Wee, Wee, Pariiiii!

PARIS! LOOK HOW EXCITED I AM! haha, I have to be honest, I was expecting to be disappointed by Paris. Every girl has told me how romantic and breathtaking the city was, combined with the standard answer of how snooty Parisians are. So with that lovely attitude, I headed to Paris! Thursday at noon we left, and eventually after many modes of transportation (train, flight, bus, shuttle, metro) later, we ended up in Paris! Starving, we headed to get the most Parisian food we could find, Kebobs! (sarcasm, obviously). But it was close to our hotel. My first euro kebob...mystery meat, bread, yogurt sauce and spicy something or another, so delicious! I really did like it. Anyways, our hotel, aka the Holiday Inn Express (woot woot, shoutout to UT!) was super nice and having a shower with consistent hot water and intense water pressure was much needed. Unfortunately, it was off the metro stop Riquet, which is at least 20 minutes of a metro ride to anywhere central or popular in Paris. So after dinner, a couple friends and I jumped on the metro and decided we had to see the eiffel tower. After wandering trying to figure out where it was, we spotted it. And I truly became speechless. I think it was something that it was our first night, so were mildly delirious from the intense travel, and the beautiful night time, but it was something I will never forget. I didn’t have my camera but these pics were snapped two nights later. We saw a crepe place right across, and grabbed our first Parisian crepe to eat under the eiffel tower...so French, wee? ;) I naturally had to splurge and get the crepe with chocolate AND strawberry and bananas. I just didn’t see any other way to do Paris justice. It was DELICIOUS. I do love me some polichinkas, but this crepe was heavenly. So we sat on a bench in front of the eiffel tower, barely speaking due to our awe of both the eiffel tower and our delicious crepe. Around midnight we headed back to the hotel since we knew we had a full day ahead tomorrow.

 David, the cutest tour guide.

The next day around 9 we met in the lobby to get ready for our biking tour of Paris. I was excited to not only get in some exercise-related activity, but also, with so many walking tours (at least 1 a week) its nice to have another view. We met our tour guide, David, a London native, who moved to Paris with his wife and her fashion career. He was adorable, and his accent made the tour even better! Ya’ll know how I feel about accents! Anyways, we each got our own bike, with the exception of our friend, Grace, who actually didn’t know how to ride a bike. BAFFLING. Anyways, she got a tandem bike with her boyfriend, which was made for an adult and child. I had to be in her group, obviously, just for sheer entertainment. She ended up not doing too poorly though, unfortunately for my own personal pleasure. Haha. The bike tour was so sick! We’d bike through the streets and at various cool sights or just whenever David wanted to tell us a cool fact, we’d pull over and huddle up (the group was only about 9 of us). It was so awesome. We took a snack break and we stopped at an amazing bakery. Lauren and I had to get something, so we tried the “Pave de Chocolate” which was like a chocolate croissant but flatter and more moist. I’m not sure what it was, but each and every bite blew my mind, let me tell you.

  (above: Notre Dame from across the river)

                  (above & below: outside the louve)

 Above is where Jim Morrison lived and was found dead. Cool, right? Below is his name inscribed outside the wall. At one time there was a plaque stating he lived/died there, but the tenants got so tired of his fans bringing candles and flowers so often, that they asked the city to remove it. Someone decided to etch his name into the wall, just so everyone would remember.

 
We got to see so much and enjoy the beautiful, crisp morning/afternoon as well. The trees were all starting to change color, but it was still sunny. I’m really becoming a big fan of this foreign concept known as autumn. Anyways, I saw everything from where Jim Morrison lived, to the first coffee shop in Paris (which was visited by our good ol' Benny Franklin, picture above), the smallest property in Paris(picture underneath the cafe, the small property in the center), and so so much more! We covered almost all of Paris in those 3.5 hours and I loved it. Sidenote: some of these pictures were taken WHILST biking. Impressive ahhs cued here!! Trust me, I was impressed too. No falling necessary! I felt like everywhere I turned in Paris was another beautiful sight. Everywhere I turned I had to snap a photo. I came home with 458 if that gives you any idea of how beautiful it was. Almost magical, it seemed.

 
(above & below is walking around outside the louve, in the square)


After the biking tour, we went to grab a quick bite to eat at “Quazimodo Cafe”. Grace and I split a ham and cheese grilled cheese (or so it seemed) but the cheese was on the outside of the toasted bread, all melty. So yummy! It came with French fries and green salad. Lauren ordered the French Onion Soup, and mom you would have died. It was the best I have ever tasted!! We then headed to the Museum D’Orsey. Unfortunately we didn’t go to the Louve, due to lack of time. (just have to fit it in next trip!). But this museum was beautiful. We saw Manet, Monet, Van Gough, Gaugin, and so many other awesome works! It was so fascinating me, after taking modernism at LMU my first semester freshman year, to then see these pieces we discussed up close. Powerpoint slides and google images just can’t do these amazing paintings and sculptures justice! Interesting fact, as we were heading into the Van Gough exhibit, I hear a “ellen?!” cry out loud. I turn around and there is Liz Sur, a girl from Bishop Montgomery High School. We hugged and were both laughing at the odds of running into one another in Paris! I knew she was studying abroad in Spain, but what are the chances of running her on a random weekend in paris in the museum d’orsey!? Nutty. Anyways, after the museum, which I loved and definitely need to see again (I just didn’t see enough!), we headed home to the metro. We HAD to stop at a Starbucks, since I haven’t had any since I left! It was delicious. I got the soy latte I love, as dad would call it “a miso soup latte”, I giggled and thought of you dad as I ordered it. We then headed home for a quick power nap and to get ready for the evening. We did a quick change and headed for dinner. We ended up in the Latin Quarter, supposedly a cool, young place to hang out according to our bike guide. We found a sushi restaurant, again so typical Parisian food. But we all thought it sounded so good. And it was! Speaking of miso soup, right? After dinner we all walked around, stopped at a bar here and there, and made our way back to the hotel.
Saturday morning, instead of doing the walking tour with the school, we opted to take a trip to Versailles. Versailles was unbelievable!! I still can’t fathom that royalty actually lived in this place. First off, it was HUGE. The inside of the palace to the gardens, it was tremendous. We walked through the palace, saw the dining rooms, the chapel, the bedrooms, etc. Everything was so detailed and over the top decorated. Gold and beautiful colors were everywhere! The coolest part was the hall of mirrors, in which mirrors mimicked the windows on the opposing side of the wall, so natural light filled the room, and golden chandeliers hung throughout the hall.

 (above: the hall of mirrors, below: the kings bed!)

The gardens were also unbelievable. The end of the gardens, where Marie Antoinette had her estate, was a 30 minute walk away, if that gives you any idea of the size. There were gardens, statues, and tourists everywhere! We had a mini picnic, since we took our complimentary breakfast and made sandwiches to go (resourceful!) and ate in the beautiful gardens. Grace, Jorja, Nate and I decided we wanted to rent a little row boat for a half hour around the lake in the middle of the garden. It was so fun and nice to see the view of the palace and the garden from a different angle. I was bummed to miss out on the walking tour, but Versailles was well worth it!

 After dinner, we headed to our school scheduled tour of the eiffel tour and ride to the top! Unfortunately, we didn’t plan so well how this public transportation thing would work. When on the subway, we realized we would be about 15 minutes late. We called one of the staff and they told us we had TO BOOK IT in order to make it on the tour, and there was no way we were gonna pay for it if we missed it. Paris is ridiculously expensive...FOR REAL. So when we got off the subway we sprinted. Yes, sprinted. Full of dinner, in boots and coats and scarves. Now, did I happen to mention the girls I was with are fitness majors and die hard runners? Oh, no? YEA. So they were about a mile ahead of Lauren and I, who were stumbling in our heeled boots on the cobble stone. So funny. We eventually made it, sweating, and 5 minutes behind Claire and Kelsey (nicknamed the Sporty Spices, for obvious reasons). The staff was waiting there to fan us off, and applauded our efforts. So we rode up to the top, stopping at the first level, taking a couple pictures and then heading to the top. The elevator ride, was a trip. I had a mini, in my head freak out, since I could see us climbing higher and higher over the city. I had to remind myself how “cool” this was. But it was really trippy walking around and slowly ascending to the top. The view was beautiful, but in all honesty, the tower is so much more magical from the outside.
(below: view from the top! amazing)
 

Still, it was a great experience and the photos are awesome. We then got bottles of wine, and drank them in front of the beautiful sight.


 
 


(below: the eiffel tower sparkling)

We ended up at a Parisian bar (first picture below), and we were the ONLY american/english speaking people. The music was all in French, and all they were all hammered. We started trying to dance and sing along, my friend Mic, even stood up on a barrel after a french guy did. The woman bartender however yelled in broken english “you don’t know the words american! GET DOWN!” and then clapped when he got down. We laughed forever and just took in the atmosphere.


(above: me and Mic, the infamous dancer)

The next morning, we overslept by an hour and missed the 830 am mass we planned. But don’t worry, Mom! We made it to mass at Notre Dame at 10:30. On the bike tour we didn’t get to see the inside of the church so I was super stoked about seeing the inside. It was beautiful (I’m so sick of my adjectives, but I really can’t articulate the feeling I get when I saw it). Mass was in French, which made it slightly difficult to concentrate, but also made the mass sound so beautiful. After mass, we walked around and saw the whole church. The ceilings were so high and the arches were stunning. Below is the other side of the Notre Dame

 (above: the girls who went to mass-kelsey, christine, claire, & sophie)

After mass, everyone decided to do different things. The group split in half, those who wanted to go to a cafe, and those who wanted to shop. I, however, was in neither of these groups and opted to do a Paris day solo. I just wanted to see and experience more, and I needed some alone time, since traveling in large groups, is just so much chaos. So I walked around the streets and stopped at little vendors which had typical tourist things (think postcards, tiny eiffel tower statues, crap or bricka-brack as dad would say) but also really cool things, like old books, paintings, and home made crafts. I spent two hours wandering between these, stopping to take occasional pictures or to people watch. I ended up at a cafe by the hotel and stopped for lunch. My first meal, ever at a restaurant, alone. It was kinda weird, but kinda nice at the same time. I sat by the window and watched all the Parisians at this cafe, which was poppin by the way. I had a caesar salad that was delicious and a baguette. It was a nice day. I headed back to the hotel to check out around 2 p.m. And headed back to Florence. At 11 p.m. I was back, filled with thoughts of Paris and dreaming of my next trip!