I would put this post all in French, but then no one would read it. Also, I'm so tired that I'd probably use the wrong grammar structures. But I'm so tired because everyday was packed with the beauty and culture that Paris has to offer. Each day I crammed a lot in but still had leisure time. I may have had a herd of sheep following me that didn't know why I was excited about things, but I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the city of Paris once more.
To get to Paris the school bused us to the train station in town, then the train took us to London, we then went across the street to the international train station to head to Paris. The travel was fast and efficient, well as fast and efficient as 40 Americans can be in place that most of them have never been to before. We got to our hotel and headed out to get groceries so that we could have dinner and settled in so that we could wake up early and explore the city. In the morning I started off by teaching everyone a little French so that they could buy a carnet so that we could take the metro. We started off on the Champs Elysees and found out that a Chinese diplomat or important person of some kind was in Paris and was having a parade of sorts for them from L'Arc de Triomphe. Then we saw the Arc de Triopmhe, from there we walked through a cute neighborhood were I found EXKI, my favorite cafe place from Belgium, and we had to stop. Next stop was Trocadero and seeing the Eiffel Tower. It was magnificent, partially because it was gorgeous out, but also because I WAS IN PARIS. After taking a ton, I mean a ton of pictures, of le Tour Eiffel, we went on to the Hotel les Invalides, where Napoleon's tomb is. We didn't go in because we are broke college students and I'm pretty sure no one wanted to pay to see a dead man's tomb. After that we went to Place de la Concorde and Tuilieries, the gardens outside the Louvre, and saw a lot of the pretty spring that was happening around us. From there we walked through the gardens stopping to take breaks to sit in the iconic green chairs and look at the flowers, fountains, sculptures, and gorgeous city around us. We then took photos outside the Louvre and were able to play around a little. Then we walked along the Seine to the lock bridge and took more pictures. After seeing all the locks we went to Notre Dame. My favorite and I got to see the gorgeous cathedral in the spring time as the sunshine shined through the stained glass onto the walls. It was magnificent. From there we walked past Hotel de Ville, the Centre Pompidou area, and then window shopped on the way back to the hotel. For dinner it was another picnic of sorts to save money, and after having thoroughly exhausting the group I lead around it was bed time.
The next morning we had less to see because we had seen a lot already. So we started at Sacre Coeur. After climbing up the steps - because it is necessary to enjoy the view and delicious treats at the top - we went into the gorgeous basilica that has an amazing mural over the altar. After I saw all of the pretty church it was time to explore Montmartre, the artsy and lovely part of northern Paris. All the shops were adorable and had amazing souvenirs but the best place was the ice cream shop that had dairy free sorbet. I enjoyed it a lot. Then I wandered to Moulin Rouge to see the famous red windmill. After seeing the large windmill it was time to head to the Galeries Laffayette to see the massive shopping center. I may not have known exactly where this place was, but with all the directions in pieces from people who didn't tell us the whole story, eventually we got there. It was massive and gorgeous but also extremely expensive so window shopping it turned into. Then from there we went to Musee d'Orsay. Two of the people I was travelling with wanted to go in regardless of whether or not we had to pay. Being a student with a British ID got us in for free, thanks Harlaxton ID. After seeing most of my favorite paintings and sculptures we headed back to the hotel for dinner before we'd head out to the Louvre. We got into the Louvre for free as a student after 6:30pm on a Friday night. It was nice to see it for free, especially with way less people. Then after wandering around we found a place to sit right outside the Tuilieries gardens to watch the Eiffel Tower light up on the hour. It was perfect, as usual. Then bed time because we were once again exhausted and the next day would be Disneyland Paris.
The next morning was little chaotic when trying to figure out where we would get picked up at by the bus but it was amazing after we realized the bus didn't have stop it just kind of stopped along the road at a point that it said was its stop. A 45 minute bus ride and we were at Disneyland Paris. The little kid freak out never stopped, well it did on the massive scary ride, but for the most part I was so excited to see everything. They had flower sculptures of so many Disney character sets it was perfect. And the castle was pretty. The first thing on the agenda was Princess Pavilion. It was a 2 hour wait to see princess and we survived it. As we were waiting for our turn to take the photo, Cinderella switched to one of the Princesses we got to meet. You only got to meet one so luckily it was worth while. After n amazing day it was bed time so that we could survive the trouble of travel nextime.
The final morning was a quick photo session at the Eiffel tower so that we could saying goodbye.
A bientot Paris, I'll return soon hopefully, after A LOT of sleep.
Bise Bise
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