PARIS!!!!

Bonjour!

I am home from my wonderful weekend in Paris! We had an absolutely AMAZING time! Paris is a beautiful city. I thought people were exaggerating, but it is probably the most romantic city I've ever been to. I can definitely see how people could fall in love there. Another misconception about Paris: the people aren't rude at all! Everyone I ran into was super helpful and willing to give me directions or attempt to speak English with me if I couldn't get my point across to them. So here's the rundown of what we did this weekend:

Friday: at 6:30 am, a bunch of groggy Americans got on a double decker bus at our school. We made a few stops along the way for food, etc. One stop was at a wine warehouse where we took the chance to buy ourselves some French wine! It was lovely. We took the Euro Tunnel (lovingly referred to as the Chunnel) under the English Channel to get to France. Basically, our bus drove onto the train and we were enclosed in a box for 35 minutes until the train got to the other side. So cool! It took us 9 hours to get to Paris, but at 4:30 Paris time (3:30 England time) we finally made it.

We checked into our hotel which was a 5 minute walk from the Eiffel tower! Interesting tidbit about European hotels: they have twin beds. Our room had two twin beds pushed next to each other. Weird. When we finished unpacking, the group walked over to the Eiffel Tower and took MILLIONS of pictures before walking further to the Seine River (another 2 minute walk or so) for a boat tour just as the sun was setting. It was beautiful. The boat tour lasted about an hour or so, and when we were finished, a group of us set off to find some food. At this point, it was about 9:30, and most of us hadn't eaten since about 1, so we were starving! We wandered the streets of Paris looking for a good (yet inexpensive) meal, and finally settled on a little Italian restaurant where we all ordered €8 cheese pizzas. They were delicious! By the time we were finished, it was about 10:30 and we were all exhausted, so we headed back to the hotel to sleep.

Saturday: I woke up at 7 Saturday morning to the lovely surprise that I had somehow lost my voice! I squeaked for the rest of the trip. We made it downstairs for our complimentary breakfast at 8. Fun fact about France: They eat SO MANY carbs! Breakfast consisted of: Croissants, quiche, crepes, bread, cheese, cereal, fruit, and coffee. I gladly tried my first French croissant, which was amazing, and stowed one in my purse for later, which proved to be a wise decision.

We left the hotel at 9am and headed back towards the Eiffel Tower, this time to CLIMB! We paid €3.50 to climb the 704 stairs that are open to the public. The first platform is about 1/4 of the way to the top, and the second platform is 1/2 way to the top. You can only climb to the second platform, but you can take an elevator (British: lift) to the top for an extra €5, so we did. The view was incredible, and I am so glad I did it. We walked down the 704 stairs to the bottom as well. My legs did pretty well! It really wasn't that bad, despite what I had heard from other people who had climbed it. At the bottom of the Eiffel Tower are a TON of vendors, all trying to sell you the exact same thing- little miniature Eiffel Towers. They all literally look the same, and I'm pretty sure they buy them from the same place. The men that sell them have some odd sales techniques. Apparently, they assume that if you're a woman and you're from America, you'll buy one of their Eiffel Towers if they call you Lady Gaga. So, 30 minutes, and many "Eiffel Tour for you, Lady Gaga's" later, we made our way to our bus, where we took a tour of the city.

We saw the Arc d' Triomphe, the Moulin Rouge (but sadly, not Ewen McGregor), and the Assemble Nationale, before we stopped at the Sacre Coeur ("Sacred Heart") Cathedral. We hiked up millions of more stairs to the top and got to go inside. It is beautiful. There were candles lit everywhere and stained glass windows. When we went outside, we were bombarded with more vendors, but this time they were trying to sell us friendship bracelets. The men would come up and grab your arm and start tying a bracelet on your wrist and then ask for money for it. Two of the American guys got suckered into it, and everyone made fun of them because one of them payed €10 while the other one only payed €1. So funny. We walked down a little street with tons of souvenir shops, and I found myself a sticker for my water bottle before getting back on the bus. We went to the Notre Dame Cathedral which was PHENOMENAL! It is absolutely stunning. I can't even describe it. Luckily, we were allowed to take pictures inside, unlike the Sacre Coeur, so I snapped quite a few pictures of the stained glass windows, the statues of the saints, and the murals on the walls until... my camera battery died. Luckily, I had my iPod with me, and could take worse quality pictures the rest of the afternoon. When we left Notre Dame, we were dropped off at the Louvre and the bus headed back to the hotel. We didn't get to actually go into the museum part of the Louvre because it was only going to be open for another half hour by the time we got there, but we got to see the pyramids which were really cool! My friends and I took the metro back to the hotel, which was an experience in itself! Let's just say, I have never had less personal space in my life. The metro was PACKED with people. At one point, there were about 9 of us standing and holding onto one bar. My friend Becca had some lovely French lady actually put her arm around her shoulders and hold onto the bar. Needless to say, we were relieved to get off the metro 15 minutes later.

Back at the hotel, we got all dressed up and 4 of us went out to a nice French dinner around 8:30. Another Fun Fact: In France, a normal dinner time is around 8:30 or 9, and restaurants are always packed until about 10:30. I got chicken with these AMAZING mashed potatoes with cheese in them, and some strawberries and whipped cream for dessert. So good. We had a really nice time at dinner, and ended up sitting there for about 2 hours just talking. After that, we went back to the hotel, grabbed the wine we had bought the previous day, and headed out again. We walked near the Seine River and took pictures of all the boats and bridges, but couldn't find a decent place to sit, so we headed back towards the Eiffel Tower. We ended up sitting in the Peace Monument, which has a magnificent view of the Eiffel Tower, drinking our wine, and talking. It was a fantastic night.

Sunday: Sunday morning came waaaaaaay too quickly, and we left the hotel around 9 to go to Versailles. We went to the Palace of Versailles, where some of my friends and I joined the throng of people going inside. The place is huge. Apparently it could house 20,000 people and its stables could hold 7,000 horses in its prime. All the ceilings are painted beautifully, and everything is extravagant and beautiful. Even the front gates are gold! We got to see the Queen's bedroom which was amazing, and the gardens outside which were beautiful!

After that, we still had some time left, so two of my friends and I headed for the town market. It's basically a huge farmer's market with all sorts of homemade/ homegrown produce, bread, honey, meat, pastries, etc. At a bread stand, the guy behind the counter started speaking Spanish to me, and asked if I was from Spain. Politely, I squeaked to him in Spanish that I was from America and asked if he spoke English. He immediately changed languages and told me I looked Spanish. He is the second person to do that since I've been here! The entire trip, I was amazed at how many people spoke English. It really makes me want to learn to be fluent in a second language. It just opens up your world to so many more people! A friend of mine ran into someone who didn't speak English, and she didn't speak French, but they both spoke some Spanish, and they communicated that way! It's incredible. When we left the market, we got back on the bus and took a 7 hour journey back to Brighton, arriving around 8 that night.

Paris was absolutely amazing. I loved the city, the culture, and the architecture there! I definitely want to make it back some day.

Standing outside the bus in the Euro Tunnel Train!

Found some good ol' California wine in France!

A street in Paris

My first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower!

Me in front of the Eiffel Tower!

I just like this picture!

Eiffel Tower at night!

A bunch of us in front of the Eiffel Tower after our boat cruise!

The Peace Monument

Jumping picture!

Looking down from the first floor of the Eiffel Tower!

Me on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower

View from the Second floor

View from the top!

LA: 9,105 km away!

The Moulin Rouge!

My French store. I didn't get to go inside, but from what I saw it was a teenage clothes store.

Four of us in front of the Sacre Coeur

In front of the Notre Dame Cathedral!

The famous Notre Dame stained glass window!

Once every hour at night, the Eiffel tower sparkles!

The Eiffel Tower through the Peace Monument

In front of the Golden Gate at the Palace of Versailles

The Palace of Versailles

The upside down Pyramid at the Louvre!

The big pyramid outside the Louvre

An example of what the ceilings looked like in the Palace of Versailles

The Queen's bedroom in Versailles

The Gardens at Versailles

Standing in front of Versailles!

Things I'm Loving: Getting to travel more, French cheese, Paris in general, getting to see a bunch of places that I'd only seen in pictures.

Things I'm Not Loving So Much: Skype being finicky, having a hoarse voice, only having 4 days between trips.

Things I'm Learning: How to survive in a country that speaks another language.

British to American Dictionary:

Pancakes: Crepes
Off License: Liquor store

French to English Dictionary:

mon petit chou: "my little cabbage" This is a term of endearment, like calling someone honey or sweetie, lol!


Next time I write, I'll be on my big 2 1/2 week adventure through Europe! I can't wait to share it all with you!!

Bon Voyage (again!)

~Jenn