Thursday, June 3, 2010

Greetings from France!


(Backgrounder: Our journey began in Paris. Before we went to our permanent residence for the summer in Vichy we flew in and stayed for three nights in Paris).

June 19th

Bonjour from my hostel!

Yes the "hotel" that we thought we were staying in in Paris is not quite the accommodations we were expecting. But oh well it is Europe and I am in Paris so why complain! Anyway right off the bat I have learned two things.
1. 3 bags+stairs+metros+more stairs= well I think you get the picture.
2. Even though I might have survived my bags my feet are barely hanging on. (Mom all I can say is you better get you some fantastic shoes when you come visit.) How does umm 3 blisters sound? I wore my black flats on Friday, bad idea. i wore my white sandals today, not as bad, but no arch support. I do not think I have ever walked so much in my entire life!

But besides my aching feet, Paris is fabulous! Picture the hustle and bustle of New York but with the most beautiful building you have ever seen! I mean beautiful, everywhere you look! Because (mom) I know you want to know every detail of what we have done so far I will try and explain... Here we go.

Thursday:
Our plane arrived early. I am not sure what time, maybe 8:30? Anyway we were the first to arrive at the airport, apart from Kelly who arrived at 7:30. We had to wait until probably around 1 for everyone to arrive. From the airport we walked to the metro station and took several metro trains to arrive at our destination "the ghetto" I would call it. Through the process of the metro station we had to ride many escalators and take many stairs. (So mom, do not worry I got a very good work. Look at that just arrived in Paris and already worked up a sweat!) Once at our lovely hostil Kelly, Taylor, and I went to a small cafe on the side of the street and ate. We then walked around a bit before our meeting at 5. At our meeting we got our metro ticket for the weekend, maps, and our museum passes. Before I tell you what we did next I am going to give you the pretext. We did not sleep on the plane, not because we did not try but because I could not for the life of me fall asleep! And if I thought I had it bad trying to get comfortable in that seat, I sat by a 6'7" guy who plays for the Lakers. He actually is on reserve but will probably play for them next year he said. (That is probably why he is sitting in coach not first class, not making that million dollars yet.) So yes we went to bed at 8:30, planning on getting a good nights rest for the full day tomorrow!

Friday:
I woke up at 8. Look at me go! We were planning on leaving by 9 but we decided to wait and go with some other girls who were on the trip with us and one of them was apparently good at directions, or so we heard. Well, we ended up not leaving until 10, just a little behind our schedule. Our goal was to go to the Palace of Versailles. On our way to this wonderful palace we got a little lost so we did not make there until 2 hours later...oh well I guess we got to see some extra scenery. Versailles is beautiful! We took lots and lots of pictures so I will show them all to yall do not worry when I get home. It is kinda hard to describe the beauty of not just Versailles but Paris in general. After Versailles we grabbed some lunch at a nearby cafe. We heard about this dinner/tour on a boat in the river around Paris from our hostil and decided that we would go and try to make reservations for Friday evening. So, the walking began. We walked up and down and all around the streets of Paris near the Notre Dame Cathedral looking for that dang tour boat and never found it! I mean we spent hours, maybe not hours, but it sure felt like it in flats and cobble stone streets. But trying not to complain about my feet too much the scenery is breathtaking. Every building, bridge, road is so carefully built with such perfection and detail. There is a river that flows through Paris and has tour boats and yachts all around. How neat is this city! Finally we gave up and toured the Notre Dame Cathedral. We were going to go to a church service on Sunday just to experience it, but we decided 8:30 would be a little too early for us on Sunday morning. For dinner we sat along side the street at a cafe. Now my FAVORITE thing we did and something that I would recommend to everyone is going on a bus tour. Not just any bus tour but a bust tour at night! I think that this is truly one of the best ways to experience The City of Lights. Our bust tour started at 9:30 and ended at 11:30. We hit every tourist attraction, including the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysses, Arc de Triumph, I mean everything! All at night with all the lights on! It was beautiful!

Saturday:
We learned from yesterday and left sharply at 9. (It helps when Taylor Champlin is one of your friends. Dad you would love how fast Taylor walks. Mom, not so much.) Anyway first things first, The Louvre. I mean this thing is so big it would take you months to see all of it. There were paintings in it that would be as big as the front of our house. We were in there for 3 hours and only saw not even half of what there was to offer! We did see the real Mona Lisa! The paintings in the Louvre were incredible. We walked along the Champs Elysses, ate a cafe along the street, went to see the Arc de Triumph, and then went to the Eiffel Tower. Apparently looking a little lost in the metro station, a man approached us and told us we should go walk around the near the Opera House. So away we went. We walked around the "hip" places to shop near the Opera House. By the time our excursion ended it was 8:30 and were pooped. I mean if I had to walk across town and I got a million dollars I really do not think I could do it.

Yes I feel like I left out a lot, but there is a main summary of our travels in Paris (Pareeeee) so far.

You mom need to come.

Au Revoir!

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