Paris in September — Part One
In September 2016, my family and I traveled to Paris, France! My sister loves everything about France and had studied French in high school and maybe even in college. So when my parents told us we would be going to France, she was in charge of the itinerary! My parents would be going on a cruise, but wanted to visit Paris before the trip, so they asked if we wanted to join them. We obviously said yes! After traveling around Paris, my parents went on their cruise, and my sister and I flew back home together. I forget where my parents cruised. I think they went to Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway.
Anyway, back to Paris, we traveled on the first day, checked in at our hotel, and then went to see the Arc de Triomphe. It is a huge monument in the middle of an even bigger round-about. We even got to go to the top of it, and we could see the Eiffel Tower from it! The monument honors the soldiers in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Construction started in 1806 and ended thirty years later. Military leaders’ names are inscribed on the monument, and there’s also a small museum in the monument, as well as a tomb of an unknown soldier from World War I.
I do not remember exactly what we did each day, so I will not be writing about what we saw in chronological order. I also do not seem to have saved the final itinerary that my sister created. Anyway, we walked around Paris and saw the Luxembourg Gardens. They were pretty!
We also went to see the Pantheon which is used as a mausoleum for famous French citizens when they pass away. The original intent of the building was to be a church dedicated to Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris. However, it was voted to change into a mausoleum, although it was sometimes used as a church. It is now only used as a mausoleum, and it houses the remains of illustrious individuals such as poet Victor Hugo, philosopher Voltaire, philosopher Rousseau, Louis Braille, and chemist Marie Curie. I looked up the Pantheon and was a bit shocked but not too surprised to find that the mausoleum houses 73 men and only five women!
We also got to see Les Invalides, which has Napoleon’s tomb, a military history museum, and a church. It was an impressive building! There are also other French war heroes buried in the building. Outside, we found a restaurant serving the best food ever! I had duck with mashed potatoes, and we all loved our food. I am pretty sure that was my first time eating duck, too. Stay tuned to learn more about what we saw in Paris, France!
