The Eiffel tower. It’s the most iconic building in the world, commercialized to the point of being cliché, I may or may not have made a macaroni sculpture of it for a seventh grade French class, whatever. Go to Paris and it’s all you can look at. The magnetic pull of the Eiffel tower is all around you in its sheer size when you’re standing below it, in the way it peeks out from behind buildings in the most unexpected places, and in its twinkling amidst the pink Parisian sunsets. I couldn’t stay away from it, and every day of the trip featured an appearance from the tower. My experience here started off on the gloomy side, but it seems like the city decided to prove me wrong and show me an exponentially better time each day to the point where, at the end of our last day, I was completely enchanted.
When we stepped off the Chunnel on our first morning and set out to see the city, we walked long distances in a downpour, but we saw some pretty sights in the course of that grey day.
When we stepped off the Chunnel on our first morning and set out to see the city, we walked long distances in a downpour, but we saw some pretty sights in the course of that grey day.
: Day 2
Versailles: Hoping my pal Elder Brendan Christiansen would happen to be tracting among the tourists that day, touring the grandest palace in the world, and walking the gardens, whose size put the palace to shame
Versailles: Hoping my pal Elder Brendan Christiansen would happen to be tracting among the tourists that day, touring the grandest palace in the world, and walking the gardens, whose size put the palace to shame
When we emerged from the Musee D'Orsay later that day, Paris turned on the magic that it has in the movies. The pink and blue cotton candy clouds swirl together, the lights start to glint off the Seine, and the Eiffel Tower sparkles.
Feeling particularly Frenchy, Addie, Lexie, Corey, my favorite Todd twins and I looked for a restaurant. We stopped to inspect a menu on a window, and before we could even process it, a charismatic French waiter had already swept us inside with a knowing smile and a "Come onnnn," leaving us really no choice but to eat at Le Buci. We sat outdoors under heat lamps and dined on Croque Monsieurs with french fries and split Creme Brulee, making fun of boys (only fitting when you're in the city of love). We took the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe and scampered up the stairs just in time for the sparkling of the tower. With my hands hanging on the wrought iron fence, my head on my best friends' shoulders, the Champs Elysee busy below us, and Edith Piaf playing from Addie's phone, we watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle in silence, and it was weirdly, platonically romantic.
Day 3's superstar was riding a bike for hours on end through the freezing backstreets of Paris. I truly can't recommend Bike About Tours Paris enough. Eight of us girls paid 30 Euros each to cruise through red flower-boxed, cobblestone streets with our cute Kiwi tour guide showing us the quiet details of the city we would never have otherwise known to look for. I had a total moment with the wind in my hair, the sun on my face, crossing a bridge over the river flowing through Paris, until my hand independently slammed on my breaks and I had a lurching heart attack.
On the morning of Day 4, we did the inevitable: the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was totally worth it, although Lex and I were pinned to the wall the entire time trying not to throw up when our friends held their phones off the edge to take pictures.
We then ventured to the crepe stand that was the toast of all the BYU kids' towns. These crepes are massive. We all got one savory and one sweet, so you could say we rolled to the Metro stop after that. However, that Nutella, banana, cinnamon and coconut flake crepe was the number one crepe of Zo's life. The only concerning part was when we had been standing at the counter watching the making of our crepes for a solid fifteen minutes and a pigeon flew out from it's cozy spot right at the vendor's feet.
With the sky starting to turn its classic Paris pink, marking our last day of this dream trip, we packed into a fancy perfume store in the designer shopping district. We sampled and bought expensive perfumes from the best place in the world to get it. Opting out of the perfume, I smelled a "French Christmas" candle obsessively for the better part of our time in the store before Lauren kindly suggested I consider buying it. That candle will burn during the holidays every year, reminding me of Paris, until it runs out and it's time for me to go back.