I'm officially on SPRING BREAK!!! WOO WHOO!! Woke up at 3:30am this morning and finished up the last minute things of adding my toothbrush and makeup in my backpack. I was super excited that the tiredness of no sleep barely bothered me. We grabbed our backpacks and headed out the door. It was weird walking to Termini in the dark and kind of scary, but there were three of us and we were on a mission to find a taxi!
We found one and hopped in, it was about a 20minute or so drive to the airport and I had to strain my eyes to keep from nodding off. Once we got there we checked in and went through security…which is definitely nothing like security at home, waayyy more relaxed. They didn't even have us take off our shoes which I thought was weird and unsafe… Anyways, once we got through the gates I grabbed a croissant and oj to eat quick before the two hour plane ride.
We waited at the gates for a good hour and a half or so and then finally got to board the plane! It was weird they had us take this shuttle bus to our plane and the plane boarded from the front and back and there was no assigned seats. Definitely a different experience compared to home, but actually very efficient. We left on time and even arrived a little early!
On the plane I slept a lot, but I opened my eyes a few times to notice we never flew above the clouds which was also a new experience for me and I saw the Swiss Alps which was really cool to see from above. Plus I had no idea Paris had so many green plots of land and lakes. It was quite the view!
Once we landed the girls and I had to hop on a bus because the airport was an hour and a half outside of Paris. It made me realize that maybe this airline was cheap, but they get their money from you in other ways for sure! I fell asleep again on the bus ride and once we arrived at the bus parking they dropped us off at we had to try and find the metro that would take us to our hostel. We only could find line one and we needed line two so we decided to look for some lunch first and figure out the metro later.
We stopped for lunch at this bagel place. It was like a cross between Bruegger's and Panera. I got a bagel with some kind of chicken and guac. I thought the chicken was going to be spicy, but it was more like it had a cinnamon flavor. It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad either. We walked with our sandwiches trying to find a place to sit. We found a round-a-bout that had benched around it and trees so we decided to sit there.
We didn't realize once we had already unwrapped out sandwiches and took a few bites that we were sitting in pigeon haven and homeless alley. It was quite the lunch. One homeless guy was talking to himself walking around by us and even sat down next to Molly which us three sitting on a park bench took up enough room, so for him to squeeze in on the end was super awkward! We weren't sure what to say to him so we just stayed quite, talking amongst ourselves, and focusing on our food so we could get up and go.
While focusing on our food we didn't realize the pigeons that had flocked in above us until suddenly Jodine felt something land on her shoulder. She said I think a pigeon just pooped on me! I laughed and was like No Way! I did not think a pigeon would seriously have pooped on her! I made her turn around so I could look at the back of her shoulder and yes, there was a pellet of pigeon poop! HAHAHA! Only, it wasn't so funny because while I was laughing at her choking on my sandwich I got pooped on! It landed in my hair! SOOOO DISGUSTING!! A pellet though, thank goodness, because if it was the creamy stuff I probably would have vomited right then and there. She picked it out of my hair for me and I gave her the rest of my sandwich because I had suddenly lost the rest of my appetite. Quite a funny story looking back on it now!
After lunch we were quick to get up and leave the round-a-bout. We found a pastecceria-pastry store and decided we should probably get either an eau claire for dessert or a chocolate croissant considering that was our mission to begin with. I ended up not getting either of those and instead I got a doughnut :) Best choice ever! It had chocolate inside and sugar on the outside and made up for the awkward lunch sandwich and experience of earlier.
Eventually, we found the metro that took us to our hostel. We checked in, but of course, our rooms were not ready so we headed out to explore. We decided to make our way back to the shopping mall we had seen earlier.
On the way we found a STARBUCKS! EEK! I was really excited! I got an iced caramel macchiato and it was the best pick me up ever after our long morning of traveling! I couldn't believe how much I had missed carry around coffee and how convenient it is compared to cappuccino's and espresso's you have to drink on the spot.
We also passed the Moulin Rouge!! It's literally down the street from our hostel, I wish it was less expensive because I totally would've gone since Stacy really got me into that movie, but it was out of my budget and not exactly the same as the movie… we also passed and a huge church that people were having picnics outside of and made me want to have a picnic. I decided right then and there that I love Paris and I hadn't even seen the good stuff yet!
The mall wasn't like a mall at home, it was huge, but more of like a overstretched department store rather than a mall. It was all one store just different sections and different levels. It was pretty cool.
We walked around there a while, I found this one skirt that was entirely bedazzled and when I lifted it up it was super heavy! I couldn't imagine how anyone could wear it without it falling off their butt! After we left the department store we stopped and got a bottle of water and headed back to the hostel to freshen up. We had time to kill before our set plan of going to the Louvre at 6pm.
Once we got back to the hostel we went to our room and it was cute. Two bunk beds and our own bathroom to our room which was sweet! Plus we found out that free breakfast was offered in the morning, another bonus! We rested for two hours then got up and got ready to go.
The Louvre was really cool! We got in for free because Friday's after 6pm anyone 18-24 can get in for free which was awesome! The outside was exactly like Dan Brown described it! It had the glass pyramid as the entrance which was really neat and fountains all around!
Inside we saw the Mona Lisa who is actually a lot smaller than I thought, but still has those crazy eyes that follow you no matter where you are in the room! We also saw Les Noces de Cana (The Wedding Feast at Cana) which was a really large painting filled with all sorts of people. We saw a lot of Greek statues and a sweet underground castle/mote area. Near the end we went into another room where modern/hip hop dancers were performing. It was super awesome! They were amazing performers and I'm glad we stayed a little longer and watched them.
Back outside the Louvre we snapped some pictures with it all lit up! It was really pretty! I have decided that a lot of things are more beautiful at night in Paris, it is, after all, the city of lights :) After the Louvre we saw from the distance the Eiffel tower begin to sparkle which was quite the sight, we decided we would definitely need to go see that, but first we wanted to get some dinner. We found a really cute place that was open and had flowers and candles :) It was a little more expensive, but we decided that treating ourselves to one nice dinner wouldn't hurt.
I got sea bass with risotto and spicy chorizo sauce. It was amazing! Worth every euro! :) It was the first fish I had that didn't have the head on it which was a nice change and it was really light, but a nice size, plus the risotto and sauce complimented it very well! We also got a bottle of white wine to split which topped it off perfectly!
After dinner we were really tired and decided we would see the Eiffel Tower tomorrow. We headed back to the hostel and off to bed. It was by far, a really great day! :D
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