PARIS, je t'aime!

3.23.2009

PARIS! Wow, I seriously am ridiculously more obsessed than I was to begin with. Lexi, Lily, her friend Nate, Kelli and I took the TGV (super fast train!) to Paris early Friday morning, and arrived around 10:30! Vero was sweet and mapped out the metro for me to our hotel, and I got us there without a problem! Somehow I quickly became a master of the metro (how I do not know) BUT this worked out great since everyone else found it confusing. It was basically just like our tram back home, but with a ton more lines. I think we rode on every line except for two, which was actually pretty cool. It is SOO much faster than the trams, and so easy to figure out once you get the hang of it. I wish we had one back home! Enough about awesome transportation, we quickly got settled in our hotel, grabbed lunch and ventured off to our first destination: the Champs-Elysées! I remember singing about this lovely street in the third grade, and I have been obsessed with it ever since. Lexi and I literally ran off the metro, and skipped down the entire street… we were just a little excited! It was exciting since it was everyone’s first time to Paris, minus Lily who went in high school. We quickly spotted the Arc de Triomphe at the end of the street, and climbed up it. The view from the top was amazing. All of the main street connect to it and form a roundabout around it. From the arc, you can see the entire city, including all major monuments from afar. We spotted the Eiffel tower and I nearly lost it. This obviously became our next destination and we decided to walk there! It kept getting closer, and we finally made it within only around twenty minutes! It was remarkable to see up close. It was built in 1889, 100 years after the French Revolution. We have been learning a bunch about French history in my Culture and Patrimoine Class… yess I’m actually learning things over here!

After taking a ridiculous amount of photos of le Tour Eiffel, we ventured home, quickly changed and headed to the Louvre! It is free for students Friday nights after 6pm, so we decided to take advantage of this great find. We explored the museum for around 2 and a half hours, seeing the Mona Lisa (cool… but not that cool), Venus de Milo, and tons of other statues and paintings. The building itself may be cooler than all the paintings put together. It may be my most favorite building I have ever been in; the ceilings are ridiculous ordinate and the architecture is INCREDIBLE. Also, we were there when the sun set, so the glass pyramid outside was lit and the museum was dark, and a little eerie. I am a little obsessed, and I cannot wait to go back with my parents; it was insanely beautiful. This was quite the busy day and we were a little exhausted from the entire day, so we grabbed dinner, saw the Eiffel tower at night (soooo pretty!) and headed back to the hotel.

The next morning we grabbed a quick breakfast at Starbucks (whenever one is near, we have to go of course). It happened to be near the National Opera of Paris, and we went inside, since we heard it was really pretty. TO our surprise, it was again GORGEOUS. It was founded by Louis XIV and has an incredible grand staircase and many foyers. We were also able to view the auditorium, and saw an amazing crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, weighing only a mere 8 tons. It was so fun to see and if only we could have seen a show there! After we took the metro to Montmartre, the hill/adorable place where Sacré-Cœur is located. I quickly became obsessed with this area, since it was so charming. It was once a artists quarters, and there was an little art market in the main area as we passed through the city. I got mistaken for being Swedish and English a few times when speaking French (this is a good thing I am thinking..). And when people quickly found out we were American, they were impressed we knew French, and most kept speaking French with us! After Montmartre, we went to the Notre Dame. It was very different from Sacré-Cœur, but still reaaaaly cool. Its stain glass windows and high ceilings were amazing and the back of the church was really cool! We did a little shopping around town and went back to clean up and grab dinner! Kelli’s friend has been living in Paris since June, so she recommended a few of her favorite places to go. We tried to get into a fondue restaurant (unfortunately it was booked), so we decided on Chez Gladines. It was really tiny, and a little of the beaten path (aka no tourists and no English) BUT I think it was definitely my favorite meal so far in France! It was actually really affordable, for a lot of food! As we were leaving, I spotted a familiar piece of art nearby. Vero is obsessed with this artist (Mystic) who does Graffiti in random places all over Paris. I was excited I recognized this, and obviously took a picture! When I returned home, I showed it to her and she freaked out! Little did I know she has NEVER seen a piece of her graffiti (she even lived in Paris for 10 years), so little to say I was quite lucky! After dinner, we went out on the town to the Latin Quarter and had a fun night!
The next morning, we woke up early and headed to the flea market! It was really fun to see all of the different vendors and check out the crazy stuff they have up for sale. I bought a few things (really cheap tights and a pair of cute shoes), but we left earlier than we wanted to since it was freezing! It was probably around 40 degrees, but with the wind, it was so cold! We lucked out the rest of the weekend, since it was sunny, not a cloud in the sky; literally the ideal weather to sightsee in. We grabbed lunch closer to town, and caught our train home around 3:30pm. We returned home at a reasonable hour and I couldn’t wait to tell Véro all about it! I can’t wait to go back, since there are tons more museums I would love to explore, along with some more shopping of course!

Paris is definitely a must see, but speaking a little French is definitely made it easier. As for the people in Paris, they were a lot different than I expected. We were in more touristy areas, so it was easy to speak a little English, but French knowing French was really useful at times. There was one couple who was extremely rude to us on the metro, yelling at us (in French) about sitting down, since you can’t do this when it is crowded… yet it was not crowded one bit? A cute older French man was defending us and mocking this man, a little scary since I swore a fight was going to break out. I couldn’t tell much of a difference with the dialects, but the Parisians were a little easier to understand.

The boys are back this week! It is nice, but the house is definitely not as quiet and I get limited internet acess, but all in all it is fun! Véro leaves next Monday for the circus with her class! She invited me to come with, but unfortunately I cannot miss a week of class and our spring break starts that Friday! I wont see her for three weeks, since she gets back Friday night, and I leave for Italy Friday morning, which will be a little sad! I seriously cannot even wait for Spring Break though; it was coming up so soon (11 days!). We have finalized all of our hostels, and just have to book our return flight home, and our trains throughout Italy. Our finalized plans are to take a train to Monte Carlo (5 hour layover, but time to explore!), then train it to Milan until Sunday. Stay in Venice for 2 days, then to Florence for 2 days, then to Rome until the following Monday, until we fly out mid afternoon to ATHENS! Spend a night in Athens, then take the ferry to Santorini and Ios, and fly back from Athens to Barcelona Sunday…. And take a train from Barcelona to Montpellier! Not our ideal route back, but basically our only choice! Nick, Maddie and I are traveling throughout Italy together, and Lauren, Lexi and Mare are meeting up with us in Athens! This should be the trip of a lifetime, I seriously cannot even wait!

This weekend I am staying in Montpellier, and there is a boat cruise on the Etang de Thau Saturday morning! It is already paid for by the program and is all planned out, so it should be great! I’m actually really excited to stay here this weekend, since we will be traveling/spending oodles of money in the following weeks, so it pays to save a little and not travel!

Hope SB was amazing for all!
xoxo