Year in review - April

Two weeks after the trip to Porto we had a long weekend in Paris. Oh, the lovely Paris. On Wednesday right after work, we jumped on the TGV (the French hight-speed train) which has 2 stops from our town till Paris, and lasts around 3 hours. Nice, right?

Paris it was just wonderful, probably the city I liked the most this year. The architecture really amazed me, I really like the cities with classical buildings and parks. I lived during my studies, for 6 years, in Budapest, and sometimes I miss the big European city feeling. I could really feel this vibe in Paris.

It was good to see so much art, culture and fashion together in one place. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, restaurants. They have everything I like: quality meat, good wines and delicious pastries. I recommend you to search out the good local restaurants before you travel, as there are many restaurants, made only for tourists. They are usually really expensive and aren’t really French. As I’ve seen, French people like to go out, but they usually don’t go to those. A good local restaurant in Paris is small, crowded and they only speak French. And it has good prices as well.

But what made an enormous influence on me it was the Louvre. I like to enjoy art and history but I am not a typical big fan, neither of museums. But before we left I heard that the Louvre has something for everybody, so we decided to spend one of the afternoons there. And yes, who wrote that article I’ve read has right. One of the most amazing places I’ve been in my life it was the Louvre. First is the building. Okay, I am an architecture fan, as I am living together with an architect, but I think for the first 2 hours, I was only looking at the building and not the art pieces in the museum. And besides the building their collection is amazing. I repeat it again, I am not a museum fan, but I could lay on the ground and just look at a paintings. Believe me, I never did that before, and would have never imagine myself doing that neither. Actually before that I found art museums a bit boring. But in the magic of Louvre I totally forgot about that. The museum is huge, so I guess you need at least 1 week to see in detail all of it. The famous pieces are quite crowded, but there has much more than that. Actually after the visit I can say, I like art and museums much more. It just made a big impression on me.

Tip 1: Buy your ticket online. We did that and entered the Louvre in less than 5 minutes however the line was without end. They have different line for online ticket holders, and only a few people buy that.

Tip 2: Take your camera. Louvre allows taking pictures, and it’s a place where you can spend weeks only taking pictures. The lights are amazing, a lens with good aperture helps a lot. The disturbing thing is the crown, so if you want to take pictures enter 1-2 hours before the museum is closing.

Sadly I didn’t have a camera at that time, so I don’t have many pictures from there. But it pushed me towards the decision that I have to buy a good camera.

But I am sure we will be back in Paris, and I hope even for a longer stay. Everyone says Paris is a must. I think they are right.