Paris

I didn’t have any particular reasons however I decided to go to Paris this summer and I went there although it was already October. Before my going there I told some of my friends about my trip and they said that I would have a good time because it’s a world famous city with so many museums, restaurants and landmarks I should visit. This was the first time for me to visit Paris and I appreciated my friends’ advice and was excited.

I arrived in Paris around lunch time so I ordered croissants at a small bakery; I ordered three with using my fingers and tried to say three in French, but what I actually said from my lips was “tre”, it wasn’t French but Italian. I should have studied some French but I managed to buy three croissants by my strange Italian and Japanese.

My first destinations were The Arc de Triomphe（凱旋門）and The Eiffel Tower. I saw them in photos and TV programs many times before so when I finally saw the real one it didn’t feel like the first time however, unlike in the photo’s I could enjoy the atmosphere in Paris around these famous landmarks.
I went up The Eiffel Tower stairs even though there were elevators; going up on foot was the cheapest and the least popular way to enter so I could avoid paying extra and a long queue. The sign said “stairs to the second floor” however the second floor in Europe is the third floor in Japan and actually it was 115m high from ground level so waiting in a long queue for the elevators might have been faster. It was a fine day and the view from The Eiffel Tower was wonderful.

After that long climb I went to The Louvre Museum on foot; I enjoyed walking around Paris so I didn’t get on the Metro. When I arrived at the museum I was tired and it was impossible to look around everything. At first, I went to see the most famous masterpiece the “Mona Lisa”. Honestly speaking, I was more surprised by the high security than impressed by the painting. The painting seemed quite nice, however there were too many people around it and I couldn’t stay there. Other than “Mona Lisa”, paintings were displayed normally and I could see them closer, I had more art work to see than time.

On the next day I went to The Rodin Museum in Paris. His works of art are mainly effigies and they are displayed outside. It was a wonderful atmosphere being in a beautiful garden under the sunshine looking at his effigies. They showed suffering or the conflict of human beings amazingly at the same time they were powerful and impressive.


Just before my flight from Paris to Manchester, I visited The Orsay Museum and found many famous paintings which I saw at school in Japanese text books for art. I was happy to see them because in real life they were much better than on paper. I was thinking whether I should buy a copy of my favourite painting at the museum shop or not. I usually buy something as a souvenir because I may not come back again, but this time I decided I would be coming back to Paris again so I didn’t buy any souvenirs.