The group of us that were going decided to take a bus to Paris because in the end it was cheaper, but let me tell you that was probably not the best choice. It took forever! We left London at 6AM Friday Morning and were taken to the Bus that was waiting for us. On the way we picked up a bunch of kids in Canterbury and it turns out they were going to Paris to go to Disneyland. Any who, we made our way to The ferry dock located by the famous Cliffs of Dover, which are believed to have been apart of Shakespeare's King Lear. I was a little nervous going on the ferry, because I have never been on a boat that large. It was quite interesting to say the least. I did end up getting a little sea sick, so I tried taking a nap. The most fun thing about it was trying to walk down the halls and down the stairs. It was even funnier watching other people. After getting off the ferry we were finally in France; Calais to be more specific.
I couldn't believe that I was yet in another country. We stopped for lunch, and then it all hit us...how are we supposed to order when we don't know French?!? At least on their menu they had English subtitles, but other than that it was definitely and experience. The sub was delicious though! I got salami and gherkin. As for the countryside, it initially reminded us all of back home, good ole' Wisconsin. But when we got to Paris it was definitely not like Wisconsin anymore. When driving in one of the first things we saw was The Arc de Triomphe. It stuck out for sure among the city, because it was located on a central island and it was very large. The next thing we saw was of course the Eiffel Tower. It was so surreal standing in front of one of the most iconic structures and I never realized how detailed it was!
The first thing that was on our itinerary was a boat ride on the Seine River. It was very chilly and we could all not wait to get on the heated boat. But it turns out the boat was very warm...What made the boat ride fun and interesting, other than seeing all of the 22 bridges and landmarks, was the guy that was leading the ride. We instantly all thought that he looked like the main character from the Disney movie, Ratatouille! He of course spoke in French but when he translated it into English it was very amusing. After the boat ride, we were then off to our hotel which was pretty nice. We stayed at the Ibis hotel which is located in Bercy Village. The hotel is right across from a lot a restaurant, which was very convenient because we were all starving. Finding a place to eat dinner was a very difficult task, because we did not understand the menus, so we decided to eat at a place that had pictures. Even though it had pictures, it was still hard to tell what everything was. This was of course my first time being in an area where English is not the most used English and it is very interesting when your waiter doesn't understand what you are trying to say, so we all just pointed at things haha. It turns out some of us ate gazelle pizza? It was good!
On the way back to the hotel we grabbed gelato macaroons, because when in Paris you have to have macaroons. They were to die for. They came in four flavors, vanilla, chocolate, pistachio, and strawberry. The pistachio one was the absolute best. After going back to the hotel, Jenna, Bridget, and I decided to go and check out some of the pubs around. We came across one titled the Frog. Right when walking in we noticed that they were playing American music. We all got a cocktail and just relaxed for a bit. The bartenders were wearing a t-shirt that said WTF, and in smaller letters is said "what the Frog." I still really want one ;). We then called it a night and got ready for the next day.
On Saturday we did a walking tour of Paris. The first stop we made was to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, The Basilica of the Sacred Heart. It is placed atop a hill and we climbed up around 200 steps to get to the top. At every tier, the view was absolutely gorgeous! Before climbing up the stairs, our tour guide warned us of people who were trying to scam us. These guys would try to put a ribbon on your wrist and if they succeeded, they would argue with you that you had to pay them. We all thankfully avoided them and there weren't any problems. The inside of the basilica was breath-taking. We have been inside a lot of churches and cathedrals, and this one is definitely towards the top of the list. We then went on to tour another church that we could take pictures in.
After a break to look around, we met up to go see Moulin Rouge. I have never seen the movie, but it was cool seeing it. We also got to walk through the streets of Paris and it was neat seeing all of the architecture and homes. We then hopped on a bus and made our way to Notre Dame. It was so stunning from the outside, especially when standing on the bridge. While waiting in line, there was a guy dressed up as the hunchback from the Disney movies. Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of my favorite movies and I was excited to go here. Again the inside was so pretty and it was very detailed. I loved all of the circular stained glass windows. After touring Notre Dame, we were given free time to go and get lunch. We ended going to a café and order crepes, which were really good and filling. After our break, we were off to Versailles.
Versailles is probably my highlight of going to France. Jenna, Bridget, and I decided to add it last minute, and I am glad I did or I would have regretted it for sure. When pulling up you see the extravagant gates and an even more extravagant building. It turns out that the palace has 700 rooms in it! We only got three hours here, but you could have easily spent an entire day. Other than the ceilings in the interior, my favorite part was the gardens. Although it was a little cold and some of the statues were wrapped up, it was still very beautiful. And the fact that the sun was shining made it even better. After touring only a portion of it, it was time to head back.
The last thing that was on our schedule was to climb the Eiffel Tower. I was very excited but also a little nervous, due to the fact that I am afraid of heights, and by afraid I mean terrified. After waiting in line for what felt like forever, we were finally on our way up. The elevator ride was very cool and I even took a video of it. We got off on the second floor and the view was so pretty, especially with all of the city lit up at night. At night, we learned that the Eiffel sparkles for five minutes at the top of every hour. We were outside on the second floor when this happened and it was definitely a sight to see. After taking all of our pictures we headed inside and I got hot chocolate at a café that was located on the inside. Not a lot of people can say that they had hot chocolate in the Eiffel Tower ;). Then we were on our way down, and almost missed our bus. We practically had to push Jenna onto a lift so that she could make it down there to stop it. Let's just say Jenna saved the day. It would have been a nightmare trying to travel around an unknown city where hardly anyone speaks English.
After we made it safely back to our hotel, we all got ready to go out and get food. We ended up going to the Frog again, because Ashley and Taylor hadn't been there. The food was really good. And it was nice having a waiter that spoke English. We decided to spend our last night in France by checking out some clubs around town. I went with Jenna and Bridget, and we ended up going to one called Wanderlust, and it was pretty disappointing. We met five girls who were visiting from Turkey and we all decided to go to another club. That was worse then the first. So we all decided to talk to the Turkish girls and it was interesting talking to them and learning more about Turkey. After a little while we separated and went back to the first club. There we talked to some people who are from Paris. They asked us a lot about where we are from and we also discussed stereotypes of each area. Although we didn't find a fun place to go, we did get to meet people from different parts of the world and I feel like that is one of the most important parts of this trip.
We ended up getting back to the hotel around 3am...and we had to get up at 7, joy. After getting up and moving out of the hotel, we were onto our last destination, The Louvre. The Louvre is one of the world's largest museums and it houses the famous Mona Lisa. The museum was pretty interesting and there were a lot of famous artworks and sculptures housed in it. The Mona Lisa was a lot smaller than I pictured it and the ropes surrounding it were so far away that it made it look even tinier. After we departed the Louvre, we were back on the bus and headed back to England. The ferry ride back was not as bad. We distracted ourselves by playing cards and talking. We ended up getting beck to London around 11 and we were utterly exhausted.
All in all I had a great time in Paris and I can say that I for sure can cross a few things off of my bucket list. The next country I am planning on visiting is Germany and I can not wait! At least I know some of the language, so that will help. I will hopefully be posting another blog post at the end of this week to tell you how classes and interning goes, and I promise it will be a lot shorter. I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week, Au Revoir! - Heather
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