Paris Round 2!
October 3-5, 2008
October 3-5, 2008
To better see how this second trip went, check out my facebook photo albums!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001032&l=b5f30&id=1534470084
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001033&l=9e6f8&id=1534470084
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001036&l=0af1f&id=1534470084
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001037&l=3bfe4&id=1534470084
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001038&l=e1a8c&id=1534470084
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001039&l=7419e&id=1534470084
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001040&l=c31c2&id=1534470084
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001041&l=04227&id=1534470084
I took around 480 pictures, so make sure to check those out!
Paris the second time around was simply amazing! I met my best friend, Derek, there and we all had a great time. Rob, Afton, Caroline, Karee, Brittni, Rachel, Josh, Joe, Hayley and I went from Lausanne and then met Kylie, Lindsey and Derek (who are in Florence, Italy) at Versailles. We were suppose to meet the Florence group at the train station, but that did not work out. After going to our hostel and then heading out to Versailles, we finally talked to them when they called us from a payphone and a couple of hours later we were reunited!
Versailles was amazing. It cost 20 Euro for the pass to see everything, but it was worth it. We saw the castle and most of the gardens, including Marie Antoinette's village which was really cool. My mom was raving about her little village and I was really glad to go there 1. because it was a really neat place and 2. because it reminded me of her!From Versailles we went out to the Louvre because it was free! It is free on certain Friday nights if you are under 26-years-old! I thought that our hostel's reception area might close at 10pm, so we met at the horse statue right outside of the glass pyramid at 9:20 in order to make it there before 10. I thought the hostel was much closer than it was, and Brittni, Rachel and I ran the last mile or so in order to get there on time. Needless to say, I made it there at 9:57, but it didn't matter because they didn't close until 1am! It was called Hotel Bastille and was on Rue de la Roquette. We got it for 30 Euros per night/per person which was a good deal for private rooms and private bathrooms, it was like a hotel. That night we walked, literally, to the door immediately to the right of our hotel and ate a the small chinese restaurant located there. It was not phenomenal or cheap, but it was great to have some chinese food! If only we had great Mexican good places!
Saturday was extremely busy and it was also Rob's 20th Birthday - Rob was sick though, so that wasn't too great for him. He slept in while we went to Notre Dame and Musee d'Orsay. Notre Dame is a beautiful Cathedral and we even were about to climb to the top of the tower (for a 4.80 Euro fee of course!). I was already exhausted by the time we arrived to the Musee d'Orsay, so after seeing Van Gogh's, Monet's and other works of art, Kylie and I walked outside (@ 12:15pm) and waited for our 1:30pm meet time to come. During that period of time I managed to pay 4 Euro for some Lemon Gelato and take a quick nap on the stairs.
On the way to the Sacre Coeur we got separated from Kylie, Josh and Derek. None of them have cell phones, so that was not comforting, but we were led back together at the Sacre Coeur. Right before going to the Sacre Coeur we also met Rob, who rode the subway over. The best purchase of my whole trip to Paris was a 3.20 Euro pass that allowed me to ride the subway all day! Sacre Coeur is a really beautiful site and it was neat to see. After being there for a little while we ate on the way to the Arc d'Triumphe and then walked down the Champ d'Elysee (sp?). While passing the Louis Vuitton megastore, we took a picture with a empty space in honor of Caroline. She loves that place and was unable to come to Paris because she was sick :\ so it was good to be able to show her that we hadn't forgetten about her.
The Eiffel Tower was next and it was great. We took a ton of pictures there before heading to find a place to eat in the Latin Quarter. There we settled on a small French restaurant where we ate for Rob's birthday. No tables were big enough for all of us, so we had to split up, but it was still nice and quaint. In honor of Rob we were able to buy his dinner, a scotch (that he loved) and a Nutella Crepe (which are amazing!). We all hung out around the Crepe stand and the Latin Quarter that night before returning to our hotel. We had hoped to take a Seine river cruise that night, but it was too late to do that which was a bummer, but fine because we were all really tired from just running around Paris. Instead of a river cruise, we took the metro down to the Louvre and watched the Eiffel tower, which sparkles on the hour. From there we walked down the banks of the Seine and sat. It as very enjoyable to just sit, relax, laugh and talk with all the great people I was blessed to be with. Paris the second time around was incredible!
WADE
P.S. My Granddaddy's cancer surgery went well this past week, which is such an answered prayer.
P.S.S. Derek is coming to Lausanne tomorrow, Friday, morning and we are going to have an awesome time, so I will let you all know about this weekend later on!
P.S.S.S. Our education field trip to Corsica is October 13-17 and we leave our house at 3:50 am on Monday morning, uh. That should be awesome, it will be our whole Lausanne group. I will also be sure to blog about that.
God bless you all!!
