This past summer, I traveled with Greg Stobbe and five other students from FC to the iconic destination of Paris, France. We stayed there for a total of nine days and resided at the Hotel des Arenes.
As we stepped off our 11-hour flight, it did not hit us that we landed in a foreign country. Besides hearing the new language, everything seemed very Americanized.
We exited the airport and hopped in the van for an hour drive to our hotel. As the highways and modern buildings began to disappear, we started to see my favorite aspect of Paris. Something nonexistent in the United States is the architecture in France that often dates back thousands of years.
Even the hotel we lived in for the duration of our stay stood in front of the Gallo-Roman amphitheater from 285 A.D. The style and design of these buildings rivaled anything from the states and left a distinct impression on me.
One of the first iconic churches we visited was the Sacre-Coeur. The front steps gave an overview of the city below as copper statues of King Saint Louis IX and Saint Joan of Arc guard the entrance.
As we entered the church, the inside became even more breath taking than the outside. The largest mosaic in France of Jesus with angels at his side covers the ceiling while an organ built by Aristide Cavaille-Coll sits in the back. The Sacre-Coeur remains a symbol of Roman Catholicism ever since 1885 and through time transformed into an iconic tourist destination.
The first day set the bar high for Paris’ unique architecture; however, the Palace of Versailles lived up to its spectacular reputation. With a golden gate entrance, over 700 rooms, and an extravagant garden, the palace possesses something new around every corner. We saw the kings? and queens? rooms along with the dining room and my personal favorite, the Hall of Mirrors.
The space filled with natural light that reflected off the mirrors as some of the original chandeliers sparkled from the suns rays. The amount of detail and thought that went into building this palace blew my mind and the garden looked like something from a movie. Flowers covered the ground in beautiful arrangements with fountains left and right. These days, the Palace serves as a museum and tourist attraction along with holding occasional political functions.
Although the palaces and churches left us speechless by their beauty, nothing compares to the Eiffel Tower. Completed in March of 1889 and standing at 1,063 feet tall, the Eiffel Tower stands as the number one tourist destination in Paris. I stood in awe at the bottom of the tower, amazed by its intricate detail and significant height.
We had the benefit of traveling all the way to the top of the tower where a once in a lifetime view awaited us. All four sides gave a new, magnificent view. As night fell in Paris, the tower lit up with thousands of small lights like a blanket of stars. Although we all shivered from the strong, freezing wind, it became a moment we will not soon forget.
My trip to Paris held so much to offer from the food, to the art museums, and to the shopping. Still, the distinctive architecture kept me captivated for weeks and holds some of my favorite photographs. This trip left me with a desire to visit other parts of the world to see what unique aspect each holds for me to discover.
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