It’s crazy to think that in less than one month, my life in Paris will come to an end! So I made the most of my long weekend by checking some things off the Paris bucket list!
The weekend started on Thursday with a trip to the Catacombs of Paris, which are just right down the street from the IES center. Underneath Paris there is a whole network of tunnels and abandoned mines, and this one was filled with skeletons from overcrowded Parisian cemeteries in the 1800′s. I really don’t like scary movies, and walking through the dark tunnels felt like my life had become a horror movie. It definitely didn’t help that there were signs everywhere with ominous sayings like “Stop! Here lies the kingdom of the dead.”
Spooky sights in the Catacombs!
One thing I miss about back home is breakfast, like a real hearty breakfast, not just a piece of toast. Thankfully we found a place called “Breakfast in America” where we could get a big stack of banana pancakes and a bottomless cup of joe. Once we were happily fed, it was time for some shopping! We spend over 5 hours in Galeries Lafayette, a fancy department store near my apartment. 5 hours in one store. And we didn’t even see all of it!
The holiday season starts early at Galeries Lafayette.
We had big plans to explore a few neighbourhoods of Paris on Saturday, but the freezing cold wind and pouring rain put a damper on that. We ended up wandering into the Centre Pompidou to escape the weather. I really don’t understand modern art, but it was interesting to look at and pick out which paintings I could probably do myself.
Spices hanging from the ceiling? Modern art is weird…
On Sunday morning I went to one of Paris’s largest flea markets just to browse the antiques. The market stretched for blocks and blocks and there were so many pretty (and pricey) things to look at. The antique market is surrounded by tons of people selling knock-off purses and clothes that say words in English that don’t really make any sense. It only took me 5 minutes to get there from the Metro, but it took me 45 minutes to get back because everything started looking the same. I asked an old man to point out where we were on a map, but he kept telling me to turn left before I even told him where I wanted to go. Never have I been so excited to see the Metro sign in my life!
On Monday, a took a day trip out to visit the Château de Chantilly, where parts of “A View to Kill” were filmed, and the birthplace of whipped cream. James Bond and dessert, two of my favorite things!
A perfect autumn day at Chantilly!
I still have so many things left on my Paris bucket list, but hardly any time!
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Mimi Price
<p><span style="color: rgb(29, 29, 29); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; background-color: rgb(237, 237, 237);">Hi! My name is Mimi Price and I am a junior at Santa Clara University where I study French, Economics and International Business. I have been looking forward to study abroad my whole life and I am beyond thrilled to have the opportunity to study in Paris. By the end of my program, I hope that I no longer feel like a tourist, but feel that Paris is my home. My goal is to embrace all that Paris has to offer from the language to the culture to the history. My hobbies include shopping and eating, so I think that Paris will be a good place for me!</span></p>
