The Dirty in Paris Chronicles Pt 3 "Hotel Lorraine and New Year's Eve"

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Hotel Lorraine was much nicer than 3 Ducks (not that it was difficult to be better than the 3 Ducks). We actually got sheets and our own shower. It wasn't the nicest building but we felt much better. They even gave us complimentary soaps (with a price of course). Hotel Lorraine was also right next to the train station Laura and I would be leaving from. It made our 7am departure time a little less painful. After we dropped our luggage off at the hotel, we decided to go to the Moulin Rouge. I did not take and or post pictures because of the disappointment. There are no elephants and other buildings have been built up around it. It isn't my lovely Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor fantasy. I will forever live in that fantasy land and will not take pictures of the real one 😊. Oh, and the Moulin Rouge is in the red light district. Look it up if you don't know what that means. After the Moulin Rouge, we went to Quick, which is a "fast-food" restaurant. It was then time to search more for the blasted alarm clock. That journey turned up no results. We were afraid we weren't going to find one, which was somewhat worriesome with such an early departure time. After the alarm clock journey, we decided to go to the Louvre. It was about 3 when we got there and the line was about an hour wait. That would have given us only an hour in the Louvre which would have been too painful for the two art majors. The injustice in it all was that the Louvre was closed the next day for New Year's. Maybe next time we go to Paris, we will see the Louvre.
We then went back to the Hotel. Laura and Greg took a nap while I decided I was going to continue the alarm clock journey. After a few miles of walking, I found a really cheap looking alarm clock but it was our only option. I took it back feeling incredibly victorious but the other two were sleeping still. So I just laid down. When we got up it was time to eat. We decided to go to a somewhat decent restaurant, since it was New Year's Eve and all. I even bought a 2 Euro rose from a person on the street. It was at the restaurant that we ran into:
American Faux Pas #3
Demonstrated by: Greg Spangler
DO NOT MAKE LOUD NOISES IN RESTAURANTS, ESPECIALLY BANGING ON THE TABLE!
Everyone stared at us...ANYWAY.
After we left, we bought Nutella crepes and went back to the hotel for a couple hours before heading to the Eiffel Tower for New Year's. When we headed to the metro, we realized it was free. It turns out on New Years, everyone rides the metro for free. We got on the over-crowded metro and got a decent spot to watch the lighted Eiffel tower. The same guys who were selling the mini eiffel towers a couple days before were now selling bottles of champagne (it was a little sketchy). Anyway, we were standing by a group of Germans who brought their own champagne and sparklers. There weren't any fireworks by the eiffel tower due to the weather but tons of other people were setting off their own. It was an experience I will never forget.
*The Eiffel Tower is much prettier at night! Actually, all of Paris is!

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Comments

[Liz Lohse]

wow
Just wanted to say that your trip sounds amazing so far... and that I think it's funny that Greg is the only person so far on the list of American Faux Pas :D

[Malissie Jane Honey Bee]

Yeah...
FUnny yet not surprising.