And if you couldn't tell from the title, my post today is going to be about my AMAZING trip to Paris on October 2nd. We had the opportunity to take this trip because of our international students club thing--Ulysse...and they planned everything! So here's the story:
Since we had to be at the Pont de Bois metro station at 6:30am, I had to wake up at 5:30! ARGH! Sarah, Colleen and I walked together from Triolo to the station, where we found a large double decker bus waiting to take us to Paris, as well as about 30 other international students and Hamid, the President of Ulysse. We met Rosalind and Raashnie at the bus as well and then headed off for a 3 hour ride to Paris. Driving through the northern French countryside was beautiful though, even at 6 o'clock in the morning...Driving on a highway in France is so much different than in the US. The sides of the roads aren't as tainted with tacky billboards and the land is just so unscathed and it's beautiful! We eventually arrived in Paris after a long and unexciting bus ride. We passed the Charles de Gaulle airport (the biggest airport in France) and as we were approaching a tunnel, a huge American Airlines plane was landing right on top of it...we were hoping it would land on us! AH! Anyways, We took the scenic route into Paris so that we could see Sacre Coeur and other famous Parisian monuments. It was kind of an overcast day, but the temperature was just perfect! Our first stop of the day, after riding down the Seine River, was of course the Eiffel Tower. As we got off of the bus, a lot of guys started coming up to us and trying to get us to buy souvenirs and stuff and they were REALLY annoying. "5 eiffel tower keychains for 1 euro!!" and Sarah and I both broke down and bought some, just because I needed to get souvenirs for people :) Even though I had seen the Eiffel Tower before when I last came to Paris, seeing again was just as majestic. There's something about it that just takes your breath away and makes you insanely dizzy when you are under it looking up! We didn't have enough time to go up to the top, but we walked around and went to Trocadero Square to take more pictures of the tower and see everything. That area came back to memory so quickly! But this time it felt different...and I'm not sure why! But the Eiffel Tower will always be one of my most favorite icons of Paris.
We boarded the bus oncemore and it took us around the city and showed us the Conciergerie (where Marie Antoinette was held captive before being beheaded), les Invalides (famous building in which the architecture of the dome was actually used when building the state capitol building in Frankfort, KY!), l'Arc de Triomph (which is the large arc on the Champs Elysees that Napoleon had built to honor his war victories; too bad he died before ever seeing it...), la Musee d'Orsay (the impressionist museum), and then finally arriving at La Cathedrale Notre Dame. Notre Dame is another one of my favorite places in Paris. I love the Gothic architecture of the building with it's rose window, flying buttresses, and gargoyles of course! Sarah and I decided to not go into the church because the line for it was as long as the Ile de la Cite! ahh! So we decided to make that happen on our next trip to Paris. So instead, we walked behind the cathedral and into its beautiful gardens. There weren't many people around the sides of Notre Dame, so we really enjoyed the peace and scenery. And looking onto the Seine was really cool too. We then decided to hit up the touristy shops on the street facing Notre Dame...and it was awesome!!! I bought quite a bit for everyone back home :) as well as a French flag and a Paris sweatshirt for myself :) After being touristy, we grabbed some paninis from a little shop, and decided to just chill and eat them in front of Notre Dame...just because we could :) We then proceeded to take part in a tradition...chasing the pigeons in front of Notre Dame. And it was hilarious!!!!!! We then met the bus again and we headed to another destination in Paris. But it took us down the Champs Elysees (the most famous street in all of Europe, with tons of shops, restaurants, etc etc). An interesting fact: Paris was designed in a very geometric fashion. The Champs Elysees is on straight line, with major monuments and buildings following in that exact line. It starts with La Defense (this large square building in the downtown district of Paris), and then goes to L'arc de Triomph, la Place de la Concode (in which a large obliesk sits where a lot of the beheadings of the French Revolution took place), then the Jardin des Tulieres (a large beautiful botanical garden), l'Arc de Triomph du Carrosel (a smaller version of the arc de triomph), and then finally Le Louvre (the greatest and one of the largest art museums in the world that houses many of Da Vinci's work, and many many other famous paintings and sculptures). It's quite the interesting street :)
We got dropped off in the Place de la Concorde, which is a very busy roundabout in Paris. But before getting dropped off, we also got to see the Opera Garnier, one of the most beautiful opera houses in all of Europe, as well as the most expensive shopping district in France...with names like Chanel, Dior, Bvlgari, and Hugo Boss on top of the doors. I was in HEAVEN needless to say...After getting dropped off though, I noticed a black Mercedes Benz sitting next to the entrance of the Jardin des Tulieres, and it said ELLE on the side...as in, ELLE magazine...I got seriously excited...and then I noticed the large tents being set up...Interesting...We walked into the gardens and I saw loads of people with cameras and such...and then I saw tons of top models walking towards this building in the gardens...and then it donned on me...IT'S FASHION WEEK IN PARIS!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH! I seriously freaked out. I saw Agnyss Deyn, a very very popular British model, as she was walking towards the building. And I couldn't even process it all. Geez. We also heard the runway music start up from the fashion show being held inside. Oh goodness...it was awesome, seriously. But we had better things to do...so we started walking towards le Louvre. The jardin des Tulieres was absolutely beautiful and the flowers were so colorful, and you'd have never guessed it was October, the way they looked. Wow! We walked underneath the Arc de Triomph du Carrousel, and it was definitely amazing, but seeing le Louvre in front of me with the large pyramid was even better :)
We didn't have time to wait in the immensely long line for le Louvre to go in, but instead just took pictures and looked around. Except, as soon as I lifted my camera to snap a picture of it, my camera died. Needless to say, I was NOT a happy camper. Oh well. C'est la vie! After a few minutes, we thought it would be cool to stroll along the Champs Elysees :) I was definitely ok with that plan! We were going to walk to the Arc de Triomph, but it's a heck of a lot farther than one might think! So, I grabbed a banana and chocolate crepe (which was the best thing I've ever eaten in my entire life! YUMMM!!!!) And then strolled along the beautiful but busy street! The trees were beginning to turn yellow, and it was just absolutely amazing. We saw the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, as well as the awesome statue of Charles de Gaulle (who is from Lille...YAY) as we walked. Sarah and I decided to wander into Gap and then we headed back to the Place de la Concorde to wait for the bus. As we sat on the curb, we noticed a lot of couples getting their wedding photographs taken in the Place de la Concorde and it was actually really cute to watch!! I'm so doing that when I get married. Just saying.
After waiting, we finally boarded the bus and headed to Montmartre. We passed the Moulin Rouge and then were dropped off on the street. We all started walking up the large hill that led to Sacre Coeur (the really large white church in Paris)...and we regretted our decision after seeing the 12 flights of stairs to get up there...but it was worth it when we had the most spectacular view of Paris in the world. There was someone singing to a crowd on the steps of Sacre Coeur, so it was definitely an amazing experience! AH! And then we were hungry and decided to get food at L'Atelier before getting on the bus to head back to Lille. Unfortunately, we were MAJORLY pressed for time, and had to meet our bus back at 6:45...so we scarfed down our oinon soup, lamb and french fries at 6:44 and ran down to meet the bus, only being 5 minutes late! Phew! Traffic getting out of Paris was completely ridiculous and took AGES. I think we literally sat in traffic for an hour and a half. But we got on the road again and got back to the Pont de Bois station at about 11:15pm or so. We were definitely tuckered out from this long day, but I love Paris, and can't wait to go back in a few weeks!!!! :)
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