Weekend in Paris

Last Friday I had the amazing opportunity to get on a train to go to Paris for the weekend! We left around 5:00 on Friday night and arrived about 7:30 with the time difference. (France is an hour ahead of England.) 

This was my first time on a train and it was a very quick journey. I was somewhat disappointed to find out that each car was not divided into separate compartments like it is in the movies. 

It was set up like an air plane but with some rows facing the opposite way. It was cool to think we traveled under the English Channel to get there. 

After the two hour train ride, we walked to our hotel and had about half an hour to get ready to go on a boat tour. We met at Pont Neuf and took some pictures of our first view of the city at night. The lighting was one of the biggest things I noticed. Everything was bathed in an almost yellowish glow that I have never seen anywhere else. It looked beautiful and made me see why Paris is considered one of the most romantic cities in the world. Once we all arrived here, we had some time to go somewhere to get a quick dinner. Me and Evelyn went to a little shop and I had my first experience of the language barrier. I had heard that mostly everyone in France speaks English and that's mostly true, but for some reason I did not expect the menus to be in French. All the names and ingredients were in French and since I don't speak a word of it, I still have no idea what I ordered for dinner. It was a new experience because I had never been anywhere that the native language is not English. 

Once we got on the boat we went down the Seine River and saw most of the city. Everything was so beautiful and the buildings looked so old, much older than they look in London. Our timing was perfect when we passed the Eiffel Tower because we caught it just as it was lighting up and sparkling like it does on every hour. This is when it hit me that I was in Paris!

After the boat tour we went back to the hotel to get a good nights sleep so we could be up and ready for our bus tour in the morning. The beds were very comfortable (especially compared to the ones we have at school where the springs poke you all night). After an amazing breakfast of Pain au Chocolat and Crepes at the hotel, we got on a bus and saw Paris in the daytime. We went to most of the famous sights in the city:

This obelisk stands where the guillotine stood during the French Revolution, right in the public eye in the center of one of the busiest squares in the city.   

Next we stopped at the Arc de Triomphe:

The Eiffel Tower! We didn't have the best pictures from this side because it was right against the morning sun and it was a bit foggy out.

We then went around to the other side to get some better pictures. It was amazing to actually stand in front of this and see it in person!

After seeing the Eiffel Tower we saw the mausoleum that Emperor Napoleon is buried in.  The top is made of solid gold and cost the city a fortune!

This monument stands where the Bastille stood. It is now in the center of a large traffic circle but there is a stone circle in the road that signifies where the historic building once stood.

We ended the bus tour at the Louvre museum where we were all given tickets to go inside. It was the most beautiful museum that I have ever been inside and the collections of art were endless! They say that if you spent one minute in front of each piece of art it would take over a year to get through the entire museum! Seeing as we only had two days to do all we wanted to do in Paris, we only saw one exhibit, the most famous that has paintings from the Italian masters like Michelangelo and Da Vinci and also houses the Mona Lisa!

After walking around the museum for about an hour and a half, Evelyn and I went to find some lunch. We ate at a small cafe and had Croque Monsieur which is like an open faced grilled cheese! I have to say the food in France was a lot better than that in England!

After lunch we walked along the river to Notre Dame Cathedral. As we were on our way we went over a bridge that was filled with locks. We learned that it is tradition for couples who come to Paris to write their names on a lock and put it on the bridge. Then they throw the key into the river. It was so cool to see how many people did this together. We even got to see a bride and groom do this!

Soon after we made it to Notre Dame. It was amazing to see and the architecture and history was just incredible! It was surprisingly a lot smaller that I had imagined it to be and it reminded me a lot of Westminster Abbey. It is the 850th anniversary of it so there was a special exhibit if you go inside but it was so crowded we decided not to.

We spent some time in front of the Cathedral and wrote postcards while sitting outside on a bench by the river. The weather was beautiful the whole time we were in Paris! After we rested for a bit we decided to do some shopping. Both Evelyn and I have always wanted to go shopping in Paris but neither of us knew where to go. As we were walking we saw two girls about our age on the street and asked them if they were from Paris and if they knew any good but cheaper places to go shopping. It turns out that they were sisters who both lived in Paris and they were on their way to go shopping themselves. They invited us to go with them and while we were walking we talked about where we were from. It turns out that one of the girls did a foreign exchange program in Evelyn's hometown in California and the other had been in Niagara Falls and Buffalo three weeks before! We had a great time getting to know a little about each other and shopping in one of the fashion capitals of the world!

When we were done, we went back to the hotel to rest our feet (we did a LOT of walking!!!) and get ready for dinner. We went to a small restaurant that had a great view of the river. After eating our plan was to walk to the Eiffel Tower to see it light up again. We could see it out of the window of the restaurant so we did not think we were too far away. After about half an hour of fast walking/running, we realized that it was a lot farther away than we had thought! We stopped in a park that had a decent view and took some pictures. As we were walking back we were amazed by how far we had actually gone! We had one more stop and that was to see the Louvre at night.

As I was looking at the map to figure out the best route to take home, I noticed that the Arc de Triomphe and the Obelisk seemed to be in line with the Louvre. Then I had this really cool moment where I looked up to the archway entrance to the Louvre and saw that you could see all the way down to the Arc de Triomphe miles and miles away!

We did not get back to the hotel until 1:45! We packed so much into one day that we ended up crashing when we got back. Then we were up early once again. Today's agenda: the Palace of Versailles! We took the train to the Palace and waited almost an hour in line for tickets until we found out that European students get in free with a university ID! Once we discovered this we walked up to the palace and saw it in all its grandeur. I had thought that the palaces in England were amazing but this was the biggest and most beautiful that I have seen! The line was super long to get through security but we ended up making friends with a girl named Nada who was studying in France and we all went through the palace together! 

This is a statue of Louis XIV who built the palace into what it is today. It stands right outside the main gates:

This is the famous Hall of Mirrors, the part that I wanted to see the most. It was beautiful, with a mirror across from each window overlooking the gardens. It is the most beautiful room I have ever seen. I could never imagine living in a place like this. I would break something.

Next was the palace gardens. They were amazing and we got there just in time to see the fountains start to go on. Everything was pristine and very grand. 

After we got back we had a little time before we had to be at the train station so we went on a mission to find macaroons. We had past so many places the day before but since we were looking for them, they were nowhere to be found. Instead we got crapes and sat by the river to eat them.   

Overall, Paris was fantastic! It was really interesting to be somewhere that they don't speak English and to see all the history. Most of the buildings we saw are hundreds of years older than the United States! Everything was beautiful but I actually have to say that I like London more. Our underground is much cleaner and nicer and Paris kinda smells. I'm so glad that I get this amazing once in a lifetime experience! On a sad note, Julia was supposed to come on Thursday and we were going to Germany tomorrow but our trip had to be postponed because she broke her ankle. Please pray for healing for her and we hope to be able to re-plan our trip soon! Also I posted more pictures from this trip in the photo section!