So we have arrived in Paris safe and sound after leaving London around 8:30 pm and then arriving 11:45 Paris time. So a good 2 hour train ride through the underground tunnel. It was what seemed like a long train ride but really it wasn't. I had enough time to think of every possible bad out come when it came to our hostel. I also had enough time to prethink french phrases that I might need to know and I did a good two hour amount of worrying. However once we got off the train we had to find a taxi to get to our hostel and we found one outside the train station of course we paid far too much but oh well he found the place we needed to be and he told me where all the things I needed to know where. Also he didn't really speak English and so I spoke to him in French. You should all be pretty impressed and proud of my french speaking ability. I am so glad for french immersion, and I have been using it and apparently I am decent enough for people who are french to understand me and people who are english to not understand me. Haha its funny because all of us Canadians know enough french but I have become the desinated translator for the group. Never thought that would happen. We got to our hostel and I spoke to the guy and figured out our room and then we got to our room where it is very simple. Nothing special just 5 beds and a sink with a very bizarre shower.
The 27th being tuesday Zach joined up with us in the morning meeting us in the hostel and then all of us being extremely tired and exhausted made our way out into the city. We had to get metro passes and try and figure out how exactly this metro worked in comparision with the subway in London. London metro is much cleaner and faster. We found our way to city center where we walked around and found arc du Triomphe. By the time we had walked there and back and around we were all pretty much exhausted and so we found food to bring back and make at our hostel and then we chilled.
The 28th, Wed was spent picking up Christys friend Mandy and then going off to the lourve, where we waited in a 2 hour queue ( line up for all those not in the british lingo). It was a very massive line and it was also a very cold wet day so once we got in we were very happy to be there. We probably walked around for a good 2 and half hour, seeing the Mona lisa which is rather small and a whole bunch of other statures that have no clothes on and other paintings and artifacts. We were very done by the end up of it, all of our feet hurt and we were very hungry. It is defiantly a place where you can not see everything in one day you have to do a few days of it, in small chunks. We have realized that by us buying food and making it at the hostel we can eat for pretty much a euro a person. So we ate and watched movies and stayed up late, we had to change rooms again so the guys are in one room and the 4 girls are in another.
Thursday, Mandy stayed back while the rest of us went out to find a walking tour. It took us awhile to find where this random group of people where meeting but we found them and we walked around Paris. We had perfect weather for it, it didnt rain and it wasnt overly cloudy, we had clear blue skies, however it was rather chilly but its been cold the whole time we have been here. On this walking tour we started at Saint Micheal Fountain and walked all the way to this militaire musuem. We saw lots and learn lots, we saw the famous bridge with all the drunk people heads on that the king wanted made. We did a lot of walking and we ended up going for lunch with the group at this cute little french restraunt where some of us ate duck which was really good and others ate frog legs which took too much effort to eat if you ask me. They where tiny, and not my favourite thing, I had the duck which was good and fatty. By the time it was done it was rather late so we made a early start back to the french version of Wal mart to pick up a very inexpensive but rather yummy dinner where we made grilled cheese and soup, With of course a few baguettes, they are soo cheep its like 40 cents for one and it can feed 4.
Friday was a very busy and full day, we headed out for Versaille, which took longer to get to then we thought. We also managed to take the longest route possible but we made it and found it after a metro, a tram and a train ride. We also found starbucks, which was extremely expensive even for starbucks standards. Versaille is huge, we should have gotten there earlier becuase there is so much to see and we didnt have enough time to go through all the gardens. When you get there you first have to stand in a line the is like a maze to buy your tickets, which it turns out becuase we are in europe with visas for more then 6 months we could get in for free so we didnt have to stand in this line but we did just for kicks. Well we only realized half way through plus Mandy needed tickets which we made a short cut to the machines which no one was waiting for and made our way out of the first line of the day. But then we had to stand in another queue to get into the place this one was longer a good hour of so. Once we got in we walked around and in and through the palace and marvelled at the massive gorgeous detailed rooms and then wandered out to the gardens. Which have ponds and trees and all sorts of things, you have to walk through the garden to get to Marie Antionettes house, which was not as impressive as I thought it would be but cool to see none the less. Once we were done we had to make our way back to the city for me and Zachs date, yes that is right we are dating and we did go out for a very nice date in Paris with some amazing food at a very nice french restraunrant where I had Pumpkin and blue cheese soup and veal with figs and ricotta and Zach had some lovely snails and streak tartare which is rare meat. He liked it, I cant say I am a very big fan. We shared an amazing hot chocolate cake which really I could have eaten two of them by my self. We went and walked to a cafe to have some coffee, coffee here is sooo ridiculously expensive and you get a rather small amount. We finished off the night by walking through Paris and admiring the eiffel tower all lite up from a distance. It was so cool cause you could only see about half of the tower the rest was hidden in the clouds. I must say it was a very very wonderful first date, with a very amazing boy.
Saturday was New years and what do you do for new years eve in a foreign country, well you start by heading for a croissant at a local bakery which eat the most amazing piece of heaven ever. We then headed out to go visit Notre-Dame which we waited in a 30 minute queue to get into to see this massive beautiful building. However if you ask me the outside of the building is far more impressive then inside. It is still magnificant inside but it does look very much like all the other cathedals I have visited but you should defiantly see it. We also decided we wanted to climb 400 stairs to get to the top however the problem with this was the fact that the line up to pay to climb stairs was a good two hour line, one of the slowest queues I have ever stood in before. Yes we did wait and we did climb some stairs. While we waited we went and ate some french food and took turns leaving this immensiley horrible slow moving queue. The Q was defiantly worth it once you got to the top. You where able to see a beautiful view of Paris plus a view of the top of Notre-Dame gargols included. Yes you did have to go all the way down these very narrow circular stair case, which by the end you were very dizzy and your legs felt rather funny. That did not stop us from making our way to our next New years Eve stop.... The Eiffel Tower. Yes on our last day in Paris we finally made our way there to visit this rather famous piece of metal structure build as a radio tower. It was amazing truly it was, we got there just as it was getting dark so that the lights went on as we were waiting in yet another queue! This queue was not as long as Notre Dame but it was still on going. You had to wait to get your tickets, to go up the lift to up another lift, in all I think we spent a good 5 hours in at least one queue or another. On going joke is that we love queues we want to go in one make it to the front and go stand in another!! We made it all the way to the very top and no words can describe how absolutely amazing it was, defiantly worth all the queues. I loved it, it was the moment I was long waiting for. I love Paris dont get me wrong but during the cloudy dreary days its not what you think it is suppose to look like but as soon as you get very high up on a clearish night that you can see all of Paris all lite up that is when you see the beauty of the city. Or at least when I see it. It was so sweet to be up there at night when all the houses are lite up and you can see little little cars and buildings defiantly worth it. As we were walking I found a block that I thought I could jump up on but I missed and slipped and landed on my butt and bruising my self. It was lovely and rather a pain. We went for dinner after which wasnt the greatest we had a rather rude waiter and we think Brianna got food poisoning from. After we did that lovely experience we thought we'd make our way to the main part of the city to find somewhere for drinks and dessert. We found this fancy restraunt that we had creme brule and tiramasu and we had some nice white wine. Afterward we walk to this famous bridge with all the heads on it and watched the eiffel tower as the count down took place, it was a wonderful full day with some amazing people. And now we are in a New Year 2012 here we come.
Sunday being 1st of Jan. we up and left Paris, we were very happy to go and leave finally, however we were travelling with a very sick Brianna. We were all a little bit grumpy tired and just wanted to get here and so we are in Dublin and so far we love it here. It we walked around last night and found a nice pub where we had some massive amazing burger. I was glad to hit the sack last night. I wont bore you with our travel stories as I have already gone on rather long and if you are still reading that is pretty impressive. I am safe and sound here in Dublin in a very nice hostel. I am having a great time here, I miss you all at home and I will be home again in about 3 months dont worry, I am not going to stay over in Europe the rest of my life. Continue to pray for safety and health but also for unity of the group that we can put up with each other for another week. We head back to Capers in a matter of a week. Lots of love Moriah
you better come home with tons of pictures!
ReplyDelete