Paris: The City of Love

June 10-14, 2010

So I am about 5 cities behind and have a lot of catching up to do. We left for Paris on June 10th, right after school again. This time it was the five of us girls, Dan, Graham, and Jack. We got to the airport and found our gate with plenty of time to kill. Preethi gave us a quick French tutorial this time (bonjour, au revoir, bonsoir, desole, excusez-moi, s'il vous plait, merci, merci beaucoup, and je ne parle pas francais). When we were exchanging numbers with Dan, Yelena thought she should try to pull a "what whaaaat!", but she couldn't quite pull it off. Hahaaha--we won't let her live it down now. About 5 minutes before we were supposed to board, there was mass confusion at our gate. We turned around and found that our gate had been switched so everyone took off toward the other side of the airport to get to the right gate. We boarded about fifteen minutes later. We really shouldn't have been in any hurry, though. Our plane sat on the ground for an hour and a half, ready to take off but not moving. I don't know what was going on but it was the most frustrating flight ever. It was a shaky take-off and a bumpy landing. We took a train into the city center then the metro to get to our hostel. The map we got at the airport only had big streets labeled on it so we didn't have a clue where to go when we got off the metro. Luckily, there were 3 guys standing right outside of our metro stop and one of them had an iPhone, so he looked up our hostel on a map and pointed us in the right direction. As they were giving us directions, Mary Ellen tried to whisper to Preethi, "I thought they hated us". Buuut she was a little too loud and one of the guys helping us looked at her kind of funny :) That was one stereotype I didn't find at all in Paris. People say that French people are rude or aren't friendly, but everyone we encountered was friendly and helpful.

We found our hostel--Hotel Mondia--and checked in. It had the tiniest, red, spiral staircase. When we got to our rooms, we found out that two people had to share the queen-sized bed. After discussing our sleeping habits (who kicks in their sleep, who hits, who can't stay still) for about 15 min, Sarah and I decided to share it. We unpacked our bags, checked out our view from the balcony, freshened up, and went out to dinner. There was this plaza-like thing near our hostel with tons of restaurants to pick from. We went to a cute, little Italian place since we allll love Italian food. The inside of the restaurant was adorable! There were mirrors and old paintings everywhere. I got this penne basil pasta that was delicious! Actually, everybody's food was delicious. We all sampled each other's and our plates were spotless about 5 minutes after we started eating. We took before and after pictures because it was hilarious how spotless every single plate was. Guess we were a little hungry.

We headed back to the hostel after dinner and planned our weekend in Paris. We never have to do too much planning though because Lauren made these INCREDIBLE guides to the cities I'm visiting. We just have to see where things are at on the map, look up the weather, and decide which days we want to do what. After that, we went to bed. Even though Sarah and I move the least in our sleep, we still ended up waking each other up. I forgot that I usually lay diagnol in big beds. I woke up to Sarah's sleep-talking and realized I was laying diagnol across the bed. I was half asleep and thought she was telling me to move over, but in the morning she told me she didn't even realize I was taking up the whole bed and that she was just sleep-talking and then she woke up as she was sleep-talking, kept talking anyway, realized what she was doing, and then decided to go back to sleep.

The next day we woke up early and got breakfast at this adorable little pastry shop that we all fell in love with. I wanted to taste everything in that shop because it all looked so good. I got this little pastry with berries in it and an orange juice--soooo yummy! We headed to the metro to go the Palace of Versailles. By the way, the metro in Paris is kind of a joke. When you put your ticket through, the doors stay open long enough for a couple people to run through so most people just did that. Some random guy pushed up against Mary Ellen and scooted through behind her. We bought a 10 pass (and later we found out we bought the 10 pass that was for people 10 years old or younger so it was cheaper) and hopped on the 3 level metro! It had a ground floor, upstairs, and basement.

We got to the enormous, gorgeous, golden Palace of Versailles and went inside. It actually didn't happen that quickly--we took 3 bathroom and 2 food/drink breaks before we even got to the doors of the palace (haha!). The palace was unbelievable, with gold, satin, crystals, chandeliers, incredible paintings & statues in every corner we turned. We saw Louis XIV's bedroom, Marie Antoinette's house, the Temple of Love, the miles and miles of the breathtaking gardens, Le Boudoir, everythinggg. We got lucky too--it was supposed to rain on Friday but we had blue skies and a shining sun alllll day long! It was perfect. We spent hours & hours at Versailles, and by the time we were finished, we were starving. So afterward, we went to a kabob place on this little street lined with different kinds of restaurants. I had a doner kabob and tropical juice--both delicious!

We took the metro back into the city center to see Notre Dame--the Gothic cathedral dedicated to Mary. I loved the intricate doors and all of the little details of the church. Like the statues on the outside--there are four men standing in a line, and the last one is standing on a little man instead of a platform. I kept picturing Quasimodo at the top with the gargoyles perched over him :) The inside is just as amazing as the outside--especially the stained glass! The church is surrounded by the beautiful River Seine.

We bought some paintings and postcards just on the other side of the river. We walked around the St. Michel area to scope out a place to go for the France vs. Uruguay game. We were on our way to the Shakespeare & Co. bookstore when we found this cute little shop with accessories from ALL over the world! It was so cool! We finally got to Shakespeare & Co, which is absolutely the cutest bookstore everrr. It has shelves and shelves of all kinds of books--ancient, new, kids, classics, poetry, mysteries, everything. It had a little wishing well on the bottom floor and a ladder like off of Beauty & the Beast. Upstairs, there were a bunch of different rooms. Each room was full of books, but had a little something else in it too. One room had a bed and a piano, another room had big windows looking out onto the streets of Paris, and another room had this little hut built around a typewriter with messages left on little pieces of paper from people who had been there over the years. There were quotes and old pictures on almost every wall and people reading on the benches, couches, and chairs.

After our trip to the bookstore, it was almost time to watch the France vs. Uruguay World Cup match! We went to Cafe Le Petit Pont where EVERYONE was watching the game. The workers were all wearing France jerseys and painting the French flag on all of the customers' faces. The game wasn't too exciting (final score 0-0), but it was still a blast! They had the most delicious beer there--I wish I would have asked what it was! They kept serving drinks and desserts with little fire crackers or sparklers in them.

After dinner, we went across the street to see Notre Dame at night. It was beautiful! Then we took the metro to Moulin Rouge. It looked awesome with all of the lights on at night! It started to rain while we were there, though, so we didn't stay long. It was getting late anyway, so after we took a few pictures there, we headed back to the hostel for the night.

On Saturday, we woke up early to go the Louvre. The adorable little pastry shop from the first day was closed, so we found another one down the street. I picked up a banana that was sitting on the counter next to some other food for sale. There was only one banana sitting there, which I thought was kind of strange, but I picked it up and picked out a croissant. When I was getting ready to pay, the cute French girl who was working told me that the banana was hers. SOOO embarrassing! I apologized and gave her the banana back, but while we were eating breakfast at the bar, she gave me the banana and told me to keep it. I insisted that she take it back, but she wouldn't, so I just thanked her again. It was pretty hilarious.

After breakfast, we went to the LOUVRE!! I've dreamed for that day to come and couldn't believe I was actually there. We saw They Dying Slave, Psyche & Cupid, Venus de Milo, The Three Graces, The Winged Victory, Hammurabi's Code, the Grand Sphinx, Mona Lisa, Pierrot, The Wedding Feast at Cana, and sooo much more! It was unbelievable, and the Louvre is ENORMOUS! Sarah, Yelena, and I got the audio tour guides and looked like the biggest tourists in the world. We eventually kind of forgot we had them. I wouldn't recommend getting them if you don't have too much time to spend there. The room with the Mona Lisa was packed! Everyone was pushing, trying to get a picture of the tiny Mona Lisa that had a huge wall all to itself. When we were done with the museum (or as done as we could be), we went out to the courtyard to take pictures with the pyramids. The sun came out as soon as we went outside! Besides London, we have been EXTREMELY lucky with the weather. On Friday, one lady in Paris said we brought the sun with us because it had been so gloomy in the past week.

We decided to get lunch and walked through this cute, little park on the way there. We got some sandwiches at a cafe, drooled outside the window of Angelina's (a sweet shop), and stopped by Palais de la Decouverte. We called it the Russian building the whole time because there was a Russian festival thing going on inside. There were GIANT babushka dolls, a dance performance, and little booths inside. Afterward, we decided to go shopping on Champs-Elysees--the street with all of the major designers: Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, and all of that. There was a line down the block just to get into the Louis Vuitton store--it was insane! I felt a bit out of place in those stores, so Mary Ellen and I decided to hit up the Zara of Paris. The Arc de Triomphe is at the end of Champs-Elysees, so we went there afterward. Jack found us right as we were going to Arc de Triomphe--he found us at the Palace of Versailles too! Our phones weren't really working, but Jack always managed to find us somehow. We don't understand how he does it.

We took the underground tunnel to get to the Arc de Triomphe because the roundabout around the Arc de Triomphe is absolutely insane! There are no lines for lanes and the road is gigantic--it was madness. After we were done at the Arc de Triomphe, we ended up sprinting across the intersection anyway. We always seem to cross the busiest intersections--even the ones Lauren told me specifically not to (sorryyy!). We hiked up the tiny, spiral staircase all the way to the top of the arch (Keep in mind that it is the biggest triumphal arch in the world!) It was built for all of Napoleon's conquests, and since 1920, the tomb of France's unknown soldier has been sheltered underneath the arch with its eternal falme burning for all of the dead of the 2 world wars. We could see the entire city of Paris from the top! Basilique du Sacre-Coeur, the Louvre, Napoleon's tomb, THE EIFFEL TOWER, and everything! We spent a lot of time at the top, taking pictures and enjoying the view. We watched the veterans parade on Champs-Elysees march toward the arch, and then they had a little ceremony underneath. We went down and saw all of the cute, old French veterans and the eternal flame.

We decided to walk toward the Eiffel Tower to have dinner. Sarah and Yelena went to the FIFA Fan Festival (which I really wish I would have gone to, but at the same time I loved the dinner at the restaurant we went to). Jack, Mary Ellen, Preethi, and I ate some authentic French food, like onion soup and escargot! The snails were actually pretty good. The green juice inside the shells made me even more skeptical than before, but it just tasted like garlicy, buttery, salty seafood. We headed to the Eiffel Tower after dinner to watch the light show. It was beautiful! Another thing that you can't capture its beauty in a photograph. That seems to be the case for a lot of things I see in Europe. We ended our night here, headed back to the hostel, and passed out!

On Sunday, we had breakfast at the same pastry shop where I tried taking the worker's banana. Afterward, we went to the Eiffel Tower for the second time--but this time we went up! Yelena's friend, Marie, lives in Paris and met up with us at the bottom of the tower. She said she had been up the tower a few times but never to the top. She spent the day with us and helped us out a TON! The tower was built for the 1889 World Exposition and was the world's tallest building until 1930. We hiked the 1021 steps up to the second level of the tower and took the elevator from there to the top. I didn't think the steps were too bad--I thought the ones to the Arc de Triomphe were worse. I loved seeing all of the rods and beams and the elevator and the wires and all of that on the inside. On the outside of the elevator, they have this statue of a man (like a conductor), and for a second I freaked out because I thought it was an actual person! I took a video in the glass elevator on the way to the very top, but it didn't turn out very well because I kept flipping the camera. I always get so scared on the way up to the top of these tall buildings, but once I get up there, I'm fine. The view was incredible! There was a champagne bar at the very top of the tower, and restaurants on the ground, first, and second levels. At the top, they had pictures of the flags of the countries all around the tower with the name of the city, the distance of how far away it is from the eiffel tower, and in what direction. It was really neat! The tower is absolutely enormous. I felt like an ant standing underneath it, and no picture could capture how big it actually is. It looks amazing at every time of the day too.

After our Eiffel Tower adventure, we went to get lunch at an Italian restaurant (surprise, surprise). It was delicious! I had the Regina pizza with ham, cheese, and mushrooms. Then, we went to the Gardens of Luxembourg where we met up with Dan and Graham. We heard the Yoplait yogurt in France was good, so we picked some up at a market on the way to the gardens. I thought mine tasted like soap, but no one else did so I think my taste buds were just off. Maybe we didn't buy it in the right place or something. We relaxed at the gardens for awhile, took pictures of the Statue of St. Michel, and then decided to go to the Sacre Coeur (cathedral that is said to have Jesus' Crown of Thorns). It closed earlier than when we thought it would, so we were all really disappointed about that :(

We went to the first cafe ever, Le Procope, after our disappointment at the church. The inside was so eloquent--I almost felt underdressed! Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Napoleon, and Voltaire used to go there. Apparently, Napoleon never paid his bill. Parts of the encyclopedia were written there also. I split a huge Creme Brulee with Yelena and amazing doesn't even come close to describing it! I don't think I'll ever have better creme brulee than what I had there. We walked around and looked at some shops after we were done at the cafe. Then we went to Pont Alexander III to meet up with the guys again. We all headed over to the Eiffel Tower one last time to watch the light show again. Preethi and I split a butter and sugar crepe, and as we were heading to the metro, we saw some crazy police action. Some guy came running up from behind us. I usually would have thought that to be kind of weird, but I had just seen some guys running on the sidewalk to try to cross the street so I thought he was doing the same thing. Then out of no where, these SWAT-team looking vans came from all directions and surrounded this guy. They had the doors open ready to jump out, the sirens were going, it was intense! Two cops jumped out and chased after him, were yelling at him to stop, then one of them tackled him to the ground! It was crazyyyy

After that, we got on the metro, ran back to the hostel, picked up our bags, and ran back to the metro so we could catch the train on time. Our flight was at like 6 in the morning so we decided just to sleep in the airport. I was surprised at how many people sleep in the airport. There were people everywhere! The 8 of us found our own dark corner, and tried to sleep a little. When we got back to Madrid, I went home, unpacked, and left for class for the day. Exhausting, but so worth it! I can't really put my finger on it, but I definitely liked Rome more than Paris. It might be because of all of the history you can find in Rome. I'm surprised that I'm saying this because history is my least favorite subject, but imagining everything happening in the very spots I was standing was really just incredible. Well that is PLENTY on Paris--I'll write about London and Dublin tomorrow (hopefully!)

I don't know if I mentioned this earlier or not, but we had the best luck in Paris! I mentioned how we got lucky with the weather already. Also, every where we went, we got there RIGHT before tons of other people did so we were at the front of the line. One time at the metro, we were running late and instead of messing with the machines to buy a metro ticket, some guy working on the metro held open a gate to get in and waved us through. I don't know why, but we got lucky with sooo many little things!