This past weekend I went where everyone automatically assumes I am when I say I'm in France: Paris! Although my initial impression of Paris was disappointment, It definitely got better as the weekend went on. The reason I was not initially taken-aback by the awesomeness that everyone builds Paris up to be is because all of the famous landmarks are in a two-mile radius that is not near the train station. So, when I expected to hop off the train and be in the Louvre sipping Champagne and gazing at the Eiffel Tower like tourist pamphlets make seem possible... I was suddenly hit by the reality that like in any major city, the ENTIRE city is not famous. I suppose it is comparable to getting off of a bus in New Jersey and thinking its a 5 minute walk to the Empire State Building...
But, have no fear everyone!! I did end up LOVING Paris!!
So, let me walk you through my adventures!
I arrived in Paris around 3pm with a plan to go straight to the hotel we'd reserved, drop off our backpacks, and go to the one and only Eiffel Tower!! But, our hotel was not as close as expected so we cancelled it on a whim and began a solid 10 mile hike through Paris. Over the next 6 and a half hours I:
-Ran into a Pro-Life March
I have accidentally run into 6 parades/marches since coming to France. I usually never know what is being celebrated or protested. haha.
-I crossed the Seine River
-I crossed a lock bridge
In Paris, many of the bridges are covered in locks. The idea is you go to the bridge with your love and together lock a lock onto the bridge and throw the key into the river. Pretty precious.
-I ATE SNAILS.
Well, Escargot.
It felt like snail murder you guys... It was so delicious yet so scary at the same time. Definitely worth it though.
-I saw Notre Dame
-I went inside Notre Dame!
I may also add that I was wearing a backpack so I was momentarily the hunchback of Notre Dame.
- I walked along the Seine!
This made my friend Mallory really nervous to walk on because it was so narrow and the wall preventing us from falling in the water was not tall at all. I thought it was AWESOME! haha
- I crossed another Lock bridge! They really are everywhere!
It's pretty much the coolest vandalism I've ever seen. I really wanted to put a lock on for Craig and I... but it seemed taboo if he wasn't there to throw the key with me. Guess it will have to wait for now.
- I went to the Louvre! Well, outside of it anyways... I'm hoping to go back to Paris again before I leave so I can actually go inside.
- I saw a bird chilling on a naked dude in the Gardens by the Louvre!
I suppose this isn't all that significant, but I thought it was hilarious.
Following all of this, we met some nice gentlemen who offered to show us the city! I thought it seemed like a fun offer... but It made Caroline and Mallory a little nervous so we continued on and then started to realize everything we'd done in only a few hours and we got a wave of crankiness from sore feet... so we set out to find a hotel. Turns out hotels in Paris are really expensive. We searched for at least an hour until we finally found a place that lowered the hotel price by 50 Euro for us because we said we couldn't stay there for the original cost! We danced around over that once getting into our room! Especially because our hotel room was a 5min walk to the Eiffel Tower! We went to a very French restaurant for dinner where I tried Foie Gras and Boef Bourguignon!! I felt pretty fancy and was quite happy to be fed and have found a hotel. Following dinner, we went on a walk to....
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THE EIFFEL TOWER!!
At the beginning of each dark hour, the tower sparkles! And we caught it just in time! It was fantastic. So fantastic that we got up early the next day to beat the lines and go right up to the top!
Here's the center of the tower-
Here I am up top! It was VERY sunny!
The view from the top! See the shadow of the tower on the city?
Here's a shot of the top of the tower from the 2nd floor! I was all the way up at the tippy top!
Another view from above!
As you can tell... I decided Paris was pretty cool!
(Prior to this picture I may have been pushed by about 15 marathon runners for cutting across their race... I may have also been called "asshole tourist"... I am not exactly proud of the fact that I had to run through a marathon in the middle of Paris... but we really wanted to get to this plaza!)
After the tower it was about noon so we went to the Arc de Triomphe and to the Champs Elysee to get the most out of being tourists!
The Arc de Triomphe
This building with giant golden gates is... Abercrombie & Fitch. Not even kidding. I practically died laughing when I saw this. French people love their Abercrombie. lol
Went to Laduree for macarons! It was not at all what I expected to see in a Macaron shop, but it was really cool! Luckily we hopped in when the line wasn't too ridiculous.
Here I am outside Laduree eating a macaron! I bought 3 but the guy behind the counter winked at me and snuck a 4th one in the bag which is NOT typical for such a high-class area in Paris! I was pretty happy! That one free macaron made me feel so much more accepted. haha. It was also delicious.
After this, we wandered around Paris a bit more and headed home on a long train where we met a friendly old couple and a few other students that studied nearby but didn't speak enough English to carry a long conversation. We finally arrived back at the nearest train station where a guy about our age with dreads AND an afro came up to us welcoming us to the station and offered to drive us home. Good thing we already had a ride! He wasn't creepy or anything, so it became a funny story to tell everyone at school when we got back. I crawled into bed right when I got home because the next day I got to tour the Valrhona Chocolate factory and the Sicoly Fruit Puree Factory as a school field trip!
It was definitely a full weekend! So full that it took me a week to get enough computer time to write about it!
Loving my time here! Only a few weeks left!
Until my next adventure,
au revoir!
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