Travel post a little late: Paris, part 1

Paris, in all its majestic and historically-rich glory, is one of the most breathtaking places in the world. And it is personally my favorite place. Beneath the abundance of cigarette smoke and funky odors drifting around the metro is a city like no other. Paris does get some schtick for being a hoity-toity, pretentious metropolis (and in MANY ways, it certainly is) but it only seems so if you are consumed in all the stereotypes too much. When you are enriched in all the culture and history and are opened to what the city has to offer, it truly is a wonderful city. Simply wonderful.

Like any big tourist-attracting city, the locals may get a bit snobby towards visitors. Some people still don't pick up their dogs' crap from the sidewalks. And of course, you can never ever be too mindful of your belongings. But all the cobblestone streets lead to such great adventure. You can strip away all the bad and have an amazing experience.

I spent six days (!!!) in Paris, which gave me time to explore many things that I haven't seen before. I've been to Paris a few times before, but certainly not like this. The first two days were spent with a family friend, and the last four were spent with a cousin (whom I hadn't seen in almost 15 years!!).

My stay with the family friend was spent seeing all the big touristy hot spots. Sure, I've been all of them before...but Paris can't be complete without the Eiffel Tower!

I started my day at Musée D'Orsay, one of the famous art museums in Paris. I had visited D'Orsay the last time I was in Paris, but did not have enough time to see all the art. After some time at the art museum, we spent some time relaxing on the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower and then visited Paris Plages, which is a strip of "beach" right by the Seine. There is a stretch of sand by the river so people can sunbathe or kids can play in the sand. There's also many activities and events that happen on Paris Plages, like water aerobics (did I mention there is a pool right by the Seine as well?).

The second day started off in Montmartre to see the Sacre Coeur, which is the second highest point in Paris, the Eiffel Tower being the highest, of course. Then we took a waterbus up and down the Siene, making stops at many points throughout the city, including the Champs Elysees.

It was nice seeing all the familiar places, but I think that I'm done with all the touristy things for a while. Luckily, I explored some fresh, new places in Paris during the remainder of my stay. Until the next post!