Sightseeing: The Beginning

I finally ventured out into the town to see what this city is truly about. I must say, the atmosphere is much different than Spain- it is much more open, free, and green. Also- there is shopping EVERYWHERE! Today, I found a street, or "rue" as they call it in French (see, I'm learning), where all they sell is purses! I have also discovered that the worst day to shop is Tuesday and the best days are Thursday and Friday. It turns out Tuesday is delivery day of all the new items in every store in Paris. We literally walked through an assembly line of employees passing boxes from the truck in the street to the store inside.

However, Paris offers much more than shopping. We started off our sightseeing by just taking a walk through the city. We walked by the Pompidou Center where the beams, pipes, and escalators are all on the exterior of the building. It is something that definitely wouldn't work in the U.S.- but it created somewhat of a movie. People sat in the plaza alongside the building and merely watched the visitors circulating through the building, or should I say the outside of the building.

Next we came to the Cathedral of Notre Dame. This cathedral is absolutely amazing from the exterior, all I can picture when I see it is my history class first year. We spent an entire class period learning about the buttresses on this building. However, the interior was a little bland. It was expected; nothing stook out to draw me into the building. But I could have looked at the exterior for hours.

We then came to the Louvre. We haven't entered the museum yet, but I sat with my feet in the fountain surrounding the glass pyramid in the center courtyard to cool off. This pyramid was a huge controversy when it was first built. Most Parisians felt that it obstructed the Louvre, but to me, I feel as through it only enhanced it. The large glass pyramid with shallow pools surrounding it allowed this courtyard to have meaning and be used by passers-by, not just those planning on attending the museum. To me, this was an act of genius.

Today was another long day. In the morning we went to the Musee des Arts et Metiers, comparable to the Museum of Science and Industry. Here, I saw Pascal's calculator, the first computer, and some of the first instruments ever built. We spent over 2 hours here, and still didn't see everything. Best of all- it was completely free!

Next we saw the "Roman" amphitheatre. It wasn't very old by any means, but it was a beautiful place to relax and enjoy the Parisian air. There were children playing in the center and some old men playing botchi ball- just a very nice place to sit and take it easy for a while.

We ended today with a trip up the Eiffel Tower. I must say, it was a mix between a movie and a trip to Six Flags. It took over two hours to go through the entire monument, and most of that time was spent in lines. But looking past that and the immense amount of people surrounding me, it was amazing. The structure is a work of art and the idea of creating a structural, useful, city emblem inspires me. Gustav Eiffel, the engineer of the project, had his apartment at the very top of the tower- imagine living with the most amazing view of Paris outside of your window everyday. You can literally see the entire city of Paris from the top of the tower. It is the tallest standing structure in Europe, and just approaching it gives that away. It's an experience unlike any other; similar to reaching the top of the Sears Tower, but completely different at the same time.

This was a long post- and if you got through the entire thing, I sincerely applaud you. I will try and update this more often and therefore keep each post slightly shorter. I miss you all back at home, but I also wish you were here to experience all of this with me! Thank you for everything!