Bonjour!
current state: Much better! Sitting and relaxing in an empty flat. Raining outside and listening to pride and prejudice soundtrack. Decided that it was much needed to update blog a couple times!
My mom has always told me about trips to Paris since always,
but
I've never had the chance to go to the enchanted city until last weekend. She told me about how beautiful it was, the flavorful food and the interesting people that I would meet. History is a very important apart of Paris. I loved that the city was mixed between the legendary history and the modern architecture.
Saturday:
4 Am- WIDE AWAKE. So excited for getting to the bus stop for our
trip that I couldn't sleep anymore. Went to the tube station extra early before everyon
e else to make sure that I could put money on my oyster card!
5:45 AM- we found our bus stop
6 AM- we board our coach bus for the 9 hour journey
6:05 AM- meet tour guide- and realize.....it's fabio's british twin. Officially nicknam
ed for the rest of the trip. Unfortunately no picture. But still he looked exactly like fabio
, too bad he wasn't as cool.
5 PM- arrive in Paris. realized never again will I take a coach and ferry to Paris- way too long.
First thing- Chrissy, Melissa and I walked to find an ATM. Within the first 5 minutes, french man walks by us and makes multiple air kisses at us. Will eventually learn French boys way different than the reserved British.
Can't remember timing after all this. We went on a panoramic tour of the city on the bus again and then ended at the Eiffel Tower. It was more gorgeous and better than any picture I've ever seen. There are the smallest details that just make it unique. I absolutely loved it.
Melissa, Amanda, Chrissy and I waited under the Eiffel Tower for my cousin Sean to give us the
real side of Paris tour. Honestly- Sean made the trip. He took us everywhere where the to
ur could not. We got in the cab- I learned that it's almost impossible to get a cab that will take let alone 4 people. The best part was when two french boys tried to bargain with Sean to let them get in the car with us.
We went to a small little crepe restaurant. We had ham and cheese crepes, amazing cider that warmed you from head to toe, and then the best dessert crepes EVER. After that he took us walking everywhere around Paris. It was dark, but we walked along the river by Notre Dame and then proceeded to see it all lit up. It was amazing. There were all these cute little boats along the river just chilling and playing music and had strings of quiet florescent lights. Not
going to lie- wished Ryan was with me.
Probably one of my favorite parts was we crossed this bridge, and there were a bunch of little tiny cafes with people just chilling and having coffee and in the backgrou
nd a man was playing french music on an accordion. I don't know how you get any more real paris than that.
Sean spoiled us rotten with real Paris. We went into this awesome book shop he took us into. It was all oversized books- most likely for your coffee table- on any topic that you can imagine. I fell in love with one with all the blue prints for the Eiffel Tower- but I knew there was no way
getting that through security and on a plane. I saved it for a next trip.
Paris is a lot more alive on the weekend than London. People roam the streets everywhere and it was like the city became one big party. We went into this small little pub and had a round of drinks to celebrate getting to Paris in one piece. Sean made sure we got into a cab and home safely. He was the best tour guide- and really I'm going to have to convince my mom to send me to Paris for an extended stay.
Sunday:
8 AM: Wake up time and out the door by 9. Fabio took us to all the sites around Paris for the morning. We went to sacre coeur and moulin rouge and ended a
t notre dame.
Sacre Couer was absolutely breathtaking. After walking up a bagillion steps you turn around and see the entire Paris city view- with the exception of the eiffel tower. I couldn't believe how beautiful and indescribable emotions came over me.
We were also warned that men would try and tie bracelets on our hands when walking up and then make you pay for them. Lesa and I were ready to take somebody down by the time we got there. There were only 4 guys and we gave them a look and they didn't even try to mess with me. ^Thanks mom for teaching me the don't mess with me look^
At the top of Sacre Couer there are a bunch of little vendors. Melissa and I made our best impulse buy of the weekend. A gigantic loaf of bread which would later be dubbed as our baby. It was some of the best and freshest bread I've had in my life. It was also bigger than my head and we just walked down the streets literally just biting off of it.
Moulin Rouge was very
touristy and we only saw the outside because its like 80 euros to go in, but it was worth it.
After we got let off at Notre Dame we went inside and explored i
t. There was so much incense, I'm positive my sister and dad would have passed out. But it was absolutely breath-takingly gorgeous. I didn't realize how beautiful churches could be until I came to europe.
After notre dame we made our way along the river and to the bastil. We ate at
a weird (as in owners) little restaurant and had pretty good sandwiches. Then we went to a special open air market where people from all around the globe were showcasing their work. I bought these really cute russian painted doll earrings.
We then went for a really long walk and was by some modern building made with a bunch of pipes. Kind of Blue-man esq. We saw a man doing a giant chalk painting. It was honestly like the chalk art in Mary Poppins and I didn't believe it was possible to make actual art out of sidewalk chalk. We went shopping in the area and then braved the Paris metro in order to make it to the arc de triumph. Let's just say that the experience made me appreciate the underground- A LOT. We got lost twice, but finally managed to ge
t there. It was also amazing. I didn't realize how BIG it was.
After that we headed back to the eiffel tower and across some river to have dinner in a little cafe. It was expensive, but I had the best steak and chocolate dessert ever. After an almost 3 hour meal- we walked out to see the eiffel tower was sparkling. It happens every hour. But, Danielle and I ran over to take a closer look. We sat there in silence and it was just the perfect moment, because we both were appreciating the beauty of it. I turned to Danielle and said
"hey danielle...guess what..."
"What"
"We're in Paris"
It finally became real that I was in Paris. That I had the most amazing food and saw the most breathtaking landmarks of history that are lucky enough to still be around. I saw the beautiful architecture, experience the French people and embraced the
language. I loved every minute of it.
A group of us went up in the eiffel tower. We could only make it to the second floor because the very top was closed- thank god. I hate heights. When we got to the top- although I was in constant fear of falling off- I looked around and realized how far we had gotten in just barely 24 hours. The lights reflected across the city as far as the horizon would allow you to see. This beat the empire state buildings view by far.
Monday:
8 am start again. This morning we went to the louvre- and fabio literally pronounced it the LOUV-RRREE. boo. Anyways - we saw the big sites, Mona Lisa and the Venus Demilo. There's also a shopping mall underneath the louvre now. Not sure how I felt about being able to go to the apple store or a mcdonalds.....
We only got to spend 3 hours there - which is crazy because of how much there is to see! Danielle and I made sure to get pictures of us in front of the pyramid out front. Made me want to go read the da vinci code again.
Mona Lisa really wasn't as impressive as I thought it was going to be. There were all these huge paintings in the same room and then there's this little tiny painting with glass in front of it and 100 flashing cameras going off. It was crazy the amount of attention one small painting gets. I thought that one of the most impressive things about the Louvre -was the Louvre itself. The architecture and the ceilings were just breathtakingly amazing. I couldn't stop looking up.
We then boarded the bus and had a 10 hour trip back to London. not so happy about that, but still it was well worth it in order to get my first trip to Paris. This isn't the last time this american will be making a trip there. Paris honestly holds the key to my heart.
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