Paris! day 4

Thursday 3/18
Happy Birthday mom!!! i love you so so much. You are amazing. Someday we will travel Europe together!
Last day in Paris... we had to ourselves, at least until 5 pm. Ali and I went to the Rue Mouffetard market because a few girls had recommended it, but it was a bust... it was just like any random cute street in Paris, with shops and food. Haha we went into 3 chocolate shops on the street or nearby - I bought chocolate from Nicolsens and Leonidas (amazing). We were looking for Berthilions ice cream and asked directions from a policeman (weird, I do that in Europe sometimes but I never would at home) and then got better directions from very friendly people at a local pharmacy.

We went to the original Berthilions ice cream shop on Isle du St. Louis, near Notre Dame. We were confused because we thought that was the place that made ice cream look like a flower... but when I asked, the ice cream shopowner was confused... apparently that's a different ice cream shop nearby that we never found. But we got ice cream there anyway... and I can honestly say that it was THE BEST ICE CREAM I have ever devoured. Simple, just a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of chocolate, but it was so creamy and rich and perfect! It was amazing... we ate our ice cream on a bridge over the Seine, in Paris. Even though it was freezing cold it was fabulous. Haha i love eating ice cream while wearing mittens.

Next we went to the LOUVRE! I was very excited. It is the grand museum of Paris... the only bad thing was that we didn't have enought time to really enjoy it and see everything. We rushed through most of the areas but we did see most of the sections, and we were there about 3 and a half hours. It is massive! The glass pyramid is awesome.

I saw the Mona Lisa (surprisigly small, and surrounded by a mass of people), the Venus de Milo, and lots of famous paintings and scultpures. Plenty of Greek sculptures, Egyptian mummy collection... some massive paintings, works by Botticelli, Delacroix, da Vinci, Rubens, etc. and so much more! I loved seeing paintings that I've studied the past few years (especially from AP European History). I also really liked a beautiful "Psyche and Cupid" sculpture (my favorite myth. I'm in a Mythology class here). The Louvre was a bit of sensory overload but it wasn't too overwhelming beacuse everything is spread out. I could spend hours and hours more there. The only annoying thing was that all the captions are in French! I loved the Louvre building itself; not only is it filled with amazing art, but the walls and ceilings are all decorated and beautiful! The Louvre is one of my favorite museums ever. 

 venus de milo

psyche and cupid

crowding around little mona lisa

the Mona Lisa!

weird statue :)

After the Louvre we crossed a bridge to one of Paris' other great museums - the Musee d'Orsay. It was pretty great too. It was built out of an old train station and it was a compact, kind of small museum but it was packed with amazing art. We didn't have time to see everything... but i did see paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, and Renoir. Couldn't take pictures inside the museum, but here is one i saw and liked... Van Gogh's Starry Night over the Rhone.

We had to head back to the hotel afterwards... :( If i had more time in Paris i would see... the Picasso Museum, the Rodin Museum, Sacre Coeur and Montmarte, the Musee de l'Orangerie, and Monet's gardens! I'll just have to return someday then. :)

Here's a "mini arc" next to the Louvre

We headed back to the hotel to get our bags and meet up to go to the train station. I ate french bread, crepe, and the Duplo chocolates :) I will miss French food! Perfect snacks. Took the Chunnel back to London thursday evening. So exhausted... this trip was all go-go-go! But i did see a lot.

I loved Paris! The museums and food and buildings and eiffel tower and the city itself was great, and the people were friendly and nice. They didn't even laugh (in front of me) when i butchered their language or accidently reverted to Spanish haha (i said "si" a few times.. whoops).  :)

Je t'aime Paris! <3