Paris, France
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Ah Paris. The city of love. I gotta say, after all of the movies, poems, songs, paintings, and books about Paris I never really understood this love affair that all of these romantics had with this city until now. And now, after spending a mere 3 days in Paris, I can officially say that I am in love with the city. I can also say that 3 days is absolutely not enough time to spend in Paris, so I guess I'll have to go back (poor me haha.) I actually almost did not go on this trip but I am so glad I did because I had an incredible weekend. A couple of weeks ago, 4 of us from York hall decided that we wanted to take a trip to Paris this weekend. In the end, however, all of them bailed but lucky for me one of my best friends since forever (Kate) has been living in Paris for the year and had nothing to do this weekend. So she convinced me to come out and sure enough I ventured out to the London St. Pancras Station on my own. Not gonna lie just the train trip to get to my train (I took the Eurostar) was a much more drawn out experience than I had anticipated (it ended up taking me about 2 hours just to get to the station
. crazy.) I was very impressed with Eurostar and would recommend it over flying to anyone who is making the trip from England to Paris and back. Not only was it cheaper than any flight I found, but it's more comfortable (there's actually leg room and you aren't sitting in the middle of 2 obsese people who snore and have crying children and there's not turbulance), and you can see the country a little bit too. Plus it's only a 2 hour trip. I got into Paris around 9 and met Kate at the station. It was so much fun to get to see her and catch up (we hadn't seen each other since August.) Then we went to a Sangria (spelling?) bar and met up with Bianca (another friend from high school who is studying in Paris.) Friday morning started bright an early (I was lucky because the weather this weekend was absolutely gorgeous.) We started out getting croissants at a local bakery (AMAZING!) and then we walked to Notre Dame. Also walked along the Sienne, Mareilles, Montemarte (where they not only shot Amelie but also had a street called Rue Gabrielle,) Socre Couer, Arc d'Triumph, Champ d'Lysee, Pontevec and then ended up getting drinks with some of Kate's friends from her program. The next day we did the Eiffel Tower, Luxomberg Gardens, Pantheon, and La Sorbonne. All in all an absolutely incredible weekend.
Top 10 things I love about Paris:
1. The food- I seriously think it is impossible to order something gross in this city. It all tastes so good! Even just a plain croissant in Paris was amazing. Chocolate macaroons also a new favorite. And steak frites. basically we didn't exactly go hungry this weekend. If nothing else, I need to go back to Paris to get a quiche (cuz that was the one thing extremely french thing I didn't get this weekend.)
2
. The fashion-everyone looks like models here. it makes you want to get up and look your best
3. The Eiffel tower- no picture can do it justice
4. The metro- remind me again why LA can't have this good of a transportation system? seriously
5. The architecture- by the end of the trip, Kate was making fun of me for sighing consistently because the city was soo beautiful.
6. sunset on the Sienne-one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen
7. Sangria-it's so good and I've never seen it served anywhere else
8. The intricate detailing on all the buildings
9. The language- it's gorgeous and now i'm inspired to actually learn it
10. The farmer's market- we went to one near the Eiffel Tower and it was so cool. Not only do they have fabulous fruit and vegetables, but they also sell wonderful cheese and the butcher's sell things like snake and pig snouts (which I had never seen before.) They also had really good cooked stuff you could buy for lunch too. I was kind of obsessed
So basically, I have come to the conclusion that I just may have to move to Paris at one point in my life (or at least buy a vacation home there when I'm rich and famous.)
Au revoir for now
Comments
Message from dad
I can taste the croissants and the latte-what a fabulous weekend . So nice to see you and Kate together in Paris
Loved all the pictures
Dad