Viaje 1: The land of beauty and macaroons
4:51 PMWell… it's been awhile since my last post… but I've come to the conclusion that it's ok, because it means that I've been too busy living this crazy beautiful Granada life! The time is just flying by since classes started. My days are a whirlwind of exploring the city, coffee, dancing, tapas, wine, and making beautiful friendships here. Some where in all of that, I fit in a bit of studying. Each day I fall more in love with this place; life here is so laid back and so fun, I don't see how any one couldn't! But while I do love spending time here, one of the best parts of living in Granada is the doors it opens for travel throughout Europe.
It's no secret that traveling to Europe is quite pricey from the States, but with the beauty of Skyscanner and cheap hostels, traveling is so easy and affordable here! My first excursion was thee weekends ago (told you I was a bit behind) to Paris, one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen (second only to Granada, but I'm a little biased).
Cause did you really go to Paris if you didn't
get a picture with the Eiffel Tower?
Because we're in school, we're limited to weekend travel. But one of the greatest things about my school is that there are no classes on Fridays! This means taking that overnight bus to Madrid on Thursday to get on that super cheap flight to Paris Friday morning. It also means a weekend jam packed with as many sights as possible! We didn't waste any time and headed straight out into the city towards the Louvre. Immediately I was taken aback at how beautiful the city was. Even apartment buildings had the most beautiful, old architecture, and there were flowers and trees every where! I think we spent as much time walking, getting lost in the beauty of city on our way to the Louvre and taking pictures in front of it as we did inside the actual museum… whoops! But, we did get in for free! You are supposed to have a student visa, but if you get a lenient worker, they'll let you slide by with a student ID from a European university.
A little house full of art - one of our discoveries on the way to the Louvre
As if the outside of the museum isn't cool enough, the museum itself is just HUGE and full of so many different kinds of art! You could seriously spend an entire day getting lost in there. It was actually the first art museum I've been to, so it was a completely new experience for me. Although Spanish art is more my forte, I really enjoyed the Italian paintings and the Greek sculptures. And of course you have to pay Mona a visit while there!
Outside of the Louvre
The next day we had perfect fall weather, so we walked around what felt like the entire city, but was most likely not even half - this place is HUGE! There are just some things that everyone needs to see in Paris, even if they are your typical "touristy" things. We started off at Notre Dame, and then made our way to the famous "Love Lock Bridge." There are so many locks on this bridge that it's starting to actually break the sides of the bridge, so they've had to block parts of it off. It's adorable and the view of the Seine with the sun shining is just breathtaking.
The Love Lock Bridge
Next we made our way to my favorite place in Paris, the Arc de Triomphe. Not only is the view great, but the walk there is so beautiful! It starts off in this cute little park complete with gorgeous fall trees and of course crepe stands, but then changes to a street with classy shopping. This is Paris, where the shopping is a bit above an almost broke college girl's budget, so I didn't even try to go into the Louis Vuitton store, which I might add was the size of Texas. At the end of the street is the Arc. The Arc itself is a beautiful monument, but the view from the top is indescribable. It's impossible to capture it in a picture. Some of my friends say they actually prefer this view of the city more than that of the Eiffel Tower. No matter which is "better," this is definitely a must see for everyone who visits Paris.
It's difficult to capture the view itself, let alone with people,
so here are my friends and I at the top
Next up was the Eiffel Tower. It was so strange to see this huge monument in person - you see it in pictures, in films, in home decor, everywhere - so to see it in person was kind of surreal. There's a park right near the base of it that makes the perfect spot to take a break. Because we were so limited on time and had already climbed the Arc de Triomphe, we decided to not climb to the top of the Tower, so I'll have to keep that one on the old bucket list for now.
And I have to mention the macaroons… one of my favorite parts of Paris! I have a huge sweet tooth, so I was in heaven when we found this sweet shop with every flavor of macaroon imaginable, as well as other chocolatey goodness!
The famous macaroons
The next day we went to the Palace of Versailles. Before this trip, I honestly didn't even realize how close Versailles was to Paris, and I am so happy that we went. We weren't sure what to expect, so we thought we could spend a few hours there and then move onto the next place. Well, we learned that Versailles is definitely an all day trip, especially if it's a nice day. The palace itself is huge, but it's not even half the size of the gardens behind it. The map said it takes an hour to walk from the palace to the far end of the gardens! There are other smaller buildings to explore outside of the palace in the gorgeous gardens, like Marie Antoinette's quarters. Since we didn't have much time to spare, we decided to just explore the palace. We easily spent thee hours there, one of which was spent waiting in line to enter the palace, so plan for a long line if you ever decide to go. The inside was well worth the wait! The rooms are so ornate - portraits, murals, and statues with an insane amount of detail are everywhere! My favorite place in the palace was definitely the Hall of Mirrors - literally a hall lined with mirrors on the walls and tons of beautiful chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. It's so classy and so French. There are audio tours available, but since we were on a bit of a time crunch, we just walked around and read the information. However, if I were to go back and spend a whole day there, I would definitely do an audio tour of the palace, because I know there is so much rich history there that I missed.
Monica and I in the Hall of Mirrors
Our final destination was also our strangest: the Catacombs. Again, I had no clue what to expect here (I really need to do more research before I travel), so I was utterly shocked when we got underground. It's basically walls and walls of neatly arranged skulls and bones in this underground tunnel that seems to go on forever - it is the eeriest place I have ever been in. If parts of it weren't closed off, it would be quite the creepy maze down there. Any one who knows me is well aware that I am not a big fan scary movies and creepy things, so I was a little really freaked out down there. That is one place in Paris that I will settle for only going to once!
The Catacombs of Paris
Although it felt like we saw so much, I know there is so much left to be done! With just its cute little cafes, picturesque streets, trendy bars, the Seine, and other hidden treasures, the city alone without all of the attractions is a wonderful place to be. I know I'll be back one day to cross off the rest of the items on my Paris bucket list.
Let's hope I get better about updating this thing… but until then, I'll keep enjoying this beautiful life! Hasta luego!
-Breezy
1 comments
Very nice, Breezy!
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