Paris Hold the Key To Your Heart

I just had one of the best weekends of my life - in Paris!!! The funny thing is, while I was really looking forward to this trip, I wasn't necessarily really excited to see the city. I knew it would be pretty and all that stuff, but the biggest reason that I was excited for this weekend is that I would get to see Angela (my Gettysburg fatty/roomie last year). I had no clue that I would fall in love with Paris the way I did.
I guess, though, I should start with the beginning of the trip. Last week was insane because I had three papers due, two of which were due on Thursday before I left for the weekend. So while I got some research done, I didn't get as much "prep work" done as I would have liked. And I was racing to look up important information and pack up to the last minute so I wouldn't miss my train. But I caught my train in Bath, made it to Paddington station in London and took the Underground to St Pancras with no problems.
Now instead of flying to Paris, I took the Eurostar. And after being so used to airplane travel, Eurostar travel was like a dream. I only had to check in a half hour before the flight, and check in only consisted of going through security since you don't need to check baggage and I was able to print off my ticket online. So much easier than getting on a plane! (Plus, the station was really gorgeous.) The one downside of my Eurostar experience, though, was that I was sitting next to an Indian couple with two little kids. Now I'm sure they were very nice kids, but after getting only a bare minimum amount of sleep the whole week because of my papers, I simply wasn't in the mood to deal with rowdy kids, especially since they were sharing seats with their parents instead of in their own seats. (I guess I don't know the official Eurostar policy on this...) Even with this problem, though, the Eurostar was still fantastic.
I arrived at Gare du Nord, which was only a couple of Metro stops away from the hostel I was staying at. Now, I had realized that I was arriving in Paris late at night (11:30 ish), by myself, without any friends to meet me (since Angela wasn't able to get to Paris until noon on Friday) and needed to check into a hostel for the first time, all while not speaking the native language and not being familiar with the city. I had realized all of these facts individually as I was planning this trip, but it was only on the train ride that I finally put all of these pieces of the puzzle together. I had made sure to figure out detailed directions about how to get to the hostel and all that I could do then was hope. I should have known that there would have been at least one snaffu, and that happened trying to get on the Metro (thankfully, I was inside and in a busy public space). Since I arrived in Paris late enough, I figured that the ticket windows for the Metro wouldn't be open so I waited to use an automated machine to get my ticket. I could use the machine in English, but when I tried to use my credit card to purchase a single ticket (since I only had Euros as bills, not coins like the machine asked for), it wouldn't accept my card. The guy waiting behind me in line informed me that these machines would only take French (EU?) cards, not American cards. So he took me over to another kiosk, asked me how long I was in the city, and proceeded to purchase me a metro card that should last me for my entire trip. I was rather dazed through the whole experience, otherwise I would have said he only needed to buy a single ticket, but I was so tired that I was simply thankful for the help. He then asked me where I was headed to and led me over to the correct metro platform (obviously assuming I was a silly American girl - which I am). He then asked for the money to pay for the ticket he had bought me, but as I was unable to tell him earlier, I only had 20 euros in cash on me (I figured that would be enough to start me out and then I could make a stop at the bank) while the ticket had cost him 38 euros. He sighed and accepted what I had and left. Unfortunately, and somewhat ironically, the ticket he bought for me ended up only working that one time. When we tried to ask the ticket counter why the ticket wouldn't work a second time, even though I saw him purchase the ticket and that it was supposed to be a multi-day ticket, we didn't get a real answer. So I ended up paying 20 (slash 38) euros for one metro trip. But it got me where I needed to go late at night and I'm still very grateful to that French man, whoever he was.
It was actually really easy to get to the hostel from the metro station - thank goodness. I checked in without an problems and then made my way up to my room. It was around midnight by now so I popped my head in as quietly as I could, but it didn't look like there was anyone actually in the beds, so I decided I could turn the lights on and get ready to bed as quick as possible. Only, as soon as I turned the lights on, I saw two girls start stirring in bed. Stupid. I apoligized as profusely (and quietly) as possible and then hurried to get ready for bed. Thankfully, there was only a minimal amount of agonizing and stressing out before I finally fell asleep.
I woke up around 9 the next morning. The hostel served a free breakfast (read: baguettes, coffee/tea/orange juice) until 9:30 and then I had to check out of my room by 10:30 since I had made a separate reservation for the next two nights so I would be in the same room as my friend. The other two girls in the room had just gotten back from breakfast by the time I woke, so I had another chance to apoligize to them for the night before. They were so sweet about it and we had a small opportunity to talk before they left for the day. They were two German girls in Paris for the week and I wish I had had more time to get to talk to them. So I got breakfast, got dressed for the day, packed up, and checked out only to check back in again.
The hostel closed all of its rooms from 10:30-2 to clean the rooms, so I decided I could spend this time before Angela arrived to wander around the area. As I was leaving the hostel, this guy standing by the door made some comment to himself in French, and since I was really sensitive to my lack of French knowledge, my instinct was to say "I'm sorry?" in hopes that I wouldn't be rude. Turns out, this guy was born in France but has spent the last couple of years in London and had just come back to Paris to get his masters, but was currently looking for a place to stay in Paris, so he would spend the week going to classes and staying at the hostel while looking for a place to live and then going back to London on the weekends. (Don't ask me how that actually works.) We were both heading in the same direction - he was going to the subway and I was looking for the bank - so we had a nice walk together. It felt like one of those classic hostel stories.
After stopping at the bank, I just wandered off on my own. The metro stop nearest the hostel was based around this huge monument, so with that as a landmark I just struck off on various streets, decided to get a good view of Paris as the city, the way its inhabitants might see it. I saw all of these cool things, including a giant street market, and got to see all of these gorgeous buildings. After wandering for a while, I headed back to a park right next to the hostel and then the hostel lobby itself to wait for Angela.
I had tried calling Angela to see if she had gotten into the city and was on her way, but even though we had exchanged phone numbers, I couldn't get ahold of her. (Turns out, we had both entered the other's phone number wrong - something about zeros and international calls.) So I was sitting in the hostel lobby looking at some pamphlets about the city when I hear this squeal "ROOMIE!!!!!" Given the dramatic nature of our reunion, I felt a little bad for the other people in the area, but I don't really care. It was so incredibly exciting to see Angela after all this time. Her friend Sarah had come with her (she's also from Gettysburg and is studying in France, but we haven't spent much time together), so they dropped off their stuff and we trotted off to find lunch, ironically enough, at a pizza place. Since the two of them are so used to French cuisine, they were craving a hamburger and pizza. It seemed a fitting meal for a couple of American students.
(I feel like I've spent so much time detailing these few hours and am going to comparatively breeze through the rest of my weekend. I guess it's that this part was so unique to my experiece while the rest of it is the touristy stuff. Not to devaule the rest of my trip, because I had an absolutely fantastic time, but I guess this part is easier for people to fill in the blanks.)
After lunch, we got set up in the room and Sarah decided to wait around, since she was meeting up with her friend from home and she wanted to be at the hostel when her friend showed up. So Angela and I headed off on our Parisian adventures. Our first stop was the Arc de Triomphe at one end of the Champs Elysees. It's funny because it's just this giant monument to Napoleon, and Napoleon always make me giggle. After checking out this epic landmark (and spying the Eiffel Tower in the process), we headed down the Champs Elysees. Now since every Parisian movie ever includes a moment on the Champs Elysees and the street itself looks like it came right out of a movie, I decided we needed to create our own "montage" moments walking down the street. Silliness ensued, but there were also all of these beautiful views, plus even a Disney store! (Somehow, Disney and Disneyland Paris kept following us everywhere, which I guess is only fair considering our shared Disney obsession.)
We walked all the way down the Champs Elysees until we arrived at Place de la Concorde, then Jardin des Tuileries, then finally made our way to the Louvre. Now one of the best things about the Louvre is that on Friday nights at 6 pm, admission is free for those 26 and under. I love going to an iconic museum and seeing iconic works of art (like Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory) for free. Life is good. (What am I going to do when I get older?) Sarah met up with us at this point, so we wandered around the museum, taking in the works of the art and the museum itself, which is gorgeous.
After we left the Louvre, Sarah's friend had said she would meet us over at the Moulin Rouge. Now we weren't too smart in planning this, because we figured out what metro station to go to based on guesstimates, instead of figuring out where the Moulin Rouge actually is. Thankfully, even though we went to the wrong metro station, it was a fairly easy to walk to get to the Moulin Rouge. But, we had to walk through a lot of the Parisian sex district to get there. At least we were traveling in a group, and hey, it was certainly an experience. And even though the Moulin Rouge isn't that fancy looking from the outside, it does have a windmill!
Once we met up with Sarah's friend, we decided we would finish the night by heading up to Sacré Coeur. The two are really close to each other and since Sacré Coeur is on top of a big hill, it offers a great view of the city. It was definitely walk up all of those steps, but after we had wheezed our way up, it was definitely worth it. And as we stood up at Sacré Coeur taking in the view, it started to drizzle o-so-slightly. I had been a little disappointed that there wasn't any rain Thursday night because whenever I think of Paris, I think of Sabrina's rule that you have to have rain on your first night in Paris and you can't carry an umbrella. But this was my first full night in Paris and I wasn't carrying an umbrella, period, so I think she would have approved.
After this was bed time, then morning/breakfast time, and then we were off on our Saturday adventures. Our first stop of the day was the Opera Garnier. Both Sarah and Angela are music majors, so they were majorly nerding out at the opera house. Both the outside and the inside were so stunningly gorgeous, it really wasn't fair. The one downside is that there was a rehearsal going on in the actual theatre, so we weren't able to see the theatre itself, but at least we were able to listen to some pretty music. Our next quick pit stop was at the Comédie Française and then we made the trek to the Eiffel Tower. We thought it was a really good idea to walk, especially since we would walk along the Seine (another nerdy movie thought - I kept secretly hoping to run into Gene Kelly selling in paintings on the street, and I could have told him that my dad thinks he would be much more sucessful if he was a dancer instead of a painter, but I knew that wasn't going to happen). Only the walk was a little longer than we though, plus it started raining out of nowhere. It would rain on and off and the funny thing was that it still felt sunny as it was raining. I guess it's that Parisian magic or something. So we got a little wet, but made it in one piece.
Now the lines at the Eiffel Tower are long, but we had already determined that we would wait in the shortest line, which is the line to climb the stairs up the tower instead of taking the lift. It's so much cheaper to climb, but I feel like it also offers a greater sense of accomplishment. But that's just me. One way or another, we made it to both lower platforms (you have to take a lift now to get to the final floor). And the view was gorgeous. It's one of those things where pictures can't do it justice. It's just so stunning and the landscap of Paris itself is so magnificant that it becomes even more beautiful. Angela and I only did the first two levels because of the money thing, but some day I'll come back and head all the way to the top.
Our next stop was the Musee d'Orsay. The museum is housed in another old and gorgeous railway station and is made up of almost exclusively Impressionism pieces. And I love Impressionism. There were so many gorgeous paintings and it was so pretty to wander around. After all of this walking, Angela and I decided we should take a quick crepes (and tea for me) break, so we found a little cafe to sit down at and be quite French.
The final "big thing" on our list was Notre Dame. The outside is absolutely gorgeous, but the inside itself didn't feel any more impressive than any of the other churches I've seen since I've been there. I'm sure my impression of Notre Dame wasn't helped by the fact that a service was going on while we were in the cathedral. I don't quite understand why they would decide to have the church open to visitors while a service was going on, but that's just me. Also, I was slightly turned off by the fact that there were a couple of souvenir vending machines scattered around the sides, selling things like CDs and prayers. But I was a big fan of the outside of Notre Dame. It's just so impressive looking and I love gargoyles.
The rest of the night was fairly low-key. We wanderd around the Latin Quarter, just taking in the sights and looking at all the stores, and what-not, and then we stopped at Shakespeare and Co, an English language bookshop across the river from Notre Dame. This bookstore had such a neat, comfortable, old feel and it was so easy to get lost, wandering around and looking at all the books. (Not to mention that it was a great place for picture taking.)
We decided we would head back past the Louvre and finish up around Champs Elysees for my "last moment" in the heart of Paris. As we were walking through the grounds of the Louvre, we heard this gorgeous chamber music echoing in the corridors outside. It turns out there were these two guys (they must have been music students) putting on a street concert with oboe and cello. And it was gorgeous and atmospheric and perfect.
So with that, we went to the hostel, went to bed, and I woke up at the ungodly hour of 6:15 to catch my train back to London at 8:07. And now I'm back.
Words can't really describe how amazing of a weekend this was. I absolutely fell in love with Paris. And even though we saw all of the big sights and experienced all of these things, it still doesn't quite feel like I was actually in Paris. At times it felt more like I was at a movie set of Paris, simply because all of these places are so iconic and stamped in my mind. But even with all of its quirky and unexpected moments, it was still perfect. It was perfect reward after a couple weeks of crazy paper stress. The best part, though, was undoubtedly the fact that I was doing all of this with Angela. I obviously knew that I had missed her, but I hadn't realized quite how much until I saw her and then had to say goodbye again after such a short period of time. And as much as I love all of the amazing friends that I've made in Bath, it's still not the same. It was just amazing to share this magical experience with someone I love lots and lots (and will even put up with me calling her "fatty"). Paris and Angela is definitely a good combination.