J'Adore

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After a good night’s rest I was ready to tackle our last few days in Europe head on. Before getting to Paris we stopped in Luxemburg. I has the lowest unemployment rate in Europe and according to a study the residence there are apparently the most happy as well. It was a lovely little town but unfortunately we were there on a Sunday so everything was closed. Krissy and I just spent our free time in a café on Wifi.

I had very low expectations for Paris because everyone I talked to who has been has not liked it, and after all the rude people in Rome I was expecting the French to be the same way, only with a harsher accent.

Despite Paris being dirty, VERY dirty, I really enjoyed the city. There was a lot to do and the French weren’t as snoody as people portray them to be (at least not to me). We took a driving tour through the city and stopped at the Arc de Triumph and Eiffel Tower.





After seeing those we went to Dinner at a place near the Moulin Rouge. I would have loved to go see the show but the asking price for tickets was about 300 euros. No thanks.



After dinner a few of us got crepes and walked back to the Eiffel tower to see it at night. Unfortunately my camera and phone were both dead by this point so I didn’t get any pictures, but it was very impressive at night. The tower was illuminated with the primary colors and every half hour the tower would twinkle.

We wanted to go to a bar but we had the same problem in Paris as we did in Luxemburg earlier that day… Sunday. So we were forced to go back to the hotel.

I’m actually glad we got back to the hotel semi early (around midnight). We were located in a really sketchy part of Paris. We were going to hang out outside and talk while some of the people smoked but the receptionist advised us not to.

In order to beat the line at the Louvre I got up early in order to get there at 9 AM. Well, it opened at 10 so I ended up waiting an hour in line regardless…



The art was very impressive, it was awesome to see the Mona Lisa in person. Of course there was a huge crowd around it which did not allow me to appreciate it as much as I wanted to.

The last section we wandered through was the Greek and Roman statues. They were great but my friends and I couldn’t take all the nudity seriously and actually got asked to leave because of our uncontrollable laughter.

On my way out of the building I saw a woman wearing a Michigan State shirt, so as I looked at her to say “Go Green” I recognized her to be my advisor for interior design! They were in Paris for the study abroad trip. It’s a small world.

After the Louvre we walked over to the Notre Dame and the Love Bridge right next to it.



The “love bridge” is where couples go with a padlock, lock it to the fence on the bridge and throw the key into the river to symbolize their everlasting love. I think if I were to ever do that I would be smart and use a combination lock.

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<span>By this time we were very hungry so we walked around an area called the Latin Quarter to find a good deal on food. We stumbled across a place that served a 3 course French meal for 15 euros. We were sold.

Deciding to make things more fun we each got a different appetizer, entrée, and dessert and share. We also tried to keep it close to traditional French food as possible.

Appetizers included: Bread and cheese, Escargot (snails), Frog legs, and Mussels. We got duck, ratatouille, beef, and chicken for our main entrees and ice cream, tera misuse, crème Brule, and chocolate mousse for our desserts. I actually enjoyed everything but the desserts were my favorite of course!

We were stuffed! So we decided to take a walk around in order to exercise off some of our meal. Luckily the weather was nice (of course now that the trip is ending). We eventually came across a large beautiful park. We sat on the grass for a while and enjoyed the sun and people watching.

After stopping back at the hotel for a few hours we decided to gather everyone up and make the most of our last night all together. Krissy and her mom went to a Burlesque show which seemed like a lot of fun but unfortunately my funding is on its last leg.

After getting a pretty simple dinner because of our elaborate lunch we tried to find a bar to go to. There wasn’t a lot going on so unfortunately our big plans to go out and have a great last night was kind of a bust. We did end up staying up in one of the hotel rooms and having great conversations until the wee hours of the morning.

It was so hard to say goodbye to everyone the next morning. I met so many great people from all over the globe. Having free places to stay in England, France, Australia and Russia will only fuel my travel bug more!



I’m currently on the high speed train from Paris to London. We will spend the day in London and then leave for the USA the next morning. I’m in denial that the trip is ending. I have gained so much life experience and learned more about humanity, religion, history, and art in the past month then I ever had at school. Life does go on though and I’ll have plenty of other journeys to look forward to!

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