Hola, Francía!
Friday, July 27th:
We left for the bus station in Salamanca around 8:15 am. Our bus left at 9 and we made it just in time! (This is good because I've had a bad reputation with buses on this trip). We made it to the airport a little before noon, and our flight didn't leave until 3:20. At first we thought we were going to be so bored in the airport, but it ended up being perfect timing. We flew a very small airline, Ryanair, and we were required to stand in an hour long line to check in. There was a debacle then because one our of friends didn't have her boarding pass printed, so we waiting about 30 minutes for that to be settled. Once through security, we hung around the airport and made sure we got in line towards the beginning to board the plane. Ryanair doesn't assign people seats, so we wanted to make sure we got to sit together. After a 2 hour flight, we made it to the Paris-Beauvais Airport and had to take another hour bus ride to the city of Paris. Luckily, one of the girls who was traveling with us was meeting her aunt and her friend who lives in France. They showed us how to get to the metro. We took the metro to our suspected stop (it ended up being the wrong one), and walked for a long time before finally making it to our hostel right when it started raining. :)
Our crew: Lauren, Lily, Jessica, Meagan, & Rachel (and obviously me)
We ran into another debacle when we tried to check into our hostel, though. The internet review said that the owners we super nice and helpful and spoke English. None of this was true. They didn't speak a word of English and they just seemed annoyed that we were there. Luckily, Lily spoke a little French and we were able to communicate enough to get what we needed. The hostel seemed a little sketchy at first because it was run-down and old, but it turned out to be very nice. The rooms were small but the beds were comfy and there were personal bathrooms and hot water. It was also very close to the metro, which was helpful.
After finally getting settled into our hostel (we had 2 rooms of 3), it was time to eat! We went to a small cafe and ate. I ordered a croque madame (because Rick Steves said to). When our food came, though, Rachel couldn't remember what she ordered and I had no idea what to expect so she started eating my food! We figured it out, though, and we each had half of each others' meals. :) After dinner we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower. It was so pretty at night and this sight made the entire day of traveling worth it. A little after we took pictures, the Eiffel Tower started sparkling! It did this for about 10 minutes before shutting off for the night. Seeing the Eiffel Tower was such an unreal experience. I have never really had the extreme urge to want to see the Eiffel Tower, or even go to Paris, but actually being there was an amazing experience. I was able to sit right in front of a building so majestic that I had only seen in pictures before. After sitting in front of the Eiffel Tower for a bit, we started heading home because it was raining (again). We tried to catch the metro but the line was closed (even though it was only 1:40 and they close at 2:15). We were forced to take a cab but thankfully it didn't cost much.
<3
Saturday, July 28th:
Saturday was one of the busiest but most successful days of my life so far:
-wake up at 8:10am
-meet at 9am for McDonald's breakfast (the only thing that was cheap and open! I had crepes and fruit)
-metro to the Lourve
I love art!
-after the Lourve (where we saw some great art, including the Mona Lisa), we walked the Tuilieries garden
-ate ice cream in the gardens that was made to look like flowers right before our eyes!
Flower ice cream!
-saw the Rosetta Stone and an awesome fountain
-walked along the Ave. des Champs Elysees (this ended up taking over an hour, which was unexpected)
-ate macaroons at a famous pastry shop (I had pistachio yum)
Macaroons!
-Finally made it to the Arc de Triumph!
-took the metro to the Moulin Rouge (on the way here, Rachel and I get stuck in the metro doors and Rachel gets separated)
-took the metro to the Notre Dame, saw the outside and the underground crypt
-ate lunch behind the Notre Dame at a delicious cafe. We ate croque madames, french fries, and escargot (surprisingly delicious). Our waiter was extremely nice and funny and gave us big square tables instead of small circle ones because they were 'American size'. He taught us how to eat the snails. We also met 2 other Americans who were here for the Olympics; they're chiropractors and get to work with the athletes. Also: a croque madame is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with the cheese on the outside and a fried egg on top
-metro to the Statue of Liberty (!) so small!!!
-hung out near the canal
Rachel, Lauren, and I in front of the mini Statue of Liberty :)
-walked to the Eiffel Tower again during the day.
Photography art: HORSE KICKS THE EIFFEL TOWER
-metro back to the Tuilieries to ride the Ferris Wheel at night...this gave us about the same view we would have had if we had went to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was beautiful and exciting. We were told by many people that going to the top of the Eiffel Tower was a tourist trap; I'm glad we skipped it. We ate Nutella crepes here :)))
-made it home by midnight!
Sunday, July 29th:
Our sightseeing on Sunday was my favorite of the entire weekend. We woke up super early and took the metro to the Catacombs. Everyone was telling us to not see the Catacombs if we only had a weekend because waiting in line for this can take up to 4 hours, easy. We really wanted to see it, though, so we got there at 8:30 am when it didn't even open until 10! We were literally the first people in line. There was a man behind us who was from Canada and knew a ton about French history, and he was telling us all about the Catacombs while we waited (and ate our breakfast in line):
The Catacombs are old underground quarries that have fallen in. During the plague in France in the late 1700s, there were so many people that died and so many people ridden with disease that they burned them by the hundreds. The leftover bones were taken into the quarries and stacked because there was no room for them in the cemeteries. Around the same time, the cemeteries were under fire because the bodies buried there were starting to smell. These bodies were also dug up, burned, and stacked underground. This plague was what triggered the French revolution. The people were mad that so many people were dying and that the royalty was doing nothing about it. We were able to go down underground into these quarries to see the stacked bodies. The history behind this area was so eerie to me; it was my favorite part. The whole idea of this concept just seems so unreal and it was awesome to experience it.
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