Farewell to Paris

by Leyna O'Neill

The last few weeks were a struggle in Paris. Between studying for finals and writing papers, finalizing travel plans, and moving out of my apartment I was going crazy and I couldn’t wait to leave. However, before I left I made sure to see all of the things I missed, first of which was Versailles which I got to visit when my friend Matt came to visit, which ended up being one of my favorite weeks.

Versailles was absolutely stunning inside and out. You can really understand why the people of France hated the royal family, they were practically bathing in gold. Everything was just so decadent. We saw Marie Antoinette’s bedroom, the Hall of Mirrors, and so many other rooms all completely covered in some kind of insane decoration. The inside of the palace was nice, but I think the gardens were truly unbelievable. We were there for a few hours and we didn’t even really scratch the surface of the gardens, they were so huge.

We spent awhile in the gardens, which was really easy to do, and I have to say it was probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. Congratulations, Versailles.

During Matt’s visit we also got a lot of the touristy things done. Mostly we spent our time in the trendy Marais, but we did the touristy stuff too.

I didn't care how cheesy it was, it had to be done.

Oscar Wilde's grave at Pere Lachaise

Sacre Coeur in Montmartre

Besides seeing all of Paris, we enjoyed some of the best food I’ve had so far at Tribeca, on Rue Cler, Chez Chartier (we tried escargot…I didn’t hate it) and my new favorite place Colette! Which is half restaurant half overpriced store, all of which is amazing. The food was mostly vegetarian which was really exciting for me, and the chocolate milkshake put me in a coma it was so good.

One day Matt came to class with me because it was a field trip day. We went to two different houses in two different styles, one was art nouveau (much cooler) and the other was more modern and less exciting. It was weird because I guess they had just redone it and so we had to put plastic booties over our shoes.

Afterwards though, we stumbled upon a great open market where we bought some deliciously fresh fruit, olives, artichokes, and some other stuff I can’t remember. We swung by my apartment and got some cheese and wine and then tried to be really French and have a picnic in the Luxembourg Gardens.

Well, I guess we just picked a terrible day, but we got to the gardens and it was cloudy, terribly windy, and pretty much a bust. We set up for a picnic but everything was blowing away and we were freezing. When we decided we needed to open the wine, my cheap 2 euro bottle opener gave out mid cork. Through some hulk-like feat of strength Matt pulled the cork out with his bare hands which made us feel a little better about the crappy day. We ended up moving to a spot near a playground which was covered and a little warmer, and the picnic turned out to be pretty successful. I didn’t take any pictures that day, but I do have some pictures from other, more picnic-friendly days.

Luxembourg Gardens!

It was a very fun visit all together (despite the run-ins with my neighbors), and it was the beginning of Paris’s beautiful Spring weather which I tried to take advantage of in my last month. By the time Ande and Kristen came to visit it was just plain hot. By the time I got to my seventh floor apartment I would be a hot mess. The weather was actually really nice though, it was great for sightseeing which we did a lot of. Here are some of my favorite pics from their visit.

Chagall's Opera House ceiling

Just lounging on the Opera House balcony, no big deal

Tuileries and a little bit of the Louvre

Female Artist Exhibition at the Pompidou. Notice something weird about the names?

Again, just a sampling of the stuff we saw. It was a lot of fun to have Ande and Kristen in Paris, and I loved playing tour guide. But I was also really sad because it meant that my time in Paris was over. I pretty much spent the last month saying goodbye, but I was still really sad to leave. I feel like there’s so much more to be discovered in Paris, and I definitely will be back for more adventures and pastries, because I definitely didn’t get enough of either. It was a really intense semester that ended up being one of the best I’ve had, in every way. It doesn’t seem real anymore, now that I’m not there. It feels like it happened to someone else, or that it happened twenty years ago, or maybe even in a movie, but certainly not to me, and definitely not a week ago. It’s a very strange feeling. I’m now with Ande and Matt on our eurotrip, so you know we’re having fun, but we all miss our study abroad homes. These are the last pictures I have to post from Paris, just some of my favorites.