I was coming into Paris as an expert. Ten years ago, I visited the city with my mom and sister for four days sooooo, I knew what I was doing. I knew of a museum or two and that the city is huge, something anyone who's read the city's Wikipedia page could also tell you.
Ok so we had a few planned items - boat ride on the Seine, bus tour of the city - and then a full free day in the city. On the partial day, Jorje and I got off the bus near the Opera House then took the Metro over to the Champs Élysées where we promptly got soaked and it was miserable. After strolling through H&M (something that's happened in every city), we split a pizza then went to see Jurrasic World in 3D in one of the nicer theaters I've ever been. The movie provided English language adventure and stalled until there was a beautiful, post-rain Paris. We walked to the Eiffel Tower, saw it light up at night, then were late to check-in students as we got lost on the Metro.
But that was one of the few times we got lost on the Metro and we used it a lot. 10 times to be exact. It's intuitive and gives one a feeling of being very cosmopolitan when mastered. We hit some of the other hot spots: Notre Dame, Musee D'Orsay, Sacre Coeur, Versailles, and our personal favorite, the Latin Quarter complete with boutiques and restaurants geared towards visitors but not filled with cliches.
I loved returning to Paris. It's elegant and refined and the people were friendly and welcoming and I could use a few French words.
First Aid Kit
Jorje had the brilliant idea to go to a concert on one of our later nights in Paris. First Aid Kit is a Swedish folk duo that we've listened to a little bit but wouldn't count ourselves die-hard fans but the draw of a concert while abroad was too strong to pass up. Openers Stealing Sheep was a great all famale pop group. Catchy hooks and infectious personalities. Great openers.
First Aid Kit is two young women in their early twenties touring their second LP. Beautiful harmonies, white lace dresses, very sweet and charming, with a drummer and slide guitarist. They're chock full of talent and it showed. Though they had two backing musicians, they carried the sound and when they performed an unplugged song, their voices were totally on point. The concert venue was some strange circus tent place called Cabaret Sauvage in a remote part of town but it was perfect and we were close to the stage and it was a great evening.
Up next: Rotterdam, the Netherlands
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