While we’re on the road, Coke’s policy is that we adapt to the local schedule rather than adhere to our American/HQ norms. So for example, our weekends were Friday and Saturday in Egypt. Similarly, we recognize local holidays and forgo American ones. This meant that Meadows had to work on Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving. I hope all of my American friends are thankful for those days off because it was a bummer not having them! Even without the days off, we decided to take a long-awaited trip to Paris for the weekend! These two Paris first-timers were very happy.
We stayed at the W Paris, which overlooks the Opera House. The hotel is beautiful and feels more like a boutique hotel than a major chain. We woke up Saturday morning to the most spectacular view.
After breakfast, we began our trekking and saw the front of the Opera House.
Let’s get something out of the way before I dive into our action-packed day: I am obsessed with Christmas. I love the décor, the traditions, the warm fuzzy feeling, all of it. Naturally, we opted to go guide-less so that no one could hold me back when I wanted to stare at Christmas trees, photograph the shops and stop for treats at the Christmas markets. Bring on the Christmas, Paris!
With only two days at our disposal, we knew we couldn’t knock everything off our bucket list. The Louvre was out; we simply didn’t have the time. Ben insisted we visit the Orsay Museum (Musée d’Orsay), which was completely awesome.
I love that when you walk in, you have an overhead view of the first floor gallery. The building used to be a train station, and you can see that in the arched ceiling and huge clocks.
As suggested by Ben, we listened to Rick Steves’ audio guide for the museum. He explained that the entire museum contains artwork only from 1848 to 1914. Though known for its Impressionism and Post-Impressionism galleries, Rick walked us through the progression of the works and the culture around them.
We worked our way up! We could see the main hall from a bird’s eye view.
On the upper levels (not visible from the main hallway), the Impressionist works are on full display. Admittedly, I totally freaked out at this point. So many of my favorite pieces we studied in art school and in AP Art History were right in front of me!
I always loved the Degas dancers. I loved seeing the progression of van Gogh’s self portraits in Amsterdam, but the one in d’Orsay is thought to be his final self-portrait! He’s sitting at an angle to hide the mutilated ear.
Before leaving, Rick led us through some more sculptures. Auguste Rodin’s famous Gates of Hell live here. You won’t be able to see unless you click on the photo and zoom, but the level of detail on each character is astounding. Can you also see The Thinker near the top of the gates?
On a total high, we departed d’Orsay (but not without taking a photo of the outside of the building first!). You can really see what a beautiful train station it was!
From here, we had a nice stroll along the Seine. This opened up a giant door for endless puns: This view is in-Seine! Such beauty is Seine-ful! My list goes on and on, but Meadows eyes might get stuck from nonstop eye rolling.
If you can’t tell from the photo, we were walking to the Notre Dame Cathedral! One of the most well known churches in the world, Notre Dame was a must-see during our 48-hour Paris trip.
As we entered, we noticed the beautiful Christmas décor – nothing too loud, but subtle warmth from the overhead wreath and glass globes.
The cathedral has a great story behind it. In 1160, the previous cathedral on this site was deemed unfit for its new title, “Parish church of the kings of Europe.” Construction began in 1163, and the church was consecrated in 1182; however, Notre Dame was not completed until 1345!
I absolutely the loved the stained glass windows comprised of the tiniest colorful pieces!
One of my favorite aspects of the visit was the chancel screen from the 14th century. It depicts the stories of Christ in lifelike wooden carvings.
We walked around and soaked up the history, architecture and detail for quite a while. Before leaving, we stumbled on the cutest Christmas display of a hustling, bustling town.
We snapped a photo in front of Notre Dame before power walking off to our next destination. (When you have so much to see in a short period of time, you have to make haste and move quickly!)
As we neared the Christmas markets (YAYYY!!!), Meadows got excited and spouted off a bunch of information about obelisks …because he knows everything. Finally, I figured out that he was saying that the obelisk in front of us is from Luxor, and stood in front of the Luxor Temple (we’ve been there and seen its twin obelisk, remember?). Super cool!
The Christmas markets in Paris are huge and probably overwhelming (…for someone who doesn’t love Christmas more than anything). I, on the other hand, was on Cloud 9. The markets extend as far as the eye can see down Champs-Élysées, with wooden chalets lining both sides of the street. We got brats from a German booth for lunch and washed them down with some spiced wine!
Meadows dragged me away to walk to the Eiffel Tower for sunset.
I underestimated the distance; it was quite the hike to get there. Thankfully, we arrived just in time for a cotton candy sky! We grabbed a seat on a bench (with surprisingly no one around) and gazed up as the sky got darker. Just as I thought the moment couldn’t improve, the lights in the tower turned on! There we were… at the Eiffel Tower during the magic hour (in the city of light!); it truly was so magical that I kept joking with Meadows that he should propose!
When the sky finally went dark, we concluded our touring and marched back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner. But poor Meadows… I obviously had to stop for a photo opp or two. As we stood on a bridge awkwardly taking selfies with the Eiffel Tower shining in the background, a lovely stranger offered to take our photo. He captured one of my favorite photos of 2016.
We arrived back at the hotel completely dead. My Fitbit registered over 27,000 steps taken; we covered almost 12 miles on foot! Given our exhaustion we took an uber to dinner.
Multiple people recommended our dinner venue, Le Relais de l’Entrecote, so we decided we had to try it. Meadows and I love steak, so a restaurant that only serves steak frites was right up our alley! They serve the steak with a delicious pesto sauce, and they bring as many servings as you’d like. I cannot wait to go back!
On Sunday morning, we walked to Musée de l’Orangerie for another deep dive into Impressionism. Before we could get to the Impressionist artwork, the traveling exhibit, American Painting in the 1930s, completely surprised us. The works detailing the struggle of the Great Depression, the start of Industrialization and the rise of abstract art captivated us for some time. I saw some of my favorites like Georgia O’Keeffe and iconic works such as American Gothic. If you’re at all inclined, visit the museum’s website, watch their fantastic video about the collection and read the “Detailed Presentation” section!
The real main event was getting to see Claude Monet’s Water Lilies. As if the pieces weren’t enough, the entire space is a masterpiece. Monet planned every detail of the two egg-shaped rooms that house his eight works, from the lighting to the spaces in between and more. He painted almost 400 landscapes in the Water Lilies cycle over the course of 30 years, and all of them were inspired by the gardens he built at his home in Normandy.
I loved studying these paintings so much; each one tells a very different story through the mood of the colors, textures and brush strokes. The massive panels really make you feel a part of the scenery.
After taking about a million photos, Meadows and I did some Parisian shopping before heading to the airport. When in Paris, right?! Before we knew it, our 48 hours in Paris ended and we were on a plane back to Madrid. What a dreamy, wonderful weekend!