On September 29 I went to Paris! Oh my goodness, I had so much fun!
We took the bus to Paris (because it was the cheapest way to get there) and left Thursday evening. I sat next to a very interesting French man who told me about his journeys to Lisbon and South Africa and thought Paris was dirty. I hadn't realized that we would have to go through passport control to leave England (which was very dumb of me) so my plan to sleep on the bus all the way to Paris was disrupted. After passport control I slept for a while longer before being informed that we had to get off of the bus for the ferry ride across the channel. The upside is that I briefly saw the famous white cliffs of Dover before finding a lovely table to lay my head down and sleep through the ferry ride.
We got into Paris at about 9am on Friday and immediatly went to our hostel and checked in and put our stuff in a locker. From our hostel we walked took a metro to the Opera House and then walked from the Opera House to the Louvre.
Oh the Louvre. I didn't realize it was so incredibly gigantic. We sort of raced from room to room looking for particular things, with the lovely Julie as our tour guide (she had been before and understood the map, which I had trouble figuring out). We saw Venus de Milo, Napoleon's Coronation, Hammurabi's Code (I always forget his name), Winged Victory of Samothrace, a mummy, lots and lots of ancient artifacts, and the Mona Lisa (from afar).
Upon leaving the Louvre we encountered what can only be described as a tropical storm. It was pouring rain. So we decided to get some coffe from a little coffee shop on the street. I had cafe au lait and a croissant. How touristy and yet so incredibly delicious! Hey, I had to do it, I was in Paris.
Then we walked to Notre Dame. I was so incredibly impressed with the sheer magnitude of the cathedral I don't think I've ever used the word awesome to mean inspiring awe, but it in this sense it definitely works. Notre Dame is awesome. I light a candle, walked around and stared at the magnificence, and thought about Esmerelda from the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Also, I got lucky because the choir was practicing. It really added to the ambience.
After leaving Notre Dame, we had a lie in at the hostel. Then we went to dinner. On the way we passed the bridge where Di died and saw the Eiffel Tower from a distance. Our dinner was an amazing 3 course French dinner. I had traditional French white pea soup, beef tartar, and creme brulee. It was soooo delicious. Probably my favorite meal of the semester so far.
On Saturday we went to Versailles. After a couple of train switches (first we got on the wrong train, then we accidently got off the train too early and had to wait for the next one) we arrived in Versailles. I was blown away by the palace itself and couldn't help thinking of Kirsten Dunst the entire time (I know, sad, isn't it). We took the palace tour and then walked the grounds and went to Marie Antoinette's estate. We mainly wanted to see her little Hamlet but the rest of her "little country house"/giant estate were equally beautiful.
I think I want to live in the Palace. On second thought, it's far too small. No living room. Very cramped. (sarcasm)
On the train ride home we had baguettes and brie and I also had some grapes that I thought were blueberries. Silly me. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower. And sat on the lawn by it for 4 hours. I know this because it sparkles on the hour and I saw it sparkle 4 times. We met some boys from India and some boys from Australia. We went to get some "Mackers" with the Australian boys (Mackers = McDonalds and I wouldn't have gone if they hadn't said Mackers with their fun accents).
On Sunday we took the bus back from Paris to London. To make a long story short, we missed our return ferry and had to take a train. Also we went through immigration 3 times. What should have been an 8 hour trip took 12 hours. But it made a fun story, actually, so I'm not upset about it at all.
In short - I LOVE PARIS. Julie and I are going to see if we can go back the first weekend in Dec.
as of now it won't let me post pictures, so I will try again this evening to put pictures on a different post.
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Ah Paris- of course the food is great, you have been in England. Did you have a crepe? If not go back and have one right now. also did you go to the opera house? it was my absolute favorite thing in paris, if not go back there, it's glorious.
Also I am familiar with "Mackers" Justin says it all the time. He also wants to go to Mackers every time we are out clubbing. did you hear any french people call it "macdo"? did you go to the one of the champs elysees that has a sweet bakery?
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