Paris, je t'aime

So for our first excursion of the semester, Dana and I decided to go to Paris. Dana had a friend from high school (Madeline) who is studying abroad in Paris right now, so we were lucky enough to get to stay with her. Also Dana’s best friend from high school Lina and a friend of hers from her study abroad in Seville, Matt, came to stay for the weekend as well. We had a fabulous weekend despite the arctic temperatures. I had been to Paris before when I was 11, but it has been a long time since I was there and it was great to see some sites again and to experience some new ones.

Thursday afternoon: After my class on Thursday I had about an hour to make it to the train station across town to catch my train. I ran to the tram with my big backpack and made it on time. However, when I got there the train was late. Every ten minutes they would update it and say that they train was going to be 10 more minutes late. After about 45 minutes, it said on the screen that the train was indeterminably late. We all stormed the information desk and finally the said that the train was on its way. The train left the station about 55 minutes late (so, no refund, because it would need to be 60 minutes late for that…). Once we were on the train the ride was very easy. We made it to Paris in 2 hours and headed to Madeline’s apartment. We hung out there while we waited for Lina and Matt to arrive. Afterwards, we went to this cute little Thai restaurant nearby. We were there for a long time and we knew that the restaurant was closing soon. At one point, our waiter and the other waiter just waved by to us and left. For a split second we thought that they had just left us alone in the restaurant until we realized there was still someone else left in the back. It was pretty funny.

Arc de Triomphe

Friday: We had gone to bed pretty late Thursday night and so we woke up pretty late Friday morning. We went to get some pastries from a nearby bakery to eat for breakfast in the apartment. After that, we went to the Jeu de Paume to see a really great photography exhibit by Diane Arbus. Next, we went to this famous café called Angelina’s. They are renowned for their hot chocolate, so of course we had to try it. It was so incredibly rich and it basically seemed like they had just melted a delicious chocolate bar. While it was delicious, I was only able to take a few sips because it was just so rich. After that, we decided to go on this Ferris wheel that we had seen. We took it right during sunset and it was an absolutely spectacular view of the Tuileries, the Eiffel tower, Champs Elysees, Notre dame and the Sacre Coeur. After that we split up and Dana and  went to explore the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe which was very pretty at night. Later on, we met up again for dinner at this delicious restaurant. We were so cold and had the most delicious French onion soup.

Delicious hot chocolate at Angelina's

Ferris Wheel near the Tuileries

Eiffel Tou& the Seine

Dana and I on the ferris w

Saturday: Dana and I woke up really early on Saturday morning to head out to Versailles. We got there and booked a tour of the private apartments and then went to explore before our tour started. The tour showed us the private rooms that were constructed by Louis XV and used by him and Louis XVI. Louis XIV lived a very public life and did not have a separate bedroom, dining room, etc… to use privately since he was always in the public eye. Then we went on to explore the public part of the castle including the king’s public bedroom and the incredible hall of mirrors. Overall Versailles was absolutely incredible. Each room was more beautiful than the next. Honestly despite trying to capture it in many photos, they just cannot do it justice. Also, the chapel in Versailles was probably the most beautiful that I have ever seen. I was completely awestruck at the intricacy and grandeur of the place. After spending quite a few hours exploring the beautiful place, we returned back to Paris. We were starving and were planning to try to go to my favorite Parisian creperie from when I was 11. When I was with my family in Paris for 2 weeks we went to this creperie many times. We loved it so much and even took a picture with the owner before we left. My mom had looked up the address for me and found that it still existed from its reviews on Yelp. However, when we got to the address, it was no longer there. It was replaced by a run of the mill chain restaurant and I was really upset. Fortunately we found a creperie across the street that was really great. I got a savory crepe and then Dana and I split a dessert crepe with nutella, raspberries, whipped cream and ice cream. It was amazing!!! Next we went to check out Notre Dame which was beautiful as expected, though it was hard for it to even compete with the chapel in Versailles. Next we headed to Montmartre to see the Sacre Coeur. We walked it and there was a service going on (which was being led by nuns – still don’t understand that). We sat down to wait for Lina and Matt and listened to the service. The music was beautiful as was the inside of the Sacre Coeur. Photos weren’t really allowed, but I snuck one because it was just so pretty inside. Next we found a little cheap restaurant because Paris really expensive. It was good. After that we walked over to the Moulin Rouge to take a picture. The neighborhood around it was a little bit sketchy, but it was early enough and there were enough of us that it wasn’t a big deal. Later that evening we went to this really weird, but great bar called Zero de Conduite. It is a bar where they serve drinks in baby bottles and you play games. They had some amazing looking drinks that were really delicious. We found it hilariously funny that we were drinking out of baby bottles and really had a great time there!

 

Baby bottles at Zero de Conduite

Me and Dana at 

Sunday morning: We packed up our stuff and headed out of Madeline’s apartment. We had a little time in the morning before our train and so we went to the Marche aux Puces. It was freezing cold and snowing and we had all our stuff there, but it was still really fun. We had some delicious (and warm!) crepes and bought a really cute leather purse from one of the vendors. Overall I had an absolutely amazing weekend and a relatively easy trip back to Lyon. I can’t wait for many more trips in the coming weeks!