Paris. What an AMAZING city! Great company, amazing food, unforgettable site-seeing and swollen feet! We had a 6 day break at the UCA so we decided to take full advantage of it, and pay the iron lady a little visit. I took 800+ pictures…so I’ll try making a web album b/c posting 3-4 pics just won’t do the trick!
October 7, 2010
We woke up early to meet up in the old part of Cádiz to catch our train that would take us to Sevilla. The train ride took 2-ish hours (?) but it didn’t seem that long, we stuffed our faces with bocadillos our host moms had prepared to make the time go by faster! =0) Once we got to Sevilla we took the shuttle to the airport and were finally on our way to PARIS!!!!! We got there and tried to figure out the train system in order to get to our hostel….Thank goodness for Akel, I would have been SOOOO lost if he hadn’t figured everything out beforehand! After asking a couple people and feeling completely lost we finally found the train and were on our way to the Caulaincourt Hostel. Our room was TINY!!! We seriously had to walk sideways in order to get past each other! Hahaha The neighborhood was super cute! We did some exploring around our neighborhood that night, and found a little fruit stand and had that for dinner. It was super weird, I didn’t get “the feeling” when we got to the area around our hostel. It’s that feeling you get when you can’t believe what you’re seeing…or you can’t believe you’re there….anyway, I didn’t get that which was a little disappointing.
October 8, 2010
Woke up pretty early and was super ready to get started with the whole site-seeing thing! We ate breakfast at the hostel, and took the train to Concorde, which was where we had decided to start visiting sites. As we got out of the subway, we looked over and could see the Eiffel Tower in the horizon….THIS is when I got “the feeling.” It was crazy! I literally had to just sit there for a second and take it all in. We walked through the Jardin Des Tuileries and I couldn’t believe it was real! It was amazing! We walked through the park and got to the Louvre! I knew the museum was big….but it’s ridiculous how huge it is! The Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Napoleon III Apartment, Venus de Milo, Egyptian antiques, Psyche and Cupid…..CRAZYY!!!!! After 4 hours of wandering around the museum, we finally decided it was time to go. Except for one small detail, we were a little lost for a bit, and FINALLY found the exit! I had the BEST mocha at the Louvre!!!!! After the museum we went back to the park and had lunch and some ice cream….and then found some chairs by the fountain and took a little siesta; the Spanish ways have rubbed off on us =0) We then went on to walk through the Champs Elysee and finally made it to the Arc de Triumph! We bought our tickets, climbed a million stairs, and finally go to the top in time to watch the sun set! After that it was another train ride home. Again we paid the fruit stand a visit and had fruits, veggies, cheese and fresh orange and apple juice for dinner! I tried speaking French…um….not so much! I think the guy at the fruit stand thought I was borderline retarded…..
October 9, 2010
Another early morning except for it’s getting A LOT harder to get up and be enthusiastic about walking for hours! After breakfast and the routine visit to the fruit stand, we took the train to a different part of town. We found a cute little place called Rendez-Vous for some croissants and coffee. We then went to the catacombs…it was CRAZYYYY!!!! There were THOUSANDS of skulls and bones. We then went around the Latin Quarters and walked around, and ended up going to the Pantheon. It was soooo crazy! It has the largest pendulum in the world. After that, we went to Notre Dame…where again; I got “the feeling.” It is amazing! The stained glass windows really can’t be captured in pictures….it just doesn’t do it justice. After struggling to walk any further, we found a little restaurant and had a glass of wine and some salad, and headed back home ready to CRASH!!!
OMG I tasted a fruit that looks like a tomato, but tastes like a mango/pear….and I also tried a fruit that tastes like a pear made love to an apple…SOOO GOOD!
October 10, 2010
The energy levels are definitely dropping! Last full day in Paris so we HAD to take advantage of it! Today was the designated shopping/wandering around day…and the grand finale, the Eiffel Tower. We walked for hours again, saw a man get hit by a car, saw 4 ladies in wedding dresses…but no grooms….and went to the most insane mall of my life! It looked like an opera house from the inside, and was 7 stories!!! Everything was super expensive….we couldn’t even afford things that were 50% off. There was a floor designated to designer stuff…..Gucci, Prada, Dior, LV, Versace, Givenchy, D & G…someday…someday! After the shopping mood was crushed by the insane prices, we headed out to our final destination. We walked for TWO HOURS and waited in line for like two more, and finally made it to the top of the tower. It was perfect timing because we were there in time for sunset. It was crazy to see military guys with guns out…but it was comforting in a weird way. It was SOOO windy and cold! But after we took our pictures and took it all in, we headed out to our final dinner…and yes, I had to try it..SNAILS!!!! They are pretty delish! When in Rome, right!?
October 11, 2010
Check out from the hostel, and head out to the airport. We made it to Barcelona and had an 11 hour layover so we took a train to go see La Sagrada Familia…..AMAZING!!! That’s the craziest architecture I have seen in my life! It was too late so we couldn’t go inside, but I at least got to see the outside. We had dinner and went out to a bar (la oveja negra) to kill some time. Our flight left at 6 am so we got there a bit early and passed out on the floor of the airport! Hahaha then…time to go back home and SLEEP!!!!!
Such an awesome trip! I am so glad I went…. We had perfect timing too. We left Paris on Monday and then saw in the news that Paris was pretty much shut down on Tuesday! People were striking throughout the city, and employees were walking out of tourist sites. 50% of flights out of Paris were canceled b/c people were on strike because the government wants to increase the retirement age by 2 years…..Made it out just in time!
