Jillie and I hustled out of Lit on thurs afternoon, and made it to the cercanias train in 10 mins...not bad. Before we knew it, 7pm rolled around and we were at Barajas waiting for our plane! I wasn't too tooo bad on this flight...im starting to get better?...sorta.
Anyway, an hour and 20 mins later, we landed in Orly, Paris. We made our way to the Orly bus...and waited for liek 943084309 hours, bc it was midnight, and buses run reallllllllly slow at night. After the epic bus adventure (where we didnt pay for our ride bc we didnt know how..) we got to Denfert-Rochereau and walked to Ave Des Gobleins, where Oops hostel is located. We managed to pass it at first (mostly bc it was next to a construction site lol), but we got checked in...and then went upstarirs only to find out that we were roomming with 2 annoying Sweds who didnt speak a word of engligh, or spanish, or french... so we parked it and slept.
Friday started off balling. We got trad french bfast at the hostel (bread, brread, and a crossiant) and started the 3o min walk to Rue Monge and over the Pont Neuf to see Notre Dame. That place was AMAZING. Also- free to go in....i think it was the first time i didnt pay to see a church in europe...seriously.
After that, we schelpped over Ils de Cite to the Louvre museum. Along the way, i saw a naked women being dragged by police into a hospital...typically french. The louvre was also amazing. Deff better than the Prado. I chatted it up with some old french guy, and was really suprised by how much french i still retain. We got in and saw all the uber famous stuff- Mona, Venus, and a bunch of other stuff. And, we really managed to do a great deal of the museum in just under 3 hours, which was brilliant. We then walked through the IMMENSE gardens to the Obliesk at Place de la Concord. From there, we took a few pics with the Tour Eiffel in the bkround, and then walked up the famous Champs Elysees! We stopped for lunch at a little sandwitch place, and continued walking till the Arc de Trioumph. That was really cool, and we lingered for a few so i could touch history. Then we walked to the Invalides, where Napolean is buried, and then worked our way back towards home, stopping for paninis and crepes on the way.
This was the start of a hysterical night...as our swedish roommates were gone, and repaced by 2 guys who didnt know each other...Milano and Ignacio. After an awkward meeting with Milano (we never did figure out his real name), he left to go out (and we never really met ignacio, bc he was spanish ergo always out partying till 6am and sleeping till 4pm), and we went to shower. However, about 40 seconds into Jillie's shower, she realized it was flooding bc it was CLOGGED with hair...so gross. So we went to the front desk, and what did we come back with?...but a plunger. We were told to plunge the hair out...so we tried for like shits and giggles, and then went back and managed to shower in another room...on the 7th floor..with AN AMAZING balcony. the best shower ive ever taken, hands down.
Sat was Versailles day, and it was BEAUTIFUL. We got the extended tix so we could see Marie Antoniett's palaces too. We took a tour of the main building, ate our baggie lunch (of churizo and petits pains) outside in the gardens, and then did all the Marie stuff. My feet were killing me however, which sucked, but oh well. It was so pretty; literally like outta a story book, and she used some DIVINE colors to decorate the palace...too bad she like bankruped the french monarchy and was responsible for the starvation of thousands of french peasants lol. On the way out, i grabbed a fresh squeezed OJ from a CUTE french guy, who complimented me on my french and impecible accent. He was so amazing that i was american that he made me say 'une jus d'orange' again just bc he was amazing that my french accent was baller. :-). After Versailles, we hopped on the train back to Champs de Mar/Tour Eiffel. This was my fave part. We got to the tower when it was still off, and then saw it get turned on. Its' really a site to see at night. And, on the hour, ever hour, it sparkles for 60 seconds! Amazing. We ate at a cafe down the street from the tower, and then started our ascent to the top. We took the elevador, bc my feet were dying. However, that shit was on an angle and really bumpy..so by the time we reached the second floor, i was a little on edge. I had about a 10 min long LI hissy fit where i contemplated just going right back to solid ground, bc the FJ in me forced me to the top. That elevador ride was alot better, and God bless Jillie, bc she was really great with me and my irrational fear of tall imposing and high things. The view from the very top was SO worth it; amazing; and we took some baller pics up there. Then we went back down, and metro'ed it home.
Sunday, we schlepped out to Sacre Coeur after checking out. Its in the Monmontre neighborhood, and it was my fave place in the city. We went it and stayed for the second reading and the Gospel, saw the Nun choir sing, and then we peaced out. On the way back down, we got ACCOSTED by annoying and pushy sengaliese men who cornered us on the steps...ugh so annoying. I pulled a NY, grabbed Jillian, and forcefully pushed past the pack of them...they should really know not to grab a lady without her permission. From there, we walked up the famed sex district to the Moulin Rouge, and took some more pics, b4 grabbing quiche and pastries at this little bakery for lunch. Then, we people watched in Luxembourg Gardens for a while, soaking up its beauty, and finally, we went to the Catacombs...which i have to say were better than Rome's for the sheer fact that all the bones were still there, and u were allowed to take pics. IT was also self guided...and they were really big...1.7 km under the city. So Cool. Then, we headed to a supermarche and bought goodies for the plane, and then picked up our luggage, said goodbye to oops, and got crepes with Nutella b4 catching the bus to the airport.
All in all, it was a balling weekend, were i did many historical things :)....however, i have class in like 10 hours, so im gonna sleep!
HASTA MANANA!!
SO JEALOUS!
ReplyDeletebut i'm in belgrade for the next two weeks, which is like THE manhattan of eastern europe, so :-P thbbbt.
p.s. love your description of "pulling an NY" sooooooo priceless!