This birthday was more fantastic than I imagined and filled with love both from new friends and messages from loved ones back home. AND, I got to turn 24 in PARIS! I absolutely love the city. Beautiful, so many things to see and do and I don’t think I could ever get tired of it. Very romantic too, especially at Christmas-time. This happened on the weekend of November 19th, so sorry for getting this out so late. I’ve been taking on more side-jobs to finance my travel ambitions while I’m here and that has taken more time.
Alex, Ashley and Ellen at the marché de Noël
For my birthday, other English assistants joined me in Paris to have dinner with me the night of my birthday. Alex from Minnesota and Ellen from New Jersey work with me in Lille, and I befriended Madeline from San Fransisco and Ashley from New Jersey on the flight to France back in September. Wonderful group. We had a wonderful and quiet evening walking through the Christmas Market down the Champs d’Elysee, dinner at a pasta place in the inexpensive part of town (St Michael) and then amazing gelato at a shop owned by an Italian. We ended the night with just us girls in my hotel room talking and laughing for HOURS over a regional drink from where I studied abroad called “Cointreau” and sampling delicious regional caramels Ashley bought me from Normandy, where she’s working as an assistant. Thanks to those girls it was the best birthday night I could imagine being far from home. The next day we wandered around the the Jardin des Tuileries and had lunch with a new friend who’s studying in Paris. Monday I ended up having a wonderful time traveling alone. I was hesitant the night before when I got lost on my way back to the hotel, but it turns out I’m perfectly fine getting around on my own, it’s not that scary, at least not during the day. So, since college I’ve wanted to see Le Pont Mirabeau (a bridge from my favorite French poem by Guillaume Apollinaire) and as I was traveling by myself I decided to just go.
It was a delightful surprise that the bridge ended up having one of the best views 
I’ve seen in Paris!! In the center of the Seine River was a small island called “Allée des Cygnes,” or Swan Ally, and on this island was of the small replica of the U.S.’s Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower in the distance behind it.
After, I went to the Musée de l’Orangerie that featured Monet’s artwork. I could stare at his paintings all day, they are incredible. I feel so spoiled with looking at beautiful works. Andy and I are going to turn a room in our place next year into a “Monet” room, themed off the color palette used in his waterlily paintings and featuring prints of waterlily paintings I’ve bought in my previous visits to French museums. My one complaint with the Orangerie, besides not having enough of Monet’s work to satisfy my appetite for his art, is just like at Musée D’Orsay they have Picasso paintings near Monet’s and other impressionist artist’s works. I HATE Picasso’s work and those in that style more than any other besides modern “contemporary” works. I was first exposed to it in elementary school and I have hated it since. I feel relaxed, comforted and reflective when I see impressionist paintings and the opposite happens with Picasso’s works and those like it. At the Orangerie I was in a happy and relaxed state, slowly meandering from room to room lost in thought gazing at impressionistic paintings like Monet’s waterlilies, to turn the corner and immediately felt distressed, alert and
Église de Saint-Eustache
uncomfortable seeing the abstract imaginings of Picasso and artists like him. I don’t understand why anyone enjoys seeing that and even see the beauty in it. The one time I went to Musée D’orsay I went with one of my best friends from 2nd grade and she LOVED Picasso’s work.
Another sight I crossed off my “to-see” list was the Église de Saint-Eustache. This beautiful church has a lot of history. In 1778 Mozart chose to have his mother’s funeral here, the young Louis XIV received communion here, Richelieu, Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, who later became famous as Madame de Pompadour, and Molière were all baptised in this church as children, and later in his life, Molière was also married here. The architecture in this Renaissance style church is a mix. The construction lasted from 1532-1637 so the church has a gothic silhouette, but a classical façade was added in the XVIIIth century. Also, the church had to be restored in 1840 due to a fire. I much preferred this to my previous favorite church because damn commercialism ruined it.
Notre-Dame became my favorite church back in 2005 when I came with Oregon Ambassadors of Music. That was the first time I felt spiritually connected in a church. I felt overwhelmed and awed as soon as I entered. The sunlight emphasized the intricate stained glass, unlike any I’d ever seen and a gold cross near the center of the church literally glowed from sunlight. I managed to get a picture of the glowing cross and put it on my wall after the trip. As I walked through the candlelit aisle-ways it was right out of the scene in The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and I was Esmeralda, humbly gazing up at the beauty and wonder around me that was constructed to honor God. I made going back to Notre-Dame the last thing I did before heading back to the hotel the night I was going to return to Lille. I went into the church prepared to have the rush of emotions and feeling close to God that I had experienced when I was 17. Instead, as soon as I entered the doors and I ran into the souvenir shop. The first thing I saw inside! I couldn’t find that cross that had touched me years before, and feeling very let-down, I stopped by a candle-lit alter thinking if I could find the place in my heart to pray it wouldn’t be a wasted trip. After finally relaxing I manged to pray
me and the girls back at the hotel. We were going for the "babysitter's club" look
for three people before a tourist knelt next to me to take pictures of the scene. Jesus. I gave up at that. The experience was completely cold and commercialized. If I ever go back to Notre-Dame it’ll be on Monday only so Andy can say he’s seen this renowned piece of Parisian history. So, long story short, when you come to Paris, I recommend Église de Saint-Eustache or the Sacré-Cœur Basilica instead of Notre-Dame if you want any spirituality in the experience.
So Paris was overall a fun experience and remains my favorite French city. My birthday festivities continued the next evening after work when my French flatmates ordered me to go downstairs. They blindfolded me and brought out a cake they had made with candles and I got a birthday wish : ) Such sweet girls. They even got me presents (one was chocolate the spelled out “Joyeuse Anniv” a French abbreviation for “happy birthday.” All the wonderful people who shared my birthday with me made me feel very much at home a continent away from home. Here’s a few pics from that night:
My French Flatmates
My Homemade French Birthday Cake
