Adventure to Paris!

Bonjour!

This past weekend in Paris was amazing and tiring and exciting and frustrating! Laura and I got to London at about 5 pm on Thursday, then ate dinner at a pub before going to the coach station. When we got to the coach station, we went to an information desk to find out where we were supposed to check in and we were greeted by a completely rude person who was no help, so we ended up in a sitting area (that had pigeons flying around!) hoping we were in the right place. We were, no thanks to the information personnel. At 8:30, we boarded the coach and were off to Paris.

We arove in Paris at 6:00 am, with no euros and no clue where we were. Without euros, we couldn't buy a map of Paris and metro (subway) tickets, so we were in desperate need to find an ATM, because oddly there was not one at the coach and metro station. All the surround stores were closed, which made it difficult for us to find someone to ask where an ATM was, but after a few inquiries at different hotels, Laura and I managed to find an ATM to get euros. At 7:30, we bought a map and metro tickets and, winging it, we were off to inner Paris. When we got off the metro, we were across the rue (road) from Notre Dame, so we went there right with our luggage away since we couldn't check into our hotel until 2. After wandering around Notre Dame and some surrounding parks for awhile, we set off to find our hotel. It was a tiring trip there because we had been carrying our luggage for over 7 hours, but we found the hotel easily and checked in with no problem. It was such a cute hotel!

Once we were there, we rested for about an hour, then headed out in food and things to do. We ended up walking through the Luxembourg Garden and seeing the palace, then ate at... ooh, I'm ashamed to admite it... McDonald's. But only because we were hungry and couldn't find a place I could eat at for a reasonable price. Afterwards we meandered until we found the Louvre and some arc that Laura thought was the Arc de Triumph (but wasn't). By that time it was getting a little darker, and the city lights were shining brightly... it was beautiful! And we could see the Eiffel Tower and monuments at a distance, simply stunning! We just stared out at the skies for awhile, soaking the city lights up, then made the long trek back to our hotel because we were tired and soar. We were in bed by 9.

9 am is when we woke up to a knock on the door... Aimee, my friend from Eau Claire who is studying in Northern France, had arrived! So Laura and I quickly got up and ready, and then planned out the day with Aimee. We did so much on Saturday - we ate breakest at a little French patisserie, we went to Sainte Chapelle, which is this beautiful church with stained glass windows depicting the entire bible, walked around some gorgeous parks and old streets, ate lunch, spent hours at the Louvre, then walked down the famous Avenue Champs-Elysees (which we ate dinner on) to the L'Arc du Triumphe. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower, which is amazing when it's all lit up at night, glittering and sparkling on the hour. Almost as beautiful as the tower at night was the view of the city lights from the top of the tower. When we finally made it back down to the ground after a long wait in line for the elevator, we enjoyed some cotton candy, then took a taxi back to our hotel. It was almost midnight.

Sunday was a little more relaxed. We ate breakfast, then went to Notre Dame and walked around the ile de cite. Then we went to Montmarte, which is the huge hill with an old church on top, and a view of the city that is breathless. This was followed by more wandering around, then we went to this French cafe for dinner - the food was scrumptious, but it took over two hours, leaving Laura and me in a panick when we realized it was already 7:30. We still needed to go back to the hotel, which is over a 1/2 hour walk away, to get our bags and be to the coach station by 9! We booked it to the hotel after paying for dinner, grabbed our bags, said a too-quick goodbye to Aimee, and were off in search of the nearest metro entrance. It was 8:55 before we found one, then we needed to find the route to get to the bus station. By the time we got there, it was 9:45! Luckily, they were still allowing people to check in - there were even a few people who arrived right after we did, out of breath just as Laura and I were. Laura and I almost collapsed in a mixture of laughter and happiness that all that panicking was over and we wouldn't miss our bus.

We boarded the bus at 10 pm, got back to London at 5:15 (almost an hour earlier than we were scheduled to be back), made our way to the underground, figured out how to get to the train station, and got to the train station. Literally two minutes before the train was scheduled to leave, we were on it. It was a good thing our bus was earlier, because the train ride back took 45 minutes longer than it was supposed to, and we didn't get back to Winchester until after 8, and we both had 9 am classes.

Perhaps we were crazy to take a bus to Paris and to push the time the way we did coming back, but it was worth every minute! And now, I have to adjust back to the reality of school and essays and readings... story of my life.