I wish that I could include every little detail from this past weekend adventure, but I would be here all night long.
Our exciting weekend started with my alarm going off at 2:45 in the morning so that we could catch our bus at 3:40. I have inherited my mother’s disease!! I start to freak out that we are all going to be late and then get there extremely early; but better early than late:) My roommates get a kick out of it haha. So, we took a bus to the train station and had some time to spare before we boarded our Chunnel train to Paris. As soon as I was in my seat I was asleep.
When I woke up, I was in France!! I couldn’t believe that I was actually there. The only great thing about leaving so early was that we had the WHOLE day to explore. There were nine of us all together and it was perfect. I love all the girls so much. First thing we did was get some euros, buy metro tickets and find food; we were starving!:) We had to go for a classic bakery and croissants (SO good). Our first stop was the Louvre. Oh my goodness, it is so big. I never pictured it being that huge. We didn’t really have the time or the money to try to get inside, so we decided to just take pictures outside by the big glass pyramids. As we walked towards the Champs E’lysees we got our first glimpse of the Eiffel tower and I think that was when it hit me that I was really in Paris. I will admit that it was a lot colder in Paris than I was expecting. If the wind wouldn’t have been so fierce, it would have been perfect. I am excited to go back in April with the family!
So back to the story…we walked from the Louvre along the Seine River toward Notre Dame. We took a detour and went inside San-Chapelle cathedral. It was my favorite Cathedral so far, and we have been to a lot of Cathedrals! It was the perfect size; not overwhelmingly large and not too small. The walls were made entirely of stained glass and it was nice to take some time to rest while admiring the beauty of the place. After San-Chapelle, we had our first encounter with Paris restrooms (or as they say, toilettes). Everywhere we went the bathroom cost money, so we were all holding it until we could find a free one… and in front of the Notre Dame we did. It was a robotic box that cleaned itself between uses and it was quite interesting- we all got a kick out of it. Next was our first experience with a REAL crepe. I’ve had crepes before back at BYU and maybe two in London, but this crepe was beyond amazing! Maybe it was the fact that I was going off 4 hours of sleep or that I had been walking all day, but my ham and cheese was one of the best things I have ever eaten:) – I’m excited to take my brother back there.
Notre Dame was really beautiful from the outside, like any other cathedral on the inside but had the most gorgeous views from the top- the 400 stairs were completely worth it.
Afterward, we looked at the crypt (some kind of French ruins that we weren’t too interested in, but it was a warm place to walk through).
Then we headed for the Eiffel Tower. Wow, it is so much taller than I pictured it! You can see it from anywhere in Paris. I was surprised to see that it wasn’t black, but that it was brown. We loved taking pictures and walking all around it. For dinner we found a cute little bakery- got a baguette, went next door to the cheese stand- bought some French cheese, went next door to the fruit market- bought an apple and I was in Heaven!!!! I could have that meal every night:) It was just perfect.
After dinner, we meet up with some girls from the Paris study abroad program and followed them to the Young Single Adult crepe party at the institute building. I was a fun little experience and I think I would have enjoyed it so much more if I hadn’t been so exhausted. By 10:30 we were all dead and excited to go to our hotel and crash… little did we know the journey that lay ahead! Haha
I can’t explain in detail the events that occurred that Friday night in Paris, so here is the long story short. We got lost in a very sketchy area of town, found the “hotel” in that sketchy area of town, realized that our hotel was something out of a horror movie, were saved by Kinsey’s Dad making reservations at a different Hotel and booked it out of the bad situation via Taxi cab. So that is the VERY short version. It leaves out quite a bit of crying, stress and laughing, but it was something I will never forget about my first trip to Paris!! Haha (if you would like a more detailed account, press here )
Saturday started out with, again, my favorite meal (baguette, cheese and fruit)- everyone teased me that I loved it so much, but there is just nothing better! We then climbed the 284 stairs to the top and had SO SO much fun taking pictures- just being silly. We walked down and hopped on a boat tour on the Seine River. It was nice to sit, relax and see all the major sights.
Back to the Eiffel Tower! This time we rode the elevator to the very top and wow was it amazing! The view is like nothing else. The crazy part was getting down! Our elevator just decided to stop. The guy managing the lift told us that it usually happens maybe once a year for one minute, and we were stuck in the tiny claustrophobic box for 10 minutes. But, I can now say that I was stuck at the top of the Eiffel Tower and how many people can say that?
To finish up our trip we bought another crepe and did some souvenir shopping. Then again, I got all worked up about making it to the train station on time and then we got there an hour and a half early! Haha Well I loved my weekend in Paris!! But I LOVED coming back to London- it’s home now.
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