Wolverineinohio's International Travels: France II

Today was my last day in France. The morning started out decent. Leaving my hotel, I was met with dewey fields and cold air. Throughout my 15 minute walk to the train station I was struck by the beauty of the farmland surrounding Bayeux. Unlike the US, the farmland in Bayeux was comprised of rolling hills, stone walls, and tree patches. This topography makes farmland much more aesthetically pleasing. Once at the train station, I spent about 5 minutes verifying that I was in fact getting on the correct train. The train line I was on runs from Cherbourg to Paris. If I got on the wrong train, I would be heading Northwest for an hour and a half. Not good.

After hopping on the train, I was treated to 2.5 hours of views from France's countryside. While some parts of it look just like Muncie, Indiana, other parts mimic the appealing nature of Bayeux's countryside. Once we finally reached the Paris Saint-Lazare station, I was eager to see some of France's most famous monuments. I only had about 3 hours before I would have to leave for the airport.

My first stop was the Eiffel tower. Despite issues finding the correct subway line, I was able to reach the Champe de Mars after a short subway ride and a bus ride. My first thought seeing the Eiffel Tower was "Wow. That is ginormous." Possibly due to the fact that I have only seen aerial shots of the tower, I never truly appreciated the size and scale of the structure. It is wider, thicker, and taller than I could have ever imagined. Although I approached the tower from about 300 meters away, I still found I had to back up a dozen or so steps to get the entire tower in frame for a picture. The atmosphere at the base of the tower is what you would expect. Trinket sellers lined the protective glass surrounding the tower (they make you pay to walk under the tower and access the shops and viewing deck). There are also a dozen people with fake petitions for the international deaf children's fund charity (they approach you and say "do you speak English?" If your answer is yes, they throw the paper and a pen at you and ask you to sign). I did my good deed today by telling a German man to not sign the petition just before he put the pen to paper. After about half an hour, I got bored of staring at the brown, steel structure. Off I went to the Arc de Triomphe.

To get to the Arc, I took a train from the Bir Hakeim station. I wonder if the Frenchmen who died in that battle would be happy they got a small Parisian metro station named after them. Despite not being able to walk under the Arc, I was still taken aback from the structure. Like the Eiffel Tower, it was massive. At each of the four legs, massive sculptures leap out of the rock. Looking at this structure, you can see how much Napoleon really identified with the Romans. The sculptures around the arc all depict different scenes in French history. Additionally, the arc has a thin band of sculptures towards the top depicting more important moments in France's history. My favorite part of the monument was a band of circles stretching all around the arc, just under the battles scenes. On these circles were the names of all important battles France has won throughout history. That is a flex.

My last stop sightseeing was the Pantheon. Being completely honest, I was not impressed. It might have been because I did not enter the building due to time constraints or that I was already tired from my trip, but I kind of just took the Pantheon at face value. Great, impressive structure. However, its the Pantheon. I saw what I expected. From this point, you are able to see the Eiffel tower right down the middle of the street approaching the Pantheon. This was cool.

Now I am at the airport set to leave for Amsterdam. I will be spending 9 hours in the airport as part of a layover. I am not excited for that. But, I will return to Ireland in the morning. A few of you gave me recommendations for travel within Ireland - advice that I will listen to.

Thank you and goodbye!