Despite the French's air traffic controller's best efforts, my roommate, Sam, and I finally made it to Paris this weekend. Now, everyone told me that Paris was overrated and not worth my time, but I respectfully disagree. Those people are the same kind of people that say that Disneyland is just for kids - aka people without souls. My trip to Paris was the reason why people study abroad - it was absolutely magical and I had the time of my life.
Our trip started on Thursday at about 4 PM and we didn't get to Paris - and by Paris I don't mean the Eiffel Tower postcard looking Paris, I mean the boonies of Paris - until about 10 PM. After over six hours of travel, we had to take a two hour bus ride into the city to our hostel. Even though we were exhausted from the traveling, Sam and I talked the whole way to the hostel. At one point in our conversation, we see the Eiffel Tower lit up in the distance and we both just go silent, Sam's jaw drops and she starts crying. Even from a distance, the Eiffel Tower was absolutely magical - the kind of thing I was only used to seeing in the movies. Needless to say, we were both pretty excited to be in Paris.
When we got off of the bus, we were dropped off in the middle of the city with no directions on where to go. We found the nearest metro station and navigated our way underground to the street closest to our hostel. Let it be known that I have never ridden on a subway before and was essentially forced to confront that fear or else I would be stuck walking miles in the middle of the night around the unfamiliar city. Once we got on the metro, I realized that it wasn't as terrifying as I thought it would be and just had to do my best not to let the over dramatic pessimist in me think about the very real possibility that I could potentially be stuck underground and die if the train just stopped moving. After missing our first stop and then getting off on the wrong stop, we finally made it to our hostel.
When we arrived, we were welcomed with open arms and bright smiles. Even though we were exhausted, Sam and I decided to just drop our stuff off in our room and check out the hostel's underground club. Now, I haven't been to too many clubs, so take my opinion as you will, but I don't think that the club was much of a club... It reminded me more of an awkward middle school dance, just with older people and a bar. Even though the DJ sucked and the people weren't very fun, Sam and I still had a blast. We danced like fools and met a few new friends - including the security guard who reeked of B.O. and thought that it was okay to grind up on Sam all throughout the night. After a few hours in the club, it was time to finally go to bed.
The next day, after about five hours of restless sleep, we woke up and started out our real first day in Paris. After navigating the metro again, we found ourselves at the Louvre. Even though I'm not all that into museums, the Louvre was still pretty cool - I mean, how many people do you know that can say that they've seen the Monna Lisa in person? However, to be quite honest, I was more impressed by the glass pyramid outside and the architecture of the building rather than the actual art inside. Oh well - beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right?
After spending some time in the Louvre, we walked down the Champs Élysées and did some window shopping as we made our way to the Arc de Triomphe. The whole walk was absolutely perfect. The sun was shining, the sky was bright blue, and the view was just breathtaking. I really am a sucker for the French architecture.
From there, we spotted the Eiffel Tower in the distance and finally made our way to the famous landmark. When we got to the tower, we were speechless. It was unreal to finally see something that you have grown accustomed to just seeing in the movies all the time. To all who say that the Eiffel Tower is just a hunk of metal, I challenge you to look for beauty in the little things. If you think about it, how cool is it that something that huge and intricate was ever built and has lasted as long as it has? Needless to say, I was in awe. We walked around all sides of it, taking pictures from every angle before we found the side with the lawn in front of it. Sam and I were so ready to re-enact Mary-Kate and Ashley's baguette sword fight in front of the Eiffel Tower when our dreams were crushed and we found the lawn roped off to pedestrians -aka *spoiler-alert* Mary-Kate and Ashley must have obviously used a green screen to act out that scene. Childhood ruined.
We had a bit of time before sunset, so we made our way back to the Champs Élysées to the famous macaroon shop, Ladurée. Now, I had only had a macaroon once before so I wasn't all that excited to go to the shop, but boy was I glad that I did despite my original thoughts on macaroons. These macaroons were delectable. I just got the simple vanilla, chocolate, and salted caramel, but they were still so good! If you ever find yourself in Paris, I strongly recommend you get your macaroons from there and not McDonald's (because they sell macaroons in McDonald's…).
We had a bit of time before sunset, so we made our way back to the Champs Élysées to the famous macaroon shop, Ladurée. Now, I had only had a macaroon once before so I wasn't all that excited to go to the shop, but boy was I glad that I did despite my original thoughts on macaroons. These macaroons were delectable. I just got the simple vanilla, chocolate, and salted caramel, but they were still so good! If you ever find yourself in Paris, I strongly recommend you get your macaroons from there and not McDonald's (because they sell macaroons in McDonald's…).
At that point, it was about 5 PM and the sun was going to be setting soon, so made our way back to the Eiffel Tower and got in line to get to the top of the tower. When we finally made it through the line, we found ourselves on the second balcony of the tower right at sunset. It was picture perfect. From the top, you could see the all of the famous landmarks, the canals, and everything. Besides the freezing windstorm, it was stunning. In fact, we saw two proposals that night - talk about romantic.
After our day in the city, Sam and I headed back to our hostel for what we intended to be a relaxing evening. However, I should have known that things never seem to go according to plan for me. That night was anything but relaxing - but not in a bad way. Friday night was one of the best nights I've had in a while. Sam and I started out just hanging out at the bar where we met two girls from Australia. After talking to them for a while, we met up with some boys to play a few very, um, interesting (to say the least) games of beer pong. During our time at the bar, we hung out a lot with a couple of Australian boys that we met. The whole night was spent laughing, telling stories, taking selfless, dancing, and sipping on cheap vodka. Our "relaxing" night didn't actually end until about 3 AM, but it was worth every second of exhaustion the next day.
The next morning, we woke up to the sound of someone puking in our hostel room. I guess that's what you get for staying in a room with 8 strangers, right? Anyways, after that eventful wake up call, Sam and I were feeling the consequences of our previous night's adventures, so we decided to lounge around and take it easy until around noon. Once we felt a little better and got ourselves together, we decided to finally get out of the hostel. We were a little bummed because it started pouring on our way over, but right when we got out of the metro, we were welcomed by sunshine and blue skies - talk about good luck! We made our way over to the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens and took in the gorgeous scenery. It was literally what you would see in a movie (or did see in Passport to Paris).
From there, we tried to navigate the streets to find the famous love lock bridge. We were struggling a bit to find the destination, so we stopped what we thought was a French couple to ask for directions, but it turns out that they were tourists from the east coast looking for the exact same place. So, we decided to tag along with the couple and find our bridge. The couple was super welcoming and happy to take us under their wing, but they were definitely from the east coast… The husband would not stop talking and was just super boisterous - very nice, but just very overbearing.
Needless to say, once we got to the love lock bridge, we were happy to part ways with them. The love lock bridge was beautiful! The entire bridge was covered in locks and the view was just magical. It really didn't do much to help the hopeless romantic in me. Since I had no boy to lock my love with, I bought a lock and just put "me & you someday" on it. I know, I know - pathetic but you have to admit, it's kind of cute, right?
After that, we decided to stop by Notre Dame since it was just a short walk away. Sam's brother goes to Notre Dame, so she figured that she should at least see the real Notre Dame since we were in Paris after all. However, it was probably the most underwhelming part of Paris. If you're ever in Paris, don't stress yourself out trying to make time to see it. We literally just went to the building, looked at it, took a few hunchback pictures, and left.
At that point, we had about half an hour before sunset, so we decided that we would go back to the Eiffel Tower so that we could see the tower lit up in the dark. We were getting pretty good at navigating the metro, so we thought that we would be able to make it there on time without any problems. Wrong. We were on the metro for about ten minutes when the train just stopped in the middle of a pitch black tunnel and the driver announces something in French over the intercom and everyone on the train sighs and sits down. Sam and I look at each other out of confusion when a 16 year-old French boy across from us told us that the metro was having technical difficulties. The boy told us that it was going to take about two hours before they could get us moving again so we should just get comfortable. Great, my worst nightmare was coming true. I was going to die in a metro. After freaking out for a few minutes, the train started to move again and the boy started laughing at us. Cool, thanks for messing with us, kid.
Anyways, once the train finally started moving again we were able to breathe a bit and ended up making it to the Eiffel Tower right as the sky was going dark and it started to sparkle. It was magical but also very cold and windy, so again, we looked at it, took a few pictures, and then left.
That night, we decided that we were actually going to have a low-key night because we didn't need to have a repeat of that morning the next day. We ended up just hanging out at the bar and met some young British kids - they were actually 18, but they acted like they were 10… Even though they were kind of annoying, they were pretty entertaining. They were obsessed with Sam and me because we were from America. In fact, at the end of the night, they all came up to us and asked to get a picture with us! I guess that's what it's like to be a celebrity? Oh well, it was pretty funny. After saying goodbye to our adoring fans, we went to bed around midnight.
The next day we had to get moving kind of early to pack up and check out on time. After getting our stuff together, we made our way to Versailles for a bit - and by a bit I legitimately mean an hour. By the time we actually got to Versailles, we only had about an hour before we had to get back on the train to make it to our bus to take us to the airport on time. Needless to say, it was a quick trip.
We came. We saw. We conquered. With that being said, the city of love has captured my heart.
After another long day of travel, we finally made it back to Florence. Now it's back to school for a few days before our next adventure - Brussels!
Ciao for now!
Sincerely yours,
Just Another Original
The next morning, we woke up to the sound of someone puking in our hostel room. I guess that's what you get for staying in a room with 8 strangers, right? Anyways, after that eventful wake up call, Sam and I were feeling the consequences of our previous night's adventures, so we decided to lounge around and take it easy until around noon. Once we felt a little better and got ourselves together, we decided to finally get out of the hostel. We were a little bummed because it started pouring on our way over, but right when we got out of the metro, we were welcomed by sunshine and blue skies - talk about good luck! We made our way over to the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens and took in the gorgeous scenery. It was literally what you would see in a movie (or did see in Passport to Paris).
From there, we tried to navigate the streets to find the famous love lock bridge. We were struggling a bit to find the destination, so we stopped what we thought was a French couple to ask for directions, but it turns out that they were tourists from the east coast looking for the exact same place. So, we decided to tag along with the couple and find our bridge. The couple was super welcoming and happy to take us under their wing, but they were definitely from the east coast… The husband would not stop talking and was just super boisterous - very nice, but just very overbearing.
After that, we decided to stop by Notre Dame since it was just a short walk away. Sam's brother goes to Notre Dame, so she figured that she should at least see the real Notre Dame since we were in Paris after all. However, it was probably the most underwhelming part of Paris. If you're ever in Paris, don't stress yourself out trying to make time to see it. We literally just went to the building, looked at it, took a few hunchback pictures, and left.
At that point, we had about half an hour before sunset, so we decided that we would go back to the Eiffel Tower so that we could see the tower lit up in the dark. We were getting pretty good at navigating the metro, so we thought that we would be able to make it there on time without any problems. Wrong. We were on the metro for about ten minutes when the train just stopped in the middle of a pitch black tunnel and the driver announces something in French over the intercom and everyone on the train sighs and sits down. Sam and I look at each other out of confusion when a 16 year-old French boy across from us told us that the metro was having technical difficulties. The boy told us that it was going to take about two hours before they could get us moving again so we should just get comfortable. Great, my worst nightmare was coming true. I was going to die in a metro. After freaking out for a few minutes, the train started to move again and the boy started laughing at us. Cool, thanks for messing with us, kid.
Anyways, once the train finally started moving again we were able to breathe a bit and ended up making it to the Eiffel Tower right as the sky was going dark and it started to sparkle. It was magical but also very cold and windy, so again, we looked at it, took a few pictures, and then left.
That night, we decided that we were actually going to have a low-key night because we didn't need to have a repeat of that morning the next day. We ended up just hanging out at the bar and met some young British kids - they were actually 18, but they acted like they were 10… Even though they were kind of annoying, they were pretty entertaining. They were obsessed with Sam and me because we were from America. In fact, at the end of the night, they all came up to us and asked to get a picture with us! I guess that's what it's like to be a celebrity? Oh well, it was pretty funny. After saying goodbye to our adoring fans, we went to bed around midnight.
The next day we had to get moving kind of early to pack up and check out on time. After getting our stuff together, we made our way to Versailles for a bit - and by a bit I legitimately mean an hour. By the time we actually got to Versailles, we only had about an hour before we had to get back on the train to make it to our bus to take us to the airport on time. Needless to say, it was a quick trip.
We came. We saw. We conquered. With that being said, the city of love has captured my heart.
After another long day of travel, we finally made it back to Florence. Now it's back to school for a few days before our next adventure - Brussels!
Ciao for now!
Sincerely yours,
Just Another Original
The fact that you referenced Passport to Paris a million times in this >
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