The City of Lights

For a while I have wanted to go back and write some of the blogs I intended on writing and never got around to. What better time to do that than when I am home sick coughing up my right lung?

Since I really want an account of my Europe trip this summer that I can always have to look back on, I figure that’s the best place to start. Also, lately I have been thinking A LOT about Europe and missing it A LOT and aching to go back A LOT. Writing about my wonderful experience brings back so many happy memories! So, here’s how Paris went as best as I can recall. Ashley can let me know if I left anything out. This is why I’m doing this now so I can’t forget anything else. In advance I want to apologize for how long it is. Remember I am long winded and that Paris is one of my favorite cities in the world. There are also some really funny stories that I wanted to share and the more I write the better memories I have for myself years from now. Anyway here it is…

So we flew into Paris from London. Everything with the flight went smoothly and we got into Paris and, according to our hotel website, had to catch a train to one of the main metro stations. Well, after a 45-minute hike around the airport, we finally found the place to buy our train tickets. This wouldn’t be a big deal normally, but with a 40 pound pack that wasn’t sitting right, I was in a little bit of misery by the time we got on the train. Story doesn’t end there. We get our seats on the train and I am just relived to have my pack off. Then as we start traveling this man, whom we now affectionately refer to as the Water Snatcher, comes and sits down next to us. He proceeds to start up a conversation with Ashley that went like this:
WS: Can I have your water?
Ash: No
WS: Why not?
Ash: B/c it’s my water
The WS kept trying but Ash wouldn’t have any of it. While this is going on, I am getting terrified we are about to get our stuff taken so I am making sure I’m clinging on to my purse and my pack while trying not to have a heart attack. Finally WS moves on down the train to see what else he can find and shortly after we arrive at the metro station. We have directions from the hotel to get on a specific metro so we go to buy our tickets. When we go up to the machines we can’t get our credit cards to work. Keep in mind we had been in London and Scotland prior to this so we had been using pounds and had not yet converted to Euros. So no cash and no cards, excellent. We try finding someone to help us but the information desk is apparently closed too…awesome. Finally, I realize I have Euros leftover from my last trip to Europe and we are able to get ourselves tickets. Next, we get on the metro and get to the stop our hotel tells us to get off at. That’s where the directions end. Always good. We get up to the street and have no clue where to go. So, we start wondering around trying to find the street name for our hotel. After about 20 minutes of this with no success, we walk into another hotel and ask them if they know where our hotel is. The man working the counter just starts talking in French and pointing. Being the smart girls we are we go the direction he was pointing. At this point I am about in tears because my pack is bothering me so much and I hate being lost. Not a good combination. Finally, about another 20 minutes later we stumble across the hotel. We get up to our room and call home to check in with everyone and let them know we are okay. I explain our rough ordeal and get laughed at. This being the low point of the trip, at that time I did not see the humor at all. However, now it is quite hilarious...quite the start to our Paris adventure!

Anyway, we hadn’t eaten in about 10 hours at this point either so we hit up a McDonald’s that’s right by our hotel, great French food. We then decide to go check out Champs Elysees. Fitting right in with the rest of the day we got lost trying to find it, but eventually made it there. We walked up and down and did a little shopping. Also took a nice photomontage in front of the Arch De Triumph. Finally, we found a restaurant to grab some dinner. About the time we sat down was about the time a torrential downpour started. Luckily we were undercover so we just watched all the other people get soaked. The one thing that went right that day! The rain eventually stopped and we were able to go up to the top of the Arch De Triumph and take pictures of the city at night. Just beautiful! Finally, we went back to the hotel and crashed.

The next day started early with a visit to the Eiffel Tower. We knew we would have a bit of a wait so we wanted to allow ourselves plenty of time. After about an hour in line watching men trying to sell little Eiffel Towers, we made it up for a daytime view of Paris. Also quite beautiful. The last time I was up there it was snowing and this time it was gorgeous and sunny. I feel so blessed to have been able to see it both ways! We grabbed a bite to eat at a little café on the second level of the tower and then made our way down to the Seine River that runs by the Eiffel Tower and got some crepes! There are several boating companies that stop by the base of the tower there, and since we had such a wonderful experience with our boat tour in London, we decided to hop on and do one again. Sadly we did not pick as well this time. We ended up on a boat that is basically transportation to the main spots of Paris, not a tour with any information about those spots. Oh well, live and learn. We let it take us to the Louvre and got off there since it was where we had planned to spend the afternoon anyway. While waiting to get our tickets here Ashley asks what they have at the Louvre besides the Mona Lisa. I tell her that they have some statue (thinking of the Venus de Milo, but I couldn’t remember the name at the time). She proceeds to give me crap the rest of the day, (and sill now) about how I said “museums have statues and stuff”. We explored the Louvre and all of its “statues and stuff” for a few hours. Then we ended the day back at the Champs Elysees for another dinner and some more shopping. We also got a coffee and dessert at this adorable little pastry place. Finally, we hit up Moulin Rouge. The tickets are out of control expensive so we just took pictures outside and went home to bed.

Our final day in Paris started with a trip to Sacre Cure. It is a beautiful church on a hill in Paris. When I went there last time there was nobody around, and I guess this time being tourist season it was just covered in people. We made our way up the one million stairs to go check out the inside only to find out they won’t let us in because we don’t have sleeves on. Apparently wearing sleeveless dresses isn’t allowed. We are such hookers. Since we couldn’t look around in there we walked on down to the little shopping area right by Sacre Cure. They also have outdoor artists and restaurants there. It’s all very Paris. We did a little shopping for people back home and grabbed some lunch. Then we headed on to go visit Notre Dame. On our way to the metro I had a total Carrie moment. There’s a spot where you catch a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower so I decided I wanted a picture. As I’m trying to find the best spot to get a good shot I miss a step and totally bite it and fall flat on my face in front of a large group of tourists. I’m so graceful. Anyway, we eventually made it to Notre Dame only to find out it is closed for the day for a special event. Typical. So we take some pictures outside and walk over to Sainte-Chapelle. This is a church near Notre Dame that has gorgeous stain glass windows. They tell all the stories of the bible and the life of Christ. It’s really just too hard to describe. Hopefully one day I’ll get some pictures on here, even though they don’t capture the real beauty. Guess you will just have to go see it in person! We head out of Sainte-Chapelle and see a little area that appears as if it might have some cute shopping so we walk that direction. While roaming around we stumble across a Starbucks and decide to stop in. We take a little break here and while sitting there I see a drag queen Marilyn Monroe come in. Thought this was a little odd but didn’t give it much thought until we go back outside and find more drag queens, men walking around in butt chaps (with the bare butt hanging out, don’t worry) and lots of rainbow flags. Yep, the Gay Pride Parade was in Paris that day. LOTS of interesting sights. After watching this for a bit we walk down to the Metro to head back to our hotel. We get down into the Metro and realize we can’t get on a train b/c they are so packed. We couldn’t get a cab either b/c of the Gay Pride event blocking all the streets so we are starting to feel a little stuck. Ashley is about to have a panic attack too, so we finally get on the Metro going the other direction just so we can get a spot on a train. About an hour later we make it back to our hotel and decide we are too tired to do much of anything that night. We grabbed one last wonderful dinner at McDonalds and went to bed early because we had a 4:30am cab ride to get us to our flight to Barcelona. You would think that’s where the story of Paris ends but, no, there are even good stories at 4:30 in the morning.

We get up VERY early on our last morning in Paris to get ourselves to the bus that is taking us to the airport for our flight to Barcelona. We are half asleep waiting for our cab in the lobby with the concierge when we see two men stop in front of the door to the hotel. They had clearly been having a good night as they proceed to make out against the door to the hotel. The best part of it was that we all just stand there, nobody saying anything, I think perhaps all a little shocked by what we are witnessing. The happy couple eventually moved on and our cab showed up getting us to the bus just in time. We made it safely to the airport and headed off to Barcelona. That story will get written one of these days. Figure this is long enough to last you until then!