Daily Details: July 15

The day began with a trip to the Pompidou, the modern art museum here in Paris. As we ascended on the exterior escalators, I was blown away by the incredible views of Paris. Once inside, I didn’t quite know what to think of the art, as the exhibits were very strange and metaphorical. At one point, I walked into a room where a video was being shown of a naked woman doing hula hoop with barbed wire. Disturbing. The art in general was quite strange on this first floor and I soon realized that it was all feminist artists that were trying to make a statement. The real treat was up a level where all of the modern art was. It was, as the French say, “incroyable”, to see all of the Picassos, Delaunays, Rothkos, Chagalls, etc… I was so touched by all of the art, and regrettably had to leave within 1.5 hours. I felt like I had just barely dipped my fingers into what the Pompidou has to offer, but what I did see was absolutely fantastic. The only thing that would have made it better was if my mom had been there to see all of this art with me.
Next, we took a little break at a creperie on the side of the Pompidou. I got a ham and cheese crepe that was absolutely divine! The cheese was strong and “delicieux” and the ham was brimming with flavor. It was so massive that just half of it was plenty for me. As we ate, we watched some French clowns perform. The first one there looked really neat with his face all painted white, but the second one was a little too scary for this little chicky. I was relieved when we made our way to the Louvre and away from the mean clown.

Upon entering the courtyard area where I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid is, I was completely overwhelmed by how massive the Louvre really is. It seemed to stretch for miles! The pyramid creates a gorgeous juxtaposition with the old architecture of the palace, and the fountains around it all make the space absolutely incredible. As we went to go inside (you enter through the pyramid), I got separated from my group. I knew a few had been lingering to take pictures by the fountains, so I raced back there and they were gone. Lost at the Louvre—“merde!” Pardon my French. ;) I dashed inside, hoping to see someone I knew and was blown away by how many escalators I saw in such a small area, and each escalator was going to a different wing of the Louvre. How in the world was I to find anyone I knew in these thousands of people?! I said a little prayer that a miracle would happen and as soon as I did, I scanned the escalators and saw the bright coral shirt of my roommate Becky just about to get off the escalator and turn the corner. I was saved—at least I knew what wing they were in! I dashed over there and long story short, was reunited with my group. Miracles do happen!

I much preferred the Pompidou over the Louvre because I am a lover of modern art, but the Louvre had much to offer as well. Of course, I saw the Mona Lisa—she’s not any prettier in real life, ha ha! One of my favorite things was the Winged Victory, or Nike of Samothrace. It is a fairly massive sculpture of this winged woman (sans head) and the way her wings are stretched backward and her clothing is being blown behind her is absolutely incredible and extremely moving. I also loved seeing the art of Rembrandt—he has always been one of my favorites and continues to be so. The Napoleon Apartments were probably my very favorite thing though—they were so lavishly decorated in the most beautiful reds and the chandeliers were to die for!
After spending over 4 hours in the Louvre and certain that hacking off my feet and walking on bloody stumps would feel better than the current state I was in, we decided it was a must-do to eat dinner ASAP. On the way there, we saw some quaint little touristy shops and popped in there. I got an ADORABLE red bag that says Paris all over it. We asked the shop owner where his favorite café was nearby. We ended up splitting up to check out two different brasseries and found an incredible one for decent prices. We were very warmly welcomed and even got to choose our own seat! I ordered a chicken, chive, and onion omelet that was out of this world! We even got free water there—something you NEVER see in Europe! The waiter and owner were all so nice and even took pictures of our group for us! We then decided the meal wouldn’t be complete without some crème brulee, so we split one between the four of us. It was magnificent!!! Our bellies full, we were one happy bunch as we took the Metro home.

On the Metro, we were serenaded by two musicians—a sax player and bassinette player. They were doing some awesome tunes!!! That is one of my favorite occurrences on the Metro—the other day we had a violinist that played like nobody’s business! After getting home, Malory went with me to make a quick trip to the market that’s a couple of doors down from our hotel. I was craving gummies so bad I thought I was die without them. I happily came back to our hotel, ate my gummies and had a great chat with my good friend Ali who is also in Paris right now. Today was one great day.