Study Abroad, Honors Program & Other Student Experiences

Last night was the paint party. Today we are in Paris!

Nov18
We made it to the rail station and to the 9AM train (sadly they wouldn’t let us use our rail cards) to Edinburgh, yes Edinburgh, where we crossed the street to the air link bus. We got return tickets and passed an occupy Wall Street campout. Soon we were at the airport where we went through security and Megan’s peanut butter was confiscated!!

We boarded the easy jet and got seats next to each other. I got the window seat! The airplane was really cold so I’m glad I brought my Primark blanket. I woke up with a kink in my neck just before we were about to land an hour and a half later.
The sun was setting in the horizon as we landed at the Charles De Gaulle airport in France. The sky was pink. It was about five French time, eleven American time, and four Scotland time. The sun disappeared rather rapidly. By the time we got our train ticket, (The lady said au revoir to me!) it was six’ o clock, and pitch black outside.

I saw a picture of a soccer ball while we were on the train and it made me miss my sister. It was a relatively short train ride to Paris where our hostel was located.

When we got off the train, I noticed it smelled funny, and everyone is wearing black.
It’s actually a lot brighter than I originally thought with all the street lights and shops. The French are cheeky.

We finally found the Vintage Hostel where we were staying, after the minor setback of walking the wrong way, then asking directions at Best Western. It is really nice there. It’s just me and Megan in our own room with a balcony!!
We got the complementary text and the emergency number is 112 here.

After settling in, our next goal was dinner. We walked up the street in search of food. Le Panorama is what we found. I tried to order an omelet with cheese and potato but he didn’t understand. It’s okay, I just ended up pointing at the menu and he got it. The seats were really comfy and it turned out to be really good. I even got bread! The egg was so light and fluffy and it was the best tasting omelet I ever had. I was so exhausted that I turned in by nine.

Nov 19
Well we didn’t wake up for Megan’s alarm so it was eight when we got up for croissants and milk provided by the hostel. (The croissants tasted suspiciously like the ones from Italy.)  Instead of feeling refreshed after eleven hours of sleep, I felt like a train wreck.
I took my first picture of the day of the metro sign and then I almost had a heart attack. The screen shows no memory card. We turned around straight back to the hostel and I ran up the cute stairs to grab the card.

At the Louvre. There are four glass pyramids. It was incredible to see. The glass was glinting in the sun and I was entranced. The museum is massive.

We strolled around the courtyard looking for the entrance and settled for the main pyramid entrance. You literally get to walk into the pyramid!

Because we study here, we were actually let in for zero euros!! That’s right free access to the museum! No eleven euros for me!

We started out in the Richelieu then moved onto Denon wing, home of the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo(Aphrodite), and Mary Magdalene!

There was a great view from the museum!

The Notre Dame cathedral is free too!! The stained glass was stunning.

I had the best lunch ever! We crossed the oldest bridge in Paris spanning Pont Neuf and got some Nutella and banana crepes!

Then we walked toward what we thought was the Pantheon, but upon further inspection, we realized that it was actually the University of Paris. Eventually we found it. It only wound up being five euros to get in. It was cool to see the gravity clock and then we chilled in the catacombs apparently Joan of Arc is burrows there. Victor Hugo was there and it made me think of Les Misérables which is the play my school did senior year.

We visited another church and it was almost as beautiful as Notre Dame with its intricate stained glass, statues, marble work and altar.

The most famous attraction in Paris came next.

We visited the Eiffel Tower and were there at five to the hour to see it sparkle. It was stunning all lit up. We took lots of photos and walked over to see the merry-go-round carousel horses that had bicycle wheels attached to them for the Tour De France.

For dinner I spotted some Belgium waffles at one of the street vendors. It was the lightest waffle I ever ate. It was absolutely amazing smothered in chocolate with a touch of powdered sugar on top yum!  What a satisfying way to end the day.

I flopped around in my squeaky hostel bed and yawned. It is Sunday, November 20th.

There are four hundred twenty two steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We took the elevator.

At the second tie, we were packed in so tightly that my back was pressed against the doors. The man behind me was gasping for air. I don’t know who was more afraid. Regardless, I let out a little yelp when the door opened, and I was momentarily unsupported. That falling sensation only lasted a second until I realized there was no where I could really go. The view was incredible. It was much less scary when we were out of the tightly packed elevator.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAqH_GODZLw&feature=related and http://youtu.be/Djy_B7OjsQc

We really didn’t have time to go see anything else so we walked up and down the main street and shopped. There were some great Christmas shops set up and it was quite fun to see what they were selling.

We saw the arc de triomphe!

We also had eclairs and did some shopping.

It’s the metro, to the plane, to the bus, to the train, to the bus, to the bus back to uni! We left France at 6:30 and it was only 7:40 when we were on the train back to Stirling. Au revoir pour maintenant!

We got really lucky too. The bus drove us all the way up to our halls so we didn’t have to lug our backpacks across the bridge!

 

^sassy?

peace out Paris<3