paris: france

Disclaimer: I think I could write an entire book on how much I love Paris, so I apologize for how long this post will be.

First of all, Paris was the most breathtakingly beautiful city I've ever been to. Pictures don't really do the city justice. I've seen a thousand pictures of the Eiffel tower, but until you're actually standing there, underneath it, you can't really understand how incredible it is. I had a moment this weekend, while walking over a famous bridge with the Eiffel tower lit up in the distance, that I was just overwhelmed by the city's beauty. It was really a reality check about how fortunate I am to have this experience. I kept saying, "I can't believe I'm in Paris. I can't believe I get to do this." All weekend I just felt so amazed & grateful to be there. 

 The French culture is also beautiful. What I loved even more than seeing the touristy sites, were the days that we went into the smaller neighborhoods where we could really see the people. I went into the weekend with all the sterotypes in my mind (the people are rude, the city is dirty, they hate Americans, etc.) In my experience these were all false. The people there were really very friendly if you were polite and attempted to speak French to them. I learned a few key phrases, like how to say: I would like, do you speak english, hello, goodbye, thank you, numbers, etc. Chrissy and I were on our own on Friday and most of Saturday but we got by pretty well with our limited French speaking abilities and ever ordered a whole meal in just French! We met up with our other friend Anya (who is fluent in French!) Saturday night for the rest of our trip and she made our lives a lot easier! Again, it was so nice to see the city with best friends.

In my tour guide about Paris, it said, "Paris is all about the food. If you have to make a choice between going to one more museum or eating more French cuisine, choose the food." So, this is exactly what we did. I have never eaten better in my life. We tried crêpes, pommes frites, french onion soup, baguettes, cheeses, wine, seafood, steak tartare, pastries, chocolates, etc. and every single item was the the best I've ever had. Seriously, the food is incredible.

If you're interested, here is what we did over the weekend:

Friday: I arrived around 8 pm, so I went right to our hotel to drop off my stuff, then met up with Chrissy at Notre Dame Cathedral. Which, by the way, is the most magnificent church I've ever seen (and I've seen a lot of churches!) We went out to a cafe for crêpes and wine. Then we just explored the area near our hotel was (called the Latin quarter). It's a very touristy area, but fun and full of young people. The cafes and restaurants stayed open very late in this area. 

 The magnificent Notre Dame Cathedral.

 Crêpes and wine the first night.

Saturday: Chrissy and I had breakfast at our hotel (which was free & delicous!) then headed to the Eiffel Tower for our bike tour. We met up with some girls from my Galway program who were also in Paris. The tour was great and definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip. We had cruising bikes that we rode all over the city to many of the main touristy sites. We saw the Eiffel Tower, Napoléon's Tomb, Musée D'Orsay, Louvre Museum (where we stopped for lunch), Ecole Militaire, Rodin Museum, Les Invalides, Alexander III Bridge, and Grand and Petit Palais. I'm glad I did the tour, because it was nice to actually learn about all the beautiful buildings we were seeing. I also just loved riding a bike around the city. All of our bikes had a name on them. Our tour guide said, "I'm a firm believer that the bike picks it's rider, so look at the name of your bike." Mine was named baguette, which I thought was appropriate for all the the eating I did this weekend. After the tour Chrissy and I headed up to the Arc de Triomphe and walked down Champs-Élysées. We went to a French restaurant and got the best French Onion soup I've ever had. At night, we went back to the Eiffel Tower and went to the very top. You have the option of going up to the first level, or all the way to the summit. The stairs were closed at night, so we took a glass elvator up which was honestly a little scary. The top is a lot higher than it looks. It was the most spectacular view from the top. After we met up with Anya & Cristobol for dinner to a little French restaurant. It was very very French, even a bit too much so for Anya, so we knew it had to be legit :) We spent the night catching up, listening to a cute woman play the accordion while singing le vie en rose. We had a smorgasbord of wine, bread, dried meat spread, oysters, pickles, steak tartare, creme brulee, etc.

 Breakfast at our hotel: Baguette with cheese, jam, and a chocolate spread.

 Before our bike tour.

Does this even need a caption?

The BC group.

 In front of the Louvre!

 The best french onion soup in the world!

 On the famous Pont Neuf bridge... apparently it is a famous "make out" bridge.

Eiffel at night :)

At the top!

View of Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower!

Sunday: On Sunday Chrissy and I went to the Musée D'Orsay, a famous impressionist museum. We paid 6 euros for a ticket, because we said we were from the US. When we realized that we could count as EU citizens, we bargained and argued many people but eventually got our money back. We justified buying yet another croissant with the 6 euros that we saved later. Later, the three of us met up at the Sacré Cœur, which is another beautiful church up on a hill that overlooks the city. Scenes from the movie Amelie were shot there! We walked around the neighborhood around it called Montmarte which was my favorite in all of Paris. There were so many street vendors selling incredible artwork, and other souvenirs. We stopped for lunch at a little cafe, then split up because Chrissy had to go home. Anya and I went out to another cute French resturant for dessert. 

 Sacré Cœur.

Monday: For Valentine's Day, since we were both away from our boyfriends, Anya and I bought each other chocolates and went shopping. We did some shopping for friends and family at home, then somehow lost track of time and I ended up barely making my flight. It was quite funny actually. The two of us ran through the airport like crazy people, then I tripped on some woman's luggage. I made it, thank goodness :)