Friday, July 30
We took tube to Heathrow and flew to Paris. From there we took a train from the airport to the city. Right when we got on, there were two men and a little kid who were playing music with an accordian and tamborine on the train. It was really entertaining and a great welcome to Paris. We got a little lost but found hostel with help of Sarah and Marissa who had already arrived. Th hostel was very nice; it was more like a hotel than a hostel because we had small rooms of two and three people with our own bathroom and the lobby and hallways were very clean and modern. We dropped off our stuff and then headed to lunch a nearby cafe. I got a Croque Madmoiselle (at Chelsea's recommendation) which is cheese, ham, and an egg on toast. it was so good! Then we went Notre Dame and took pictures of the outside of the church, but we didn't go in. We got gelato at a small stand in the street. It was very expensive and rich, but we wanted to treat ourselves since you're not in Paris too often haha. After that we went to the Arc the Triomphe from there and paid to go to the top. It was a gorgeous view of the city, including the Eiffel Tower! After that we walked down Avenue des Champs Élysées and saw the original Louis Vuitton shop but it was just closing up when we got there so we didn’t get to go in. We then walked over to the Eiffel Tower to get some daytime pictures. It is such a huge structure and very impressive! How cool to be standing right in front of such a famous monument! We sat around for a little bit and then went to a nearby grocery store to buy some wine, baguettes, and cheese. We took our groceries back to the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower and spent the rest of the evening under it lit up at night. I didn’t know that it sparkles every hour, so that was an exciting surprise! It was all so beautiful and surreal! We had difficulty finding our way home after midnight because the metro stop we wanted to get on seemed to only be a parking garage. However, we eventually found another stop and headed back to the hostel.
(By the way, the metro smells really bad and is dirty with lots of grafity and many poorly labeled stations. The conditions of teh underground system in Paris made us really appreciate the tube in London.)
Saturday, July 31
We woke up fairly early and got breakfast at the hostel which was really good compared to our Dublin hostel. They gave you the option of getting cereal, juice, coffee (or hot chocolate), milk, yogurt, croissant, baguette, biscuits (basically just packaged toast), with butter, jam, and a French version of Nutella. After breakfast, we left to go to Montmartre to see Sacre Coeur. There was a great view of the city because it is up on a hill overlooking all of Paris. It was a great place to visit, but very exhausting with lots of steps to climb. After taking our fill of pictures, we went to a patisserie and I got an apple filled pastry. We then went to Moulin Rouge which is also in Montmartre. There were lots of scandalous shops and other crazy things to see in the area. Then, we headed to the Louvre where we split up and some of us went inside and others went shopping. We only got to see only a small part of the Louvre because it is so huge and we had a time constraint, but we saw the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo along with lots of other impressive paintings and statues. It was crazy to be standing right in front of artwork that you have seen in books and movies your entire life! Then we headed back to Notre Dame because we wanted to go inside. Someone had heard that the inside was pretty “hollow” and the outside was more impressive, but I disagree. It was incredibly beautiful and ornate inside! We did some souvenir shopping in the area and then got dinner at a quirky restaurant with goofy waiters. I got a vegetarian salad in a bread bowl. It was very unique, but like all the food in Paris, it was delicious! After dinner, we finished our shopping and then took the metro back to the hostel where we got our bags and left for the airport. Between the metro, waiting for the plane, flight, customs, and finally the tube ride home, it took forever to get back to the flats. In the end, we finally got back after 11 and had to start planning for our last day in London. It was exhausting but we all had an amazing time in Paris! It is such a beautiful and unique city with so much character!
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