Good Morning Paris!

Paris was hands-down one of my favorite trips thus far, solely for the fact that I went with my two friends Chris and Angel.  Angel and I flew in together with the rest of our group who were staying at a different apartment in Paris, and Chris met us at the airport.  We had a three and a half day weekend and we were spending it in Paris!  Surprisingly, Paris was never a place I planned on visiting; however, this trip turned out to be one of the best.  After we found Chris, we got on a shuttle and headed into Paris.  From our shuttle we got on the Metro and headed to the Moulin Rogue area where we were staying.  We found our apartment, but had some time before we could officially meet up with our host Maude, so we decided to go get lunch.  We had lunch at this little cafe and then went in search for a map.  We literally looked everywhere! I think Chris and I were trying to find a map similar to the one we had in Venice, which was amazing, however, the best we could find was a map that was literally 5 feet long.  It required two people to hold it open.  Haha!  It was finally time to check into our apartment.  We met up with our host Maude and she took us inside to her Parisian apartment which could not have been more perfect.  Take a look...

Chris at the Pompidou

After the fiasco we had in Venice with our bed and breakfast, I definitely redeemed myself with this place! After we settled into the apartment Angel crashed on the tempurpedic bed (bed hog) and Chris and I fell asleep on the couch.  The first place we were visiting that day was a surprise I had planned for Chris.  He had no idea where we were going; it was great!  At one point while we were sleeping, Chris shot up and said, "Is my surprise the window?!"  I was partly asleep, so I had no idea what he was talking about.  "My surprise, is it at the window right?"  Then we both fell back asleep and woke up shortly after to head to Chris's surprise.  His surprise was this cool architecture building that I know they learned about in their history class called the Pompidou.  What is cool about the building is that all of its internal structures, like plumbing, heating, etc., are all located on the outside of the building.  I knew this wouldn't be a place that we would normally visit, so I thought it would be a nice surprise.  We got there and he was unsure what is was.  Oh no!  I was worried that I brought him to the wrong site and then I said it was the Pompidou and he responded, "Oh, the Pompidouuuuuuu!  I used to  yell that across studio to help us remember the building's name."  He seemed happy, so I think he enjoyed the surprise.  After the Pompidou, we headed to the Arc de Triomphe.  It was perfect timing.  We were there long enough to see the sun set, the Eiffel Tower light up, and we were able to see the Eiffel Tower light show.  It was absolutely perfect.  After the Arc de Triomphe, we walked to the Eiffel Tower.  We didn't have time to climb to the top, so instead we headed to dinner, which was absolutely amazing!  I had a chicken dish, crepes for dessert, and the best part about the meal...our table overlooked the Eiffel Tower.  How perfect is that?!  After 

The Three Musketeers

Arc de Triomphe

dinner we were exhausted, so we just headed home and crashed!  The next day we got up and went to breakfast at my favorite place!  McDonald's..sike.  We needed a meal that was quick and easy so McDonald's did the trick.  After breakfast we headed to Charles De Gaulle.  I felt like throughout this entire trip this was our home base.  Once we made it here, we could go anywhere!  Our next destination was the Louvre.  We maped out where in the Louvre we wanted to go beforehand, because we knew if we didn't we would spend the entire day there.  We made it though the majority of the Louvre in under two hours.  We were champs!  After the Louvre we headed to Notre Dame.  On our way there we stumbled upon a cool pond where kids could rent and sail miniture sail boats.  We finally arrived at Notre Dame and it was beautiful.  I absolutely love Gothic churches and this church could not have been more Gothic.  Chris gave a little history lesson, and then we headed inside.  The inside of the church was just as beautiful as the outside.  We looked around for a little bit and then Chris and I decided to just sit and look around for a while.  It was nice to just sit

quitely and take in all the church had to offer.  After we sat for a little while we got up and started walking around again.  It was at this point that we realized Angel was gone.  Knowing Angel, we knew he was freaking out about being lost.  Chris and I knew we would find him eventually, so we weren't too concerned...we just hoped he didn't climb to the top of the tower.  We continued to walk around and then we decided to sit at the back on the church and ponder some more.  Finally we went on our search for Angel.  We walked outside in hopes that he would be there, and what do ya know!  "Omg!  Where were you guys!  I was so lost and worried!"  Chris and I just gave each other a look.  Momma mia!  After Notre Dame we sprinted over to the Eiffel Tower in hopes that we could climb to the top.  We made it just in time.  800 steps and four annoying families later and we were at the top!  It began to rain and it was so windy, but it only added to the fun!  The views were absolutely stunning.  I still could not believe that I was in Paris, at the top of the Eiffel Tower!  We stayed in the tower for quite some time and then we headed towards home and had dinner.  It was St. Patrick's Day, and Angel, who is not Irish at all, compared to Chris and I who are majority Irish, wanted to go out and celebrate but we were both too tired.  We all decided to just stay in and hang out, listen to music, and talk. 

Notre Dame

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower

Gardens at Versailles

Parisian dinner at our apartment

The next day we got up early and headed to Versailles.  While waiting for the train we meet a nice couple from England.  We told them that we were just in London and he responded, "No we are actually from New Castle; there are other places in England."  Haha.  "Sean Connery is from New Castle."  We just looked at each other.  Obviously we know that London isn't the only place in England!  They were very nice and we were actually able to help them figure out where they needed to go.  We are traveling pros!  We had a long train ride there, so we all slept on the train.  Unfortunately, once we got there it started raining.  Prior to coming to Paris I was told that the French hated Americans, specifically American men, so I made sure to do all the talking.  However, it wasn't until Versailles, when the lady yelled at Chris when he bought his ticket, that we had a bad encounter.  We walked around the inside of the Palace, and it was so crowded!  Afterwards we walked around the gardens in the rain.  Eventhough it was raining outside, we still had an awesome time.  After Versailles, we got back on the train and headed home.  We decided to go food shopping, pick up some typical French pastries and finally gave in to Angel and visited Moulin Rogue.  On the way to Moulin Rogue, a prostitute tried to pick up Chris!  Now, I think Angel understood why we didn't want to go there in the first place.  Chris and I like to think that we adapt to the environment we are visiting...Angel, however, is not as smooth.  He walked into the pastry shop and said, "Bon Jour!  I am looking for something French!  What is your specialty?"  Chris lost it!  Angel did mean well; he always does, but he could not have been more American haha.  We got back to the apartment and Angel made pizza, while Chris cooked us pasta.  We ate our lovely dinner in our Parisian apartment, while we listened to French music.  It was the perfect ending to a perfect weekend in Paris.  The next day we got up early and headed to the airport.  We went back to the Charles De Gaulle Metro stop one last time and found our shuttle to the airport.  The three of us went through security, found our seperate gates and then parted ways.  Au revoir Paris.

Absolutely love this picture. It perfectly sums up their relationship. Thanks for an unforgettable weekend!

        "If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a movable feast. "
                      ~Ernest Hemingway