Hello there! My name is Deanne and I am a Communication major. After studying abroad in Paris for two weeks, I am ready to recount my tales through photos and stories. I promise not to bore you :)
Paris was more than a perfect Christmas vacation, it was a spiritual retreat that came at just the right moment.
As I waited at Gate 8 of JFK to begin boarding, I was distressed. 2015 was a year filled with death (morbid, I know) and heartbreak (man up, I agree). Although I was excited to begin my travels, I was crying in the airport over all of the things that had happened in my life so quickly. But I also wondered why I was upset when I was about to travel to a spectacular city. There were new people I was nervously excited to befriend. Memories to be made and to distract from the chaos in my mind.
Brother Rob, our professor, initially called our trip a "pilgrimage," and I cannot agree more. Paris was everything I needed and more.
The first thing I took in when I began to look around Paris was the beauty of the city itself. At 2,000 years old, Paris has an age to it that is impossible to find in the States.
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| Seine River |
Above is my first night in Paris. On the right is one of two remaining natural islands in Paris - Île de la Cité. This island houses the Notre Dame, Louis IX's Saint Chappelle (a gorgeous chapel I'll reveal in a different post), and the Conciergerie Prison, where Marie Antionette awaited her execution in 1793.
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| Paris as seen from Sacre-Couer. |
Not pictured is a 19-century basilica built by the French government following the Franco-Prussian War. I will feature photos of the large medieval dome in a future post on churches, but for now let us take in the AMAZING view of Paris it provided. Paris is not a "tall" city. If you look to the right you can see the only skyscraper in Paris: Tour Montparnasse. Our hotel was located next to this building that once built, prompted angry Parisian citizens to change city planning
guidelines, banning any construction beyond 37 meters.
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| Just a door. Kind of looks like an owl I think. |
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| Pretty cobblestone streets and the classic all black aesthetic. |
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| The street my hotel was on :D |
Foreign street signs are always cooler than American street signs.
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| My artsy photo of scenic France. Versailles. |
The picture above was a blurry quick take, but ended up turning out quite beautiful to me.
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| Taken inside the Centre Pompidou (Paris's equivalent of the MoMA) |
In the far distance is the Sacre-Coure that provided that amazing view pictured earlier.
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| An example of the gothic architecture all over Paris. |
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| Arc De Triomphe! |
I did not risk my life to take that photo.
The ornate architecture reminded me a lot of my trip to New Orleans last spring break, which is heavily influenced by French culture. Tiny iron balconies, cobblestone streets, and uniquely ornate details on the buildings.
My next post will feature an in depth look at the churches of Paris. Prepare yourself for the most gorgeous stained glass windows you're ever seen. I did not think stained glass was a big deal until I saw three-story tall hand-crafted windows in Sainte-Chappelle.
Au revoir à bientôt!
The ornate architecture reminded me a lot of my trip to New Orleans last spring break, which is heavily influenced by French culture. Tiny iron balconies, cobblestone streets, and uniquely ornate details on the buildings.
My next post will feature an in depth look at the churches of Paris. Prepare yourself for the most gorgeous stained glass windows you're ever seen. I did not think stained glass was a big deal until I saw three-story tall hand-crafted windows in Sainte-Chappelle.
Au revoir à bientôt!
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