Foreign Affairs: February 2012

Wow! It has taken me almost three weeks to update my blog about Paris. The internet connection in our hostel is not very dependable and I have had several failed attempts to upload pictures. Three weekends ago we spent five days in Paris. Our professor had a conference back in the states, so we were granted an extra day for the weekend and took full advantage, to say the least. We took the high speed Eurostar train from London to Paris which surprisingly only lasted a little over two hours. Upon arrival, we realized that getting around and asking questions would not be quite as easy as it was in London due to the language barrier. We managed to find our way with the underground metro to the area of our hotel but still spent two hours walking around mapless, directionless, and hopeless. Along the way we made friends with a few locals that were taking a smoke break. Luckily they spoke English AND had Iphones—huge help to our long, unwanted journey. We arrived to the hotel around 11 pm expecting to grab a late dinner, only disappointed to realize that shops and restaurants close around 6 in France. We settled for $15 (yes, it was a surprise) cold cuts from the hotel convenient store. We started the next day visiting the Musee de Louvre first…IMPRESSIVE. The building was built as a palace in the late 12^th century and was continuously added on to throughout the royalties. When Louis XIV declared that he would live in the Palace of Versailles, the large palace (652,300 square feet) was transformed into a museum. It currently houses the one and only Mona Lisa painting and is considered the most visited art museum in the world. I had to be selective on what galleries I viewed in only one afternoon! I saw the famous paintings and made my way to the apartments of Napoleon III (his personal living quarters in one wing). Dan and I decided that we would hate to be the child delegated to round up the family for dinnertime. After the Louvre, we made our way to the Eiffel tower. The surrounding courtyards were absolutely beautiful! Although it was chilly, the sun was out which was a treat after being in London for the week. We unfortunately did not take advantage of the blue skies and go immediately to the Eiffel—something we would later regret when it was overcast and time for everyone to climb up to the first level. I am waiting to go up the Eiffel until Evan gets here in March, so those pictures will be posted later. On the second day, we took a train to the outskirts of Paris to see the Palace of Versailles. This was probably my favorite place in Paris! The outdoor courtyards were absolutely amazing and spanned miles upon miles with statues, water passages, and sculpted landscaping. Versailles would definitely be a great place to visit during the summer when the fountains are running and the statues are uncovered. Versailles took the entire day, so we settled with a dinner at a local restaurant for the evening. By the third day, the girls were entirely way too bored with walking around looking at architecture, so we took a day off and visited the markets and shopping areas. My favorite part was going into the thrift stores…they are absolutely packed and filled with hidden treasures. Reese Witherspoon once found an original Chanel dress in this area to wear to an awards ceremony. Although I did not find my Chanel, it was fun to see the huge gap in fashion between Paris and Nebraska. Maybe in five years, we will be wearing the leather shorts they are here (YES, I did say leather shorts). The department stores and hidden boutiques were impressive but definitely not in my Von Maur price range. The rest of the trip consisted of climbing the Eiffel, visiting the Arc de Triomphe, and visiting the Notre Dame Cathedral. We had to stop on the bridge by the Notre Dame Cathedral to see the famous “love locks” locked to the fencing by couples. It was cool to compare the style of locks and dates they were locked. We saw one couple lock their lovelock—it was adorable.

Overall, Paris was fabulous. It was dirtier than I expected it to be, but then again I am comparing that to London, which is highly maintained. This may also have something to do with how Paris is made out to be this romantic, beautiful dream. One interesting thing about the UK and Europe is the way they charge sales tax. Rather than adding it on at the time of the purchase, it is already included in the listed pricing…this is convenient because prices are normally listed at an even numbers PLUS it saves on lugging extra pocket change. I am definitely looking forward to going back with Evan! I will be posting more pictures as soon as the internet improves, so check back later! We are currently in Monaco…can’t wait to update pictures because it is by the far the most beautiful place I have ever been.