Bonjour Monsieur

Paris, France

By Nos Étapes

August 2^nd, 2014

08.02.18. - Eurotrip Day 3

We arrived in Paris around noon from our second flight from London. After settling in and freshening up at the hotel, we grabbed lunch. Outside the restaurant, all the chairs faced away from the building into the street with people and their espresso/coffee (it as like that with all the cafes I saw in France). We, then, took a metro to a ticket pick-up-place and took it again to go to the Musée d'Orsay. On our way to the d'Orsay, leaving the metro, we went up the stairs and walked into a beautiful plaza, it was filled with structures with portions of gold, not just the statues but even some lamp posts!

Once we arrived to the museum, we went to the Van Gogh exhibit. His works are definitely better in person, not only did you see the details, but the textures- I wanted to touch them all!!! Anyways, Jared and I got distracted with other beautiful paintings, and got separated from his family. It took us almost an hour to find them cause we didn't have working phones, that was scary. Our schedule was tight, we needed to catch an appointment to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and the bus we needed was out of service. All taxis were four-seater...We're five! A very nice taxi lady agreed to take us, but we had to be sneaky. We got to the meeting place EXACTLY on time, so we thought...Our appointment was actually set 30min before! We caught the last group, and they let us slide, PHEW! It was so sunny and warm, UNTIL we got to the tippy-top, and then it started raining. We were still able to catch a glimpse of Paris from the top. HAH, we win :B. Once we got down, it got sunny again, we dried off, and got amazing Baguette Dogs (whole baguettes filled with 2-3 dogs)! Then we took our pictures with the Tower. While doing so, a shady clown was touching everyone and told Jared he'd take our pictures, since he was a "Professional" ...(Pick-pocket!!! There's a lot in Europe). Jared said no, and he got sad and left to talk to his King Tut friend, but looked SKETCH! We didn't stay long. Dinner was delicious, it included yummy escargot and frog legs. Jared and Jeren accidentally got a hold of pesto, and I drank a bit much wine so we all ended the night with tummy aches. Even so, I remember the walk back to our hotel being beautiful and lively.

08.03.14. - Eurotrip Day 4

Today we had the day planned to visit the Palace of Versailles. We kinda started an hour late, like around 8ish instead 7ish, cause everywhere Europe was 9 hrs ahead, rather than 8 hrs-only in London. It was alright though, we still had a pleasant day. We started the morning off by strolling through the cobblestone streets to a French bakery, where we picked fresh croissants, I had the chocolate one -- I'll never be able to enjoy croissants in America anymore, they were sooo perfect in France! Afterwards, we went to the metro station to go to Versailles. Once we got there, there was a line that took, I think, two hours. When we finally got in, it was BEAUTIFUL! Each ceiling of 700 hundred rooms had fine detail- either of majestic paintings or fine crown moldings. We spent a couple hours going around the palace, and finished around noon. We got lunch, and passed by McDonalds, cause...Jared wanted to try their cheeseburger. They order through self-service machines, it was crazy! They had so much stuff we didn't have, including macaroons, so I got that. It took about an hour cause we didn't know what was happening, I think there was something wrong with the payment. Anyways, we eventually got the burger and macaroon, and they were actually pretty good. The burger tasted a bit different (more real) than ours!

We went back to Paris to check out the Arc de Triomphe. When we got there, we happened to get there during a memorial event, with a bunch of important looking people, and stayed to watch awhile. We went to the shopping area afterwards, and picked up the mother of all macaroons- the original Ladurée! They had stunning pastries and other goodies inside :') We continued strolling through the shops and eventually got dinner. We were pooped, I think we just knocked out once we got to the hotel.

08.04.14. - Eurotrip Day 5

This day was solely dedicated to the Louve! We spent a good half of the day there, and we weren't even halfway done. The very first thing we did was get audio guides, and guess what! They were gameboy DS' , and an interactive guide that knew which part of the museum you went to! Wow, Impressive... @.@ The first exhibit we walked into was the history of Greece. We didn't really finish it, cause Auntie devised a plan to go to the main sites, look at the other things in the same exhibit, then go back if we had time. This was the main works we prioritized: the famous Venus statue (the one with the missing arms), Mona Lisa (Yes, THE MONA LISA!), and the mummy exhibit. Everywhere we went, there were really rude Asian tour groups, very inconsiderate. Once we got to the Venus statue, there were hordes of people taking selfies, and pushing each other, it was disgusting. I eventually got to the statue, and it was worth it. We stayed in the exhibit, which was based on mostly the Greek gods and legends. We spent a few hours in that one exhibit then had lunch, I tasted my first gazpacho- I want more! Afterwards, we went and searched for the Mona Lisa. We got to the room, and the first painting we saw, was the biggest painting in the Louve-The Wedding at Cana, by Veronese. It was 22' 3" x 32'-humongous!!! Across from it was a sea of people...gross. We had to swim through this mess to see Mona Lisa. It was twice as crowded than the Venus statue. I'm short!! There were so many armpits I had to go under...ugh. It probably took 30min just to go through, there is no line or order to see the painting. We eventually got to her. I had to admit, I, myself, took a selfie with her...it's the Mona Lisa! I shall show my kids and grandkids when I'm older! After Jared ... took a few shots, I just wanted to get out right after! We went to the mummy exhibit afterwards, and unfortunately, didn't see any live ones (you know what I mean), but we saw everything else :) I wish I could talk about all the artworks and artifacts there, cause they were all so interesting, but time is limited- I highly recommend this place if you are into history and art <3

We took the metro to the Notre Dame, since we didn't want to be going back so late. It's unbelievable that the cathedral was build so extraordinarily without the tools we have today. It was about dinner time, but Jared and I had to fulfill a mission on our last day in Paris, two words: Lock.Bridge. Yes, at around 10ish, we went off BY OURSELVES on an adventure to a bridge! We cheated though, we took a taxi...LMAO. I didn't want to be in a 'Taken'- movie, situation. We ended up going to a different one then the one...we saw on the first day, but it was the perfect spot cause it was secretly hiding behind the Notre Dame. It was very romantic :3 We were able to catch a taxi back, and thank goodness I looked up a few useful French words before going to the bridge. It was just the two of us, going through the streets of Paris, back to the hotel. <3