Bonjour My Friends

Spontaneous weekends are always the best. Not that this weekend trip to Paris was totally spontaneous, but an unsure trip. I’ve known this weekend was free for travel since the beginning of the program, but I didn’t know how I wanted to spend it. I looked extensively into making it to Croatia and a few other places were high on the list. Paris was never one of these places on my list until it turned up as the cheapest flight on SkyScanner. My group of friends and I debated for too long about if we actually wanted to witness Paris or travel somewhere else. In the end the eight of us hopped on a plane to France and had an unforgettable weekend.

It all started Friday after class when we ventured to Prague to catch our flight to Paris. Of course nothing goes as planned and we faced a 45-minute delay and ended up getting to our Airbnb until very, very late that night. There is no time to waste in Europe; therefore we were all up and to Versailles by 9:00am Saturday morning. I started by walking through the palace and being mesmerized by what King Louie XIV lived in. It’s crazy to think about how massive the palace is and how one is to live in such an expansive space. There was a room for every aspect of life; from tea, reading, music, and even interactions with mistresses. One of the most spectacular rooms was the Hall of Mirrors. I’ve seen pictures on line, but pictures never do the real thing any justice. I meandered down the long ballroom with my neck turning in every direction trying to take in all the details this room had to offer. Eventually we all made our way out of the palace and headed for the gardens.

The beautiful Hall of Mirrors

The gardens were the best part of this trip to Versailles. At first you can stand looking over the garden and see how far they really do stretch. Soon enough we attempted to explore this massive garden where Marie Antoinette and her children once roamed. Walking through the gardens you are met by 10-foot tall bushes on each side and water features around every turn. A few minutes into the gardens we began to hear music and followed it until we arrived at a water show. We were greeted by a spectacular show, which consisted of water shooting into the air in each direction accompanied by some music. I stood in awe as the water danced across the sky and made incredible displays. After the show we continued to mosey through the gardens and ended up finding the rest of our small group at the Grand Canal. Here we took a group pictures and continued to explore the other half of the gardens. This was a little disappointing, but only because the water shows had stopped at the fountains we came across. Nevertheless it was still beautiful and refreshing to walk outside.

A look at a small portion of the gardens

Our group at the Grand Canal

The rest of Saturday consisted at a quick stop at the Eiffel Tower, Moulin Rouge, and the Sacre-Coeur. The fast paced weekend continued on Sunday beginning with our walking tour. These are a great way to see a lot of the city and learn a plethora of information from a knowledgeable source. On the tour we stop to see Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Love Lock Bridge, and a few other historical monuments. Our tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable and had amazing stories about Paris. This was by far one of the best walking tours I had taken thus far. Soon enough our tour was over and we followed our guide to a little cafeteria where some of us chowed down on a huge meal. Afterward my friend Nick and I strolled back down to Notre Dame to see inside. It was mind blowing knowing that you were standing in the same church where previous Popes and Kings of France had stood hundreds of years before. Notre Dame was massive and a great site worth seeing. Next we both waited in line where we got in free to the Sainte-Chapelle, because we got them to believe that we were European Citizens with our international student cards. This was a total win and we gazed at the stained glass that was before us. Once again, I had seen pictures but they did this place no justice. The extensive detail and size of the windows were breath taking. After we began the long journey down to the Arc de Triomphe. As we walked down the Champs Elysees, the Arc began to get closer and closer and larger and larger. I had no idea the Arc was this massive. I once again stood there admiring another monument.

The outside of Notre Dame

There it is!

The famous love lock bridge full of lover's locks

Considered to be the best art museum in the world!

Amazing stained glass in the Sainte-Chapelle

In the distance Nick and I could see skyscrapers off in the distance and an interesting building that looked like it had a hole in it. Our curiousness got the best of us and we made the one and a half hour walk to this mysterious building. Within an hour we cross a river and were in a completely different part of Paris. Imagine a futuristic city with sleek buildings and awesome features. Whatever comes to your mind, this is what it looked like. We had left the historic district and entered the modern district. Nick and I kept saying to each other how cool this area was and how different it was from what we just saw. At the end of our walk we ended up underneath this building with a hole in it. Turns out that it was another arc, built to mimic the Arc de Triomphe. It appears that this massive, modern arc was home to a university. Before long we were headed back to try and catch the sunset by the Eiffel Tower. We made it in time and climbed up to the Trocadero. Here we all sat on a ledge with live music in our ears and the beautiful Eiffel Tower in our sights. It engulfed the night sky as it shined. At dark at the top of the hour for five minutes something spectacular happens. The Eiffel Tower starts to twinkle. For five minutes lights flashed and my eyes were fixed on the beauty in front of me.

A look at the modern Paris, which most don't get to see

It was so relaxing just being able to witness the Eiffel Tower and others sites some people can only dream about. This dream came to a close when my alarm went off at 4 am on Monday morning. This meant an early flight back to Prague and the final journey home to Olomouc.  I never really wanted to go to Paris. That soon turned into another unforgettable weekend exploring one of the most famous cities in the world.