Impressions of Paris | Autumn

After a month of travelling around Europe and London, I arrived back in Paris for a whole week by myself in this beautiful city. Almost missing my Eurostar train, I arrived on a Sunday which I soon found out is the day that every single shop is closed. Luckily the local bakery and tiny fruit shops were still open and dinner first night consisted of two croissants and an apple. Healthy. Those croissants turned out to be the best that I had ever had and I ended up buying two fresh croissants for breakfast every day for the rest of my time in Paris. 

The first thing I did in Paris was to pay a visit to my literary idol, Oscar Wilde, who is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery underneath the distinctive tombstone covered in lipstick marks. I spent 3 euros on a white rose, bought in a tiny flower shop run by a kind old French couple who were surprised about how far away I had travelled when I told them I was here from Australia. I had never been in a cemetery before, yet walking around Père Lachaise was surprisingly calming. Some of the graves were so weathered that one wonders how long they have stood there, and some were so elaborate that it was a work of art on it's own.

Funny French waiters at the Jardin des Tuileries 

 

 

Paris in Autumn was a lot cooler, with the temperature hovering around mid 20s and the occasional cold, windy rainy day. By the end of the week the temperature had actually dropped so much that I decided to invest in a coat as my own souvenir from Paris. It was the only time that I went shopping on the Champs-Élysées and I even managed to duck into the Louis Vuitton store just before a huge Chinese tourist group lined up outside it. The rest of the time I spent staring at Monet at the Musée de l'Orangerie and gawking at statues at the Musée d'Orsay,  feeling like Elizabeth Bennet when she first visited Pemberley in the film version of Pride and Prejudice. 

Travelling alone wasn't as scary as I thought, but it was stressful in that you had to always be on the lookout for yourself. Paris was surprisingly easy to navigate given that I didn't speak much French except for "Bonjour" and "Merci". For the first two day I struggled with trying to even order a takeaway coffee at the local cafe (granted, they didn't really know how to do takeaway coffee either as the French prefer to sit down and slowly sip their coffee whilst people watching). Luckily I found good old Starbucks at the Louvre. I spent the majority of my time at the Louvre, first bee-lining to the Mona Lisa and then finding the incredible Medici family gallery. I was also lucky enough to see the Louis Vuitton exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and snuck a few photos on my iPhone while the security guard wasn't watching!

A couple taking their own wedding photos in front of the Eiffel Tower 

The hotel I called home for a week was situated 10 minutes away from the Eiffel Tower. I walked past it every day, amused by the crowds and their happy vibes that radiated through the place, even if they were simply doing something mundane such as waiting in line for two hours just for the lift to go up the tower. 

On my last day in Paris, I looked at the Eiffel Tower, standing tall against a grey sky, and wondered what the world looked like through its eyes. This tower has stood through countless winters and summers, faced tourists clicking their cameras pulling funny poses in front of it, being photographed from every possible angle in every possible light. It  has seen the city in world wars, misery, violence and poverty; yet it has also witnessed countless occasions of love, of friendships forming and the powerful emotions that unify mankind. 

Sometimes I wonder, if the Eiffel Tower had a voice, what kind of stories and century-old wisdom might we hear about? 

Travel tips: 

• Grab a copy of the metro map and keep that with you at all times. The Paris metro is surprisingly easy to navigate even though the map looks like a huge mess and it will almost take you anywhere. M is for the inner city underground trains and RER is for the regional trains that also stop through a few of the inner city stations. Grab a day/week metro ticket and save the taxi money for the airport! 
• When walking through popular tourist places such as the Tuileries Gardens alone, take the side paths instead of the main path straight down the middle. That way you are less likely to be harassed by people selling souvenirs or trying to pickpocket you, or both. 
• Steer away from cafes next to touristy souvenir shops or anywhere on Rue de Rivoli. 
• For serious designer shopping, find the original CHANEL store on 31 Rue Cambon and check out the surrounding shops. Even the window shopping is amazing. 

xoxo