Destination: Paris, France (2018 New Year’s Edition)– Part 1

Couple of days after New Year’s, I headed out to Paris for a few nights. Even though I had barely five days of recovery between getting back from Italy and Spain with my family and Paris, I still went anyway. Considering that I hadn’t been to Paris since returning to France in August, I thought it would be a good opportunity to go back.

Originally, I hadn’t planned on visiting Paris after the New Year’s, instead waiting until the following week in January to go to Toulouse to see a friend. But when a friend of mine had proposed to idea of a post-New Year’s getaway to the French capital, I didn’t mind jumping on-board. I saw that Flixbus tickets from my city to Paris weren’t expensive, so I booked them before Christmas (while still on vacation in Italy), and looked for accommodations for the two of us.

Just a few days prior to departure, however, my friend ended up flaking the last minute, which didn’t exactly thrill me, but all the same, I still decided to go to Paris on my own. I was also having trouble finding a Couchsurfing host, as Paris is notorious for being difficult to do so. I was very fortunate that one reached out to me just two days before I left, and it turned out to be one of the best Couchsurfing experiences I’ve had so far. Soon enough, I packed my backpack once more, and I set out for the City of Lights.

Journey time took about seven hours; the day I left was particularly windy, as there happened to be Storm Eleanor affecting the entire country. I heard that winds were up to 120 km/hr, which made for a rocky bus ride over– thankfully, we made it safely and ahead of schedule!

My Couchsurfing host lived in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, also known as Chinatown. What made this host distinctive was that she had a family (husband, two children), so it was my first time surfing with a family, which turned out to be absolutely lovely. They were dynamic, and we had plenty of wonderful conversations on French and English languages, and I also got home-cooked meals prepared by her husband, along with plenty of wine and spirits to boot. Her children were super sweet, with the oldest being ten and almost bilingual in English, which made communication easy and even fun– turns out that I don’t completely despise children!

Upon arriving the first day, I settled in and decided to go out for a stroll before it got dark. I first headed to the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, which I’d been told had lovely views of the Sacré Coeur in the distance. Unfortunately, it was closed for the winter, and it wouldn’t re-open until April, which was disappointing. All the same, I wandered the 19th arrondissement, which has the “famous” Chinatown, and I happen to stumble upon rue Denoyez, a small street filled with colorful street art. I saw artists at work, along with plenty of visitors posing in front of the walls for their Instagrammable shots. Continuing down the boulevard des Pyrénées, I caught a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower in the distance and couldn’t help but snap a photo of it against the late-afternoon sun.

I returned to my host’s flat in the early evening, where I had my first taste of her husband’s cooking, which was delicious. After some rounds of wine and whiskey-tasting, I was definitely ready for bed.

The following morning was my first full day in Paris. I started the day at the Palais Garnier, also informally known as the “Opéra.” Built in the 19th century, this opera house seats almost 2000 spectators and is a popular tourist attraction to marvel at. Although I’ve passed by this place numerous times during previous visits, I never actually went in– hence, that day was the day to go for it! Paying 8€ admission, I was not disappointed upon seeing its red-velvet Grand Staircase, neatly trimmed with dimmed lights that offered a lush, royal glow to the area. However, it was the Grand Foyer that was the stunner, its golden interior and dozens of chandeliers vividly reminding me of the opulent Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. If I hadn’t known better, I would’ve mistaken the Opéra for a château!

After wandering through the rooms and the lavish Paris-Opera Library Museum (and a peek into the grand theater), I headed out to check out the Palais Royal, which was only a 10-minute walk from the Palais Garnier. More specifically, I wanted to see les Deux Plateaux, which is an art piece by minimalist artist Daniel Buren. Constructed back in the late eighties, this art piece is situated inside the palace’s courtyard with some dozen-odd striped columns, some taller and shorter than the other. It has been considered a controversial work, due to the fact that Buren hadn’t considered the palace’s historic status under the Commission des Monuments Historiques and the project’s high cost. While I wouldn’t say it’s the most compelling art piece I’ve seen before, les Deux Plateaux makes for another attraction for visitors to check out.

Just before lunch, I checked out the Paroisse Saint-Eustache, a church right next to Les Halles in the heart of the city. Normally, I wouldn’t go out of my way to see churches (after seeing so many of them in Europe), but Saint-Eustache definitely caught my interest when I’d done my research. Besides having a high-vaulted ceiling and a fairly-lovely interior, it also contains a stained-glass window depicting charcuterie, as the area used to house a slaughterhouse– in fact, I could still smell remnants of meat inside the church, and I can assure you that I wasn’t hallucinating! The stained glass had been erected in 2000, and it depicts the saints of charcuterie (I suppose), alone with an image of a pig. Certainly something unexpected from such a pious place!

With my visit of the “charcuterie” church over, I was definitely hungry once I exited. I got lunch right afterwards to satisfy my stomach, before I continued exploring for the rest of the afternoon.

I’ll recap the second part of my time in Paris in the next post, so stay tuned!

 

— Rebecca