Packing up for Paris

My friend Jessica's one goal while in Europe was to visit Paris. Because I'm super thrifty when booking trips and have not spent too much money since I have been here, I was able to fit in this trip as well and go with her. At this point, I do wish I was spending more time in Madrid, but I will have basically a whole 5 weeks in Madrid after this trip so it isn't too bad. 

We got into Paris late Thursday night and arrived at our Airbnb which was in the 20th arrondissement of the city and was also home to a grey cat. I was excited to have something to pet again, but turns out cat allergies don't disappear just because you want an animal to love in place of your dogs at home and I ended up feeling pretty crappy all weekend and am still sick a week later :( 

We had a lot to get done in a short amount of time, so we took to the streets early Friday morning and saw all the sights. We made our way past Bastille, along the river to the island that houses Notre Dame, passed museums, small cafes, and ended up at the Eiffel Tower. It was pretty cool to see something so completely iconic. It is so touristy though, with guys every five feet trying to sell you Eiffel Tower paraphernalia and a big Plexiglas wall around the base of the whole thing to keep people from touching it I suppose. Well, the joke is on them if they thought that would stop me.

I stopped at a bakery to try the world renowned French Butter Croissant. I was so excited that I forgot to take a picture before I took a bite out of it. It didn't disappoint. I even knew enough of the language to order it in French, which was fun.

The city is very big, so we took our time to explore all of the little streets and make our way to some of the other touristy areas. Walking along the river was so gorgeous. The fall colors were in full bloom which added to the character of the city.

Kind of like a lot of the cities I have visited in Europe, Paris was a lot more modern than I expected. I guess because I have learned about Europe in history classes, I guess I just kind of assume they are still lit by torches and use horses ;)

The Arch de Triopmhe was really odd to visit. There is an extremely busy street that runs right through the center of it, so tourists run out into the middle when the crosswalk light is green and scramble to take a picture before getting mowed down by cars. I feel so bad for the people who have to commute on that road because it is a cluster.

The next day was forecast to have rain throughout, so Jessica and I hit up Moulin Rouge in the mornign before heading to spend the day at the Lourve. Tickets to the cabaret shows at the Moulin Rouge were hundreds of Euros, crushing my hopes of catching an impromptu performance.

The Lourve is absolutely massive. One of the signs said that it has over 38,000 pieces, which is just absurd. We were there for nearly six hours and it simultaneously felt like so much time and not nearly enough. 

Because I have been looking at paintings at the Prado in Madrid all semester, I was more interested in the sculpture and artifacts exhibits. Probably one of my favorite parts was the insanely intricate ceilings. 

Right before close, I made my way to the Mona Lisa. The fact that there is one at the Prado made me less anxious to get a look, but it was still a must. Barriers prevent viewers from getting closer than 20 feet away from it. The magnitude of being in the same room as such a famous piece of art was pretty huge nevertheless.

As we left the Lourve, the Eiffel Tower was lit up and sparkling. It was really cool to see it at night, and seeing as we were headed across the river to find crepes, we got to watch it along the way. It was a bit harder to cross than we anticipated because nearly all of the bridges were closed off by the French Police and Green Berets and their machine guns to to major world leaders, including ours truly, arriving for an Armistice Day commemoration.



But not to worry, I had the will and found a way to the crepes! I got a savory egg and cheese crepe and a sweet butter and sugar crepe for dessert. What a well-rounded meal.

That night Marie, the roommate that lives in our Airbnb was home. She speaks as much English as I do French, but she was so sweet and shared with us a bunch of cheese from the shop she works at. Honestly, not a huge fan of French cheese, especially Camembert. But the gesture was so nice and it was great to try. We talked using Google translate and had a nice time. She recommended we visit the neighborhood by where she works on our way to the airport the next morning because it is a classic French area. 

We ended up following her advice and stumbled upon a cute street market filled with everything from soaps to whole birds and various types of meats. Once the rain picked up, we hid out in an amazing bakery where I proceeded to eat a baguette and chocolate croissant in an attempt to nurse my ailing self back to health. 

Paris wasn't my favorite trip of the semester, but it was cool to get to see all of the things I have heard so much about. The more places I go, the more I think of how fun they would be to return to once I have a job and income that allows me to spend more money. 

Now, it's time to sit back and chill in Madrid, finish up all of the school stuff that I still have hanging over my head, and wait for my friend Kaleigh to arrive from the states so we can explore Madrid and Barcelona!