I waited anxiously just outside baggage claim at the Madrid airport on Wednesday, January 7, the day after I arrived back in Spain. Due to a flight delay and luggage issues, Justin was not on time, and I nervously wondered if I were in the right location to meet him. Finally, my tall, blond hair, blue eyed boyfriend walked through the automatic sliding doors, and I realized when we embraced one another in greeting that I was shaking. I was also somewhat speechless. I didn’t expect that reaction, but I suppose I was in a bit of a shock to see someone that I care about so deeply after being apart for so long. The shock did wear off, and we jumped right back into our typical joking and telling stories about our most recent adventures. Unfortunately, Justin’s luggage didn’t make his connecting flight and had been left in Istanbul, but he only had to go one day without his things, because it arrived on the next day.
Thursday we went to the airport twice—once to retrieve Justin’s luggage, and once to catch our flight to Paris. We landed at the Charles de Gaulle airport around 10:30 p.m. and caught the train into the city. We stayed at a hostel in the old part of town, along the Seine River and a stone’s throw from the hunchback’s famous home. Paris was COLD, below freezing our entire stay. Snow still covered unused walkways and gardens, remnants of the giant blizzard that hit northern Europe earlier in the week. However, we didn’t let the bitter cold stop us from enjoying our time in one of the world’s greatest cities, even if we did lose feeling in our fingers all too often.
We had two full days in Paris, and we walked all over that town. First, we toured the Louvre Museum on Friday morning. We arrived just as the doors under the glass pyramid were opening, and we spent over three hours touring perhaps the most famous museum in the world. Thanks to my friend KK, we had a secret weapon that helped us take advantage of our precious time in Paris. Before leaving, I had downloaded podcasts by travel writer Rick Steves, and Justin and I had our own free audio guide tours of the Louvre, the d’Orsay Museum, and historic Paris. Rick took us through the major galleries to see the most important works found in the Louvre, giving us the low-down on the art, the artists, and the historical background of it all.
This is the controversial glass pyramid (designed by an American architect in 1989) in the central plaza of the Louvre. Note how there are no people in this picture... we were there early!
After spending over fours hours walking through the giant and decadent palace, its galleries and its gardens, we ducked into a small French café to rest and refuel with paninis and soup. Then, we spent all Friday afternoon walking through the right bank of town and hiked to Sacré Coeur, the white-walled basilica perched at the top of the hill in a neighborhood called Montmartre. If you’ve ever seen Moulin Rouge, Montmartre is the infamous red light district and home of the early 20th century “Bohemian revolution.” In fact, we found the Moulin Rouge… but I must admit that my movie-like expectations were not met, and I was a bit let down by the small red windmill nonchalantly sitting on a low rooftop. Unfortunately, the Moulin Rouge still reigns queen of the red light district… so Justin and I opted not to dilly-dally in the area for too long, and we continued our walk back towards central, up-town Paris.
This picture was taken from the window of the D'Orsay Museuam. You can see the faint outline of the Sacre Cour in the background. The Louvre Palace is in the foreground. Note the snow on the ground.
We took our hostel up on their dinner special at their restaurant (ok, maybe it was more like a cafeteria) and ate an inexpensive meal before moving on to our entertainment event for the night: ice skating in front of the Hotel de Ville. Laced up in our bladed footwear, we slid out onto the ice rink, circling it dozens of times, hand-in-hand, and people watching while we skated (and watching out for people). An ice skating gang, a group of about a dozen young guys, controlled the rink and induced fear in the hearts of uneasy skaters as they weaved in and out at break-neck speeds while they played, get this, sharks and minnows. When our time was up, we decided to cross the Seine River for the first time. We walked past Notre Dame, quietly standing guard over her Ile St-Louis, and we entered the lively Latin Quarter, where small streets are overflowing with delicious foods from all over. Justin and I chose a quaint French restaurant to end our night with some wine, bread, and cheese.
Since it was so cold, I let Justin take most of the pictures and kept my hands inside my pockets. He's got the good ones of us, which I'll post later. This was a very common sight that I saw.
On Saturday, we started with a Rick Steves tour of the d’Orsay Museum. Again, Rick didn’t lead us astray. We went back to the Latin Quarter for lunch before using Rick’s guidance one last time on our Historic Paris tour. We walked through Notre Dame, along the river, through the left bank streets, through Ste. Chapelle, and ending on Pont Neuf. As the sun began to set, we took the crazy Parisian metro to the Arc de Triumph. Justin took lots of pictures while I waited in the freezing cold. We walked to the Eiffel Tower, and we waited in line to go up to the top. Sadly, the highest level was closed, so we couldn’t go all the way up… but we got pretty high, and all of Paris lay below us. Yes, it was pretty romantic. It was also really cold. Once we came back down on the frozen French soil, we went in search of a nice dinner, and we found a small restaurant overlooking the Notre Dame.
Paris at dusk.
Justin and I opened up the metro on Sunday morning in order to get to the airport in time for our 8:00 am flight back to Madrid. We spent the entire day recuperating from our exhilarating and exhausting time in Paris, napping and lounging around my apartment. We needed to recharge, because we were about to start my work week in Madrid.
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