One of the greatest parts of studying in Europe is getting to travel to other places. While a lot of my friends get to jet off every weekend on 15-euro Ryanair flights, my internship hours have interfered with a lot of the cheaper flight times. I was lucky enough to get to spend last weekend in Paris with my loving grandparents – much more luxurious than most of my friends’ trips. My grandparents spoiled me to the core. As wonderful as Dublin is, my apartment is what’s to be expected for student housing – a little cramped and a bit uncomfortable. The weekend of luxury in Paris was just what I needed.
Having learned the Dublin Bus system fairly well, I chose to take bus 16 to the airport Friday morning, a long but economical choice. I arrived in Paris in the afternoon and took a cab directly from the airport to my grandparent’s apartment. Even on a foggy day in a cab, the city is breath taking. It’s certainly more quintessential Europe than cozy, modest Dublin. I spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with my grandparents, enjoying a few comforts of home and cleaning up for dinner. We wandered Bucci St. looking for a place that seemed just right for dinner, eventually ending up in a small place named “Pumpkin” or “La Citrouille” which seemed fitting for late October. After dinner, we ignored the cold and wandered the streets, stopping to listen to four Jazz musicians playing on one street corner.
Saturday morning was a dream. I awoke to the sun shining through the balcony doors, with the plush, white sheets of my king-sized bed snuggled around me. I read a few chapters of The Da Vinci Code – a great read while in Paris – over coffee with my grandparents. My grandfather also made eggs and ham – yum. Around 11, we put our tourist hats on (metaphorically, I promise). We spent the morning at the Louvre, seeing artwork I have studied for years in a variety of Art History courses as well as works by my favorite, Caravaggio. We left the Louvre and walked through the Tuileries Garden, again bearing the cold and relishing the sunshine and bright blue skies. The view of the Eiffel Tower (or La Tour Eiffel) from beside the Arc de Triomphe was spectacular, and as a long time student of the French language and culture, it felt like a bucket list item was being checked off before my eyes. We finished our afternoon with a little shopping on the Champs-Elysees – an activity a girl should never say no to.
I stayed in Paris until Sunday. We ate well and often, shopped at organic markets and practiced our French just enough. I felt really blessed to be able to have such a wonderful weekend away with family and then return back to Dublin, a city that truly is beginning to feel like home.