This trip was a bit different from my others. We weren’t setting out to accomplish a certain hike, summit a peak, or even grind through a list of attractions. It was to celebrate our friends’ wedding. Enjoy each other’s company. Savor our time together because its becoming harder and harder for us to all be in the same place at one time. So while we had a few things we wanted to do, for the most part, it was to just run with it, and see where we ended up.
After our 3 days in Tousson, we packed up and headed back to Paris. We dropped off our rental car at the airport (because who in their right mind would drive anywhere near Paris?) and then caught the train to the city center. We had rented an AirBnB in what sounded like a good central place to be on the outer portion of the 2nd Arrondissement. Knowing absolutely nothing about the city, I read through every review on the AirBnB just to get a better sense of the area. It turned out to be a pretty great location for what we wanted to do, and the AirBnB itself was perfect for the two of us. Most rentals I saw available had a pull out sofa-bed, a small kitchenette, and bathroom, ours no different.
We were a few blocks from the Chatalet train station and surrounded by restaurants. We didn’t get into our AirBnB until late in the afternoon so we just spent the rest of our evening wondering around the city. Luckily, the Louvre and Seine were a short 15 minute walk away. We wondered over that way, enjoying my first Parisian sunset. I had wanted to see the Louvre pyramid lit up but in the summer the sun doesn’t totally set until about 10pm! So I conceded, and we headed back to our place for the night.
The next day we had to ourselves until later that night when we would meet up with some friends. There were 3 things I wanted to do in Paris; go to the Louvre, go to the Musee d’Orsay, and see the Eiffel Tower. Since we were hitting some main tourist attractions, I decided to get the Paris Museum Pass. Its good at a variety of locations in the Paris region and for the most part allows you to skip lines. We ended up starting our day by walking through the Jardin des Tuileries north of the Louvre. There’s a museum on the far end of the garden called Musee de l’Orangerie that was recommended to me and was also covered by the pass. Its a collection of Monet’s waterlily paintings and other 20th century impressionist paintings. Smaller than the bigger museums but was cool to see and definitely worth the stop. After l’Orangerie, we walked across the street to the Musee d’Orsay which houses a massive collection of 19th-20th century art. It actually turned out to be my favorite, more so than the Louvre. I did a studio art minor in college so I recognized a lot of the artists from my art history classes.
We spent several hours at the Orsay so we decided to call it a day and head home. We piked up some food at a grocery store on the way back to make dinner in our little kitchen. After dinner, we met up with some friends who just got into Paris for drinks about a 15 minute walk from our place.
The next day started bright and early to head on over to the Louvre. We met up with our friends and then headed in. Lets just say this. I did not know how massive the Louvre is. Unless you plan on spending the entire day there, you probably won’t see the whole thing. It would’ve been better to split it into two days but we didn’t have the time. Still, it was great to see the parts that we did and I got to geek out a little more over some paintings I recognized from class. We ate lunch in the garden then strolled along the Seine toward the Eiffel Tower. It’s a decent hike over but the weather was perfect and it was cool to see all the little parks and restaurants along the water. My impression of Paris was sort of like a less hectic New York or a warmer Seattle. Just as crowded as US major cities but so many more people doing things outside; eating, running, hanging out. It was very pleasant and I can see why people like Paris.
I often find it a bit unfortunate that I always end up comparing things to what I know. How difficult it is to go in with a blank slate and the need to somehow scale how much I enjoyed or did enjoy something. I cannot simply let it be. Perhaps that is what makes us human? But I digress.
Thus ended our time in Paris, and we were off to Cazule in the Dordogne region of France for the wedding and festivities. We caught the train from Paris-Austerlitz station. A 1st class sleeper car gets you a roomy 4 bed compartment with plenty of space for luggage. It becomes a party car if you and all your friends book the whole compartment. The ride from Paris was about 4 hours through the french countryside. We quickly passed by the forest where we had climbed, fields of sunflowers, and little french suburbs.
The rest of our trip passed by in a fun-filled blur. We kayaked the Dordogne river, passed by castles (they’re every 5km), visited some castles, saw prehistoric cave paintings at Lascaux, went down into a large cavern in Padirac, ate A LOT of duck, and best of all, got to do all that with my closest friends. It was a week of memories that I am so lucky to have. If you ever get to chance to go to France, I highly recommend it. And if you get the chance to spend a week with your best friends, seize it, don’t ever let it pass you by.
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