"We'll Always Have Paris"

Thursday 7/19/12
My train to Paris left London at 5:30PM, I ended up having an entire row to myself and got to enjoy the "countryside" in a nice, quiet tranquility. The chunnel was really intense, my ears popped the whole way because of the pressure surrounding the tunnel in the water. Only about 30ish minutes of the entire two hour trip were spent under the English Channel. I was dozing in and out of sleep for most of the ride but it still seemed to fly by in no time at all. When we got to Paris, we tried to find a bathroom and you ended up having to pay 70 euro cents to use it, I was really desperate so I didn't mind dishing out the money. The weird/cool thing about the bathrooms was that the flush was on the floor so you just tap it with your foot to flush the toliet. We arrived at the hostel a bit later (we took cabs and they drive on the right side of the road/car in France!!) and decided to venture out into the area that we were staying in- Belleville. We found a cool outdoor bar with a lot of young people and stopped there. When we got back to the Hostel, we were sitting in the courtyard patio area just casually talking when a guy introduced himself after hearing our accents. He was from Canada and he was actually really cool- he's backpacking through Europe with friends as a post graduation gift from his parents. We ended up staying up fairly late and talking to him and even made plans to hang out the next night.

Friday 7/20/12
We got a bright and early start to the day and ate breakfast at our hostel. We got croissants and coffee for free, it was simple but delicious. We then got on the metro toward the louvre. I've taken a lot of public transportation in my life, but the metro was by far the dirtiest most disgusting thing I have ever stepped into (I haven't been to New York though, so I really have no point of reference). When we came up from our stop we ended up being right on the Seine and had a really pretty early morning view that absolutely took my breath away. We then walked along the river toward the Louvre. We took a bunch of pictures outside of the Louvre by the pyramids and fountains and just enjoyed the warmth (It was 70 and sunny while London's been about 60 and rainy since we've gotten there). We went inside the Louvre and headed straight for the Mona Lisa. I was surprised at how not underwhelming it actually was...sorry double negative...but I was preparing for a small 8x11 sheet of paper, and it was probably more the size of a wall poster. There were so many people surrounding it and taking pictures so I only got a few. Some other things we saw at the louvre were: The Winged Victory, Venus Di Milo, Ramses statue, The Coronation of Napoleon, Cupid and Psyche and so many more random things. We wandered around the entire museum for almost 6 hours, it was TIRING! After the museum we hopped back on the metro and went to the Eiffel Tower. We ended up right underneath it and the sun was officially out and at full force. We got ice-cream from this small stand and laid in the grass beneath the tower. It was so beautiful and quiet (compared to the busy London atmosphere) we laid there for probably 2 hours just staring up at the large monument. After that we found this small cafe near the metro and enjoyed a glass of wine-country champagne and some pizza (yes, I ate Italian food in Paris...). From there we went back to the hostel and met up with Jay (the guy from Canada) and just hung out on the patio again, then got wine and walked around the streets of Belleville. We walked up the hill that our hostel was on and could see the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night, it was so beautiful and breathtaking.

at the Louvre!

The Louvre!

Mona Lisa

laying under the Eiffel Tower!

Ice Cream by the Tower!

Champagne at Dinner

Saturday 7/21/12
Up early again for a day packed full of sight-seeing and other fun things. We got breakfast and got on the metro toward Notre Dame. When we were crossing the Seine to get to the famous Church, a bunch of crazy people trying to get me to sign a petition to help disabled people started crowded around me. Since I had just snapped a picture of the river on my phone, it was in my front pocket. The people started pushing me and swarming me and crowding around me and not letting up. We walked as few blocks when I reached for my phone to take another picture and it wasn't there. I slowly put together the pieces to realize those "petitioners" were actually gypsies and I was just pickpocketed. I didn't know what to do, I started freaking out. If it weren't for the help of my amazing friends I think I would have jumped into the river...my friends let me borrow their phones to call home and then made sure I was okay all day, constantly trying to make me smile and make sure I was still having fun despite the circumstances. So after that minor meltdown (mostly at my own stupidity) we went to Notre Dame and it was stunning inside. After doing a lap around and admiring the stained glass windows, we got lunch at a small cafe a few streets over. I decided I was going to order something "french" so I decided on a Croque Madame which is essentially a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with a fried egg on top, it was DELICIOUS, I want to make it at home sometime (though I can't imagine mine turning out very good) after lunch, we went to Pére Lachaise, the famous cemetery where Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde are buried. It was huge, but we got to visit both Jim and Oscar (yes, we're on a first name basis) and it was really cool to see all of the stuff that people had left at the gravesites of both. They were very vandalized, however, but it was interesting to see all of the different languages- there were even some messages written in hebrew! After the cemetery, we went to Trocadero square to see the eiffel tower from a distance and get some pictures there. It was breathtaking (as most things this trip have been!) and we got some really good pictures. We just sat on the steps for awhile and just looked at it, basking in its beauty. After that we went to the "Lover's Lock" bridge where a couple writes their names on a lock, secures it to the wired fence of the bridge and throws the key into the river. Though I didn't secure a lock to the bridge, it was really pretty to sit there for awhile and write in my journal as we watched the sun set. After that, we went back to the hostel to freshen up and then headed back to the Eiffel Tower and eat dinner and watch the sparkling light show in person. Dinner was delicious, I got Ravioli (Yes, more Italian food...) and we had a nice view of the tower. We got to watch it sparkle at midnight... Midnight in Paris :)! After that I collapsed in my hostel bed, it was so glorious to finally be able to sleep!

laying by the eiffel tower, i'm in the orange!

Notre Dame

Inside Notre Dame

close up of the windows

Notre Dame

Lunch- Croque Madame

Oscar Wilde's grave

Jim Morrison's grave

Arc De Triomphe 

In front of the Eiffel Tower!

Love Lock bridge!

Sun starting to set over the Seine

Eiffel Tower sparkling at night!

We left sunday morning on an early afternoon train and got back to London! Now, to get back into the swing of things, and get myself a cruddy 'pay-as-you-go" phone... :( Overall, I LOVED Paris. I definitely want to go back there and climb the Eiffel tower and go to Versailles and do some other things I missed out on- hopefully I'll be able to in the future!

sidenote: sorry this isn't as picture filled as I would like, most of the pictures from friday were on my phone...I stole a few from my friend Gabbi who took them of me!