The Rest of Paris is a Bit of a Blur
A very, very happy and wonderful blur.
After we got back from watching the fireworks, we went straight to bed because the next day, we had tickets for the Louvre at 9:30 AM. Why did we hate ourselves enough to buy tickets for that early? Only god knows. However, the Louvre was wonderful. I know absolutely nothing about art, so I spent my time there documenting every dog I saw. Obviously this wasn’t the only thing I did while I was there, but it added a little extra kookiness to the trip. P.S. I found 10 paintings with dogs in them. Success!



I also found the painting that made this meme famous. I was very proud. Apparently it’s the artist’s self-portrait. You go, Joseph Ducreux!

Now you have to stare at the meme while I talk about the rest of my day! After the Louvre, we all met up with Sophie, who had already been to the Louvre, and Dwaine, who doesn’t like museums, for lunch and going to the Notre Dame. We found lunch at a food stand next to the Notre Dame and I had another jambon et fromage crepe… which was just as good as the last. And then, we got in line to go in. About halfway through the line, I discovered that they have a weird decency policy, and since I was wearing a tank top, I wouldn’t be allowed in. Luckily, I formed a plan to get inside. I had a pair of leggings in my purse to throw on after I got tired of wearing a skirt, which I tied around my shoulders as a sort of shawl. Boy, do I wish I had a picture of this. And it worked! Yay for being resourceful! After the Notre Dame, we went to the catacombs.



The catacombs were cool but a little eerie. There’s an estimated 6 million bodies down there and they’re all arranged in such a way that feels very strange. I’ve included a picture of “the barrel” since I didn’t take any of my own pictures. The person responsible for arranging the catacombs intentionally placed all of the bones so that it feels like a museum, but it felt weird that the bones were placed in such a way that they no longer belonged to the bodies they came from. It was a very strange experience. After the catacombs, we went to Montmartre.
Let’s just say I wasn’t very impressed with Montmartre. I didn’t see very much of it or stay for very long, but the place reeked of garbage. I also think at this point of the day I was pretty tired and cranky, as one feels after walking all day. We ate dinner at a place not too far from Dwaine’s hostel, and after, Rachel and I went back to the Airbnb to go to bed.

The next day was our last day in Paris! Sad! We made a quick jaunt over to L’arc de Triomphe to climb to the top. I thought that the stairs up from the catacombs were bad, but they were nothing compared to the stairs up to the top of the arc. The view from the top was absolutely lovely. It included a view of the Eiffel Tower, which made me pretty grateful that we chose to climb the arc instead. I was reminded of when I went to the top of Rockefeller Center last summer. The view included that of the Empire State Building, and I decided that the best way to see a city is to take in a view that includes the building you most want to see.
I’m also reminded of a video that I saw a few years ago. It’s of my favorite band, Local Natives, performing a take away show in Paris. This is the video that made me fall in love with the band, but also shows a bit of the magic of Paris. Enjoy.
