Paris was a fever dream and I absolutely loved it! It is such a dreamy romantic city and I can never get enough of the cheesy romance. There is so much to do in Paris and never enough time. I was last here in November 2021 and had a list of things I wanted to get to do but didn't. Top of my list were the catacombs, see the Eiffel tower in daylight and visit the Château de Versailles.
The trip was included in my CES program so all 100 Americans were taking over Paris for the weekend. CES had arranged everything from bus transportation to hotel stay to even a few meals. I was excited that the trip was with a larger group rather than just my quarter cohort of 15 students so I could meet new people.
I met my European bestie on this trip! Technically I had met her in my Economics of European Integration class but this was the first time I actually got to spend quality time with her. It all started on the bus ride when we talked for 6 hours straight! Sometimes you just click with people and it's incredible.
We took the bus Friday night and arrived very late/early morning Saturday so we took all the sleep we could get. In the morning, the hotel offered breakfast which was very good. They had so many options I was overwhelmed. Of course I went straight for the pistachio croissants, cheese, and crepes.
Our first day in Paris started with the Louvre. I had visited the Louvre last time but can you ever truly see all of the Louvre? The map makes it look smaller than it is and once we started it was easy to get lost. I wanted to focus on art I hadn't seen before so we started with the Napoleon Apartments as they looked fancy. The apartments gave the Palace of Versailles vibes. In fact, I forgot I was in a museum. The rooms were so gorgeous! They were decorated extensively with gold frescos and large paintings all around. The deep crimson color and curtains combined with chandeliers screamed royalty. That was my favorite thing I saw in the Louvre. I also really loved the Galerie d'Apollon which had the whole ceiling painted and outlined with gold frames. I am definitely ready for the Palace of Versailles now.
Our reservation for catacombs was at 12:30pm so we hurried to take the metro there. The catacombs began with a long walk down a windy staircase to the depths of the city. I was having second thoughts about the 27 euro ticket as I realized I was literally probably walking through the grimiest parts of Paris back in the day.
In the seventeenth century, Paris was such a bustling city, they ran out of space to bury their dead so they started burying people underground in the catacombs. Disease spread rampantly, mixing with the dead and people who were living above ground. Eventually, the bodies buried there had to be removed for health reasons. The bones and skulls were eventually put back in neat rows once the bodies had decayed.
The catacombs were a little eerie but very cool. Once we finally reached where the skulls and bones began, it was endless. There were so many thousands of skulls and bones neatly stacked along the walkway. At one point the skulls were arranged in a heart which I thought was cute. I had expected harsh patrolling of the catacombs and people continuously saying you can't touch the bones but instead it was very much self guided with the audio. You definitely were not allowed to touch the bones or skulls but, let me tell you, the temptation was huge. I just wanted to chip a piece of the skull to see what it felt like.
At the end there was a security lady checking our bags and I asked jokingly if she was looking for skulls and she said "oh you would be surprised how many people take a souvenir". I thought that was hilarious because of course people would take a human skull as a souvenir. I was afraid I would be cursed forever.
I hadn't seen the Eiffel tower during the day and wanted to seek out the influencer spots to take photos. The first photos we took were right under the tower but to be honest I wasn't that satisfied with them. I had done some research on the best places to view the Eiffel from the Trocadero to Seine river banks. It reached the point where we were just seeking out every angle of the Eiffel tower since we were so enamored by it.
I really wanted to go to a cute floral cafe and pick up a pastry but time was limited so we grabbed a quick lunch of caprese sandwiches. We then headed to Bateaux Mouches for a cruise on the Seine. The boat cruise was alright. It was on a huge tourist boat that was packed with people and I didn't think there was that much to see from the river banks. We passed the Eiffel tower which was the biggest attraction of course and the Notre Dame as well as the Louvre. Maybe since I had already walked to those places I was not as enchanted.
CES hosted at night for us at a French restaurant called La Mere Catherine. It was a little far from the city and we had to walk up a very big hill where we got panoramic views of the city. Dinner was pretty good. I enjoyed trying French onion soup for the first time ever!
It was nearly 10pm by the time dinner finished and Rosie really wanted to see the Eiffel tower sparkle at night so we took the train back to the Eiffel tower. The Eiffel tower looked magical at night and we stayed until it sparkled at the top of the hour. We even caught a proposal that had a giant “Marry Me” sign placed on the banks on the Seine. I had only ever seen pictures of the Paris proposals and it was very romantic to be able to witness one.
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