Paris at Night

Sadly, I was not magically transported to the 1920s as I walked through Paris at night. Nevertheless, I was able to enjoy myself. I loved how the streets were like up, but the light was soft not like the harsh neon glow places like New York City has. I enjoyed walking down the cobblestone streets, seeing all the restaurants (and inhaling the scents of cooking food), the people laughing and chatting, seeing what the theaters were playing and just taking in the sights.

I sight I won't forget anytime soon was Notre Dame lit up. It reinforces the quiet power the cathedral has. It's almost surreal to see her tower above you, the kings of Judah looking across the city like watchmen.

While Ms. Voigt, Sam and I were looking at the church, we also found the Point Zero of Paris, the exact center of the city. There's a superstition that if you stand on the spot and twirl you will return to the city someday. I did so, and I hope the legend holds true!   

We Stopped by a Poet on Montmartre

On our way down from Sacré-Cœur, we stopped by a bench where an old-fashioned looking young man sat in front of a desk with a typewriter on it. We asked him if he would write us a poem, and we said we wanted it to be about physics. He thought a while, then he started typing, and this is what he wrote:

Heading Home

We flew back into the States yesterday. We woke up at 5:30 am, finished packing, and sleepily got on a van to head to the Charles de Gaulle International Airport. We checked our bags and hopped aboard Screaming Baby Airlines for a 9 1/2 hour flight. It was quite long, and we were nearly in tears when they showed "Midnight In Paris" for the in-flight movie. All of the scenes showed places we had explored only days before, and it made us immediately begin to miss the city we'd left behind. We landed in Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport, and slowly worked our way through customs. The six-hour time change was pretty tough, but before we knew it, we were on another tiny plane for an hour-long flight. My stomach was lurching like I was riding a roller coaster. "I don't think this plane is big enough to stay in the air..." said Israel. It was certainly an experience. We finally landed in RDU around 6:00 pm EST (midnight in Paris time), and dragged our jet-lagged bodies to the carousel. We grabbed our suitcases and got on the bus to head home.




All in all, we're not too pleased to be back. We missed our friends, but we're already planning to get an apartment there in the summer of 2013! Paris is a beautiful place, with gorgeous, ancient architecture, wonderful people, and the best food I've ever enjoyed. It holds a mystery that I have only begun to explore.

Metro Stations

I just thought I'd share a poem that I know :)

 

~~~~  ~~~~  ~~~~

In a Station of the Metro

The apparition of these faces in the crowd ;

Petals on a wet, black bough.

— Ezra Pound, 1913

~~~~  ~~~~  ~~~~

An example of street art, possibly by the artist called "Miss Tic," like the word "mystique."

Eiffel Tower

So everyone! Tonight, after eating Algerian food, we took a lovely stroll to the Eiffel Tower to see it all lit up! It's quite lovely, so I took a video because when the lights "sparkle" it doesn't show up in a normal picture. Enjoy!!!

Random Anecdote

Renata, Chris, Israel and I had some time to kill an evening or two ago. So we were wandering around the neighborhood, mostly looking at the bookstores.

We enter this one bookstore, one of those stores the size of a postage stamp with all the walls covered in books. The light was soft and kind of yellowish. The only sounds were the owner typing and us flipping through the books. I was content just going through them, looking for something I recognized. When suddenly....

My chest convulses and I make a familier sound. *HIC!*

Renata turns to me and starts giggling.

"Shut up." I whisper.

She just shakes her head, and I hiccup again, making her giggle even louder.

"I hate you."

"Je t'adore!"

"*HIC* No you don't! You *HIC* liar!"

Izzie and Chris have noticed what's going on and now sniggering.

"You guys! *HIC* Shut up!"

By now the ENTIRE STORE has noticed, because, like I said before, it was the size of a postage stamp.

"Je suis désolée, désolée!" The owner says between his guffaws.

"I hate *HIC* you all." But I'm leaning against the shelves laughing and each new hiccups sends us into another giggle.

"Breathe, Abi, breathe," says Izzie, doing the "yoga deep breath gesture," cupping her palms upwards and pulling them down.

"I can't! *HIC* I'm hiccuping *HIC* and laughing!"

At last I can stop laughing and my hiccups seems to have gone. The rest of the time was spent peaceably, and we made our purchases before exiting.

Got Bilbo Le Hobbit for one euro! Score!

Bonsoir, tout le monde! Good evening, everyone! We flew into Paris at 8am this morning (2am EST), put our luggage in our quaint hotel, and then started walking. We ate crepes at a small cafe and saw the Notre Dame, along with several other sites. Check out the links in the sidebar to see pictures of what we're doing!