Paris Holds the Key to...Someone Else's Heart

Okay, it's time for me to be a little bit honest. I feel like I've done a pretty good job not letting any negative aspects of my trip creep into my blog, but I have to be honest about Paris: I had a fabulous time but it was for sure not my favorite city. I was super nervous to go in the first place because I had heard that the French are less than friendly. But this trip is an opportunity for me to push boundaries and comfort zones, and so on Sunday we took the night train from Barcelona to Paris and the excursion began.

Day 1: Is This Gonna Last Forever?
Megan, Karissa and I arrived at the Paris train station at about 10:00 on Monday morning. First things first, the Paris metro is probably the most confusing system ever. They not only have metros, but also RERs, which have completely different routes and span the city centre better. We had absolutely no clue where to go, but luckily we met two girls from Argentina who were headed to the same hostel. Neither of them spoke French either, but the information attendant at the train station spoke French and Spanish, so they communicated with him to find our hostel. The five of us found it with no trouble after getting directions. We dropped off our stuff in the luggage room and headed to get some breakfast. We found a little cafe and tried (a tad unsuccessfully) to order. I was surprised at how difficult it was to communicate. I know very little French. However, a nice French man was at the cafe and spoke enough English to engage in conversation with us. It was nice to meet a friendly person right away. Afterwards, we headed over to the Louvre. I was most excited about this part of Paris because of the art history class Megan and I took this last semester. I saw all the famous works (the Venus de Milo, the Mona Lisa and Winged Victory), but I also got to see some of the works from my art class: the Raft of the Medusa, Death of Sardanapalus, and The Bolt. We spent four hours there, which was enough time for my legs, but not for my eyes. There was so much to see and do there. After the Louvre, we walked up the Champs Elysees to see the Arc de Triomphe. A couple things about the Champs Elysees: it is a shopping street, but it's probably the longest street I've ever been on, and it's incredibly crowded on a sunny Monday afternoon. I was hot and tired when we reached the Arc, so we snapped a few pictures and then headed back to the hostel. We found a grocery store and ate in one of the many parks of Paris before calling it an early night, to once again, play a few hands of rummy.

Day 2: The Day of Long Lines
On Tuesday we headed out to Versailles. Our luck with the metro system continued as we once again got lost and confused trying to catch our train to Versailles. We met a British couple and another American girl, however, and the six of us worked it out together. It was an hour train ride to Versailles, but it went quickly since we had conversation with our new friend. The American girl we travelled with had been living and working in Scotland, and was now travelling. She had just graduated college too and was taking some time off before graduate school. It was fun to hear about her adventures. When we got to Versailles we waited in line with her for about 2 hours to get tickets and another 20 minutes just to get into the Palace. It was well worth it though. The palace was absolutely beautiful. So extravagant. We did a little souveneir looking at Versailles and ate lunch before heading back to Paris. Once back in the city, we decided to also go to the Eiffel Tower since the weather was so nice. The lines were once again very long, and we waited about an hour and 1/2 to get to the top. Again, completely worth it! The view was amazing.

Day 3: Pack It In
Because we spent the first two days kind of slowly viewing the sights, we decided to spend the last day getting in everything we missed. Megan and I woke up early to hit up Notre Dame at 8, and then got in line for the Musee d'Orsay. I would definitely recommend this route for anyone travelling to Paris. Notre Dame had no crowds that early in the morning, and we only had to wait 20 minutes from the Orsay to open. It was fantastic. I was really excited for the Orsay Museum because of Megan and my art history class. They had a Rodin exhibit as well, which is a sculptor we also learned about. What was even more fantastic is that we had two great sights done by 1:00! Next stop was the Catacombs. Now, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, because I didn't know anything about them except for the boys on trip thought they were really cool. I think I was expecting tombs, not the actual bones that made up the hallways! There was literally like 7 hallways in which the walls were made up of rows of bones and skulls. Needless to say I raced through the last part of that. To treat myself for having gone through that, we stopped at a crepe stand. It was so good! A little old lady was running the stand, and she got to watch us with satisfaction inhale her delicious creations! I definitely did not eat enough crepes while I was in Paris. The next sight on our list was the Moulin Rouge. Since this is in a sketchy part of Paris, we literally took quick pictures and then hopped back on the metro. Although it was still early at this point, we were exhausted and since Megan and I had to wake up at 5 the next morning to make our flight back to Ireland, we went back to the hostel early.

I can hardly believe the first part of my excursion is already over. It went so quickly and we saw so many great sights. I'm incredibly excited to start the next leg of my trip, especially with my mom and Aunt Kay. The same goes for this blog: I realize it's a bit rough and quite an overview, but email me if you want to know any more details! Otherwise I'll plan on telling you more about it when I'm back! Happy Easter!