Parisss!

Day One
This morning was a rough one to wake up. Megan M, Desiree, and I (Caity was meeting us in Paris) needed to be at St. Pancras at 8 am to meet the Arcadia staff, which meant leaving at about 7 am. Once we got to the station we needed to wait to take the 940 train to Paris. The trip with Arcadia includes two nights at a hotel, 2 day museum pass, 3 day metro card, and a bus tour when we arrived. The bus tour was interesting but quite long. I was exhausted and sick so I wanted to sleep pretty badly. When we go to the hotel we decided it would be best to go right back out to the Louvre and see that before we headed home for an early night. The Louvre is a huge museum housing all of the great works. Tonight we saw a lot of cool sculptures and a few paintings on our way to see the Mona Lisa, who is not impressive at all. I planned to go back during the weekend to finish seeing everything I didn't get to. We ended up going to bed around 1130 because we were so exhausted. I know I passed right out.

Day Two
The buffet breakfast at the hotel was to die for and filled us up with carbs for a while. They had breads and croissants like crazy, as well as yogurts and applesauce. We needed to energy for the busy day we were going to have. First we headed to Notre Dame and saw the Crypt, which was a lot like the Roman Baths. We went inside Notre Dame and I was amazed at its enormous size. The windows were so beautiful and there were a lot of nooks/mini chapels for people to pray in. Truly beautiful. I looked for Quazzimoto but never saw him. We decided to walk along the Seine and go into souvenir shops and look at some of the art work for sale. I bought some souvenirs for people as well as an oil painting of the Eiffel Tower for myself. Next we headed to Museé D'Orsay. We saw a lot of pre-impressionism, impressionist, and post impressionism pieces like Van Gogh, Degas, Monet, Renoir, and many more. For lunch we decided to get some authentic French Crepes...I had ham and Cheddar cheese. However, it did not even come close to the deliciousness that is Skinny Pancake in Burlington, VT :) . After eating we went to the Arc de Triomphe where our passes let us climb to the top and take in the view, which was needed since the walk up the stairs practically killed us. We then headed up to Moulin Rouge to see the theatre, which was gorgeous lit up at night. From Moulin Rouge we headed to the final stop of the evening which was the Eiffel Tower. It is lit up blue with 12 yellow stars to symbolize the EU flag. Once I got there I knew that even though the view of Paris would be no different than on the Arc, I had to go up to the top of the Eiffel. After a few photo ops and awing at its gigantic size we headed for a classy French dinner. I spent € 35, however it was sooo worth it. I got pasta with a sweet cream sauce paired with scallops and king prawns (which came on a skewer head and all). For dessert I got a chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. I wish I could eat it again, it was that good.

Day Three

We had another early morning to make sure we finished seeing London today. Megan M and I went to the Eiffel Tower to go to the top. It was only € 12 which isn't bad for an elevator lift and a magnificent view. After taking pictures and realize how many pieces my camera would smash into/people it would kill if I dropped it, we headed down to go to the Louvre. Once we got there Megan and I split up and went around for an hour....I ran the whole way. I weaved in and out of crowds to ensure I saw the everything on my list I made. I kept getting distracted but needed to persevere in order to see it all. I didn't see exactly everything I had hoped, but I saw a lot more than on Friday night. After the museum we sped to the hotel where we met Desiree and Caity to head to the train. Caity was leaving on the train before ours, so we headed to get a baguette and dessert crepe..nutella crepe (sounds delicious and I LOVE nutella...but it was sooo rich and sickening, which didn't stop me from finishing it). When we arrived in London I realized I was going home to be in my room in New Cross and would remain there for longer than a few hours of sleep. It was an amazing feeling.