Days 30 - 33 Bonjour Paris!

Well I'm back from Paris although I could totally have used another day or two there because I loved it! Good news, our tour guide was great on this trip so that probably made a difference but I also fell in love with the city...here's what I did all weekend:

Day 30 - We headed to St. Pancras train station to catch the Eurorail train (which travels at 188 mph) to Paris! First things I noticed at the train station were "little gypsies" that our tour guide warned us about, crepe stations and lots of beautiful people. We tried our first bit of French words out at a sandwich shop in the station and it was fun! Bonjour! Au Revoir! Merci!


We hopped on a train to take a tour of the city which was great just to get the lay out of the city and a general feeling for it. We got to see buildings like the Opera house (where Phantom of the Opera is set), Military Academy where Napoleon is buried, Notre Dame, Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees and of course the Eiffel Tower.

After a quick photo session at the Eiffel Tour we headed to our hotel which was great! Our tour guide gave us a quick walking tour of the area around our hotel so we would know where the train station was and where to find food. After getting a bite to eat we decided to take a quick nap to regain our energy.



Feeling more energized we ventured over to the Louvre...and to our great surprise people under 26 got in free that day! The Louvre is amazing and huge!!! We stopped to see Mona for a little bit, although she's much smaller than I would have guessed. After another photo session in front of the famous pyramids outside of the Louvre and then we were off to find somewhere to eat and headed back to the hotel. We decided to meet up with some of our other friends and have some wine by the river Seine which was such a good idea! The walk along the river and over some of the bridges was beautiful and I just felt so alive being there. It was a beautiful night out in Paris!!

Night on the river Siene with our New York girls Sabrina and Brittney!

Day 31 - We had breakfast at our hotel which consisted of yummy pasteries, packets of nutella (sort of like jelly packets) and coffee! Then we headed off to see Notre Dame which is on this island in the middle of the river Seine. The church is beautiful and of course we had to take a Hunchback picture...how could you not?! We learned a bit about the architecture of the building (which I find fascinating) and on top of the doors are intricate depictions of Jesus sitting in a chair and underneath him is a devil with scales which represents weighing people's souls. Then as the arch goes down on both sides there are happy looking people on top and they slowly fade into other gross looking creatures which symbolizes essentially that if you're good you'll be happy but if you're bad the devil will take hold of your soul...there's a light little piece of information for you! There was also the famous gargoils hanging on the sides...like I said it's so detailed! We got to go inside and look around and afterwards explore around the grounds...I misunderstood the time we were supposed to all meet up and turns out I was 15 minutes later than everyone else...so that was an embarassing and quite humbling moment for me!

Hunchbacks yaa!

Next we found our way to the river for our boat cruise. We passed through the Latin Quarters and also the bridge where Princess Diana's fatal car crash took place which was interesting to see. Our river cruise took us all along the Siene which is lined with famous sites and buildings...at the end we got a good sight of the Effiel Tower again. We also saw their "beaches" alongside the river which is basically just lawn chairs and some sand on the side of the river. Apparently the mayor decided to make these beaches because people are too busy to go on holiday so he decided to bring the beach to them!

Here are their "beaches" isn't it funny?!

Afterwards we tried going shopping in a part of town we heard was good for shopping but turned out to be a bust so we walked back towards the river to check out the little stands people have filled mostly with books but some had paintings and touristy things. We were so exhausted we went back to the hotel to take a nap.


Once recharged we headed to the Eiffel Tower to check it out at night...it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Such a cool sight to see! It was all lit up and every hour it would twinkle for five minutes or so and everybody would cheer, it was so fun! We decided to be like the French and have some wine, cheese and crackers while enjoying the beautiful backdrop of the tower at night...so nice to just relax and enjoy the epitome of Paris! A little later we hiked up the two floors to get some good views of the city...man were we high!

Here it is twinkling : )

Day 32 - This day was set for a trip to the Palace of Versailles where Louise XVI and Marie Antoinette lived. It was a huge place and most of the gates were covered in real gold leaf...it's unreal people lived in places like this! We toured around in it, probably my two favorite parts was the Hall of Mirrors and Marie Antoinette's room which was covered in flower wallpaper, flower draperies and of course flower bedding.

Mer in the Hall of Mirrors

We had heard that this day was the end of the Tour de France which ends at the Champs Elysees in Paris so we thought heck, why not try to see it! So we headed over there to try and catch a glimpse of the cyclists and we did!! I know nothing about the Tour de France but it was a great experience to say I've been there at least once.

Afterwards we headed back to the hotel quickly to change for dinner. Our tour guide proposed an idea the first night that for anyone that wanted to, we could all go to this restaurant for our last dinner in Paris in which you can choose from 3 options of an appetizer, entree and a desert along with unlimited wine, beer and soft drinks for 30 euros. Although that sounds steep it was totally worth it, it was probably the best food I've had in forever!! But we got a little lost getting there and ended up being 45 minutes late...not good. So although I stuffed myself, it was totally worth it to have a nice group dinner : )

After dinner with my friends Sam and Lisa

That night we decided to hit the town and go out for a little bit. It was a good time!


Day 33 - This morning we got to sleep in (yay!), enjoy breakfast and head back to London. Only 5 more days left of my program (that's so crazy!). This week is going to be packed...I still have another paper to write and more celebrating to do before we all part ways!