Paris, Day 2

Since M&M wanted to head to the Louvre, which I'd already done, I decided to head to the church of Saint-Pierre de Montmartre atop the highest point in France, since it was close to our hostel. Once I arrived, I realized I'd been before when on tour before my semester abroad. It's harder to notice and figure out where you're going when you're on a guided tour, where others pick out the points of interests instead of you doing your own research. I think I like the security of guided tours in countries where I don't speak the language, but I think I have a greater appreciation for most things when I look them up for myself. I also enjoy the freedom of being able to wander and stop whenever and however long I want to get a photo just right. I still walked up all the stairs to see the view. It was all right, a little hazy, but the church itself is just lovely (and massive).

I'm not going to hark back too much to my previous post about how Europeans think nothing of these seriously old houses and churches that litter their streets, but it does make me wonder a little about what I might be under appreciating at home.

The Arc du Triumphe. I hadn't realized that the Germans were the first to walk through it triumphantly, after taking Paris during World War I, seeing as Napoleon, who began its construction, began losing shortly afterward, never to see it while victorious.

I was lucky in that they were allowing people up to the top for free on Sunday, so I figured I'd give it a go. It was a pretty awesome view, a lot closer up than from Montmartre. They also had a cool exhibit inside that was a miniature Arc that rotated around and talked about the specific carvings.

Many bridges in Paris (and elsewhere)
are covered in locks, often with the names
of lovers etched on, promising to come
back to Paris.

After that, I hot footed it to Le Muesee Oree for the Impressionist exhibit mainly, though the sculptures are always cool. It's so neat to see paintings I've seen pictures of forever in the flesh, so to speak. You can look at the individual brush strokes and know that at some point, the painter was standing where you are, examining it with a critical eye as well. I also really love Impressionism for how they can make a blur of paint look like a person up until you're close enough to see it for the daub it is.

After that, I met up with M&M and we went into the bowls of Paris to find a carosel. It was on a dark scary street and was just as dark inside, though lit with a red light. People were singing along to songs we didn't know in French, and we were the only ones nervously not singing. We kind of left quickly.

The typical Parisian lifestyle. Copyright Marisa Corley 2012.