Louvre and Walking Tour of Paris

September 22nd

Rochelle and Emily had class at 9:00, so I got up when they did and organized what I would need for the day.  This morning we were going to the Louvre and I wanted to arrive early.  Ashley, Ryan, and I bought fresh baguettes from the bakery on our way to the metro.

The metro stop for the Louvre museum opened into a mall below the large glass pyramid.  I wanted to go straight to the Mona Lisa.  We walked past the first sculptures to the top of the stairs where we were greeted by an amazing statue from the pre-Greek era.  It was headless with giant wings.  Walking through the hallway of Renaissance art, we turned into the room with the mona Lisa.  I was able to stand relatively close, as it was in a thick glass case and blocked from the crowd by ropes that created a distance of 15 or so feet.  It was amazing to see and I spent a long time looking at it.  From there, we toured a few levels and rooms.  My favorite artist of the day was David.  In addition to the Mona Lisa, I was excited to see other famous paintings like "Liberty Leading the People," and "Napoleon Crowning himself Emperor" as well.  We wandered the rooms filled with sculptures and tapestries and "finished" in the furniture collection of the Louvre.  Everything was amazing and the Louvre itself was ridiculously huge.  Apparently, only 1% of the entire collection is on display.

After 4 hours in the Louvre, we went to a cafe and then met Rochelle and Emily at the Sciences Po campus.  Sciences Po is the premier political university in France.  All of the French diplomats and Presidents have gone there.  Its nearly impossible to get it as a French student, but there is a large international exchange program.  The program Rochelle and Emily are doing is also UC EAP like mine in Granada, but it requires a higher GPA and the classes are offered in English, not French.  Their school was throwing a party on Wednesday night and had rented out a club.  We were invited to come by Rochelle and Emily and we bought our tickets to the party.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through the city.  We tried going to the catacombs but they were closed on Mondays.  We went to one of the large graveyards in the city and saw the grave of Sartre and other famous writers and poets.  Walking past the Bastille, we headed toward the Invalides, home of Napoleon's tomb, but found it closed when we arrived.  It was nearly 8:00pm and the sun was about to set.  We walked back along the banks of the Seine toward the Louvre, passing amazing buildings and watching the sun set.

We stopped at a market and picked up ingredients for dinner.  Back at the apartment, we had a wonderful evening as we cooked, listened to music, and enjoyed the effervescent atmosphere of Paris.

After dinner, we went to a pub with some of Rochelle and Emily's international friends.  Although I was really enjoying Paris, I appreciated living in Granada even more as everything here was very expensive.  Also, the French are not like the Spanish in regards to social life during the week, as everyone left the pub at 12:30 to catch the last metro.  In Granada, things would just be getting started.