TRAVEL WEEKEND DEUX: PARIS!!!

This weekend I took the Eurostar to Paris with my friend Logan to meet up with our friends Samantha and Alex. We stayed in a very petite hotel in the 17th arrondissement. Our neighborhood was cute and had a street market every morning. On Thursday night, we got into Paris around 6pm and spent some time searching out our hotel. It was on a small side street and even some of the locals didn't know the street by name. After checking in, we set out down the small windy streets for a restaurant for dinner. We ended up back in the main square of Villiers and ate at one of the small bistros there. After dinner we went exploring and discovered a Creperie not far from our hotel. There, Logan tried her first crepe. They were delicious! We headed back early and mapped out our plans for the rest of the weekend.

On Saturday, we woke up early, had breakfast at the hotel, and jouneyed on the metro to meet up with Sam and Alex at the Arc de Triomphe. There, we hopped aboard a Red Bus and took it for an entire loop through all the major areas of the city. We hadn't planned on doing this originally, however, it was downpouring and we were not ready to do the walking tours in the rain. It was 24 euros for two days and we could get on and off as much as we wanted. Our first real stop was the Louvre. There, we got in for free (yay being between 18-24 and a RESIDENT of the EU) and paid the six euro for the audio guide. We spent a few hours walking through the italian paintings (La Jaconde, Da Vinci, Michaelangelo) and wondered down to the Egyptian exhibit to look at the mummys and everything. During our tour, we stopped at the cafe there for some overpriced sandwiches and a look at the tuilleries (it was still raining so the big window view had to do) before continuing in the museum. After the Louvre, we hopped back on the bus and went to L'Opera, or more importantly, Les Galleries Lafayette. Although the fashion was tempting and there was a massive sale, we made our way up to the food hall for some gelato and chinese food. At this point it was already close to five and we all decided to part ways and join back up for dinner around 10pm.

For dinner, we went to Tokyo Eat, a modern restaurant that Sam's concierge had recommended. It had a very modern feel to it and was in a big warehouse. The menu was overpriced. I had scallops and risotto at 25 euro plus the wine so my total was 32 euro. They had said this was a fusion of French and Japanese food but to me it was just plain overpriced. The atmosphere was different though and it looked out at the Eiffel Tour, which glittered every hour on the hour past sundown so all in all it was ok.

After dinner we decided that we wanted to experience some of Paris Nightlife. However, the line at the club near the restaurant, "Duplex" was extrememly long so we decided to go to a local bistro near the arc de tiomphe and have dessert instead. My crepes were delicious and our waiter was quite the comedian. After dessert, Logan and I hopped a cab back to the hotel. We had to fit in some beauty sleep for our adventures on Saturday.

Saturday, we slept through the hotel breakfast so we journeyed out into the street market in search of pain du chocolat and some tea. The vendors had great produce, meats, and baked goods so it was difficult to get moving and on the metro quickly because there were so many different little stands in which we could dilly dally. Sam decided to go to the Montmarte section of the city, but we chose to wait two and a half hours in the frigid windy snow to take the cable car up the Tour d'Eiffel. It was just as cold up there but we got some great pictures as the weather decided to clear up. Afterwards, we went for some lunch and decided to do some serious shopping at les printemps. The style here is for small over the shoulder bags. We found a couple at longchamp that were reasonably priced. However, we decided to save the Euros and got some more gelato instead before walking back through the crowds and completing our circuit on the big red sightseeing bus. By the time we returned to our hotel it was 8pm, just in time for a nap. However, both of us were starting to get sick and we decided to nap untl 1030pm, go out for some crepes for dinner, and take it easy the rest of the night before our 730 departure the next morning.

All in all, the eurostar made the trip very easy and convenient. We were only 15 minutes away by metro from the station both in Paris and London. When we got back to the dorm today I took the opportunity to go for a run and get some groceries. My rommates and I all had tacos for dinner and as soon as I post this, I will have to start doing some of that thing called HW because exams are coming up soon. We are still trying to plan our midsemestester break. We originally wanted to go skiing but none of us have any gear. Now we are looking into resorts in Morroco or atleast somewhere where there is sun. The bleak london mist is a little depressing at times. Anywho, please e-mail me I would like to hear about all y'all too!

Miss and love you!!!
Brookie