engineering around the world

Tim’s Visit - Paris (Weekend #1)

I’ve created a ton of incredible memories in Europe, but this past week undoubtedly my favorite by far. Tim visited! He arrived on Saturday the 20^th and didn’t leave until Sunday the 29^th. We realized that since June, we’d only had 5 days together.  So what an amazing change of pace it was to spend 9 days together in France! The week really felt like a dream come true, and I am going to try to capture as much of it as I can in this post. But of course, there’s something about being in love in Paris that just can’t be conveyed with words.

Saturday –

I woke up before my alarm even went off after a night of barely sleeping – I was so excited, I felt like a child on Christmas! Luckily, I had somebody to share my joy with, as my friend Katrina was also headed to the airport to pick up her boyfriend, Brett, who was also visiting for the week. By now, meeting up at the airport is a routine Tim and I are all too familiar with, but obviously there was something especially exciting about being reunited at Charles de Gaulle. This was the trip we’d been waiting for all semester!

After getting over the initial disbelief that we were actually together in Paris, we headed off to our hotel, the Batignolles Villiers, in a quiet little district of the city. We’d hoped to spend the afternoon exploring the city, but Tim hadn’t slept at all on the plane and was jetlagged, and I was quite tired myself from barely being able to sleep the night before, so a nap seemed like a good idea. He was still asleep when I woke up, so I explored the Villiers district, and much to my delight discovered a boulangerie just down the road from the hotel, advertising that their baguette recently won an award for being the “Best in France.” Even better, I walked past it just as a fresh batch came out of the oven, so I bought a hot baguette and brought it back to the hotel. It really was the best baguette I’ve ever had, so I was glad it was the first baguette Tim got to try on the trip! After a makeshift dinner of some groceries and the baguette, we headed off into Paris.

The magic of being in Paris at night is unparalleled. Our bus dropped us off at the Arc de Triomphe, from where we could also see the Eiffel Tower twinkling in the distance. The feeling of seeing those monuments for the first time, with Tim by my side, is one I’m sure I’ll always remember. After marveling at the Arc, we headed down the Champs Elysees. It was hard to resist the urge to sing “Oh, Champs Elysees,” but I reminded myself that I’d be the millionth American tourist to do so! But I was experiencing the kind of joy that just makes you want to sing. Few things compare to the Champs Elysees. The energy, the shops, the decorations – it was all so beautiful. I noticed some unlit lights on the trees, and spent the whole weekend wondering when they’d be lit. Luckily, we returned the following weekend, when Paris had finally decided it was time to go all out for Christmas! Before then though, there is still more than enough beauty to enjoy on this avenue. After stopping at Brioche Dorée for a late night snack, we made our way to the Eiffel Tower.

I’d heard that the Eiffel Tower was overrated. Wrong. The magic I felt while sitting next to Tim beneath the tower, marveling at its beauty and gasping in awe when the lights started twinkling, is indescribable.

Of course I wanted to have a picture from the night, so we looked around to find somebody to ask. I noticed a man who I quickly nicknamed the “pumpkin man,” due to his orange jacket and green hat, and he happily agreed to take a picture for us. After the first one was blurry, he offered to take another one, and then a few more, until it felt like he was conducting a photo shoot! “Ok look at each other this time. Great now do whatever you want. Great. I’ll just take a few more…” Most of the pictures turned out blurry, but even more fun than the pictures were probably our goofy interactions with this pumpkin man! Afterwards, we stopped at a stand for some delicious hot chocolate, then headed back. What an unforgettable first day in Paris.

Sunday –

Sunday was all about being tourists in Paris. Started the morning with another delicious baguette from La Fournée d’Augustine, then headed for the Centre Pompidou – the modern art museum whose sister museum is in Metz. On the way, we passed so many wonderful-looking Parisian cafés; by the time we got to the museum and saw the lines for the tickets, we decided it would be better to start the day off at a café. So we made a small detour and headed back to Café Au Père Tranquille, which we’d passed on the way to the museum. We greeted the host with a “bonjour, monsieur,” but he immediately responded in English. This challenged us to a week-long mission of not being immediately pegged as Americans at the restaurants. From living in Paris for a month in 8^th grade, Tim’s French is better than mine, and both of us studied through AP French, so we felt pretty confident with our skill levels. Any time a waiter would speak French to us, we felt a small sense of accomplishment.

After the first of many café dates, we headed back to the museum. The artist Arman had a special exhibition, so we started off there. One piece which stood out to me was created by dipping a guitar in paint and stamping it on the canvas many times – it reminded me of an Yves Klein piece, which involves the same technique applied to women’s bodies instead of guitars. We read the description, and indeed, it said Arman was inspired by Klein!

Piece by Arman

Reminded me of this piece by Yves Klein.

Another piece of Arman’s reminded me of something I’d seen at the Picasso museum in Nice. Again, when we read the description, it said the piece was a homage to Picasso and cubism!

this piece reminded me of…

…this Picasso sculpture that I saw outside his museum in Nice.

I have so much fun drawing connections between all the artist I’ve been learning about in France, so being able to do so at the Arman exhibit made the Centre Pompidou very enjoyable for me. Art isn’t Tim’s favorite thing, but I tried to keep him entertained by telling him about everything I’d learned about French modern art this semester. 

It took several hours to get through the entire museum, and by the end of it we were exhausted. Time to look for another café! But first we made our way over to the Latin Quarter, to see the Notre Dame before it got too dark. As expected, it was breathtaking. We were especially lucky, because we were greeted by the sounds of a choir singing when we walked in, at which point we realized we were experiencing an actual church service in the Notre Dame. That enhanced the experience even more!

Then it was time for the second café of the day: Café Aux Tours Notre Dame. I had another coffee and Tim ordered “soupe oignon” – no need to call it “French onion soup” when you’re in France! I really cherish the hours we spent at each café, catching each other up on all the stories and discussions we hadn’t had time to share throughout the semester. Even with skype being as wonderful as it is, there isn’t time for everything, and we discovered that there was an endless source of things we wanted to tell each other. And what better place for endless conversation than a Parisian café?

We explored the Latin Quarter a little more – truly a unique part of Paris whose atmosphere reminded me a lot of Nice. Then back to arguably the best part of Paris – the Champs Elysées. We wandered up and down the street for a while searching for the perfect restaurant. But we weren’t in any rush, so it was nice to explore. Along the way, we discovered the crêperie that Tim remembered going to with his host family in 8^th grade, Les Ecuries. We were hoping to find it, but out of all the side streets on the Champs Elysées, we were shocked that we actually did! It was already closed for the night, so we made a plan to go back the next day for lunch. By then it was getting cold, so we finally settled on a restaurant – George V. Cold weather doesn’t keep the French from dining outdoors (how else can you eat and smoke at the same time!), so we asked for outdoor seating (near the outdoor heaters of course) so we could enjoy the atmosphere of the avenue. Everything about the meal - our proximity to the Arc de Triomphe, the food, the conversation, and of course the company - was perfect. We didn’t want the dinner to end, and luckily the waiters in France are in no rush to make you leave. It seems typical, even expected, for guests to stay at a table hours after finishing their meal, even without ordering anything else. This attitude was one of our favorite parts of dining in France. Still, to prolong the dinner even more, we ordered a dessert crepe with Nutella. How could we resist!

Monday –

We started the morning with anther baguette from the boulangerie (of course), then headed to the Louvre. Tim had been before, but this was my first time, so it was very exciting. Of course you could spend days in the Louvre, but looking at art is quite tiring (plus we were anticipating our crêpe lunch at Les Ecuries!), so we only stayed for the morning. Still, that was long enough to see the Mona Lisa, rooms from Napoleons palace, and countless other masterpieces.

But the real highlight of the day was definitely the crêperie. Cozily tucked into one of the side streets of the Champs Elysées, it might be one of Paris’ best-kept secrets. Despite being extremely delicious, the restaurant seems to only host a few guests at a time! So it was nice to escape the flocks of tourists and sit down in a place that felt truly french. Above all, it was amazing for Tim to return to a place he’d been to so many years ago, and relive all the memories that were still so vivid to him.

(Tim is looking away to avoid the embarrassment I kept causing by whipping out my camera at restaurants!)

Following lunch, we wanted to go back to the Eiffel Tower. Rather than going to the main lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower, we made our way over by turning down one of the side streets and arriving to a side of the tower facing some apartments, where few tourists seem to flock. For the most part, we were the only ones to be sitting and staring at that side of the Eiffel Tower, which felt very special. We found a bench with a perfect view (and returned to the same bench the second weekend, earning it the status of “our favorite bench”) and enjoyed the tower by daytime – a very different sight than at night. Again, I wanted a few pictures (luckily Tim was very patient with my girly picture taking habit!), so I created a tripod with the bench and my backpack and conducted a photo-shoot with the 10 second self timer. During one of the pictures, an old Parisian lady who was walking past stopped by the bench so she wouldn’t get in the way of the picture. After the picture, she lingered to talk to us for a minute, offering her best wishes to us and the hopes that we enjoy Paris. I’m sure wishing the best to couples who come from all over the world to enjoy the Eiffel Tower together is just a part of her daily routine.