Today was our most active day so far with the most walking overall. We started the morning off by heading straight to Paris’ most iconic landmark: the Eiffel Tower. Outside of it, we discussed how Paris is setting up the 2024 Olympics. Many of the games will be played right outside of the Eiffel Tower and in that central location in Paris. One of the key concepts that Paris used in its bid presentation is that the game will be very compact. 85% of locations are within 30 minutes of the Olympic Village and 95% of the venues are either preexisting or were already planned construction, showing the sustainability of the Olympics.
After walking around the Eiffel Tower, we went over to the Arc de Triumphe and over to the Champs-Elysées. We were able to walk down one of Paris’ most iconic roads and shop at some of the world’s most famous shops.
We then walked over to the University of Sorbonne, the second oldest university in Europe and oldest in France. This university is iconic in regards to the Olympics since this is where Pierre de Coubertin held the meeting that began the modern Olympics in 1894.
After going to the University of Sorbonne, we went to the Louvre. On the way to the Louvre, we walked by Notre Dame, which was quite depressing to see. The last time I went there, the church was fully in tact, but a fire in 2019 damaged much of the iconic church. Then, at the Louvre, like the British Museum, we were able to see some of the world’s most coveted artifacts. We first saw the Egyptian section with statues and sculptures of the ancient Egyptians in addition to tombs. After that, we went to the Greek section which also had artifacts related to the ancient Olympics. We got to see the Venus de Milo statue which is one of the most famous artifacts in the Louvre. After that, we walked over to the Italian paintings section, many of which were covered with depictions of Jesus Christ. We then got to see the Mona Lisa, which had an extremely long line to see. For such an iconic painting, perhaps the world’s most famous, it is surprisingly small. It is, however incredible for being the first realist portrait painting of its time. There were some other very impressive paintings that were bigger than most walls in houses. I was extremely impressed by these paintings due to the fact that they were so detailed being so large. I wondered how the artists were able to paint such large paintings, and then how the Louvre was able to hang the paintings.
After the Louvre, we headed over to the official Paris 2024 Olympics shop. I got a tshirt there and other people got tshirts and bucket hats. We then headed to dinner across the street. I ordered a croque, a bread topped with ham and cheese, which was delicious. The fries have also always been delicious throughout Paris. After all, they are called French fries.
We finished the night up at the mall at Les Halles where we did some more shopping on the night. This was a great way to finish the night, especially since Paris is one of the fashion capitals of the world.
Overall it was a very successful day, with lots of walking but seeing some of the best locations in Paris was exciting. Most importantly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY PROFESSOR PAT RYAN!!!
