Paris, Je t'aime!!

the view from our room in the hostel

A couple weekends ago, I went with some other girls to my favourite city I'd been to so far this semester — Paris! Saturday got off to a bad start. My alarm never went off in the morning so I didn't wake up until 7:20 when my friend called me (5 minutes after we were supposed to meet!) So I rushed to get dressed and brush my teeth, stuffed things into my suitcase, and ran to Perrache train station as fast as I could. Luckily, I made it in time  for the train! We all slept for most of the train ride and when we arrived, the weather in Paris was surprisingly very different than the warm sunny day they were having in Lyon. It was raining and foggy, but the city was still beautiful! We managed to figure out the complicated Paris metro (and got to hear some pretty good performers in the metro station and on the metro itself!) and found our hostel without much difficulty. Our hostel was in the Montmarte section of Paris which was a really nice and central area. Our hostel ended up being much better than we expected too. We thought we would be in a big shared room with other people, but it was only the four of us and we even got our own shower and sink!

After getting settled into the hostel, we decided to head out into the city and find somewhere to get lunch. We found a cute little cafe in Montmarte and the food ended up being really good and affordable too! I got their special pasta of the day, farfalle with carbonara sauce and bacon. Yum! During lunch, we pulled out our map and decided what we wanted to do that day. First, we walked to the Sacré Coeur basilica because it was so close. It was huge and so pretty inside! And it was on top of a big hill so we got a really good view of the city. We couldn't see the Eiffel Tower though because it was so cloudy. Next, we went to the Moulin Rouge which was also in Montmarte. It was really cool to see and we got to go inside where there were lots of pictures and we learned a little about its history. After the Moulin Rouge, we took the metro over to our next landmark–the Arc de Triomphe. It was so cool to see, and we took an underground tunnel that came up right underneath the arch. After that, we went down the Champs-Elysées which is right next to the Arc de Triomphe. We did a little window shopping and popped into Zara, but did not spend much time shopping because we wanted to get back to sightseeing! 

At lunch with Anna, Ciela, and Virginia

At lunch

the Sacré Coeur

the Sacré Coeur

the view from the Sacré Coeur, which is on top of a hill

the view of the Sacré Coeur from the bottom of the hill

the Moulin Rouge

the Arc de Triomphe

the Champs Elysées with the Arc de Triomphe at the end

Toward the end of the Champs-Elysées, there was a Grand Palais and Petit Palais (Big Palace and Little Palace). We did not go inside because the line was huge, but they were cool to see! Next up was the Pont St. Alexandre III, the most famous bridge in Paris. As we were approaching the bridge, we got our first view of the Eiffel Tower since arriving in Paris!! It was awesome and we all got so excited!

the Pont St. Alexandre III

so excited to see the Eiffel Tower for the first time!!

After taking tons of pictures of the tower, we made our way over the bridge where we saw the Hôtel des Invalides. It was made as a hospital and retirement home for war veterans a long time ago and Napolean is buried there. After that, we took the metro a few stops over to the Louvre! The square where it was located was so pretty and the Louvre really stuck out because it was so modern looking. Naturally, we got tons of pictures and then before it got dark, we went to the place we had all been waiting for... the Eiffel Tower! Since it was so foggy out, we could only see the bottom half of the tower most of the time but it was still so cool to see! People have always told me that the Eiffel Tower looks smaller in person than you would expect, but I didn't think that was true at all!

the Louvre

touching the top of the Louvre!

at the Louvre with Virginia and Ciela

at the Louvre with Virginia and Anna

Eiffel Tower!!

at the Eiffel Tower!

After standing there by the tower in amazement for a while, we decided it was almost time to get some dinner. But first, we went into the Shakespeare and Company bookstore which has been in some movies including one of my faves Midnight in Paris! The bookstore also happened to be right near the Notre Dame, so we got to see that by night! After going to the bookstore, we stopped on the trendy-looking street nearby for some dinner. I got the "Mexican" dish, aka a little steak burrito and chicken burrito with tortilla chips and the best guacamole I've ever had! The restaurant also had these really cool cocktails that had firecrackers coming out of them! A lot of the cocktails also had really funny names like "MILF" and my friend Anna got one called "Kinky orgasm"!

the Notre Dame

the Shakespeare and Company bookstore

After dinner, we went back to the hostel and laid down for a little while before getting ready to go out and experience the Paris nightlife. But we were all so tired from the busy day that it was a struggle just to get ourselves up to get ready! After a while, we managed to head out and explore the neighbourhood our hostel was in. We did not see any bars right nearby and started to sit down at an outdoor restaurant where they were selling drinks, but decided to head back to the hostel bar instead. And on the way, we decided to stop for some snacks to bring back to the hostel with us — Milka cookies and brownies! We ate some of the food and got a Smirnoff Ice from the bar in the hostel and then fell asleep almost immediately.

I didn't think it was possible to have an even better day in Paris than the one I had already had, but I was wrong! On the second day, we woke up early to get breakfast in the hostel and were pleasantly surprised to get a big platter of food with a croissant, bread, lots of jam, butter, coffee, and tea (I took about 10 extra things of tea to bring back to Lyon with me!) We checked the weather forecast and it said it would be cloudy all day and rain until 4. During breakfast, we decided we would check out the obelisk first and then go into the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa. But when we stepped out of the metro at Place de la Concorde, we were ecstatic to see that the weather had completely cleared up and it was warm and sunny! We saw the obelisk in Concorde and I noticed that the fountain nearby looked really familiar. Then I realised it was the one Anne Hathaway threw her phone into at the end of the Devil Wears Prada! So cool!! We thought of checking out the nearby Tuileries Gardens, but then we caught a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower and completely forgot about any plans we had made for the day — the next thing we had to do was go to the tower!

the Obelisk

the fountain from Devil Wears Prada!

the Eiffel Tower!

We decided not to take the metro since it was so nice out and didn't even use a map; we just walked along the Seine and finally reached the bottom of the tower! When we were standing under it, it looked massive! In the park next to the tower, we saw tons of big teddy bears lined up and saw that they had to do with world peace and each bear represented a different country. The USA bear looked like the Statue of Liberty and there were lots of other ones that looked cool too. After taking pictures with all of our countries' bears, it was time to go to the top of the tower! We decided to take the stairs because we thought we would feel more accomplished. After a long and tiring trek up the stairs, we finally made it up to the "2nd story" where you can't walk any further and need to take an elevator up the skinny part of the tower. The view from the top was amazing and we could see the entire city! It was so pretty and I was amazed by the fact that I was up at the top of the Eiffel Tower. It also seemed weird to see a view of the Paris skyline that did not include the Eiffel Tower!

Getting close to the tower!

me and Anna--the two Americans--with the USA bear

the view from the "1st floor" of the tower

at the top of the tower

view from the top!

we could see the Arc de Triomphe from the top of the tower!

After being on the tower for a while, we decided to reward ourselves for the climb by getting a big lunch. We went to a little restaurant right near the Eiffel Tower where I got pasta bolognese and chocolate mousse. After finishing our meals and before the dessert came, we were all still a little hungry, so we decided to try a very Parisian dish — escargot. When it came we were a little nervous to try it, and we struggled at first thinking that the little metal thing they gave us was to crack the shells (we realised it was actually to hold the shells while you pull out the snail). But when we tried it, it was actually really good! It tasted like a mussel or something and had a pesto-type sauce. Also at the restaurant, our waiter was so rude to us! He acted annoyed with us the whole time, and even rolled his eyes at us a few times when we tried to ask him things! I couldn't tell if he was actually rude or if it's an act (maybe trying to live up to the stereotype that French waiters are rude so tourists will have a laugh?)

trying some Parisian escargot

After finishing up lunch, we took the metro over to Le Marais. While we were on the metro, the most disgusting smelling homeless man I could have ever imagined hopped over the place where you scan your ticket and snuck into our metro car, sitting right near us. I was gagging because the smell was so bad and tons of people in our car got out and changed cars because of it! Luckily he got out after a few stops and then a girl sprayed perfume to mask the smell. Le Marais was a trendy area with lots of shops and a cool atmosphere. I think I would describe it as Paris's version of SoHo. We walked through the main streets and went to a square called the Place de Vosges. It is the oldest square in Paris and looked really cool. It almost felt like a square that would be on an ivy league university campus or something! When we reached the end of Le Marais, we found ourselves near the Bastille. We had expected it to be a huge prison, but it ended up being just a monument in the middle of a rotary. It was still cool to see though! After seeing the Bastille, we headed back to pick up our luggage and start getting ready to head to our train back to Lyon.

Le Marais

Place des Vosges

After we got our bags, we still had a little time to kill, so we decided to go back to the Eiffel Tower for the third time! It was dark at that point, so we got to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up! It was soo pretty!! So we got to see the tower in all possible ways: in the rain/fog, in the sun, and then at night! After taking some pictures and looking at the tower in awe, we decided to try visiting the Tuileries gardens as well before heading to the train station. Unfortunately the gardens were closed by that time and it was too dark to really see anything, so we headed to the train station.

the tower at night!

me, Virginia, and Anna wearing our berets and looking so French!

Before getting on our train, we stopped off at a kebab place to get some food to bring on the train with us. The guy that worked there was SO rude to us and we got the worst customer service ever! First, he refused to let us wait at the counter for our food; he made us struggle to get our suitcases into a small area with chairs. Then when it was time to pay, he tried overcharging all of us. When we corrected him, he refused to give us the correct change, saying we had to pay the exact amount because he didn't have change to give us (even though I could see right into the register and see that there was plenty of change in there!) After we fought him for a while and threatened to leave without the food and without paying, he finally gave us our change — in all pennies and by individually slamming them down on the counter! Once we got on the train and started eating, we saw that he had messed up all of our orders, and it was the grossest kebab we had ever tasted. We actually found the whole situation hilarious and could not stop laughing for a while on the train. Apparently we were being too loud though because someone complained about us, and one of the men who worked on the train had to come and tell us to shut up. Oops!

I had such an amazing time in Paris! It is a city that I had always wanted to visit and I was not disappointed! I can't wait to return to Paris lots of times in the future, and hopefully again soon!