Most people have a pretty epic 21st birthday, especially at Penn State. For me, I knew I would most likely be abroad so having the “Penn State” birthday was not going to happen. So I decided to head to Paris for my 21st birthday weekend, and I was joined by my mother and younger brother Tyler! I’ve always wanted to go to Paris, and I figured maybe 6 years of intense French lessons would finally pay off (actually they really didn’t).
My mom and brother were waiting for me at Paris Gare du Nord when my Eurostar train dropped me off, and there wasn’t much time to waste because we had a full day of sightseeing. The first stop was, naturally, the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower is absolutely amazing in person. I couldn’t believe how tall it actually is! It was a beautiful day outside, sunny and 65 so the line to go to the top was extremely long. But we waited and it was definitely worth it! You can see all of Paris from the top! Here are two photos, the first of my brother and I enjoying champagne at the top (hey, it was my 21st!) and another of my favorite view of Paris from the top!
After enjoying the views from the Eiffel Tower, we hopped on a Metro to check out the Notre Dame Cathedral. It’s truly an architectural masterpiece- can you see the carvings and gargoyles in the photo below? My mother and I were slightly disappointed with the inside- Notre Dame is more of a huge tourist attraction than a church. There was a mass going on inside but it was heavily distracted by the millions of tourists. But, it is beautiful.
We then walked all the way from Notre Dame to the Louvre and down Champs-Elysees. I think my brother and mom were going to kill me (it was a 2 hour walk). But definitely a nice one. We didn’t go into the Louvre but we did take pictures outside of it. The Louvre is a full-day excursion and we didn’t have time to check it out, but we needed to at least see it.
Now, I had to make a choice about where to go the next day. It was to be one or the other. The Palace of Versailles or Disneyland Paris. Most people would choose Versailles. Well… I’m not most people.
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The reason I chose to go to Disneyland was simple- I love Disney and one of my lifetime goals is to visit every single Disney park in the world. I have now visited 8 of the current 11 Disney Theme parks (4 in Florida, 2 in California, 2 in Paris- the other 3 are the two in Tokyo and 1 in Hong Kong). But, there was some interesting history I learned about Disneyland before going there.
This is the most “European” of the Disney castles possibly because of its location. Disney wanted to bank on bringing their parks to Europe since many of Disney’s classic tales took place in old time Europe. With the success of Tokyo Disneyland, they thought Euro Disney would also be successful. But, Disney’s strict American rules lost the park lots of money. Among them, the no alcohol rule. Drinking is a huge part of culture in Europe and Disney had to adapt to the European flair. Now, Disneyland Paris is the most visited tourist attraction in all of Europe- yes, even more people go to Disneyland than the Eiffel Tower! The park seemed inconsistent with using French and English- some rides were in French, some in English, some in both. Probably the most interesting ride was “it’s a small world” which has a section dedicated to America. And also, a glimpse of the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty in New York in 1886- I guess the French like to remind we Americans that THEY built us the Statue of Liberty. Yes France, thank you. We appreciate it.
The last day we spent back on Champs-Elyssees for a few final photos. It’s one of the most famous streets in the world because of its beauty and illustrious shopping. At the end of Champs-Elyssees is the Arc de Triomphe, truly majestic and beautiful symbol for France. Overall, je t’aime Paris. Whether I’ll return one day is yet to be determined. For now though, bon soir et au revoir!
Location: Paris Gare du Nord, France
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Great photos. So happy you had such an awsome 21st Birthday but you are an awsome person so you deserved it!
Can’t wait to see you. We need a trip to Friendly’s and at least one new interesting adventure.
Enjoy the rest of the semester!