~A weekend in Paris~

Hi all!!

I am back safe and sound as promised. I had the most incredible weekend...Paris is everything you hear and so much more. This entry will be very long and have lots of pictures so my apologies in advance, just don't want to leave anything out!! ( I recommend clicking on pictures to enlarge them as I made many of them small)

Friday morning (really really really early):
Well my friend, Ashley and I decided that sleeping was a bad idea on Thursday night because we needed to be up at 5 a.m. So after packing all night, going to the 24 hour store at 4 am to get Red Bull and dragging our bags down the street in the pitch black morning we embarked on our journey to France. The bus ride was pleasant enough with everyone sleeping and awaking to the sun rising by the cliffs of Dover. We left the buses for the Ferry to France (which is more like a mini-cruise: complete with restaurant, casino, duty-free shop and lounges.) The picture below is of my friend Lauren and I on the ferry leaving the British coast as well as me first thing at 5am on Friday:

Ferry was about 2 hours...being typical American college students the majority sprawled out in the lounges to sleep or took advantage of a 6 bottles of wine for 18 pounds deal (which is ridiculously cheap)...I however decided 11 a.m. was a little early and spent the time up on the deck with my ipod. I have to note at this point we had the most perfect 3 days of weather, it was sunny from the time we left until the sunset on the way home (Incredible). So on the other side we headed for the exits ('sortie' in french). We got on the buses and prepared for the 5 hour trip. At the rest stop it really hit us that we were in France when you go to order food and kind of think 'Hmmm, I have no idea what any of this says'....so we resorted to 'Bonjour'...(pointing) and 'Merci'. About 3 hours later we got to the hotel and with an hour to get ready we changed and headed off to an evening at the Eiffel Tower and boat cruise on the River Seine (pronounced 'Sane'). The Eiffel tower is indescribable...absolutely huge and magnificent in person. As the sun was setting we got the elevators to the top. I watched the sun set from the top of th Eiffel tower and had to smile as it lit up blue as the night set in. There was a champagne bar at the top, which many took advantage of however my stomach was still shaking a little from the journey up the tower.
Below (left: approaching the tower...right: in the elevator climbing the tower...below: Me with the Seine at night from the top of the tower

Heading back down we climbed aboard a boat with walls and ceiling made entirely of glass. We listened to a headset heading down the river through over 2 dozen bridges over the Seine. The waterways of France are amazing at night with college students drinking on the shores, people dancing the tango in groups, Notre-Dame lit up at night, and finally upon our return the Eiffel tower sparkled with hundreds of white lights as it does on the hour from 8pm until 2am. (Check out a YouTube.com video if you want to see exactly what it looks like....otherwise these are my pictures:

We were a little too tired to make our way to clubs so we decided to head back to the
hotel...about a 20 minute Metro ride (train). Let me also say that the Metro kicks your butt...people cram into it like sardines....the doors shut on you whether or not you want to lose your arm....and to get off I had to observe but you have to flick up a switch. I still have all my fingers thankfully. Once back at the hotel we decided not to waste a night and grabbed some bottles of wine with friends. We sat on the steps of the local city concert venue which comes to life at night with college students and people playing football (soccer). I pulled out the few French phrases I memorized when someone asked me to play...'Parlezvous Anglais?'(Do you speak english)...he replied a little and we had a brief conversation where I managed to ask him how he was (in FRENCH) and respond for myself. After saying 'Bonsoir' (goodnight) to my friends I headed in for the 5 hours of sleep ahead of me before the morning tour.

Saturday:

Nine a.m. alarm after 5 hours of sleep always makes you debate whether or not to get up...however I was psyched...I jumped up, grabbed a croissant in the Lobby and made my way to the bus tour for the day. (Another perfect day of weather mind you...I actually got alight burn on this particular day) We went all around Paris seeing the Bastille (French prison from the revolution), the Lourve, The Champs Elysees, The Arc du TriumphThe Seine, The Opera Hall and everything else quaint about Paris. The pictures below are from the bus tour which lasted until about the middle of the day.

We got off at Notre-Dame and decided we were too hungry and would see the inside later...making our way down the Seine (which has wonderful shops and painting shops set up along the banks we found a little French cafe that seemed to accommodate speakers of English (though they didn't seem happy about it). I discovered many thing: One...juice, water and soda are more expensive than wine or beer...and Two: it's impolite to be loud and laugh a lot, but nonetheless (and despite the 80 Euro (about 120 US) bill for 4 drinks and sandwiches) it was a wonderful.

We then headed for the Louvre (which is MASSIVE) and saw the more prominent pieces, including the statues of 'Venus de Milo' and 'Winged Victory' along with the 'Mona Lisa'....which yes is kind of disappointing...it's about the size of a large notebook and is surrounded by bullet proof glass! I proceeded to ask an employee where the 'Last Supper' was located and upon learning it was in Milan, Italy I told him I had to run because the commute was long and it probably closed soon.

The next hour has to be one of my favorite memories from Paris...my friend Ashley and I grabbed some ice cream and walked the Champs Elysees down to the Arc De Triumph...not a cloud in the sky, and I couldn't have been happier. We then grabbed the Metro back on our own (which again was interesting)...we got lost and had to communicate 'Where is the 14?' "Ou se trouve quatorze"...the gentlemen pointed and apparently had understood because we made it back to the hotel!

Getting ready for Saturday night some friends and I had made plans to drink wine beneath the Eiffel Tower (in a copy of a 'The Hills', a tv show). Myself and Ashley hung around waiting for friends to arrive. In the meantime a group of French boys who knew no english other than 'number?' and 'kiss please' decided to try and communicate...I pulled out a great french word which made them promptly leave....'fiance'. HAHA! Our friends showed up and we shared some wine along the mall area of the Eiffel tower and took some pictures:

The remainder of the night we walked around the city talking to a few locals, invading a few restaurants to use the bathrooms, 'salle de bain, s'il vous plait' and found a local night club and some American study abroad students studying in Paris! My friend figured out how to order a beer in French which made us feel accomplished. Hailing a taxi on the way home was ironic...(background: the entire two days we had often accidentally spoken in Spanish...gracias, por favor etc.)...well our cab driver was a native Spanish speaker so we ended up trying desperately to explain where we were saying in 3 different languages haha. Again, we must have done something right because we made it back safe and sound.

Sunday:
Though running again on about 4 hours of sleep I got up at about 9 and packed some. I woke my friend to run and see Notre-Dame. The inside is incredible and there was a mass going on while we walked the inside and saw the stain glass windows that make Notre-Dame so famous. I thought of Nana and Papa while walking around inside and made sure to light a candle for them and Michael James. With about twenty minutes until the bus was due to depart we jumped in a taxi and got back just in time.

Heading home was a good time to nap and think about all that I was lucky enough to do/see in the course of 48 hours. On the boat back I was able to order my food and ask how much it was completely in French!! I was thrilled :o) Paris is absolutely indescribable and I'd be lying if I said my pictures did it near justice. I hope everyone reading this has or will get to experience Paris one day...it's everything you hear and so much more.

Au Revoir,
Kate