After a few weeks of living in a country where I do not speak the native language, I was excited to travel to France. I used my high school french to try to communicate with natives but almost all of my communication attempts were returned with an english response. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in France. Due to unfortunate flight times, I had limited time to spend here. The first day, my friends and I hit all of the necessary tourist destinations: Montmartre, Sacré Cœur, Le Marais, Notre Dame, the Louvre, Musée D’Orsay, Champs Elysées, and the Eiffel Tower. The second day, we traveled to Versailles to tour the Palace and ended our time in Paris in front of the Eiffel Tower.
The Sacré Cœur is a beautiful basilica near Montmartre, a neighborhood in the eighteenth arrondissement in Paris.
The Sacré Cœur overlooks the entire city of Paris.
Although foggy, the view from la Sacré Cœur was beautiful- you could see many miles of Paris.
Following the fire of spring 2019, La Cathédrale Notre Dame is under construction. Signs surrounding the ruins state that full repair does not seem possible due to the extent of the damages.
Le Louvre is a world famous art museum in the center of Paris. It is home to hundreds of works of art from many centuries.
Luckily, entry is free on Fridays for students, so I was able to view the artwork inside.
These paintings were my favorite- they depict portraits of people composed of different types of food.
Shortly after I left Le Louvre, demonstrations started. Throughout our visit, I saw many police officers heavily armed as they were expecting many protests throughout the weekend. Currently, the French are protesting the metro as well as their government. The sign to the right says “We cry ‘revolution'”
The Seine River runs throughout the city of Paris and enhances the city’s beauty.
On the right side of the bridge, there are some police vehicles awaiting protesters.
The Champs-Elysées is surrounded by department stores but nonetheless provides a great view of L’Arc de Triomphe as you cross the street. Because of the protests, most of the Champs-Elysées was car-free until just before the Arc.
I spent most of my time in Paris at La Tour Eiffel. The pictures do not do it justice.
At night, I was lucky enough to see the light show at the Eiffel Tower. This display occurs for the first 10 minutes of every hour after dark.
Foods and Drinks
There are certain culinary “rights of passage” in France. Of course, I had to try crepes, macarons, brie, champagne, and baguettes while I was there. On my last night in Paris, I ate my baguette and drank champagne in front of the Eiffel Tower as the light show commenced. (FYI, there is a strange law in most European countries where public drinking is legal as long as you also are eating food- hence, the baguette).
Of those classic french foods, my favorite was the macarons- I tried flavors such as lemon, raspberry, salted caramel, chocolate, and coffee. However, I am not sure if I truly liked the taste as much as the experience- ordering these macarons was the only time I was able to carry out a full conversation in French.
About Abroad 