Merci Paris!

 

The last few weeks have been a blast here in Germany, I’ve made some great friends, travelled and even joined a local soccer team.  Besides all of that, work and my language skills are improving steadily, which is nice.  My colleagues have been really helpful and have included me in so much, and even though sometimes they give me a little bit of stick for my broken german they’ve made me feel at home here.

Starting off, yes you’ve heard right! I am now a member of the local team in my area, SV Komet Pennigbüttel.  The purple and white pride of our small corner of Germany.  The club is made up of a few teams, from a 32+ team to 18u as well and I think 4 teams of guys around my age that are sorted on ability.  The best of which competes in the 5th level of German soccer (I think).  I have been training with the 2nd team, which is way out of my league, but the guys have been welcoming.  They laugh at “the american” that struggles with the simplest of skills on the soccer field, but as soon as I do something somewhat half-decent, they go nuts for it.  The camaraderie is a blast and even though only a few of the guys speak english, we understand each other pretty well and it’s been a lot of fun getting to know them over a few post-practice beers each week.  I guess sports are sports and teammates are teammates no matter where you are in the world.

Besides playing soccer and work, I’ve still found time to travel, and a few weeks ago I had the incredible opportunity to travel down to Dortmund to watch Germany play England.  The game was special, as it wasn’t just the usual Germany vs England rivalry, but a celebration of one of Germany’s best players over the past 15 years, Lukas Podolski.  That night would be his final game representing his country and the stadium was packed with fans wishing to send him off properly.

Lukas Podolski was born in Poland, but was eligible to choose to play for either Poland or Germany.  He made his first appearance for Germany as a 19 year old after the Polish coach didn’t think he was good enough to make the Polish National team (big mistake).  Since then, he has made 130 appearances for Germany, representing them in 3 World Cups (winning 1 in 2014), 4 Euro Cups, and scoring 49 goals (3rd most ever for the German National team) over this span.  He was even named the 2006 World Cup’s “Best Young Player” over two other guys named Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.  There are plenty of other stats and records but to make a long story short, everyone was feeling the love for “Poldi” as they call him.

The Germans are here!!

I was invited by a friend of a friend I met in Salzburg through AIFS.  Her friend is studying in Prague, and had an extra ticket and as I was only 3 hours from the game I was lucky enough to get an invite, thanks Bekkie and Camy!  I got to the game early to make sure I had time to get in a beer and bratwurst before meeting up with Bekkie and joining the massive crowds pouring into the stadium.  We were fortunate to get to see the team bus pull in as well which was really cool!

Upper deck, but still a fantastic view!

The game was incredible, it was my first game seeing any national teams play and as a big Manchester United fan it was my first chance to see some players from my favourite team like Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw, Jesse Lingard and Chris Smalling.  But the star of the show stole the spotlight late in the second half with a stunning goal from outside the box to break open the scoreless game.

What a goal!!

A few minutes later, he was subbed off to a standing ovation that lasted a good 5 minutes until he came back out off of the bench to wave one final goodbye to the fans.  It was a really great experience to see and it was so cool to see someone end their international career on such a high note.

After this I had a quiet week of work before my first big trip of the year to Paris!  It was definitely a bit of a “rush job” to fit a trip of this magnitude in, without taking any time off of work, but it worked out incredibly.  Luckily for me, we have a great family friend who lives and works in Paris, Lauren Golden, who was gracious enough to let me not only crash at her place, but also spend the day with me Saturday showing me all that Paris had to offer!

Thanks for the incredible day in Paris Lauren!

But, I had to get to Paris first, and even though my work schedule allows us to leave work on Fridays around 2:00 I was still just barely making the last train to Paris for the night.  My travel route had me leaving Osterholz-Scharmbeck at 2:30, and arriving in Paris at 11:00 that night, and what stressed me out the most, was that my final connection only departed Mannheim 10 minutes after my train from Hannover arrived.  And as luck would have it my train from Hannover to Mannheim was 15 minutes late.  I was only extremely stressed as I sprinted through the train station praying for a delay or some divine intervention to hold my final train until I could make it.  And wouldn’t you know it, THAT train was also delayed 10 minutes… whew!  Lucky break..  But the rest of the trip was easy and smooth, especially since I was on a high speed train that got up to over 350kph or around 220mph.  I really wanted to look out the window at that speed, but it was dark outside at that time so unfortunately I couldn’t get to watch the French countryside fly past..

Wonder where Quasimodo is??

Fast forward to the next morning…. Lauren was an incredible host and even though she has a gluten allergy she made sure that there were croissants waiting there for me for breakfast before heading out into the city (already off to a great start).  The first stop on our tour began at Notre-Dame.  As soon as we came around the corner and I first saw the massive cathedral I was blown away.  It’s such a weird feeling, seeing something in-person for the first time, when you’ve already seen it in textbooks, on tv and in movies.  you realise pretty quickly that none of it ever quite did it justice.

Beautiful Notre-Dame

After this we began to make our way across Paris.  I had talked to Alicia the previous night, and she told me a story of when she was able to go to Paris and tour the French countryside with her ensemble in high school and sing in various churches and venues.  She told me how they were able to do an impromptu performance in a small chapel called Sainte-Chapelle, and how every member of her ensemble stood around the edge of the small room and sang a few hymns.  Alicia highly recommended that we make sure to see it, and I was so happy we took her advice because it was unreal.  From the outside, it is a little bit unassuming, but from the inside it is spectacular.  The beautiful stained-glass windows go almost the entire way around the small chapel..

Sainte-Chapelle

After leaving Sainte-Chapelle I was beginning to worry that we had begun our tour of Paris on too much of a high!  Luckily, it was nearing lunch and Lauren had told me of a place just on the other side of the Louvre that had the best hot chocolate in Paris.  Even though we didn’t have time to go through the museum I wanted to see the architecture and the famous glass pyramids outside.

The Louvre

I was beginning to get the idea that everything in Paris is grander in person.. I made a mental note that I needed to get back to Paris to tour the inside of the Louvre.  But for now, it was just time for hot chocolate.  I had been waiting patiently for this moment as Lauren had hyped it up pretty well.  We entered a tea room called Angelina, and Lauren ordered me a chocolate eclair and hot chocolate.  Both were out of this world, the hot chocolate wasn’t so much hot chocolate, but what seemed like pure melted chocolate.. And it was served with a side of freshly whipped cream..  The entire “snack” was amazing.

“Second breakfast” was a success

After indulging in pure chocolate for a little while we got back on our tour.  I knew in the back of my mind I needed to get in some more walking to work off the chocolate overdose I just went through.  So we headed up the Champs-Élysées towards the Arc de Triomphe.  In the distance the Arc didn’t look too massive but the closer we got, the more the absurd size of the structure really sank in..  We didn’t have time to go up to the top as we still had a busy schedule ahead of us but walking around underneath and seeing the monuments dedicated to the French military throughout the years was really an interesting time.

Arc de Triomphe

After this, Lauren and I hopped back on the Paris metro (all of which I thought was great) and headed out to Montmartre to see Sacré Coeur.  I’ll admit I had not heard much about this basilica before this week, and all my mom had told me about it was that it was “the church with a million steps leading up to it.”  So when we got out of the metro, and weaved our way through the narrow streets up to where they opened up looking up to the church on the hill I was blown away..

Sacré Coeur in Montmartre

The basilica was incredible, it sits on the highest point in the city and from the top you can get an incredible view, and really get a good idea of how massive Paris really is.

The massive sprawl that is Paris

After marvelling at the church for awhile and touring around the inside, we walked around the markets and winding streets, which are packed full of artists and little cafes.  The artists’ works are incredible and if I had the money I probably would have left with 10 of them but luckily I only had about 15 euros on me so I could only choose two small pieces.  But just getting to walk around and take in the atmosphere and the beautiful weather really made the day great.

Montmartre

At this time our dinner reservation was fast approaching so we began the walk down to the restaurant and along the way we passed by the famous Moulin Rouge.  My mom painted a beautiful picture of the Moulin Rouge and ever since I was little I’ve wanted to see it in person.  We weren’t able to go inside but we did stop around the corner to have a drink and people-watch for a bit before dinner.

Couldn’t find Christina Aguilera but still a cool place

Our dinner reservation was at a little restaurant that Lauren knew of called “Petite Fleur.”  All day, I had been craving a bowl of traditional French boeuf bourguignon after I saw it on the menu in the morning. It didn’t disappoint, it was by far the best meal I have had since I arrived here in Europe.  But the real surprise for me was the escargot, I tried them as an appetiser and they were fantastic, not at all slimy and something I would definitely order again!

After gorging ourselves on food and some wine we got back on the metro to go to what I was most excited to see this weekend, the Eiffel Tower.  Instead of seeing it during the day, Lauren had said it was much better at night all lit up.  All day, I could catch glimpses of the tower over the tops of buildings or around the bend of the river.  But the wait was worth it.  Seeing the entire tower for the first time all lit up was the highlight of my trip.

A perfect end to the day

Once I picked my jaw up off the ground, we headed back for the night, I was exhausted, full of great food, and blown away by my first day in Paris. According to Lauren’s phone, over the course of the day we walked 25,000 steps and around 10 miles…  And I needed every single one of those steps it felt like to work off my hot chocolate, and dinner.. No regrets though!

The next morning I wanted to go to a museum before catching my train home.  I had heard great things from one of my dad’s friends about the Hotel des Invalides.  The entire complex was huge and contained numerous exhibits documenting France’s war history as well as the final resting place of Napoleon.

Hotel des Invalides

I can’t say enough about how amazing the museum was.  As a history major who couldn’t get enough about WWI and WWII during University, I was completely captivated.  I could have spent an entire day walking through the various hallways and rooms reading every single piece of information available to me, but unfortunately I had limited time before I had to catch my train..  I had to pick and choose the exhibits I wanted to see most so I spent my time in the medieval arms and WWI/WWII exhibits.  What I was most surprised about though was that as soon as you walk into the main courtyard, there are plaques documenting the military relationship of the United States and France going all the way back to the American Revolution.  The plaques included documented quotes from American generals and George Washington about French General Marquis de Lafayette as well as quotes from French Generals about the American troops and leaders upon their arrival in France during WWI.  All in all, it’s tough to sum up the museum just because of the sheer amount of history inside of it (maps, uniforms, documents, weapons, diagrams, videos) but it is definitely a must see when visiting Paris if this sort of thing really interests you.

Medieval and Samurai armour

Renault FT-17 light tank from the end of WWI (known as the world’s first modern tank, as it’s general layout is still used by modern tanks today)

Varying uniforms from WWI

German and American WWII uniforms

Trench models

Actual taxi used by the French to shuttle troops to the front lines to halt the German advance through Northern France during the Battle of the Marne.

Replicas of German V-1 buzz bomb and American “little boy” atomic bomb

Napoleon Bonaparte’s sarcophagus inside the Dome des Invalides

After finishing up at the museum I began the walk to my train station, but stopped along the way to grab some lunch and enjoy the sights for another few minutes.

How can you beat lunch with this view??

Paris really was mind-blowing.. I feel that in the world there are a handful of cities that, no matter where you turn your head and look, down every alley and around every corner you see something beautiful.  I was lucky enough to live in one of those cities, in Salzburg last year, which really spoiled me as a traveller. Because now, a lot of times, when I travel and find myself in a new city, I tend to start comparing it to Salzburg..  Most of the time that comparison is not very kind to the new city as not much in the world compares to the snowy peaks, and white fortress rising above the steeples in Salzburg.  But Paris was a different case…  The food, the architecture, and the culture really blew me away and I hope I can find time in the future to return to this amazing city.  On that note, Auf Wiedersehen!