Paige and I left for Paris last Friday. C'etait incroyable! There was a rail strike in Paris on Friday (big surprise, right?) so the train after ours was cancelled meaning our train was packed so Paige and I had to sit 3 cars away from each other, but an hour and a half later we arrived in Paree!
It was the first hostel experience for both of us, so we were quite skeptical, but surprisingly the hostel ended up being not too bad. It was in a great location in Montmartre, just a quick walk away from Sacre Coeur and right next to a metro stop. After they finish working on it it's going to be very cute.
Friday night was Jimmy Buffett. Oh my goodness... The majority of the people there were 1. American 2. Atleast 20 years older than Paige and me and 3. VERY drunk. Never have I ever seen so many 40-50 year old double fisting it. But then again it was a Jimmy Buffett concert so that's all to be expected.
We started out Saturday with a trip to my favorite Parisian tourist attraction, Sacre Coeur. I fell in love with this part of the city on my first trip to Paris in third grade. Its just so pretty and I love all the artists that sit up on top of the hill and paint, not to mention the magnificent view. Being there again reminded me of being there with my brother when we were little. We bought these little rubber balls that were filled with sand and had faces painted on them so you could use them as puppets. We thought they were the coolest things, but sadly this time there were no rubber sand puppets...
After Montmartre, we saw the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysee, and then walked over to the Eiffel Tower. During our walk to the Eiffel Tower we stumbled upon the U.S. embassy, so I attempted to take a picture but was then yelled at by a French guard. Definitely a highlight of the trip. After being yelled at by the French man, Paige and I continued our walk to the deceptively far away Eiffel Tower and the camera I got as a high school graduation present decided it would be a good idea to just stop functioning completely. My trip was almost semi-ruined by this obnoxious lens error, but Paige and I realized we luckily had the exact same camera, so we shared memory cards and all was well.
Finally, we made it over to the Eiffel Tower which was where crepe number 1 happened. Banana and chocolate. Delicious. And then of course it started raining... so we hopped on a metro and met Paige's friend AJ (who's studying abroad in Paris). AJ was our tour guide for the rest of the afternoon and night. He took us to Notre Dame, a park on the Seine, the Pantheon and the part of the city where he lives, which was when crepe number 2 happened... les pommes and la cannelle (apples and cinnamon) that turned out to actually be applesauce. Definitely not a favorite. I don't think that one will be happening again.
When we finally got back to the hostel that night I think I slept better than I've ever slept before. Walking the streets of Paris is exhausting! We spent most of the next morning at the Louvre and then went over to the red light district where the Moulin Rouge is. Definitely an interesting part of Paris... And this was where crepe number 3 happened. Coconut and nutella. My new favorite. VERY VERY delicious. Sunday was very cold and rainy so we stayed inside little cafes most of the day and then headed back to Brussels. Paige and I were so exhausted we both just walked around the train station like zombies and were very ready to get home and sleep.
Paris was amazing but on to my next adventure! Bologna, Italy next weekend!
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