Renting an apartment in Paris turned out to be one of the best decisions my friends and I have made. Kelly and Cathryn took care of the planning and when we got there, Rosemary (who came over to visit, she goes to the Argentina program) and Kelly checked us in and then later came and got Elizabeth and I and took us to the apartment. Elizabeth A. is in the Florence program and we ran into each other at DFW and discovered that we were on the same flight to Paris, which was nice.
(Above: Enjoying the apartment life)The apartment in the 10th district was meant to be for only 5 people, but we fit 15 in there! We even had a rooftop terrace from which we could see all of Paris, especially Sacre Coeur that was probably less than 1 mile away. The 30th we spent most of the day trying to find all of our friends who were arriving in Paris. Laurence and Chelsea were the last ones to arrive. We thought they were lost, but it turned out that there planes were just either late or they had trouble with some form of transportation. Thankfully, they both made it safely and we enjoyed all hanging out that night.
(Above: Elizabeth A., Megan W., Hannah K. and I celebrate New Years)New Years Eve was a blast. We dressed up and got champagne and enjoyed hosting another 15 people at our apartment, most of whom were from Pepperdine and hung out there until around 10:30 when we started to head for the Eiffel Tower. (Below: The crowded streets of Paris just after midnight)
I have never seen Paris so packed as it was on New Years Eve. A guy on the subway advised us to get off at a certain metro stop, which was wrong, and made us miss being under the Eiffel Tower right at midnight. Chelsea, John K. and a few others were stuck together as we tried to make our way out of the subway. Everyone was shoulder to shoulder and we were gradually inching our way towards the exit. We were in the tunnel near the stairs when it turned 12 and enjoyed counting down in french with the crowd we were surrounded by. (Below: The Eiffel Tower sparkling at midnight)
I spent most of the evening with a kazoo in my mouth and yelling "Bonne Annee tout le monde!!!" which translates to "Happy New Year Everyone!!!" - I tried to keep us all together by blowing the kazoo, but we ended up getting separated. I was even separated from my small group and thought I would be alone in Paris until we were reunited at the apartment, but thankfully I ran into Alec E., Elizabeth A. and some others and we walked around the Eiffel Tower area before heading back to the apartment via the metro. It took a while for everyone to make it back to the apartment, but by 6:30am, everyone had returned.The next day Alec E., Laurence G., Chelsea H., Kelly M., Caitlin C. and I went to Gare du Nord and got our reservations for the train to Bruges and then for the night train from Cologne to Copenhagen. We also went to Notre Dame, the Latin quarter for lunch from a nice Lebanese restaurant and crepes from my favorite place in the Latin quarter. (Below: Chelsea, Laurence, Alec and I on the Champs des Elysees)
After easting we went over to the Champs des Elysees to see the lights and take pictures in the middle of the street. On the way back to the apartment we encountered a full band/small orchestra in the metro that was really cool.One of the only bad parts about New Years in Paris was that I either lost or had my Eurail Pass and iPod stolen, which was a bummer. It was a nice test of my patience and I quickly realized that such things are simply material things that do not matter in the grand scheme of things. I was able to buy a new Eurail at Gare du Nord and will hopefully be reimbursed after filling out all of the required materials for the protection plan once I return to the United States.
The morning of the 2nd we left early for the North Europe trip and I will soon write about that. I hope that you are all doing well, take care!!
- Wade
ALBUM:
New Years Paris 2009
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001237&l=5e729&id=1534470084
