Mid-term break is always a wonderful time to have some rest from studies and explore new places that surround us. It gives us a great chance to learn the culture of other nations and meet an enormous amount of various people.
During our mid-term break from Les Roches Marbella two weeks ago, my friends and I had a chance to visit the “City of Love”- Paris. After small and cozy Marbella it is so unusual to be in a running and always hurrying city with crowds of people in the subway and a constant cluster of cars on the streets.
It was not my first time in Paris but on this occasion I realized all the beauty and majesty of this great place. Paris has a special atmosphere that is created by the people, street performers and musicians. You can spend hours wandering the streets and admire every single building without ever getting bored. And then there are the thousands and thousands of restaurants where Parisians drink a leisurely cup of coffee and tourists have lunch on sidewalk terraces.
During this short time we have visited almost all the ancient places and museums to experience the city’s antique culture and modern arts, gothic churches, beautiful gardens and sprawling parks.
Our first destination was the Louvre – one of the most visited museums in the world. In the past it has been known as a residence for French monarchs and to see all of the halls of this grand museum, one week is not nearly enough. Just to get in we had to wait two hours in the queue. But we were so overwhelmed and excited that two hours passed by like a few short minutes. The Louvre is just amazing, I still can not believe that all these incredible antique cultural monuments, statues from wood, stone, and gold still in unchanged conditions.
Another of the most incredible structures that human beings have ever built is La Tour Eiffel. I would not be able to come close to describing all of my feelings that I had when I got to the top of this amazing tower; it is really breathtaking scenery. First time in my life I was struck by the visual infinity of the city.
One more interesting place that you have to visit when you are in Paris is The National Museum of Modern Art, the Pompidou. This museum is a complete contradiction to the classic Paris that everybody is familiar with. Construction of the building is entirely unconventional. In fact, it looks like a skeleton with its visible tubes for electricity, elevators, water, and air. Parisians, in their usualy style, have given it the name of “Topsy-Turvy”. In the Pompidou you can find masterpieces of some of the most famous figures in modern art like Picasso, Matisse, Miro, Dali, Klein etc.
Looking back on this mid-term experience in Paris, I see that holidays are not just a time to relax, they can also be spent exploring the world from different angles. Although we never stopped during the entire week, now we have returned to school with lifelong memories, plenty of photos and unforgettable moments from this trip. I know for sure that if you go to Paris just once, you will want to come back again. Paris is a true fairy tale!
