Monet’s home and gardens—site of the famed lily and bridge paintings. Kathryn, Katie and I took a day trip out, renting bikes to get from the Vernon train station to the Giverny home. And while my bike riding skills have yet to improve, I loved the bike ride, breezing through the sunning countryside views. We stopped off at a grocery store to purchase a picnic lunch. I mistakenly bought beurre (butter) rather than brie—the President label proved quite deceiving.
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| Top: A recreation of the famed Monet bridge. Bottom 1: bike riding to Giverny. Bottom 2: Site of our afternoon picnic. |
9) TRACK DOWN PARIS’S REPLICAS OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY
During each of my grandparents visit to the states when I was younger, William (my, now, 18- year- old
brother) and I always requested our grandfather read us a book on Frederic
Bartholdi, the artist behind the Statue of Liberty. For whatever reason, my
grandfather’s pronounciation of Frederic Bartholdi left the two of us in
hysterics, and over the years it became a regular tradition that my
grandfather, during each visit, would pronounce the famed name. Ten years
later, I've made it my goal to track down all the Pars replicas of the Statue
of Liberty-- sort of a build off from the stories my grandfather read to us as
kids. Beginning with dragging my friends to the Jardin du Luxembourg
back in February—right at the beginning of our time in Paris when the weather
sunk to unprecedented cold temperatures-- we circled the gardens in attempt to
find one of the four statues. Until we discovered the statue had been moved--
our frozen selves were out of luck. It's been four months and I’ve finally found
each of the three statues. One on the Pont de Grenelle, two in the Musee des
Arts et Metiers, and one of lady liberty's torch, located above the entrance of
the Pont de l'Alma (the tunnel in which Princess Diana died).
8) APERITIF ON A
BRIDGE
Public drinking—no biggie in Europe. Sharing a bottle of
wine on Pont Alexander: check.
7) CLIMB TO THE TOP
OF NOTRE DAME
We read Victor Hugo’s description of the view from Notre
Dame for our first reading in my Paris Civilization class. Climbed to the top of Notre Dame the
day after my last Paris Civilization class. Nice full circle.
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| View from Notre Dame. Pantheon to the left (had my Art History class close to there). Montparnasse Tower to the left (live a 10 minute walk from there, in addition to having my French Grammar class a 15 minute walk from there, each morning). The park in the front right is where we often ate lunch. Had my phonetics class in the building to the right of the park. |
6) CLIMB TO THE TOP
OF THE EIFFEL TOWER AT NIGHT
But by climb, I mean take the elevator up to the second
viewing level.
5) REVISIT THE
SITES; FRENCH STYLE PICNIC AND/ OR DRINKS AT ALL
Back to the steps of Sacre Coeur. Back to Buttes Chaumont
and Jardin de Tuileries. Wander through Musee Rodin, and Musee de l’Orangerie (a
museum with eight of Monet’s lily paintings—neat to have gone after our trip to
Giverny). An evening on the Champs de Mars and lunch on the roof of Galerie
Lafayette.
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| Jardin des Tuileries |
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| Buttes Chaumont |
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| Bois de Boulogne |
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| Gabrielle, my AEPHi pledge sister, in town for a visit! Early evening in Jardin des Tuileries. |
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| Jardin du Luxembourg |
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| Roof of Galerie Lafayette |
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| Steps of Sacre Coeur |
4) TRYING SOMETHING
NEW
Ending a day on the Ile Saint Louis (a small island on the
Seine a 15 minute walk form Notre Dame). Having lunch and dinner along Rue Mouffetard. Finally visiting Place des Vosges.
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| Ile Saint Louis |
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| Place des Vosges |
3) STREET CREPES
Used to get one daily after first arriving. Lost their
novelty eventually. But two months without one gives good enough reason to get
back on the trend.
2) REVIST THE
FIRST BOULANGERIE I WENT TO AFTER LANDING IN PARIS
I ate my last meal in the states at the Potbelly’s in
Dulles airport. A whole wheat, floppy sandwich, layered with tuna and veges—a
bit of cheddar cheese sprinkled on top. Comme
ci, comme ca—not too bad, not too great. My first meal in Paris, after
depositing my four suitcases at the
first night’s hotel, was at the boulangerie across the street. I ordered a baguette and camembert… and
then melted, because no way would I ever eat my potbelly’s tuna vege sandwich
the same, ever again. The taste: incredible. I went back to the boulangerie
that evening to purchase a pear tart. The reaction: the same. To this day, that
boulangerie wins for best camembert sandwich and tart. And seeing as the
boulangerie is slightly out of the way, I make an effort to stop in if I happen
to be in the area.
1) DINE OUT
With my group of American
friends leaving Paris, I seized the last two weeks to dine out. While the range
of typical Parisian food that I can eat (kosher, so no meat and I tend to stick
to only salmon or cod for fish) proves limited, the dining experience forever
remains exceptional. A close sorority sister came in town for the weekend, and
the two of us ate lunch at a marvelous crepe place right opposite the St. Paul
metro stop. Erica, Kathryn, Katie and I ate dinner at an Asian restaurant along
Rue Mouffetard in which we watched them create the noodles from scratch.
2 Response to The Paris [as a student abroad] bucket list
Wow this is great! I'm planning a trip to Paris this Summer so thanks for all the good ideas!
No problem! Have a WONDERFUL time in Paris. It's a beautiful city!!!
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