(Warning: Extremely picture heavy!)
JFK airport.
Flying Air France, we took off 10pm NYC time & landed in Paris at 11am their time.Paris is 6 hours ahead, so it was really 5am in NYC - 8 hour flight.
Luckily, on this plane I was able to choose from a wide selection of movies/TV shows.
I watched the movies: Life as We Know It & Vanilla Sky - Both excellent.
As well as reruns of Friends & the Paris episodes of Sex & the City.
Paris - Charles de Gaulle airport.
We stayed in two hotels - The first was Pershing Hall.Great service, beautiful rooms, free wifi & mini bar, great area.
From our room, we experienced the first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower -
Right outside of our hotel window.
(The second hotel we stayed in was Hotel de Sers, it was excellent there as well.
And we had TWO terraces in our room, but the view was pretty dull.)
Arc de Triomphe.
Louis Vuitton on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées.
Arc de Triomphe.
Freshly baked pain chocolat for breakfast.
An example of why we didn't do much shopping in Paris.It's a good thing I live in New York City.
The Eiffel Tower.
The Seine.
Notre-Dame Cathedral.
Dôme des Invalides.
Musée de l'Armée.
Musée du Louvre.
Pyramide du Louvre by I.M. Pei.
My mom purchased the 4 consecutive day Paris Museum Pass before our trip.It granted unlimited access & even some line-cutting to all of the museums in Paris.
We purchased the same type of pass when we visited Madrid, so I definitely recommend it.
It's a life-saver and prevented us from having to wait on that 500-person line for admission into the Louvre.
From within.
Les Trois Grâces (The Three Graces) - James Pradier, exhibited in the salon of 1831.
Venus de Milo - Alexandros of Antioch, between 130 and 100 BCE.
Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss - Antonio Canova, 1777.Long story short, the Louvre was the worst experience of my life.
Even if I return to Paris, I won't be re-visiting this museum.
Anyways, onto better experiences...
Musée d'Orsay.
Manet, the Man who Invented Modernity.Great exhibit where I was able to experience Manet's two most famous works:
Olympia & The Picnic on the Grass.
(Pictures were not allowed here, but I was able to sneak a few - Sorry, Paris!)
Burial at Ornans - Gustave Courbet, 1849/50.The main reason I was dying to visit this museum.
This painting is HUGE.
The flowers in Paris are so stunningly beautiful.I wish I were able to take some home.
I'm not sure what type of cheese was on this burger, but it was heavenly.
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
Amazing exhibit - Extremely inspiring.
Raoul Dufy & General Idea.
XXX Bleu - General Idea, 1984.
ImageVirus - General Idea.
Infected Mondrian - General Idea, 1994.
La Tour Eiffel - Robert Delaunay, 1926.
Reclining Nude - Henri Matisse, 1907.
The Windows of the Day - Marcel Jean, 1983.
La Danse de Paris - Henri Matisse, 1931-1933.
The back of this museum is used as a skate park/graffiti haven.The sickest part is that the police don't even bother the youth.
Made me feel right at home, as if I were back in NYC.
Great street culture.
The gardens in Paris are remarkable, so green and vivid!
Rained for a few moments to cool down the hot temperature,but then it cleared up right away and the sun/heat returned.
Protest.
Musée Rodin.
The Thinker - Auguste Rodin, 1902.
The Gates of Hell - Auguste Rodin, 1880 until the year of his death in 1917, never completed.One of my favorite works, ever.
The sculpture garden made this museum the best one we visited in all of Paris.Between the sunshine, sculptures and beautiful flowers, we didn't want to leave.
Inside was awfully breathtaking, as well...
The Kiss - Auguste Rodin, 1889.
Colossal Head of Pierre de Wissant - Auguste Rodin, circa 1910.
Centre Pompidou.
Ten Lizes - Andy Warhol, 1964.
Auto-portrait - Henri Matisse, 1900.
Reclining Nude I - Henri Matisse, 1907.
Harlequin - Pablo Picasso, 1923.
Homage to Louis David (Les Loisirs) - Fernand Léger, 1948/49.
Flower of Evil - Georges Rouault, 1930/45.
Miaudulation de Fritance - Arman, 1962.
IKB 3, Untitled Blue Monochrome - Yves Klein, 1960 (left) &SE 71, Large Blue Sponge - Yves Klein, 1962 (right).
6 Random Distributions of Four black and White Cares for After Even Numbersand Odd Numbers - Francois Morellet, 1958.
Untitled (Black, Red over Black on Red) - Mark Rothko, 1964.
Untitled (Last Light) - Felix Gonzalez-Torres, 1993.
I like Olympia in Black Face - Larry Rivers, 1970.
Igloo of Japan - Mario Merz, 1968.
Giant Triple Mushroom - Carsten Holler, 2010.
View from the 6th floor of the Center Pompidou.
Sunset on the Seine.
Our last night in Paris - Delicious Italian dinner at Del Papa.
I have more pictures involving the artworks that I've seen,which I will most likely post on my art Tumblr: SOUL HOSPITAL,
so stay tuned there.
All in all, my trip to Paris was... Interesting. I feel that my expectations were a little too high. Don't get me wrong, it IS a beautiful city, but I was under the impression that I'd be in awe for 100% of my trip. My honest opinion is that Paris is overrated. It has it's pros and cons, but coming from New York City - There isn't much that we don't have here. Considering I visited Madrid first, it set an extremely high standard for me when it comes to traveling in Europe and Paris didn't quite meet it.
Museum review: The Louvre was a complete and utter mess. The Musee d'Orsay was an improvement from the Louvre, but I still wasn't completely won over. Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris had a pretty small collection, but the General Idea exhibit made it awesome, along with the Matisse room that stole my heart. The Rodin Museum was absolutely breathtaking and this is where my hopes for this trip started to pick up. The sculpture garden, museum building, gift shop and photo opportunities all won my heart over. It was an amazing museum experience. The Centre Pompidou had a great collection that exhibited wide variety and the atmosphere was enjoyable, so it was a nice end to our trip.
Food review: Overrated. The best meals we had were Italian food. We have better restaurants in New York City. My mother and I did stumble upon an awesome supermarket, though... We bought sandwiches, salads, baguettes, fruits, baked goods, etc. there almost every day and either stocked our room up or enjoyed our breakfasts/lunches in the park like the locals do. It also saved us a lot of money because Paris sure is expensive... Which wouldn't have been a problem, if it were all worth it. One thing I can rant and rave about are the desserts and baked goods, especially the chocolates and the ice cream stands. Two thumbs up for those.
Shopping review: Horrible. First problem is that they have everything we have here in New York City, there wasn't much difference at all. Second problem is that everything is overpriced and super expensive. Aside from souvenirs, my mom bought me a bag from Kenzo as a birthday gift (which I am in LOVE with) and I bought pants, a top and shoes from Zara because I was sure that I wouldn't be able to find it back home. Other than that, I left empty handed. Might I add that most people there can't dress, which is something I can't understand. Calling Paris the "fashion capital of the world" has long expired, the fashion world has moved on and gone in a completely different direction.
People review: In general, I have to admit, the French were extremely nice and helpful. Many of them spoke English, broken English at the least, and were very friendly. The major problem I had was with the other tourists - They lacked museum etiquette, had no idea what was happening and were SUPER rude/pushy. It bothered me that in the Louvre the museum staff - the French - didn't step in and try to maintain some control of the madness, but other than that, they were pleasant and welcoming.
Random bits: The weather was amazing, I'm talking 75+ degrees and sunny every single day I was there. We had the tour bus passes, just as we did when we visited Madrid, and that helped us a lot. The only problem is that because Paris is such a quick-paced city (such as NYC), it was a little more difficult to capture photos while riding the bus - There weren't as many stunning photo-ops as there were in Madrid due to the pace of traffic. The city is extremely crowded - I'm talking PACKED. Granted I went at a pretty bad time (Easter week/Spring Break), if we go back it will most likely be in November or March, I hear those are the best times to visit. Because it was so crowded, I felt as if I were in Times Square, EVERY DAY. Not enjoyable at all, but we tolerated it and made it work. Warning: This city is very expensive and I cannot stress this enough, so if you're planning to visit, be prepared.
Final thought: The most stunning part of the trip was the Eiffel Tower.
I never got tired of looking at it.
It was breathtaking each and every glimpse!
To complete the review of my trip, I appreciated it. My mother and I had a good time. It was an experience. I may give it another shot, like I said in November or March, but I haven't decided yet. I hope you enjoyed the rundown of my trip and thanks for reading!
XO
(I have the film photos ready to be posted and most likely will do by the end of this week
I love them more than my digital pictures, so I hope you will too. Stay tuned!)
