Paris, je t'aime

This trip to Paris was included in our program fee for this semester abroad so I didn't have to worry about planning it out or getting there or anything. Our Eurostar train tickets were paid for, as were the other activities like the boat tour at night, the bus tour around Paris, tickets to go up the Eiffel Tower, and tickets to the Louvre. It was really nice.

On to the good stuff. We left Friday afternoon and arrived around 6:30 in Paris. The boat ride was that night at 8 so we pretty much just got to the hotel, unpacked, grabbed a sandwich for dinner and headed out. Bess and I were assigned to stay in a room together. We have no idea how that happened because it would have made more sense for Katy and I to be together since we're normally roommates, but we weren't complaining! We were much better off than Katy, who was listed with a random guy! She talked to the staff about it and they said they'd change it because it was a mistake (obviously) but when we got to the hotel, it hadn't been changed! They found a different room for the guy thankfully, so Katy was able to be in the room next to mine and Bess' and across from Emily's and Kristin's room. Our hotel room was pretty cool. The beds moved around really easily though. If you sat down too quickly, your bed would scoot towards the other one!

After unpacking quickly, we had our first experience trying to order food! We headed down to the train/metro station, which is right next to/underneath our hotel, and found a sandwich shop inside. Thankfully almost everyone speaks English so with the help of some pointing and smiling, I successfully got a chicken sandwich!

Our Hotel

We met in the lobby and headed over to an RER station, which is similar to the metro but it's not the same. I'm not sure what the difference is. Anyway, they gave us our tickets and we took that train over to the river, right next to the Eiffel Tower, and got on the boat! We got to see all of the buildings lit up at night which was really pretty. There was some explanation of what we were seeing but for the most part we just talked and took pictures. It was really cold though, even though I had gloves and a sweatshirt and a jacket! (I was prepared, Mom!) It was definitely an experience.

The Eiffel Tower was especially beautiful at night.

After the boat, we somehow found our way home on the RER, and basically just went to bed. We were all exhausted and we were getting up early the next day for the bus tour so we decided to call it a night.

The next morning, Bess and I woke up to my phone ringing. Katy was calling asking if we were up yet because we had to leave in 45 minutes. I had set my alarm but the time zone didn't automatically change so we didn't wake up on time! We got ready and and ate breakfast super quickly and then headed to the lobby to meet for the bus tour. We made it just in time and hopped on the bus to start the drive around Paris! Our first stop was Notre Dame Cathedral--it's HUGE and SO beautiful, even though it was a rather rainy, gloomy day. It also helped that I had been there before so the places we visited weren't ruined by the rain. We got to stay at Notre Dame for 40 minutes so we had plenty of time to take pictures and walk around inside.

We hopped back on the bus after wandering around Notre Dame and headed off to see the rest of the city. It was really cool to just be able to see the city of Paris along with the monuments and buildings we were focusing on. Here are a couple places we drove by:

Pantheon (obviously not the one in Rome) where some notable figures are buried

Hotel de Ville -- City Hall

Luxembourg Gardens

Katy and I in front of Les Invalides, where Napoleon is buried

Our final destination was the Eiffel Tower! It began to pour as soon as we got off the bus, but it's tough to make the Eiffel Tower NOT look stunning so all was well. Cold and wet, but fine. We got in line to go up, which took a while, but it was definitely worth the wait. The very top was closed so we couldn't go up all the way, but that was probably for the best because I was freaking out on the way up to just the second story! Heights are not my strong point. Anyway, here are some pictures:

After the Eiffel Tower experience, Katy, Bess, Emily, and I headed to the Louvre. We were given our tickets on the bus, so we found our way to the metro and headed over. I had been to the Louvre before but all I could really remember about it was the Mona Lisa. Kyra and I got separated from our moms and, speaking no French and having no way of contacting them, we freaked out and searched for them the whole time! This time, we went to all three wings (though not every floor or room!) and saw a ton of cool stuff. My favorite was Napoleon's Apartments. It was on the exact opposite side from where the Mona Lisa was, but the trek was definitely worth it. Plus, we got to see rooms on the way! The apartments were absolutely stunning, though. It was like being transported back and walking around where he lived! Everything was so overdone and insane, but it was amazing! It looked so posh and high class. Wow. I can't imagine actually living there!

The Louvre

Mona Lisa!

Venus di Milo

So after the Louvre, we were pretty exhausted, but we wanted to head to the Champs-Elysees, which is a huge, crazy-expensive shopping street leading from the Louvre area to the Arc de Triomphe. It's a mile and a half walk to the Arc from the Louvre so we set off, feet aching and stomachs rumbling. We had eaten lunch, but we'd basically been standing all day so we were getting hungry again. We wandered through the garden area and found a crepe stand so of course, we got crepes. Mmmmm I love Nutella! The crepes were hot and fresh and kept us warm because it was so cold outside! We laughed a lot because we were all so tired and basically just delusional and it was just a great time in general. We eventually made it to the Champs-Elysees and did some window shopping. We found a Gap so upon Katy's request (she works there... in Des Moines of course), we went inside. Emily got a sweatshirt but we all just sort of wandered around. We made it to the Arc shortly after and took a few pictures of it lit up at night. We decided we'd come back in the morning, though, so we left for dinner quickly.

We hopped on the metro and got off in the Latin Quarter to find a restaurant. We were looking for Italian food and wandered down some cute little streets. However, we found that restaurant owners pester you and yell at you to come into THEIR restaurant. We generally just bypassed them all but had to stop when we found Italian restaurants. We basically just ran inside before anyone else could accost us! We each got a free drink (sangria) and the food was really tasty. I had penne with some sort of tomato sauce. Yummm! We moseyed into a few shops here and there until we came to a Starbucks. Bess really wanted a latte and we were all up for dessert (and bathrooms!!) so we stopped in there. I know, I know, totally not French, but we drank A LOT of water at dinner! We had no choice!

After that, we headed back to plan the next day and go to bed. Bess needed to take a shower, too. She couldn't figure out how to make the water come from the shower head instead of the bathtub faucet, so I went in to try and figure it out. I DID figure it out, but unfortunately, the shower head was pointing right at us when we got it to work. The water went everywhere! The shower "door" sort of blocks the water from getting on the floor but stops where the counter next to the tub begins, so it's pretty worthless. We tried to turn the shower head away only to have it slide down the pole (it was a removable one) and hit us even more! We finally got it to turn off, but not before we were pretty soaked! I wiped off my face before heading to Katy's room to look at what to do on Sunday, because we had until 4 PM to do whatever we wanted. After we figured that out, we went to bed and set the alarm an hour earlier so we'd wake up on time! It worked quite well.

Sunday, we woke up, got ready, checked out, and ate breakfast. We kept our bags at the hotel and headed to the area of Montmartre, where Sacre Coeur is located. I'd never been there (though I guess that's where we stayed last time I was in Paris) so it was really fun. We found a little market to look around in and had a good time. We were accosted by people selling things on the road but we never made eye contact and power walked through. I felt so rude but it's the only way to get by! We made it safely into a cafe for lunch and had some good sandwiches. We had to save room for crepes later, too!

Sacre-Coeur -- we didn't go inside but it was pretty from the outside! We wandered around the area a bit and found a cute park that we took fun pictures in... and used the nasty bathroom. I held my breath the whole time and used a TON of sanitizer afterward!!

From there, we got on the metro again and headed back to the Arc to get some good daylight pictures. We saw quite a few funny-looking tourists, too! Good people watching. We really had our eyes on some monks because they were just such cute little men! Lo and behold, they came over and wanted a picture with us! They were from Tibet and they seemed like they were so overjoyed to get a picture with the four of us! It was so bizarre and funny. Bess has pictures so I'll try to get them from her!

The monks before they talked to us!

GO DRAKE!

These two pictures (above and below) have probably the best story of the whole trip. After we had taken pictures of the Arc, we crossed back to the other side of the road. As we were looking around, a pigeon (depicted in the background of the above picture) flew out of NOWHERE and flew right into the back of my head!!! IT WAS INSANE! I screamed and then started laughing so hard I cried! It was hilarious. Traumatizing, but so worth it.

Not a good choice by this lady

After the killer-pigeon incident, we got back on the metro and headed to the Eiffel Tower. It wasn't raining and we wanted to get some good pictures in of the four of us in front of it, not just on top of it! Plus, there is a cool peace monument on the other side that Katy was dying to see. It was really cool--there was a glass wall with "peace" written all over in tons of languages. We definitely got some good pictures in AND had another helping of Nutella Crepes :) mmmm!

Me in the peace monument

Emily, Katy, Me, and Bess in front of the Eiffel Tower

After that, we hurried back to the hotel because we had to get on the bus to the train station. We were taking the Eurostar back (which is a train that goes through the Chunnel--the tunnel under the English Channel!) so we didn't have to worry about flying or anything. It was smooth sailing (or should I say driving?) from there and we got back around 8 PM. It was such a great weekend and I had SO much fun, but I was definitely ready to go back "home" to London.

:)

Jackie

(Hope you enjoyed this because it took forever to make!!)