Party in Paris

My first step outside of the UK in three months was on French ground.  

And it was quite a surprisingly short step away, too.  It only takes two short hours to get from London to Paris in a train, via the “chunnel” or Channel Tunnel.  Or, in French, Le tunnel sous la Manche.

This awesome undersea tunnel reaches 250 feet below sea level and is 23.5 miles long, making it the longest undersea portion of any tunnel ever to exist.  It’s been named one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

Too bad I slept through it.

I wasn’t able to keep my eyes open for the experience.  All I experienced was a load of uncomfortable ear popping.  It was worse than any flight I’ve ever been on- I had to yawn to release the pressure every few minutes.  Luckily I’m pretty good at yawning and sleeping at the same time.

Finally arriving in France was exciting.  And confusing.  It was a huge station with people streaming everywhere, and our gigantic group all trying to find the direction of our hotel.  That’s where I had my first encounter with a French person.  We were standing in line to get into the metro.  I was turned and talking to some of the girls when I noticed in my peripheral vision that the line in front of me had moved up about a half of a foot.  As I took a step to close that gap a couple of women decided to try to squeeze through that tiny space on their hurried way to who-knows-where. 

Of course there wasn’t enough room for their entire bodies and my foot, so I ended up kind of tripping one.  She stumbled, but caught herself.  Instinctively I said, “Sorry!”  She turned and sneered, “SOU-REE!” mimicking me, but with a ridiculous French accent.  Then she stomped off with the other girl to wherever they were going.  I couldn’t help but laugh.  The rude French stereotype is true!

Sarah had a similar experience when we were in the streets making our way to the hotel.  Everyone smokes in France.  No big deal- unless it’s getting blown directly into your face.  This was happening to Sarah, as the man beside her paid no attention to who else was trying to breathe around him.  She unexpectedly inhaled a choking amount of smoke, and began to cough.  The man only blew more smoke, and then as he walked away he turned and mimicked her coughing in a fake, high-pitched way.  He then snickered at her and kept walking.

Those rude French!

But actually these kinds of people can be found in any city.  London included.  We also met some very nice people.  There was a guy on the tube, for example, that was eager to practice his English on us.  He was very avid about letting us know how beautiful France is, and tried to convince us that France is better than England.  Monty Python?

We headed for the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, recommended to us by Dr. Soper.  He served a mission in Paris, so we thought his idea was probably a good one.  Before we left the hotel lobby he also told us to make sure we find a dessert called a mille feuille.  It means a thousand layers.  Psh- don’t have to tell me twice!

We found it!  Look at how great it is!

And trust me, it tasted like Heaven.  But it was hard to eat... by the tim I was finished with it I felt like I got all thousand of those layers scattered all over my jacket.

We did make it to the Basilica, which was beautiful.  We had wandered the streets, trying to make sense of the French signs, and I was thoroughly impressed when we'd managed to find it without any mishaps.  But I was also shocked when I realized I'd been here before- two and a half years ago!  Somehow I seemed to appreciate it more this time.

The first time I came here I never went inside.  That was a mistake!  It was beautiful.

And if we turned around we had a view of Paris.  

Our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower.  Impressive, I know...

I remembered a cool hill where artists congregated and practiced their art with the city stretched out in front of them.  Some were so cute! 

I loved the way we meandered through the streets of Paris.  We generally steered clear of the touristy streets and saw Paris as it really is.  

No matter how weird they may be...
I have a few more pictures similar to this one.  I think I saw four of these strange decorated faces sticking out of random walls.  They were so lifelike, I almost though his eyes would open when I got close.  I have no idea who did them, but I think they are cool!

Art was everywhere!  

Even in the chocolate!

As we headed toward the Eiffel Tower we had some fun taking pictures.

The gang.  (And Ashael is taking the picture.  Thanks Ashy)
As we approached the Eiffel we realized that night was falling fast.  Waay faster than we could walk.  This was good for viewing the city from the top, but bad for taking pictures...




Hahaha!  

The stand across the street from the Eiffel sells the best crepes in the world.  They did in 2007 and they still do now!

Sarah, Brooke, and I spent almost an entire day at Versailles.



Marie Antoinette was a little high maintenance.  She liked to listen to the symphony of frogs as she fell asleep at night, so servants were designated as frog-waker-uppers and spent the entire night rousing frogs.  She also wanted to have her own little authentic French village that she could visit... but she didn't want people living in it....  That is how this village came about.

It looks like Disneyland, only real!

And this is Marie's Love temple.


Typical transportation.  I saw more of this is Paris than I've seen in London.  But that could be because more people want to avoid the metros here.  

The Paris metro is nasty.  The doors slam on you, you have to pull a lever to open the doors instead of them opening automatically, and the ride is rougher than it needs to be.  London Tube= 10 points.  Paris Metro= 0.

Champs-Elysees is the street with high-end shopping, and it also leads to the Arc de Triumph.  But, according to these signs, Champs-Elysees was in three different directions.  Sarah had a really fun time trying to figure that one out while I just laughed.
A Christmas festival was being erected on our last night in Paris.  
And the new Twilight came out.  But it was called "temptation" instead of "New Moon".  Oh the French are so complicated!  But blessed!  New Moon came out two days earlier in France than it did in England AND the United States.  We would have seen it but it was only playing in French.
The Arc!
The tunnel down to the arc so that we didn't have to brave the traffic!

Inside.
Up a billion stairs.

Me summer of 2007.

Me fall of 2009.

A guide once told me that if you were to spend one full minute in front of every piece of art in the Louvre, you would be there for three years.  

Since I didn't have that kind of time, we tried to nail the things we liked the most.  My favorite is this one, Nike of Samothrace.

Everything looks grander in person.  The sculptures are more lifelike, the paintings are more vibrant... but you know what wasn't grander?
Mona?  Please.  Haha!  Actually I'd seen her the first time I came to the Louvre and suffered the real disappointment then.  She was much smaller than I expected and much plainer.    Just look at the huge barrier between the viewers and the painting.
It makes the painting just seem that much more aloof and uninteresting.  But here is another favorite sculpture of mine: Cupid and Psyche.  I took it at an odd angle because the wings are what win me.

We also saw more art in the Musay de Orsay.  I liked this museum as much as the Louvre, and recommend it to anyone who travels to Paris.  It is much less intimidating than the Louvre and still has so many cool things.

Notre Dame!




Scary Quasimodo...

Ring the bells of Notre Dame!!!
Cool gargoyles.


The Moulin Rouge doesn't look like it does in the movie, but is still operates in a similar way which was portrayed in the movie.  When we peeked into a Moulin Rouge shop around the corner we happened to get more of a peep than we really wanted...


But what was cool was seeing the super old photographs of some of the earliest Moulin Rouge girls.  And the advertisements too.
Cute.
French food?

French cars for sale.

If you've ever heard rumors of Paris being dirty, they are true.  However, they're getting better. Recent laws have been keeping the city cleaner!  Well, for the most part.

Dirty streets, difficult metros, a less-than-impressive Mona Lisa...  I seem really pessimistic in his entry, but realize that it could be because I am bitter at the amount of studying I must do for final exams this weekend, sad because there are only six days left of London, and tired because it is one o'clock in the morning. 

So let me be clear- Paris was amazing.  I saw and did everything that I wanted to, and had so much fun doing it all.  However, it was nice to come home to London.  We all felt as though we had been away for ages.  London is so comfortable to us- and I simply love it!