Paris and 22nd B-day (Sunday and Monday)

Pictures: 1) K and me in front of one of the Louvre buildings, 2) me in front of glass pyramids, 3) Stephen and me in front of the mini Arc, 4) Krystle and me in the Louvre, 5) under the glass pyramid, 6) Arc de Triomphe, 7) me with Eiffel Tower, 8) Tower with crazy white lights, 9) inside the Sainte-Chapelle, 10) Stephen and me in front of Notre Dame, 11) near the Eiffel Tower with my flower, 12) the three of us waiting in line for the tower, 13 & 14) view from the Eiffel Tower







As I said, we woke up at 6:15 am on Sunday March 8 (my 22nd birthday) and hopped on the chunnel (the train that goes under the English Channel) for a 7:54 departure. The ride was about 2.5 hrs, and I slept off and on most of the way. We arrived around 11:15 local time since Paris is one hour ahead of London. It was raining and dreary, and we were having a hard time reading the map, so we just started walking toward the city center. We couldn't buy metro passes yet because we didn't have change (only bills) and the machines only took coins.




The architecture in Paris is extraordinary! Practically every building we saw left us in awe. After a while we realized we were near the Louvre, and Stephen looked at the map and directed us there. It stopped raining right as we got to the museum, so we took photos on the outside with the glass pyramid (it's in National Treasure and the DiVinci Code movies) and the mini Arc de Triomphe (the real one is miles away, directly opposite). We walked through some gardens that went between the Louvre and the Arc, then turned back so we could go inside the giant museum. On our way back we stopped at a crepe stand where I had an apple cinnamon crepe for €3.60 (which was rather high given that it wasn't very filling). Stephen had a sugar crepe and Krystle had a strawberry one. We hadn't seen any real food reasonably priced, so we figured this would stave off our hunger until dinner.





The Louvre was €9 per person (about $11.50) which was expensive, but it is a must-see in Paris. After having already walked a long way to get there, we walked through the museum for about 2 hours or so. We saw the Mona Lisa and the Nike Winged Victory statue, as well as a trillion other pieces of famous art. We covered almost 2 whole floors of the 4 story monstrosity that is the Louvre. (This was without pausing for anything except the Mona Lisa). I was most impressed with the building itself, for the ceilings were fabulous and breath taking.


When we left there we decided to walk down the River Seine toward the Arc, marveling at the architecture along the way. Then we found our way to the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, still walking toward the Arc. We started looking for food at this point, and read the menus outside about 50 restaurants - however, there was NOTHING less than €14. I couldn't believe how expensive food was! Even cafes and coffee shops didn't have food for less. After about an hour and a half, we ended up eating my birthday dinner at McDonald's - where my €3.90 Fillet-O-Fish was 3 times smaller than the one in America and my €2 fruit and yogurt cup looked comical it was so tiny. Luckily, I'd bought fig Newton bars earlier in the day at a news agent, and I ate 4 out of 6. I was upset because I'd packed a sandwich and fruit but forgot to take them with me when I left London.

After McDonald's, we finished our hike up to the Arc de Triomphe, and took picture of it lit up at night. It was about 8 pm, and given that'd we'd been walking since 11:30, we were really exhausted and debated on whether to walk on to the Eiffel Tower or go to the hotel. Finally, we decided on the Tower and walked another mile or so to get there. It was so cold and windy, but when we saw it all lit up, it was breathtaking. Apparently every hour on the hour the tower starts sparkling with white lights on top of the already yellow-lit tower. We happened upon it right at 9pm, and were able to take really neat pictures. Right after this it started raining again, and we walked down to the tower in a bit of misery.


Once under the tower we started walking the other direction looking for a metro station, and didn't find one for ages. When we finally did we had to study the map for a long time trying to figure out where we were going, but thanks to Stephen's navigational prowess we made it to the hotel before we died from exhaustion.

Our hotel (Hotel Albouy), was only €75 for a 3 person room and it was really nice for the price. Tile floors, an all tile shower, and hot, strong water! We got there about 10 pm, and by the time I got out of the shower at 10:35, Stephen and Krystle were both asleep. I fell asleep about 11, and we didn't wake up again until 11 am!


Monday was a better day - after all that sleep we felt much better and the day was cool and sunny. After we checked out the receptionist pointed us to a grocery store where we got muffins, pastries for later, yogurt, and bananas. I thought I'd gotten blueberry muffins, but they were actually chocolate chip. Everything has chocolate in it in France! Even though I've given up chocolate in general, I ate the muffins because I knew otherwise I'd starve. lol Desperate times and all that. I had to eat the yogurt with my finger because the store didn't sell spoons - ick! Later I used my second banana to scoop the yogurt out.


Throughout the day I ended up eating 2 choc muffins, 2 pastries, 2 yogurts, 2 bananas, and some dried fruit before we found a place to eat dinner. Not exactly balanced meals, but it was better than the day before!

From the grocery we took the metro to the stop near Notre Dame and La Sainte-Chapelle (both famous, beautiful cathedrals). We spend €5 each to see the Sainte-Chapelle which was really beautiful, though for that much money, we only got to see 2 rooms and didn't even get to see the chapel. Notre Dame was (surprisingly) free and fabulous inside! We could've paid to go to the top of the towers, but the line was long and we wanted to see other things. We walked to the Musee d'Orsay which my flatmates loved when they went to Paris, but it was closed because it was Monday. That is really annoying - they treat Mondays like Sundays there. We also tried to go to this palace that was closed. However, we did walk around (a lot) and saw several gardens and many beautiful buildings. We tried to generally take it easy since we'd pretty much killed ourselves the day before.

As sunset started approaching we walked toward the Eiffel Tower, hoping to watch sunset from up there. We found a little coffee shop along the way that had reasonably priced paninis and baguettes. I got a grilled chicken and mozzarella panini for €3.60. Krystle and Stephen got sandwiches, drinks, and desserts for €6 each (it was a student deal). We were so happy to eat real food! The lady working there also tried very hard to speak English well and was very nice. She also gave Krystle and me flowers because it was apparently "feminine appreciation day" in France. We wore our flowers in our backpacks the rest of the day.








Then we got to the tower and took more pictures there, then stood in line to buy tickets to go up. It was €3.90 to go to the first floor, but I heard it was a great view from there, so we only went to the first level. It was definitely the highlight of the trip! The view was out of this world, and the sun had just set, so it wasn't all the way dark when we got up there, but after 20 minutes it was totally dark and the whole city was lit up. So beautiful!

After that we found a closer metro stop and went to the train station to take the chunnel back to London. As I went through the UK customs before boarding the train the guy asked why I was going to London and I said because I was studying abroad there, then he asked for my study abroad papers, which I didn't have, and I honestly didn't think he was going to let me through. I said "I have my student card" and he said "Those can be forged." Then he just glared at me and I really thought he wasn't going to let me on the train. I was like "I'm sorry...I'll bring it from now on." And finally he just stamped my passport and let me through. I was so scared. My face was all red and even Krystle was sweating for me.

Anyway, we got back and slept well!