wandered out into the street just to gaze up at the buildings...forgot to tell my friends and they had a heart attack thinking I had been lost/kidnapped...but that's what Paris does to you I suppose.  I've always been more an 'art' person, I respected architecture, but art was my love.  In Paris however, I found myself very drawn to the architecture and found myself snapping images of buildings and bridges all throughout the city and our day trips.

As for the museums, there was such an abundance that it was impossible for us to see everything that we all wanted to do.  Of course the Louvre is spectacular, and I highly recommend it to anyone who even remotely enjoys art or history; my personal favorite was Musée d'Orsay for its renowned collection of Impressionist artwork while my boyfriend loved Musée de l'Armée at Les Invalides (also the site of Napolean's Tomb).  As I wrote in a previous post, we were all a little disappointed by Versailles unfortunately, but the gardens were well worth the trip.  Especially the quaint area behind the Petit Trianon of Marie Antoinette's Hamlet.

Monet's Garden

Over the course of our week in Paris I learned some vital new French words, just as I did in Rome: fromage and chèvre.  Because we all know I need my fix of cheese, and what better way then in some delicious crêpes!  And so we happily tramped from monument to monument, museum to museum, and before I knew it, it was time for me to make that long awaited trip to Monet's Garden.  I had fallen in love with Paris with minimal expectations and I was terrified that my high expectations for Giverny would leave me loving/hating my experience, as I had months before in Italy.  I kept my fingers crossed throughout the train, bus, and walk to the gardens; what if I didn't like?  What if it wasn't what I expected?

I hesitated to walk out the gift shop into the gardens, but when I finally threw myself out the door I stood in awe.  It was more beautiful than I had imagined.   I turned around and snapped the picture on the left for proof that I had made it (the boy's face in the picture essentially mirrored my expression, or so my boyfriend tells me...).  We meandered through the gardens as we made our way to the famous lily pond.  The moment of truth.  I was about to walk out to the place of my childhood dreams, walk across the Japanese Bridge just as my most favorite childhood literary figure had, and live my dream.  And while I shed my tears of happiness on that bridge, I realized in that moment that I didn't just love Paris.  I loved France.  I loved traveling.  I loved life.

There I am, standing out in red

The week I spent in Paris with my friends turned out unexpected.  I had prepared myself not to love the "City of Lights," I had prepared to keep my expectations low so not to feel as I had leaving Rome.  And to be fair Paris was not always kind to us; it was by no means a perfect trip.  I had previously injured my hips a few weeks ago running and had crippling hip pain the whole week in Paris; I limped from monument to monument.  My friends had terrible blisters on their feet, one got lost in crowds in Versailles, my boyfriend was sick for a few days, we all had beautiful sunburns in Versailles, and of course there was the arguing that ensues when six people are sharing a studio apartment for a week.

All those Art History classes being put to
good use!

But I wouldn't trade that week in Paris for anything in the world.
Together with my friends we jumped for joy at the Eiffel Tower, laughed over bottles of wine and blocks of cheese enjoyed on our apartment balcony, and ate Éclairs along the Seine.  We danced on the steps of Sacré-Cœur as we watched the sun set over the city, explored the streets of Paris, tried as many tiny, crowded cafes as we could, and together we all fell in love with Paris.

After my love-hate Rome trip, I realized that those 'bad' things happen.  No traveling experience will be perfect and I couldn't control everything that would happen.  And more importantly, I shouldn't let those things I can't control ruin my time, or taint my perspective of a place.

Just being tourists with one of my besties

Have you visited Paris?  What was your experience like?  Have you ever fallen in love with a place, even if you didn't think you would?