Paris, I know our paths will croissant again
Paris with Brody and Mom was short; Ben and I will return to Paris a few days later with his Mom and Chris.
We elected to take the city train from the airport close to the hotel. While planning the trip, we were unaware that July 14th is Bastille day, a big day for France, which means unbelievably busy Paris.
In Paris, we started with food; Is there any other way? We each had a different kind of pizza. We stopped at Église Saint-Merry on our way to the Notre Dame Cathedral, which was unbelievable. It did burn down a few years ago, so the tall middle tower was missing, but the way it still stands is impressive. They had many signs about the restoration and what they did to save artwork and statues, sending people in to get them before firefights could get there to start putting the fire out. I found the passion for art and history to be quite inspiring. We just sat looking at it for a while. Mom could have sat there forever. It was already later in the day; we all returned to the Airbnb.
Ben and I went for a walk. I wanted to see the Louvre and see more of the city. I was amazed by how large it was. It was astonishing. We walked through the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and the Tuileries Garden behind it. The park paralleled an amusement park and the Seine. An incredible view at sunset.
At the end of the park, we stumbled upon a bunch of people gathering and decided to wait and see what it was all about. As previously mentioned, it was Bastille day, so we had just found an almost perfect place to sit and watch the fireworks that were shot off over the Eiffel Tower. Spoiler alert from the future, this wasn't the only time we watched fireworks in France on this trip.
The following day Mom and Brody went on their own solo adventure, riding the Hop-on Hop-off bus, seeing the "big brown tower" many times, and stopping at Moulin Rouge for Kaeley. Ben and I elected for French "hotdogs, " a baguette cut down the middle with two hotdogs and a ton of cheese filling the center. We walked through the Modern Art Museum, Cantre Pompidou. Saw more Picasso art in one place than I had seen before and a whole section of De Stijl, which I had spent many of my college years learning about. We could have spent days walking through the museum but left to see more of the city. We saw the Arc de Triomphe but could not figure out how to reach the middle, so we got to macarons instead.
My favorite part of this stent of Paris was seeing the Sacré-Cœur, or Sacred Heart Basilica. The hike up the stairs was challenging but incredibly worth it. Once at the top, we walked around the neighborhood, where we found one of Van Gogh's Homes and the Wall of Love. We had food at a Quick, a fast food place somewhat more authentic to the area than a McDonald's. Our banks deemed it as an automotive business.
Our ~36 hours in Paris had passed, and we departed for Rome on a long train ride that showed us beautiful countrysides, the Swiss Alps, and proved that the actual travel part of traveling is always the roughest. That must be why they say the adventure is more about the journey than the destination. The journey has a lot to teach you, but you must be willing to listen. This part of the journey taught me that I should let love win more often than I currently do.
Phone Photos
