“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”–Ernest Hemingway

            Although I didn’t live in Paris like so many ex-patriot writers in the 20’s, I did visit there with Andy for around three days in April. I took a train from Amsterdam to Paris early in the morning (around a 3 hour ride), and by noon, a sunny Paris greeted me. Sadly, this was one of the rare moments of sunshine, but we took advantage of it, walking all around the giant city. We saw many of the highlights–Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower in the distance, the Luxemburg and Tuileries Gardens, the Pantheon, and Montmartre, where our hostel was located. One of my favorite parts was the bouqinistes (or riverside vendors)–miniature, unlock-and-open bookstores on the sidewalk–on the Ile de Cite, near Notre Dame. These little shops lined the streets and sold everything from old books in French to touristy magnets. I really enjoyed just strolling along and browsing–although they closed when it started to rain, and I didn’t actually get to buy anything! We spent the rest of the day wandering around, ate at a wonderful caf� where I got an omelet (navigating Paris gluten-free is hard, but do-able), and headed back to our hostel.

The next day, day-tripped to a rainy Versailles, and at night, walked toward the glittering Eiffel Tower–a truly magnificent sight.

Sadly, our third day in Paris was spent dealing with stolen identities: although neither of us got our credit card physically stolen, we both were victims of ATM skimming. Basically, someone stole our banking information and our pin numbers, loaded it onto a blank card, and withdrew the maximum amount at an ATM each day. When we checked our accounts that morning, we saw the balances and had to gesture and use our weak French to buy a phone card to call our home banks. So, beware! Check your credit statements often, and watch out for ATMs in busy places. Although our situation was semi-unavoidable, being alert can only help.

            After we called our banks and did all we could with that, we attempted to forget the whole thing and enjoy our last day in the city of lights. Although once again it was raining, we headed to Saint Chappelle, a beautiful stained-glass window church with hanging chandeliers. The D’Orsay was next, and I especially liked the more modern exhibits such as impressionism and the Van Goghs; however, the best museum EVER was the L’Orangerie. It’s mainly two giant, oval rooms housing Monet’s enormous paintings of waterlilies, and even though we only managed to get in 20 minutes before closing, we just sat on the benches and soaked in the painting that seemed almost at one with the walls. The Lourve was mind-blowingly gigantic and open late that night, so we strolled around mostly aimlessly (besides seeing the Mona Lisa), and it reminded me of that book where the kids spend the night in a museum, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil. E. Frankweiler.

            Overall, I liked Paris. I tried to avoid the metro whenever I could, but walking around the city offered beautiful views of white sandstone (or limestone?), and the bookstore Shakespeare and Company was, almost literally, heaven on earth; I could have spent all day in there. Though my visit to Paris was a relatively short one, I would like to go back and spend more time relaxing in the beautiful gardens and soaking in more artwork stored in the many museums. Perhaps I’ll even be able to find a gluten-free patisserie when I return!

Location: Paris, France