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Published: April 7th 2008
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Paris actually wasn't as exciting as Ireland because I was just there like 2 years ago and my memory was pretty fresh. St. Christopher's Hostel just off the Laumiere Metro stop was the best place we have stayed in yet. The rooms were huge, and we each had our own little cubby hole. It was really nice. The first day we spent in Paris was full of sightseeing. First, we took the metro to the Hard Rock to make a reservation for later that night. Then we hpped on the metro again and went to the Eiffel Tower where we had crepes for lunch. Just FYI...crepes are quite possibly my favorite food in the world. We then walked along the river for about an hour trying to find France's mini version of the Statue of Liberty, but we hadn o luck and couldn't find it. After wandering through the courtyard at the Louvre and ooing and awing at the gigantic nature of the museum, we decided to walk down the Champes Elyses to the Arc de Triumphe. At the beginning of the Champes Elyses, the Arc didn't seem like it was that far away, but amazingly we never seemed to get
any closer to it! After what seemed like hours, we finally made it to the Arc, but we were so exhausted from the hike that we hopped on the nearest metro and went straight back to St. Christopher's for a nap before dinner. At dinner we discovered that although the menu at the Hard Rock Cafe is the same everywhere, the Student Rates vary. Hard Rock Rome is much more friendly towards students then Hard Rock Paris, a trend that definitely corresponds with the countries. If there is one thing we learned about France, it is that the rumor that the French do not like Americans is NOT a rumor. Although it wasn't as bad as we expected, the Italian people are much more friendly towards us American students that the French. It's true that once I stepped on the train to go into Paris from the airport, I was lectured by a Frenchman about Bush's idiocracy. Anyways, the Hard Rock was delicious as always. Thank you mom for treating us to a good old fashioned American meal! We are all indebted to you...haha. Dinner ended the night for us.
The second day was interesting. We decided to spend
most of our time exploring the Louvre; however, we had quite a hard time actually getting into the museum. When we walked out of the metro it was sort of drizzling, but once we got into line to get tickets, a monsoon started to rage! I swear the rain follows us everywhere we go. My umbrella was no help...the stokes literally bent and twisted until they didn't actually hold the umbrella's shape anymore; I had to throw it away. Once we got into the Louvre, we spent almost 4 hours there. The place is HUGE! Quite possibly the biggest building I have ever been in EVER! We got tired out very quickly, so we tried to stick to the most famous pieces of art...we saw the statue's of Psyche & Cupid and Winged Victory. Of course we saw the Venus di Milo and the infamous Mona Lisa, whose fame I don't really understand because it is one of the most boring, bland, and ugly painting I have ever seen. After the Louvre, we went to the metro stop outside the Sacre Cour, which is a huge church on the top of an even bigger hill. We had to climb an
insane amount of steps to get there, but the view was awesome. Next, me made a quick stop at the Moulon Rouge to take a picture, and we went back to the hostel to nap before going out to see Paris at night. Sidenote...in case you were wondering it costs almost 90 euro to get into the Moulon Rouge!! Paris, the City of Lights, is absolutely gorgeous at night. It would have been better ifit wasn't raining, but that is never an option for us, so we dealt with it. Anyways, we went to the Eiffel Tower and while we waited for Micki to come back down from the top, the rest of us had hot chocolate and candy while we watching the Tower sparkle for 5 minutes on the hour. Yes, it literally sparkles. I took a video of it so you can watch it if you don't believe me. It was so cool! Once we retrieved Micki, we literally ran through the mtero because the last one leaves at midnight and we were definitely pushing it...but we made it!
The third day we took our sweet time because we didn't really have that much to do. After
a late breakfast, we hopped the metro to the Parisian version of the Pantheon, which is basically a shrine to the Great French thinkers of the past. We then took another stroll down the Champes Elyses before taking the metro to the Opera where we had lunch at a fancy cafe that Molly's grandma requested we go to on her dime. I ordered a croque madame which is basically a turkey and cheese sandwich toasted with an egg on top. It was awesome! We went back to the hostel to take a nap before hopping the metro to Notre Dame Cathedral for the Easter Vigil Mass. I don't remember ever going to an Easter Vigil mass before, but I think it's fair to say that it is the longest mass of the entire year. At ND there were 7 lectures, 2 readings, the Gospel in 2 languages, Baptisms, Confirmations, and finally the Eucharist. We left after Communion, and it had already been about 2.5 hours. Although really long, the mass was a lovely mass. It started with ahuge bonfire outside the Cathedral. All the lights were turned off inside and everyone was given a candle which was lit by the
person next to you. The mass was taped and broadcasted on TV and on screens dispersed throught the church, so we could see how awesome it looked with all the candles lit. Besides all that, I can now say that I have heard mass in Europe in 5 different languages: Italian, Latin, English, Gaelic, and French. I think that's pretty cool. We were able to sleep for maybe 4 hours before we had to get up to catch the metro and switch to the RER to get to the ariport for our flight. It was a very LONG day that began a very long and frustrating fiasco...
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