On Friday, we got to the airport at 11 for our 1:00 flight and arrived in France at 3:00. From there, we had to take a shuttle to the middle of Paris, and then the metro to our hostel. We stayed at the Aloha hostel. Not the best hostel, but not the worst either. We got a free crepe each day! When we arrived, we dropped off our things and met two of our roommates, Nacio and Peter. They were both around 30 years old and were traveling around Europe for a month--very cool! We also noticed a backpack on one of the bunks but didn't know who it belonged to...that will come in later.
After we settled in, we got a delicious dinner at McDonald's (don't judge me, I was saving up my money for the crepes) and we were off to see the Louvre!
On Friday nights the Louvre is free for anyone under 26, so we definitely wanted to fit that in. It was so overwhelming, but I was able to see a lot of the masterpieces. Anna and I took some pictures to show our Art History teacher. She was so excited when we showed her in class today...I think it earned me some brownie points.
The Winged Victory of Samothrace--my favorite statue in the Louvre!
Some of the masterpieces from our art classes-the Mona Lisa is tiny.
Here you can see how small it is!
Everything looks beautiful when it is all lit up!
Anna and I on the ferris wheel! She was a little scared.
After we were done with our museum visit, we decided to go on a Ferris wheel ride. It sort of reminded me of riding the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier, but it wasn't as big. The city looked beautiful and it was a great end to our night...or so we thought.
When we got back to our hostel, we got ready and snuggled into bed. Not more than 30 minutes later, the missing roommate comes in, turns on the lights, and makes a big fuss about getting into bed. Not only did he drop a packet of food into my backpack (he was in the bunk above me) but he chugged his water bottle louder than any person I've ever heard in my life. It was kind of funny, until it wasn't. Let me just say that this guy needs some serious medical attention. He snored louder than any person I have every heard in my life. It wasn't human--thats how he earned his nickname "Bear" for the rest of the weekend. Little did I know that Anna was having as horrible time falling asleep as I was. She had to take things to the next level when she started hitting him in the foot to get him to wake up and stop snoring! The brief break in the noise only happened for 30 seconds tops, then he was back to business. It was torture!
The next morning, after we were nice and noisy in waking up the Bear, we got our free breakfast and were on our way to enjoy our bike tour. We signed up for a tour with this company called Fat Tire Bike Tours. I think we will do a tour with them in London, too. It was a lot of fun and a good way to see so much of the city without walking everywhere. We saw the Eiffel Tower, The Peace Monument, Les Invalids, Napolean's Tomb, Concorde Plaza (think the ending scene in The Devil Wears Prada and the end of the Tour de France), and the Louvre. For lunch, we stopped in a mall that was underneath the Louvre.
The Eiffel Tower
Napolean's Tomb
We're the Eiffel Tower. Get it?
After our tour, we went shopping at the craziest and most congested shopping mall I have ever seen, then went back to our hostel before dinner. We went to this pizza place by our hostel and had a delicious dinner. We also met some enthusiastic French physical therapists that night who were eager to practice their English and Spanish.
When we got back to the hostel, a new guy had replaced our friends Nacio and Peter. He was very nice, and fresh out of prison! I swear, we had the most interesting cast of characters in our dorm. (I slept with my purse under my pillow). The Bear was still there, but I had my iPod on full blast and was exhausted from the night before, so I got a much better sleep this time around.
The next morning, we woke up and went to Notre Dame for mass. Then we walked from the Notre Dame to the Arch de Triomphe and got in a lot of site seeing--it is quite the long walk! On our way there we stopped at a stand on the Champs d'Elysees for some lunch. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower and me and Liz did the trek to the top. It was so beautiful but much colder than the last time I had been up there! By the end of our sightseeing, my legs were shaking even when I was standing still. I guess I need to exercise more!
We went back to our hostel to gather our things, hopped on the metro, hopped on the shuttle, and then waited in the airport for a while. We had a delicious dinner of Pringles, Lays, babybel cheese, and Coca Light. I know you're all jealous. We finally made it home to Alejandra and Marlene at around 1:30. Gabby and Roberto are out of town for the weekend, so we heard all about their adventurous weekend and they heard all about ours.
I have lots of studying to do this week so it is back to reality for me!
I hope everyone had a happy Valentine's day!
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