Paris, the fashion center of the world, is somewhere I have always wanted to visit since I was young, because my dream as a young kid was to become a fashion designer like my mother. I thought I would take this chance to make a trip to Paris, France with my group members. From Incheon International Airport, we took an afternoon flight and arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport at around 6 in the evening. We decided to take a cab to our hotel in Paris, because we were all extremely tired from the long flight. The hotel we booked for out stay in Paris was Ritz Paris, a five-star, very luxurious hotel that is located near all the destinations we have planned to visit in the days to come. We arrived at the hotel around 8 o’clock, and we decided to stay in for the night so we can get enough rest for the next three days.
My first impression of Paris was that the city was very modern but at the same time also full of beautiful traditional buildings. Because it was my first time in Europe, everything was very different from what I’ve seen in Seoul or California. I was very excited to take a tour around the beautiful city! I lied down on my bed looking out the window on the night view of the city of Paris, dreaming of the upcoming days.
October 5, 2009
This was the first full day we had in Paris, and we had a lot in store for the first day. After everyone got ready we headed for our first destination, Musee du Louvre, or the Louvre Museum. Usually I am not a big fan of museums, but the Louvre is the largest national museum of France and the most visited museum in the world so it was a must-visit location. The museum consists of more than 380,000 objects and 35,000 works of art so it was impossible to look through the whole museum in the limited time that we had. We decided it would be better to split up and meet again in a couple of hours.
The museum is divided into eight curatorial departments, and the first part I wanted to see was the Painting department where Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is held. I have taken art lessons since I was young, and always had an exceptional interest in oil paintings because I thought it best expresses my feelings. When I went to find the Mona Lisa, there were many visitors from all over the world. The museum was so large I had a hard time finding my way around the place but I went to find the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman department. I saw the very famous Venus de Milo, and many other sculptures and paintings. The last place I visited was the Egyptian antiquities department. There I saw Tamutnefret’s coffins, Great Sphinx of Tanis, The Seated Scribe, and many other works of art. When I visit museums I am always eager to leave but this was the first time I wanted to stay longer and explore the great place more. However, we had more plans and were very hungry so we left the place, hoping to come again in the future. We went for a late lunch at Le Grand Louvre, a restaurant situated under the Pyramid that serves traditional French cuisines.
Next we headed to Place de la Concorde, situated not far from the museum, which is one of the major public squares in Paris. There we saw the Obelisk of Luxor and the two fontaines de la Concorde. Place de la Concorde is located at the eastern end of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, and we planned to walk through the avenue to the Arc de Triomphe. The avenue was beautiful and had numerous cafes and luxurious shop with clipped chestnut trees all along the street. We visited many stores including the largest Adidas store in the world. Before we knew it we arrived at the western end of the avenue, to arrive at the Arc de Triomphe. It was nice to be at the place I have only seen through pictures, but there was nothing much to do there so we took turns taking pictures and had left.
The last destination for the day was Tour Maine-Montparnasse, the tallest skyscraper in Paris located in Montparnasse. There is a terrace on the top floor of the building where people can go to enjoy the view of the city, so we went right to the top floor when we arrived. We arrived just in time to see the sun set over the city of Paris. We took so many pictures; everyone must have noticed that we were tourists visiting for the first time. After taking about a hundred pictures, we went down to the 56th floor where Le Ciel de Paris, an uppermost restaurant located 200 meters above the city. As were having dinner, the sun had set so we also had a chance to enjoy the night view of Paris. After dinner, it was already 10 o’clock at night and we went back to the hotel.
October 6, 2009
On the first day, we did a lot of the things that ordinary tourists will do such as going to a museum and visiting famous places. On the second day, I planned to do some more interesting things. Again we woke up extra early to make the most of our day. We went down for breakfast at L’Espadon, a restaurant located inside the hotel. The breakfast was great and fulfilling, served with freshly squeezed fruit juice, a basket of home made pastries, eggs with bacon and mushrooms, home made smoked salmon, sliced fresh fruit, a glass of Ritz champagne, and coffee. With our stomachs full, we headed for the Grand Palais where the Chanel show was planned to be held. I insisted that we visit Paris during the Paris Fashion Week so we can feel the lively vibe of fashion week and also see a show. The 2010 Spring/Summer Chanel show was held at 10:30 in the morning inside the palace. Soo Chul and Jae Min did not nearly enjoy the show as much as I did, they did not understand why we had to sit there watching a row of people walk. However, I was extremely excited to see Karl Lagerfeld and his new designs for the next season. The show was very different from the usual Chanel shows which are very modern and chic but the theme of this show was going back to nature.
The next place we went to was Tour Eiffel, or the Eiffel Tower. I was awed by the great presence of the Eiffel Tower, seeing the tower in person brought so much more life and excitement than seeing it in pictures and films. The tower was divided into the ground level, first floor, second floor, and the top level. We visited each level and took numerous pictures. After having a look around we went to Le Jules Verne, a restaurant located on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower, to have lunch. Soo Chul was still very full from the big breakfast that we had so he ended up not eating as much as Jae Min and me.
There is a sightseeing cruise on the Seine River that leaves from the Eiffel Tower, so we went to take a cruise around the city. The cruise is one hour long and goes around Musee d’Orsay, the Notre Dame, Place de la Concorde, Grand Palais and comes back to the tower. All throughout the cruise I still could not believe that I was actually in Paris on the Seine River, looking around the city. It was very different from the cruise I had taken on the Han River in Seoul. After we had arrived back at the Eiffel Tower, we headed for our next destination.
We arrived at Palais Garnier at approximately 6 in the evening, where we had planned to see Giselle at 7:30. This event was again one that I had insisted on though the guys in my group did not want to watch it nearly as much as I did. Palais Garnier is a grand opera house located on the Place de l'Opéra. We had a look around the opera house before we went to watch the show and saw the Grand Staircase and the Grand Foyer. It came time for the ballet, so we headed to watch the show. Giselle is a two act ballet that tells the story of a peasant girl named Giselle who protects her lover from the vengeance of a group of evil female spirits called the Wilis. Walking out from the show, our whole group was touched and moved by the story and the dances.
When we had returned to the hotel it was past 10 and Soo Chul and I were exhausted from the long day, but Jae Min insisted on having a drink. On returning, we went right to the Bar Vendome, a bar located inside the hotel, and had a cocktail. Jae Min wanted to stay longer but at midnight, we dragged him back to the room so we can get some rest for our last day in Paris. The day flew by, and I was extremely satisfied because we had done all the things that I dreamt of doing for years.
October 7, 2009
This was the last day we had in Paris so we had decided to make the most of it. Because Jae Min loved the breakfast we had on the previous day, we went to the same restaurant to have breakfast there again. Early in the morning, we headed for Montmartre. We had previously planned to sleep in on this day, but with the recommendation of Professor Hong Joo Hee we had altered our plans to sleep less and visit Montmartre! Montmartre is the home many famous artists such as Salvador Dalí, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh. We had walked through the streets of Montmartre and enjoyed all different types and styles of paintings by many amateur artists with much potential.
At around noon, we headed for Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, one of the most fashionable streets of Paris. The street is home to virtually every major global fashion house. All of us enjoyed shopping there and looking at the Parisian fashion people on the streets. After shopping for some time, we went to Jardin du Palais Royal. It is a large, beautiful garden with fountains, trees, and a cathedral. The garden was a fresh breath of air in the busy city of Paris. We walked around and enjoyed the nature for about an hour. After the garden, the last place we visited was Notre Dame de Paris. Though we did not have much time left until the flight, I wanted to visit Notre Dame de Paris because it is one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture in the world. Cathedrals like such are what make the modern city seem so traditional at the same time.
It came time for us to return to the hotel to get our bags and check-out. In the hotel room, I looked out the window to take one last glance at the city of Paris before I left. At the moment, the last three days had felt like a dream. We finally took a cab and went to the airport. Before getting on the flight to Incheon, we visited the duty free shop and had a look around. On the flight, everyone fell asleep and probably dreamt of the times we spent together in Paris. The trip was exciting, fun, busy, new, but most importantly very beautiful. We all dream of the days to go back for a second trip.
References
1. The Louvre Museum: http://www.louvre.fr
2. Le Grand Louvre: http://www.eliancemusees.com/indexGLUKT.html
3. Place de la Concorde: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_de_la_Concorde
4. Transportation: http://www.ratp.fr/
5. The Bar Vendome: http://www.ritzparis.com/jump_to.asp?id_target=1330&id_lang=2
6. L’Espadon: http://www.ritzparis.com/jump_to.asp?id_target=1310&id_lang=2
7. Palais Garnier: http://www.operadeparis.fr/cns11/live/onp/
8. Hotel Ritz Paris: http://www.ritzparis.com/home_ritz/home.asp?id_lang=2
9. Chanel S/S 2010: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/paris-fashion-week/6264763/Paris-Fashion-Week-Chanel.html
10. Giselle:http://www.operadeparis.fr/cns11/live/onp/Saison_2009_2010/Ballets/spectacle.php?lang=en&selected_season=354663924&event_id=424&CNSACTION=SELECT_EVENT
11. Montmartre: http://enc.daum.net/dic100/contents.do?query1=20XXX60122
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