La Ville de l'Amour

by Rachel Casey - Blog Entry I 
Our train to Paris departed at 8:36 AM Sunday morning. The forecast called for rain all afternoon and I was feeling quite disheartened by it, but there was still hope that Paris would live up to the expectations I had set upon it. The city of love, a place where one could wander with one's love aimlessly, see the sights or just be. The city is a collection of the great history of France. After navigating our way out of the Gard-Nord we rode le metro á l’arc de triomphe. The Arc de Triomphe is a monument that celebrates the battle victories of Napoleon. From the top of the Arc one has a panoramic view of the city. Although it was an overcast, foggy day the view was still amazing. After another train ride, this time with some musical entertainment, we arrived at the station prés de Notre Dame. A walk down a busy street brought us to the front of the twelfth century cathedral, which is not only architecturally stunning, but also viewed as the heart of Paris. While the lines were too long to visit the inside of Notre Dame, it was still a sight worth seeing and it put us close to two famous Parisian cafés, Café des Flores et les Deux Magots. We ended up stopping at another café where I had a latte and moelleux au chocolat and sat and watched people pass by. Following a brief walk in the rain to Napoleons Tomb we came upon le Louvre. While the lines were too long to enter the building, I was able to see the famous Pyramid, built by architect I.M. Pei, and walk through le Jardin des Tuileries. Our group split up just before we arrived at Napoleons tomb. John and Thomas went to see Napoleons tomb while the rest of us went to sit at le place de Concorde where a 3300 year old Egyptian obelisk from the temple Luxor stands. While waiting for John and Raymond to return Jon, Danielle and I wandered around the side streets until we found a nice shaded stoop on the corner of la rue Saint Honore. We sat and talked about how we wished we had more than one day to spend in the city and how we would like to return one day. Perhaps we can return together. The day in Paris was long, exhausting and absolutely wonderful.