Weekend in Paris!

Thursday (March 5, 2009)
I packed my suitcase the night before and brought it with me to classes Thursday morning (my program director let me leave it in her office during my three classes). Once our classes ended at 1pm Whitney and I grabbed our stuff from Veronica’s office and left the school. We grabbed a taxi and headed toward the bus station, there was a 1:30pm bus to Madrid we were hoping to make (our flight was at 8:45pm from Madrid to Paris). The taxi driver drove like a bat out of hell, I thought we were going to die before even seeing Paris, but we made it to the bus station by 1:20pm. Unfortunately the ticket line was a million people long and we got to the counter at 1:30pm, and the ticket guy informed us that there were no more seats available on that bus. The next regular bus would be at 3pm, but Madrid is about a 4 ½ to 5 hour bus ride and we didn’t want to stress about possibly missing our flight. There was a bus to Madrid at 2pm but it cost twice as much as the normal bus, but we took it anyway. Turns out that this was the “Supra” or VIP bus; it was like a first class airplane trip. The bus did not make any stops (the normal ones stop for ½ an hour in the middle of the drive at a random gas station), had huge comfortable seats, headphones for the movies it played, and a stewardess. She gave us drinks, a meal, a snack, and dessert! It was the best bus ride I’ve ever taken!
We made it to the Madrid airport about an hour before the flight was suppose to leave, but the plane decided not to show up on time. We were scheduled to leave for Paris at 8:45pm but didn’t even board the plane until close to 9:30pm. The plane did not give us any snacks, Supra Bus 1, AirEuropa 0. We landed in the Paris-Orly Airport around 11:30pm and searched for how to get into the city (the airport is on the outskirts). The information lady told us the last bus had already left and we would have to take a taxi; I did not want to do this because I knew it would be outrageously expensive. Luckily, as we walked outside to the taxi area we saw one lone bus with people getting on. The last bus into the city was running late and hadn’t left yet, so we only paid few Euros instead of a million! The bus dropped us off at a bus/metro station and we took the metro to the stop closest to where our hotel was located. We finally got to the hotel and checked into our room about 1pm. After showering and figuring out what we would do the next day we went to bed (close to 2am).

Friday (March 6, 2009)
We left the hotel by 7:30am, wanting to get an early start on the city so we could be sure to see everything. Notre Dame was our first stop and the stained glass rose windows are just as gorgeous as everyone says. We walked around inside for a bit and they even conducted mass in one of the small chapels while people visited. My favorite part about it though is the exterior architecture, I love gothic style and explained to Whitney the significance of a “flying buttress.” After visiting Notre Dame we walked along the Seine River in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. It was a gorgeous day (this was my first trip this semester without any rain!) so we opted to walk instead of taking the metro. Well, the streets are a lot longer than the map leads you to believe, but we saw a lot of interesting sights and buildings along the way. Before we got to far from Notre Dame we stopped at a tourist agency and bought very reasonable tickets for a combination tour on the river and tour through the city for Saturday night. Eventually, the Eiffel Tower came into view.
We stood in line for about 30 minutes to go through security and buy tickets for the Eiffel Tower. Since this might be the only time we ever get to go, we paid to go all the way to the top (this included an elevator so we did not have to brave the stairs). We stopped off at the second level to look around and take pictures before going all the way up to the top. The ride up to the top made me a little nervous because it gets very narrow and is pretty open, not to mention very high above the ground. We made it up just fine and the view was spectacular; I could see for miles because it was such a nice day. I saw the Louvre, the Arc de Triumph, and other monuments we were planning on visiting from up there. The only bad thing was that it was VERY cold and there was a nice chilly wind accompanying the cold, and of course it got worse the higher up you went.
After we left the Eiffel Tower we walked around the city, going by the Arc de Triumph and the Paris Opera House. I was able to go inside the Opera House and see the grand staircase, the balconies, and they foyers. The actual auditorium was closed for a rehearsal so I was not able to go in there. Leaving the Opera House we took the metro to where the Statue of Liberty was (yes there is one in France too, by the same guy). France’s is much, much smaller than the U.S. Statue of Liberty. She is on a small island overlooking the Seine River in the more business and less touristy area of France. Whitney and I sat on the river bank and ate some oranges for a snack while checking her out. About this time it was close to 5:30pm so we decided to head on over to the Louvre Museum (it is free for students after 6pm on Fridays). We took the metro and got to the museum a little after 6; I thought we would have to wait in a long line, but we were able to just walk in. The first painting we went to, of course, was the “Mona Lisa.” There was a huge crowd of people around her taking picture (I cannot believe the Louvre allows pictures with flash). I found it pretty humorous that Mona is behind a thick (bulletproof looking) plate of glass. After seeing Leonardo’s masterpiece we continued throughout the Louvre and saw some of his other works and other’s paintings. For dinner we stopped by a kebap place near the hotel and got it to go and ate in the hotel room while watching the French news. We didn’t get back to the hotel until 9:30pm, and we hardly sat down the entire day. I swear we walked at least 12 hours that day, but we were able to see everything.

Saturday (March 7, 2009)
We left the hotel again at 7:30am and stopped by the bakery next to the hotel for bread and pastries for breakfast. Then we took the metro to the train station and bought round-trip train tickets to Versailles (only 5 Euros). I’ve always wanted to visit the Palace of Versailles, but never thought I would get the opportunity. However, since we were able to see everything we wanted to in the city on Friday we had time for a day trip on Saturday. The train ride was about 30 minutes to Versailles, but we made it a little longer when we got off two stops to early. We were suppose to get off the train at the stop Versailles Rive-Gauche, so when we got to the station Rive-Gauche we got off. Turns out this was two stations before the actually one we wanted because they failed to think of a different name for the station. So we just waited about 7 minutes for the next train going in the correct direction and got on that. When we got to Versailles we walked a couple blocks to the Palace.
At the information/ticket center we decided to pay additional for the private tour (the general admission includes an audioguide and the tour takes you through private apartments the general public doesn’t get to see). Paying for the tour was definitely worth it, our group was only seven people (me & Whitney, a random guy, two ladies from Dallas, and an old couple- the man was so annoying but it was funny to see the guide get agitated with him) and our tour guide. We actually had about an hour and a half before the tour began so we walked through the beautiful gardens for a while. Unfortunately, being cold and during winter, there were no flowers and the fountains were not on, but it is still very pretty. There were a pair of swans swimming around the pond with the Apollo Fountain in it. The private tour was first and we went through the king and queen’s private apartments and the private chapel; we got to stand right where Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI were married! When our tour was over we got our audioguides and walked around by ourselves through the state rooms and the famous Hall of Mirrors, very elegant. We ended up staying at the Palace for over 4 hours, but it did not seem like very long at all. This was definitely my favorite part of the whole trip, it’s something I’ve always wanted to see! It was difficult not to fall asleep on the train ride back because we were so tired, but we made it back to the hotel and had time for a short siesta. After our quick nap we headed back to the area where Notre Dame is and did a little bit of tourist shopping. At 8pm we had our boat tour on the Seine River, which was very relaxing after so much walking and gorgeous. That lasted an hour and then we had to hurry back to the tourist agency to make the city tour at 9:30pm. The tour was on a double decker bus and we definitely sat on the top! We knew it would be freezing so we actually put on all of the clothing we had brought with us on the trip! I had on three long sleeve shirts, two jackets, tights, jeans, three pairs of socks, hat, scarf, and gloves. We looked a bit ridiculous but we made it the whole tour on top of the busy while others wimped out and went below! The tour took us by the Eiffel Tower all lit up (and on the hour it sparkles!), the Arc de Triumph, the Opera House, the Champs-Elysees, the Moulin Rouge, and many other places that looked so pretty all lit up at night. After the bus dropped us off we got crepes with banana and chocolate in them, it was a great way to end the trip!

Sunday (March 8, 2009)
Can you guess what time we left the hotel? Yep, 7:30am was the magic time of the trip. One more time at the bakery and ride on the metro as we went to the airport. This time the plane was on time but we had to stand in line over an hour just for check in. I really don’t like there system at this airport. There are no automated check ins and the check in counter for your specific flight only opens 2 hours before the flight is scheduled to depart, so when it opens there is a mad dash of the entire group of people going to be on your plane to get in line. When we got to Madrid we took the metro to the main bus station and bought tickets for the 3:30pm bus to Granada. We had about an hour to kill so we found food, what we usually do with free time. The bus ride back home was not too bad, even though it wasn’t the VIP bus (after the expensive weekend in the City of Love we paid for the cheap bus). On the bus they played the movie “The Whole Nine Yards,” (in Spanish of course) which I love. Although the title in Spanish literally translates to “False Appearances;” they always seem to be changing titles here. We took the 30 minute stop at a gas station/rest area and saw two girls in our program there from a different bus coming back from traveling as well. The last half of the trip was spent sleeping, listen to the ipod, and doing a little bit of homework (back to the reality of classes). We made it home in time for dinner (about 9:30pm), good thing Spain’s dinner time is so late. I like coming back to one of Isabel’s meals after traveling and worrying about finding food for myself and eating cheap.

Monday I was completely exhausted during both of my classes, probably because I get less sleep on weekends I travel than during the school week. After class I went to swim practice; I hadn’t been in over two weeks because I have been really sick (pretty sure it was a sinus infection, I’m famous for those). Luckily it was a fairly easy workout so it was a good one to get back into it with.

Tuesday I wasn’t as tired during class because I went to bed freakishly early Monday night, basically right after dinner (pretty sure it was before 10pm). After lunch I went to swimming again, which was a little more challenging than the day before. However, exciting news, there was an American guy there swimming! His name is John and he is from California; it was very nice to speak a little bit of English during practice for once. After swimming I was walking toward the school to go use the computers and stopped to help an American family that was pretty lost. They needed to go in my direction to find the Cathedral so I just had them walk with me; they were very nice to talk to. After dinner Whitney and I met some friends to go out for tapas, we hadn’t been out for a while. One of the girls that came with us is visiting from the study abroad location in the Netherlands (she is actually the girl we are going to go visit when we go to Amsterdam at the end of April). First we went to a Mexcian Restaurant for margarita’s and then a bar for tapas; it was nice to socialize during the week outside of classes.

This Friday my friends and I are talking about taking a day trip to the beach since it is getting warmer. Saturday our program is taking us on a day trip to Sevilla and then a Flamenco show in Granada that night. Saturday Whitney has a friend coming to visit from the US so we are going to go out with her to a disco after dinner and the Flamenco Show. Today I paid for a trekking and Arabic bath trip with the school for March 22nd and I am going to Cordoba on March 28th for a day trip with the school. Mid-term exams are coming up, beginning on March 30th! Then on April 2nd I leave with my program for 4 days in Morocco.