Excusez-moi, je voudrais une carage d’eau, s’il vous plait.

Our Trip to Paris
Excusez-moi, je voudrais une carage d’eau, s’il vous plait. (Translation: Excuse me, I would like a pitcher of tap water, please.)
There it is, my first official real sentence in French. The first one I was able to come up with on the spot without practicing or looking at Lauren's guide for- it was a very exciting moment! But, I suppose I'd better backtrack.

Friday, February 2
Ashley, Sarah, and I left for Victoria Station around 7:30 in the morning and caught our 9:05 Eurostar train to Paris! If you're ever going from London to Paris, you need to take the Eurostar: it's a £55 return (round) trip if you go during non-peak hours, and the view of the English and French countryside is beautiful. Once we officially crossed into France, all the announcements switched from English to French, and thus began the beginning of the confusion. When we arrived at the Nord Gard and the signs were all in French I think I was hit with a bit of culture shock. Nevertheless, we eventually maneuvered our way, though not at all gracefully, through the currency exchange, Serbian beggars, the ticket machines that would not accept American credit cards or Euro bills, and, after a confusing array of maps and many repetitions of "Parlez-vous anglais ?", we found the correct metro line to connect us to our desired metro line.

The metro system in France is decent, but it is very difficult to switch from line to line. In addition, the cars are always crowded, and it was here I had my first encounter with the famed French rudeness. We all boarded the metro with our large hiking backpacks, and in trying to twist myself into a seat I bumped a French woman with my backpack. I had no idea until I heard an exceptionally loud and horrified gasp from behind me, and turned around to see this woman glaring at me. I tried to apologize in Franglish the best I could, but the woman just gave me a stare of death so hilarious that we all burst into laughter as soon as she got off the train. Once we arrived at our stop we still needed to find our hostel, and this presented a bit of a problem: asking for directions. I tried my best to ask inside small shops where we could find Barrone street, but my pronunciation was abysmal, and I had to resort to pointing at the address. Finally, we found the Aloha Hostel with our friend Jordie (who had to take an earlier Eurostar) passed out in the lobby. Since we couldn't check in until 5:00, we dropped off our luggage and set out to explore Paris!

Our hostel was about a 15 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower, and we could see if over the skyline, so we simply headed toward the landmark. Even though it was a cloudy day, it was an amazing sight to see. I had to literally pinch myself to try and realize that I was in Paris! The Peace Memorial there was also beautiful, and the two modern structures contrasted beautifully with the 18th century architecture of the city. After hanging around and taking a fair number of pictures we decided to walk over to the Louvre, which is free on the first Friday of each month. Anyone who has been to Paris will understand how little we knew about the city, and we soon discovered that the Louvre is a good hour or so walk from the Eiffel Tower. Nevertheless, it was a nice walk along the Seine and we got to really see the city and orient ourselves.

We finally arrived at the Louvre, which is absolutely beautiful, and all split up with an agreement to meet up in 2.5 hours. I wandered off the the Dutch and Flemish galleries, and then saw some ancient Roman sculptures before heading off to 18th century Italian paintings. Within the last half hour I flew through and saw the famous stuff: Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory. Still, I was no where near as impressed with that as I was with some of the smaller galleries. An incredible museum that I would absolutely love to go back to.

By that time we were starving, so we set off to find a crêperie that Lauren recommended to us. After a few wrong turns and complete disorientation, we finally retraced our steps back to the St. Michel metro stop and eventually found la Crêperie des Pêcheurs. It's an adorably tiny and crowded restaurant with a great maritime decor. Anyone who travels to France should go here: the majority of the patrons are French and the food is to die for. Apparently, no one in France waits for a table- the concept is a novelty to them, but we were more than happy to. Since there was no where to stand, the four of us sat on the staircase heading up to the second floor, and the girl who was working as the hostess/waitress/bus-boy/cashier kept coming over and apologizing, eventually bringing us each a free cup of cidre (delicious French cider). Once we were seated we ordered a bottle of white wine and a dinner crêpe (none of us really knew what we actually ordered). Right before our order came out a large party of French students came in, and the waitress asked us in French if we would mind moving, and hinted that we would be compensated for the inconvenience. How I understood this, I have no idea, but body language conveys a lot more than you think it will. The idea of private tables is not seen as necessary in Europe, and we were placed next to a very affectionate French couple on a date. Still, the PDAs did nothing to damper the meal, which was incredible. I ended up with a spinach and cheese crêpe with a fried egg on top, and I would not have wanted anything else, even if I had known what I was ordering. After we devoured out meals were each given a free desert crêpe with butter and melted chocolate...mmmm!

Once we were finally done with our extensive meal it was after midnight, and, exhausted, we headed back to the hostel, stopping to pick up some tasty beverages as it was Jordie's 21st birthday. We hung out for a bit and chatted and made plans for the following day. A wonderful first day in Paris!

Saturday, February 3
The four of us woke up early today (and by early I mean we left at 10) and headed out to the Notre Dame Cathedral. After wandering around the Latin Quarter we finally turned a corner and there it was- Notre Dame. The church is absolutely breathtaking- more gorgeous than any building I've ever seen. After taking in the facade for a good half hour, we finally headed inside, where we were once again rendered speechless. Every inch of the cathedral is detailed with an ornate carving or sculpture, and the stained glass windows are beautiful, especially the famed Rose window. After walking around and watching part of a service performed in French we headed outside to wait in line to go up the tower. While we waited in the freezing cold, Sarah and I bought a beurre-sucre (butter and sugar) crêpe from a street vendor (delicious). The three of us (Jordie decided not to come up) each paid €4,80 (student price) and climbed the millions of stairs up to the top of the tower (no exaggeration). Given that Sarah’s MCL is most likely torn, this proved to be an arduous task. Nevertheless, we made it up, and the view was worth it ten times over. I know I can’t describe this justly, except to say that it was better than any city view I’ve ever seen. Paris stretches as far as the eye can see, and the landmarks seem to spring up at you: the Eiffel Tower, San Chappelle, Sacré Coeur, Musée d’Orsay, the Arc de Triomphe- you can see them all over the stone buildings. Up that high we were also afforded an incredible view of the cathedral itself and it’s infinitely detailed exterior. Even that high up the carvings and sculptures are done to perfection, and the gargoyles next to you are better than any picture. We continued to climb upward to the bell tower and the absolute top of Notre Dame, and despite the freezing wind, I never wanted to leave.

Finally, we went down to find Jordie napping inside the cathedral (that girl can sleep anywhere!) and headed over to San Chappelle. Although it’s exterior is under construction, its phenomenal stained glass windows more than made up for it. Each window depicts a chapter in a biblical story, with the overlying theme being the comparison of the French monarchs to the Catholic saints. Simply beautiful. It really makes you stop and think about how much time and man power went into the construction of all of these monuments.

From there were walked over to the Palais de Justice, took some silly pictures, and then wandered across the river to Le Marais, a funky gay community and Lebanese area, with some great shopping. Although I stayed mostly in the outdoor market, I dared to venture into Zara briefly, which turned out to be a frightening experience. In France, the sales are government regulated, and only allowed to happen twice a year for two weeks each. As this was the last day of the sale, women were crazed (think Mean Girls style in the animal scenes…yeah) I was looking at a shirt on a rack and a women pushed me aside and snatched it up. Looking around, people were grabbing clothes from one another’s’ hands, and tearing through piles of shirts looking for the right size like they were in a box of tissue paper. Way too much for me. Luckily, I found a poncho/jacket at a market that I absolutely love!

We all met up and headed back to the hostel to shower and take a nap. I, however, was the only one who showered, and that was quite an experience in itself. The shower is simply a room with about 1 foot outside a 2 inch “shower rim” and a button that dispenses freezing water for 10 second intervals…loads of fun, but I suppose it cuts down on water consumption.

After our nap we decided to walk back down the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up at night. It was so beautiful, much more so than during the day, but really just a tourist attraction. The tower just doesn’t fit with the feel of the rest of the city at all, but I’m still glad we saw it. The four of us finally found a restaurant that wasn’t ridiculously expensive and got to eat dinner with a view of the Eiffel Tower, which was horribly romantic. Walking back to the hostel we got pretty lost, but after awhile and frequent map checks we figured it out and made it back safe and sound!

Sunday, February 4
Our last full day in Paris! Slept in a bit and then headed out to a huge out-door market all the way at the end of the 4 line, towards the top of the city. We split up and I browsed for a bit, determined not to spend any money. However, after meeting up with Sarah we both remembered an amazing bakery we had passed earlier, and went back there to get a treat for breakfast. We each got a delicious tart (mine was lemon, hers raspberry) and remembered to take a picture for Lauren about half-way through. Found a little bench to sit on and ate the rest of our tarts, which tasted better than they looked, and that’s saying a whole lot.

When we all met up again, Jordie decided to stay at the market and shop for antiques, so Sarah, Ashley, and I headed back into the heart of the city to go see the Arc de Triomphe, but not before stopping back at the bakery to pick up some lunch! We found a bench right across the rotary from the Arc and ate while admiring the view and the weather. Each of us got a baguette sandwich, and I just had brie on mine, which was scrumptious. I think I could live in France for the rest of my life and grow fat in peace! Once we were done we walked through the underground tunnel to the Arc and emerged from below ground to a beautiful sight: the sun was streaming through the arc, casting beautiful shows on all the sculptures. We hung around the arc for a bit, taking in the structure, the view, and the weather, then decided to go amble up and down the Champs Elysée. Passed some ridiculous stores, such as Cartier and Dior, and generally took in the ambiance.

After our walk, Ashley headed out to go see the Moulin Rouge, and Sarah and I headed back toward the river. We took a lovely romantic stroll along the Seine, and arrived in view of Notre Dame just as the sun was setting. The sky around it was beautiful shades of pink and purple, and this was, by far, my favorite moment in Paris. We walked around a little bit, then went to grab dinner at the other crêperie Lauren endorsed, which is right next to the one we went to on Friday. This one, the Crêperie des Arts, has a fun Mediterranean décor, which, although not as cute as the first one, was still adorable. We got some more cidre and decided that desert crêpes for dinner was a great idea! Sarah ordered a crêpe with banana, raspberry and chocolate sherbet, and melted chocolate, and I got a crêpe with crème anglaise, pineapple, caramel, and coconut ice cream…as Rachel Ray would say, “YUM-O!” It was here that I got the attention of the waitress and uttered my first spontaneous French sentence, asking for some water (yay me!)- we were pretty excited.

We headed back to the hostel, stopping to pick up a bottle of cidre, and prepared to watch the Superbowl, which was playing in the bar in our hostel. Since Ashley and Sarah are both Bears fans and I hate the Colts there was a lot of emotion riding on this game, and we felt that it would be worth it to watch. In the meantime, we goofed off in our room, and I played hairdresser washing Sarah’s hair in our sink so she wouldn’t have to shower. Since the game didn’t start until 11:45 in Paris we had some time to kill, and in those few hours Sarah got a little ambitious with her wine consumption, which resulted in a few hysterically drunk escapades and conversations. Ashley, Jordie, and I went down to watch the game, and after the first quarter I went back upstairs to hang out with Sarah and try and force her to drink more water. The other girls came upstairs at halftime, and we all fell asleep very soon after since Sarah’s dad was taping the game to mail to us in London.

Monday, February 5
Since Sarah technically has a lecture at 10:00am Monday mornings we booked our return Eurostar for 7:16am. By chance, I woke up Monday, and climbing down from the top bunk and checking my phone discovered it was 6:45- our alarm had not gone off. Realizing there was no way we were going to make our train, we still had to hurry as the next one left at 8:09 and the station was about an hour away. In a frantic rush we packed and practically ran down to the metro station. [In our rush I barely noticed it, but I later realized that even though it was 7:00am, the city was dead. One of the best parts about Paris is, unlike London, it stays open all night, but because they have 35 hour maximum work weeks, most businesses are closed on Sunday and don’t open until 11:00 or so…I think I could do worse than live in France!]

When we got to the station we had to try exchange our tickets, which you’re allowed to do once. Still, we got chastised by an angry French woman for missing our train, although it turned out not to be an issue as there were plenty of available seats on the next train. However, if meant that our tickets had to be punched in manually at the gate, and luckily I was in a different line from the other three. It was 8:00, and the clerk who was handling my ticket was completely incompetent. True, it could have been the fact that she was flirting like the world was going to end with one of the security guards and talking on the phone while entering my information, but after several minutes she concluded that my ticket was fake and I was trying to illegally sneak onto the Eurostar (keep in mind, my passport and everything had already been cleared…). Ignoring her instructions, which were in French, to go back and buy a new ticket I simply went to the other clerk who entered my information while the other woman continued to yell at me. She cleared me, and I took off running down the escalator, making it onto the train literally a minute before it left.

So that was it- au revoir Paris! All in all, I have to say the city does not quite live up to all of its hype. It was a beautiful city, don’t get me wrong, but on the whole it’s not as picturesque as everyone always makes it out to be. I suppose I’d have to go back in spring or summer to make this claim definitive. However, the food is far better than I could even imagine, and the museums and history are fascinating! I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to come. I am also quite glad that Lauren wrote us up her “Wonderful Guide to Paris”! Seriously, if anyone is traveling to Paris you should ask me to send it to you- it’s amazing and gives a great overview of major attractions, basic phrases and pronunciation, and, of course, food!