Paris!

We arrived at the train station for Paris around six in the morning and our train left at 7:27. Since it was an early morning I ate my breakfast while waiting on the train which consisted of a muffin and a white chocolate mocha. A breakfast of champions if I do say so myself. The train ride to Paris was a very quiet one since the three other girls I was traveling with were all split up in different cars. I was sitting by myself for a long time until an older gentleman claimed his seat next to me about halfway through our journey. He startled me a little at first because when he first sat down he was out of breath and shaking. I thought he was on drugs at first which scared me a little but he calmed down a few minutes later and began to talk to me, in French at first until he realized i didn't understand what he was saying. It turns out he was a very nice gentleman and was just rushed trying to make it on the train. I felt bad for judging him earlier.

When we arrived at the station in Paris we all got off the train successfully, found one another, and then went on our way to look for our hostel. The first hour in Paris was a little frightening. None of us really knew how to read maps that well and only one knew a little French. We found it a little difficult to communicate in Paris because of the language barrier. Finding our hostel was the hardest part of being in Paris. We ended up in a very sketchy part of the city on our first attempt and after a few scary men yelling and staring at us we decided to turn around and get out of that area as fast as we could. We finally arrived at our hostel safely, thank the Lord, even though it was located just a few blocks from the sketchy area. After we where all situated in our room we decided to venture outside and our first stop was the Eiffel Tower, which was gorgeous! We even waited in line forty-five minutes to go all the way to the top! It was quite the workout but the view of the city from the top worth it! After the Eiffel tower we walked to the Arc De Triomphe and then ended the day with a nice meal near our hostel.  After dinner we turned in for the night after journaling about the day on our cute little balcony attached to our room.

On Friday we all woke up at 7:30 to begin another day in Paris. We started the day with a lovely breakfast, compliments of our hostel, which consisted of a croissant, cereal, and orange juice. I can't even begin to count how many carbs I have consumed during this trip. I feel like we have some form of bread with every meal; it is just the way of life here. Not that I'm complaining because I like my carbs but I should probably try to keep them to a minimum from here on out. After breakfast we headed out again to see some sights we did not see the day before. Our first stop was Luxembourg Gardens, which were beautiful! We spent a little over an hour just walking around and taking everything in. I could have probably spent the whole afternoon there with a good book if I had more time. From Luxembourg Gardens we headed to Notre Dame. It was much bigger and majestic than the pictures depict and the inside was just as beautiful! After Notre Dame we grabbed some fresh crepes and Croque Monsieur (grilled ham and cheese) for lunch. Our last stop of the day was the Louvre. We did not go inside because it would have taken all day but the out side was just as cool to see. After the Louvre we were pretty tired so we took the metro (subway) back to our hostel where we rested a little and then ate dinner at the same place asa the night before because it was the best deal we had found in Paris. After dinner we watched the French lose to China in the World Cup Preliminaries, which was sad. I was also a little surprised at how less interested in the sport the French are than the English. Overall it was another great day in Paris, topping out in the high 80's which is much warmer than back in Liverpool where the rain and cold eagerly waits our return.

Our third day in Paris was more of a relaxing day because we had already seen about everything in Paris. Although Paris was very nice I think two days there would have been sufficient. Since we only saw the outside of the Louvre the day before we decided to go inside this time. The Louvre was enormous and it took us about four hours to walk through the whole thing. My favorite part of the Louvre was probably seeing the Mona Lisa (which was a lot smaller than I imagined ) and the Royal rooms of Napoleon. After the Louvre we walked down to the river where we took a relaxing boat cruise. This was a nice and easy way to see the main structures of Paris one last time before we left. After the cruise we took the Metro back to our hostel and grabbed dinner nearby, which we at in the park. After that we turned in for the night so we could be up early to catch the chunnel back to London.