Paris!

Hello to the States! I sincerely and deeply apologize for not being able to post in real time as I was travelling, but to travel five countries in thirteen days is intense and I definitely overestimated my ability to sit down and write some quality blog posts. However, now that I finally have time to sit down and reflect, I find that this has become more of a reflection post than a blog post. I did, however, write summaries and outlines of what I wanted to say in my blog posts with my good old pen and paper, since travelling on a coach bus is not conducive to writing long blog posts on my laptop. Here are my thoughts on Paris:

Paris, the sprawling metropolis of food, wine, and love. It is the city of lights, the city of love, and the city of history. We packed up our stuff and rode the Eurostar, the high speed rail system from London to Paris, early on New Year's day. I watched the countryside change from farms and quaint English countrysides to the neat rows of hedges and trees of French farms. The red roofs seem to be very popular in Europe--they dotted the countrysides and filled the French villages with its rustic charm. The train arrived at the Gare du Nord station and we disembarked and headed to the coach bus that was waiting to take us to our hotel. We finally arrived at the hotel and were greeted by a surprise: due to the recent terror attacks in Paris, security had been upped so high that our luggage and bags needed to be searched physically and with a wand.

Security aside, we headed to a nearby pizzeria to have our first meal in France and as a large group of over 50 students and faculty. I sat next to Joseph, Josh, and Ian, three of the students from California Lutheran. When the food arrived and I took my first bite out of it, my eyes rolled heavenward. It was phenomenal. The world was not kidding when they call Paris the food and gastronomical capital of the world.

My first French dessert. Excuse the Snapchat caption

The adventures in Paris didn't stop there for the night. We collectively took the metro to see Notre Dame Cathedral, which was absolutely stunning at night.

Notre Dame Cathedral at night

There's something to be said for the phrase "breathtaking." I've never experienced that in the places I've traveled to or been to. Sure, I've been awed by sights, but they never made me forget to breathe and cause my jaw to drop. They've never drawn out an involuntary "wow" out of me. But in Paris, the sights made me do just that. They took my breath away. Seeing Notre Dame at night made me drop my jaw, forget out to breathe, and an involuntary "wow" escaped me. Pictures simply don't do it justice, but they serve as nice memories for me to share with you all.

The next day, we started the day off with a presentation by Graham Brown on the European Union as well as presentation regarding tourism in France. Dr. Brown is a British born ex-pat living in France who is also married to an American woman. He joined the Navy at 15, got his MBA and worked at JP Morgan before receiving his professorship in France. Like Dr. White, he stressed the importance of how history has shaped the map of Europe as it is today, as well as the European viewpoints of Americans and the various cultural differences. Americans are loud (we discovered that ourselves) in comparison to much of Europe, and we live to work, whereas many European countries work to live. 

Dr. Brown also spoke about the challenges facing the EU today. Like Dr. White, Dr. Brown saw that there were issues in immigration, the freedom of movement within the Eurozone, and the euro. He also elaborated a bit more on these issues. In regards to immigration, the problems that the EU must solve involve the resulting migration from the Arab Spring, thanks to the Schengen agreement that allows for free movement between EU countries and Frau Merkel's decision to let many migrants into Germany. He stressed that there were three kinds of migrants: conflict refugees, such as those from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, who are fleeing from areas of clear conflict where their lives would be in danger if they had remained; political refugees, such as from Eritrea and Egypt, who are fleeing from persecution in their home country and arguably, whose lives would be in danger if they remained; and economic migrants, such as those from France, who are moving from their home country to try and improve their lifestyle and standard of living.

Another issue that Dr. Brown posed was that of terrorism. From the news reports of recent events, it is clear that a crisis much like that of the September 11 attacks is facing the EU in terms of security. How does one prevent terrorism? Much of this issue cannot be attacked without also attacking the Schengen Agreement. In addition, there is a distinct lack of cooperation and coordination between the police and security services of Europe.

The euro has been the subject of some discussion by Dr. White and also of Dr. Brown. The use of the euro is aimed at creating a monetary union between the countries of Europe, but the issues of debt ridden countries who also refuse to change their ways (such as Greece) are dragging down the economically stronger countries (such as Germany). It is another example of how the use of the euro means that the country also gives up the right to regulate the euro as well. 

Finally, Dr. White spoke about the European Project. Essentially, the aim of this project is to ensure a "United States" of Europe. Four basic steps are needed to take this project to success: freedom of movement (the Schengen Agreement); monetary union (the euro); and political and fiscal union (the EU). But this project is still much easier said than done, despite the progress that one can see. People are feeling more and more alienated from the EU, and several countries (the UK) are thinking of leaving the EU. 

I found this presentation incredibly fascinating and I was very appreciative of the time Dr. Brown took to speak to us. After the presentation, a group of us decided to go find some lunch, but did not have the time to sit down and actually eat as we had a city tour of Paris coming up. Our tour of Paris was led by Katherine who was incredibly knowledgeable about the city. We began at our hotel and ended at Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, seeing sights such as the Supreme Court of France, Les Invalides, The River Seine, the Louvre, etc. 

Supreme Court of France

The River Seine

The Louvre

Les Invalides

Eiffel Tower

Me in front of the Eiffel Tower

Arc de Triomphe

Champs-Elysees

The Obelisk

Roue de Paris (the Ferris Wheel)

The view from Sacre Coeur

Sacre Coeur

 Paris is known for being the city of lights, and as dusk fell on our tour, we could certainly see why. As the light faded from the sky, the lights began to come up over the Paris. After the tour finished at Montmartre, we had the opportunity to go wherever we wanted. We decided to go to dinner and then a boat tour of Paris that had been generously provided by IBS. 

You can see from these photos that Paris truly is a city of lights. Every sight that we passed on the city tour took my breath away, but to see them dressed up at night was truly a sight to see. 

L'Arc de Triomphe at night

The Eiffel Tower at night.
Photo credits to Claudia, my photo disappeared for some reason.

After a long long time out in the cold, we headed back to the hotel for some warmth and to meet up with some more friends so we could head out and enjoy the Parisian nightlife.

The next morning was a free-museum day, so some of us decided to get up relatively early to visit the Louvre. The museums are free only once a month, so we knew the lines were going to be insane. We waited for over an hour to get in, but it was so worth the wait. For a little context, the Louvre is a palace that was converted to a museum after centuries of use by royals. As a result, both the inside and the outside are lavishly and richly decorated with works of art all over the place. The windows, the arches, the doors, even the ceilings and walls were not neglected. We saw the great statues, the Mona Lisa, and the apartments of Napoleon. The tour guide from the previous day told us it would take over two months to look at every single item in the Louvre. I suppose that just means I'll have to go back to Paris!

Napoleon's bedroom

Some of the ceiling art of the Louvre

La Joconde (the Mona Lisa)

Some of the insane art in Napoleon's apartments

The ceiling of one of the rooms in Napoleon's apartments

Dining room of Napoleon's apartment

Stained Glass featured in the Louvre

The Liberty Leading the People
Inspiration for Victor Hugo's Les Miserables

As a history buff, it was incredible to see so much history and so much art in one place. I was simply in awe during my time at the Louvre. After exploring the Louvre, we went in search of crepes and souvenirs before heading back to the hotel to rest.

Unfortunately, the next morning we had to say goodbye to Paris, the city of love, the city of lights, and the city of food. Leaving Paris was incredibly hard, not only because we had to get up really early to make it to the coach, but also because the sheer beauty of the language, the culture, and the buildings around me had touched my heart. As we drove away on the coach, I bid not adieu, but au revoir to Paris as a promise to come back to its beauty and grace.

In my next blog, I'll talk about the amazing beauties of Switzerland and Geneva. Au revoir!