Currently, I’m on a train heading towards Galway, which is on the west coast of Ireland. The past three days I have spent in Dublin. In those three days I have managed to eat traditional Irish stew, hang out at an Irish pub, and travel to Wicklow Mountains for a day trip.
But now that I have over an hour and a half of spare time on my hands I thought it would be a good idea to fill you all in about my weekend in Paris.
“Keep an eye on all your stuff, and when they come up to you and ask if you speak English, just say no!” That was one of the many pieces of advice we had received from our French tour guide before exiting the Paris train station. He was referring to the Gypsies, they are known for coming up and asking if you speak English as a way to distract you so they can steal anything they find valuable. As we were leaving the station several of them approached me, but I didn’t give them any attention and just kept shaking my head. She doesn’t know for sure, but one of my friends think they stole her cell phone because when she had it in her pocket but when she turned around the Gypsies were laughing and it didn’t long for her to realize that her phone was gone.
We wasted no time and were on the bus exploring the exciting city. Seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time was simply breathtaking and so surreal. I couldn’t believe I was there and seeing it with my very own eyes. We spent over half hour taking pictures.
After we drove around the Arc de Triomphe. It was then when I realized that I wouldn’t survive if I were to be forced to drive in Paris. Cars were coming from all different directions in effort to make it around the Arc. It literally looked like they were going to crash right into each other. It was like they had no rules they had to fallow and were driving at their own risk. It was very bizarre.
We saw the hotel where Princess Dianna had spent her last evening, as well as drove through the tunnel where the accident happened. Above the tunnel there was a statue of a golden flame that looked as if it was blowing in the wind, which was in remembrance of her. You can see the flame in the picture below.
That night a few of us took the tube to The Louvre. It was student night after six so admission was free! As I’m sure you have already guessed it, I got to see the famous Mona Lisa. The painting hung by itself on the wall and was protected with glass, a rope, which made is so the painting was a least 10 feet away, and two of the museum's staff that stood right next to it. So many people were gathered around to see the painting.
After leaving the museum, we went outside and on my the left of me was the incredible pyramid located in the center of The Louvre, and on my right was the glowing Eiffel Tower that was sparkling. Every hour on the hour the tower begins to sparkle and it was one of the most beautiful things I have every seen in my life.
We walked closer to the Eiffel Tower so we could be right underneath it. It took us an hour to get there, even though we could see it the whole time while we were walking. We made it just in time for it to sparkle again, and being right underneath the Tower while it was sparkling gave me the understanding as to why Paris is known as the most romantic cities in the world, the view was spectacular. After we walked across the street to a crepe stand. I was able to eat my very first crepe in Paris with a background that was very appropriate...The Eiffel Tower was right behind us.
Side note: The food here was delicious. Even our hotel breakfast was amazing. There was a juicer and right next to it was a big bowl of oranges and grapefruit to make your own juice. They also had fresh croissants with nutella, scrambled eggs, homemade applesauce, and so much more. The hot chocolate I had kicked Starbucks and Caribou's butt. I've come to the conclusion that I could live off of nutella and crepes!
The next day we all went to Norte Dame. There was a service going on when we got there which was neat to see. Norte Dame is known for its stain glass windows. Here is a picture that doesn’t give the actual view justice.
After, a few of us took a train to the Palace of Versailles in Versailles France, which is where Marie Antoinette lived back in the 1700’s. The palace was absolutely stunning. My favorite part was seeing the Hall of Mirrors. It was a long hallway that was covered with exactly 17 windows and 17 mirrors with chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. It also had golden statues of angles holding candles. It was beautiful.
We didn’t get back to our hotel until around 8 p.m. I was so exhausted and not feeling very well but we still wanted to eat dinner and then go back to the Eiffel Tower. It was about 10:15 p.m. and the last elevator lift that brought you to the second or third level was at 11 p.m. In order to save time we decided to call a taxi. However, he didn’t show up until 15 minutes later and by that time we weren’t sure if we would make it before the tower lifts would close for the night. I was the one that had to tell the taxi driver that we weren’t going to go anymore because it would have taken another 15 minutes just to get to get to the tower, and we didn’t want to pay for a cab and then not make it in time before it closed.
The cab driver was extremely upset and started yelling at me in French, I felt so uncomfortable. I tried explaining to him the situation but he didn’t care. He wanted us to pay him for apparently just showing up which was ridiculous. I apologized but he just kept getting more upset. Then finally I shouted... well spoke in a louder tone so he would stop yelling at me and said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand you.” And then walked into the elevator. That situation is definitely something that I hope to never experience again. I mean it’s bad enough to be in a confrontation in the first place but when you don’t speak their language... it’s even worse, clearly. I mean how are you supposed to react? It’s impossible to defend yourself, you feel helpless, frustrated, and overwhelmed all at the same time.
It was a rainy day on Sunday but we still wanted to go to the Eiffel Tower since we were unable to the night before. Neither of us had an umbrella so we had to use our scarves to keep the rain out of our faces. Although the weather wasn’t the greatest to go up to the third level of the tower, the second level still had an amazing view. I wanted to go to the very top, but it was so cold and windy we decided not to.
We met the rest of the group for a walking tour at 2 p.m. By then I felt so sick, I had all the normal symptoms of a cold and my body I think was finally starting to feel warn out from all the walking and traveling I had done in the past two weeks…. it was finally taking a toll on me. But I still wanted to go on the tour. However, had I known that we would be walking up coble stone roads for two hours for a total of over five miles I probably would have changed my mind. I was incredibly dizzy the whole time, and felt so weak, it made me sad that I couldn’t enjoy all the amazing things we saw, but I tried my best to have a good attitude while constantly reminding myself “Be happy, your in Paris!”... “Be happy, your in Paris!” It worked for the most part.
The sun came out and it started to become a gorgeous spring day. The best part of the walking was near the end of it when we went and sat on the steps of a cathedral that overlooked the entire city with the tower in the background. There were tons of people that were sitting on the steps that were all listening to the three people that were singing and playing the guitar.
We got back to London around 10:30 p.m. I unpacked and quickly went to bed after taking some much needed medicine. Thankfully I didn’t have class on Monday so I was able to sleep all day which was wonderful.
Paris was amazing... even though getting yelled at by a cab driver, being sick, not being able to speak any French, and getting lost a few times made it a very unique experience, to say the least, but I still had a wonderful time. J'Adore Paris!!
Love Britt
SHOUT OUT: Hey there best friend (JKG). I miss you so much and naturally I thought it would be appropriate to give you a shout out after my Paris blog since you sorta can speak French! I hope everything is going well and I can’t wait for another skype session... which will hopefully be really soon! Love you Jenn. <3
