J'adore Paris

Bonjour!

I had THE best weekend in Paris! I had no idea I would love the city as much as I do now. It was definitely a highlight of my semester thus far (even though I have loved everything : ) To get to Paris, my friends and I took the Eurostar train out of London Paddington. It is about a 2.5 hour train ride from London and it goes under water through the chunnel (english channel)! Very cool, quick, and easy.
My roommate Sarah has a friend studying in Paris, so we were fortunate to have our own personal, french-speaking tour guide for the weekend! We immediately went to see the Eiffel Tower, and it was beautiful! I have always wanted to have my picture taken in front of it... here it is!

In front of the Eiffel Tower


We also visited the Arc de Triomphe and walked down the Champ D'elysees. I was amazed at just how many shops there are on that road and how wide and long it stretches. I didn't purchase anything but it was still fun to window shop and get a look at the super long line to get into Louis Vuitton!

Top of Champ d'elysees

Arc de Triomphe

Later that day we went to Montmartre, which is a hill in the north of Paris that had the most amazing view of the city! We also went into the Basilica of the Sacre Coeur, which was stunningly beautiful and one of the most ornate and detailed churches I have seen here in Europe. It was such a beautiful day that everyone was out and enjoying the wine festival that just so happened to be occurring there. We walked around grabbing free samples of wines, cheese, and chocolate. What could be better?! There were also a lot of very talented street artists and I was blown away by their beautiful portraits. I actually considered having one done they were so nice, but then I realized I would not know what to do with a picture of myself ha ha Also, if you stare at them for too long, they bombard you to have one done. I actually had a guy call after me, "Barbie, come back" ...as if that was going to make me come back! It was a beautiful day and I'm so glad I went there!

Sacre Coeur. Everyone enjoying the view!

Sarah and me at Montmartre!



The wine festival


I also love the food in France! So much better than British food ha ha I splurged for dinner the first night when we went to this great place called L'Entrecote that just serves steak, french fries, dessert, and wine. My kind of place! I also felt that I had to have french onion soup while in France and it was to die for!
Another thing I liked about Paris was the metro. Such a simple thing, but it made my time there so much easier. I like how the train stations in Europe tell you exactly when the next train is coming, and when the next one after that is coming. They come so frequently and go so fast that it is so easy to jam a lot of sight seeing into just one day. Again, Boston really needs to take some notes.

The language barrier wasn't that bad afterall! I don't know any french, and I found myself getting really nervous before even saying "Bonjour!" because I know it just did not sound right. Thank goodness almost everyone speaks english. They were also really nice about it, even though I had heard otherwise. The only time I ran into an issue was at a bar one night when a guy tried to have a conversation with me. Even after saying to him, "I'm so sorry I don't understand you", he still continued to try to ask me out...
Which leads me to say that PDA is definitely more prominent, and everyone, and I mean everyone, smokes cigarettes. The only negative thing I have to say!

We also got to see the Notre Dame, The Pompidou, Hotel de Ville, and Saint Michel. We didn't bother to go into the Louvre. All the locals I ran into told me it wasn't worth my precious time, and to be honest, I wasn't sure if it would even interest me. Definitely next time though!

Enjoying our French dinner after a long day

Beautiful Paris

Braving the rain outside The Louvre!

Hotel de Ville

I think it is safe to say that I will definitely be going back to Paris sometime in my life. I loved everything about this magical, beautiful city and I am so happy I made the trip while abroad! I can't believe that I leave for my mid-semester break on Friday! How is my semester already halfway done?! I will be traveling from Pisa to Florence to Rome to Barcelona and then rounding out my trip in London at the Patriots game! I'm sure I will have a lot to say after that : )

Thanks for reading!

au revoir!

Sara