Paris Part 2

*This was a crazy day packed with adventures, therefore this will be a rather large post.*

The next morning, after the sleep that I so desperately needed following the long hours of international traveling, we jump started the day.

My absolute favorite thing about the hotel breakfasts were these adorable nutella packets. (+ croissants = Tastebud Heaven)

Right after eating breakfast we got on a bus that took us on a tour around Paris. Let me tell you, I never knew Paris was so huge! But what else can you expect from a city known worldwide and the capital of a country that is larger than the state of California?

Another thing that surprised me about Paris (well Europe really) was the driving. It’s crazy! People on motorcycles and mopeds squeezing through cars, everyone pushing into lanes, and hardly tapping their brakes. I thought rush hour traffic was bad and slightly scary! This is a whole other level! I think I will stick to the public transportation if I were ever in Europe for a long period of time, I don’t think I’m brave enough to try to conquer European driving (maybe one day. Key word there is maybe). And there’s also the fact that I don’t know how to drive a standard, only an automatic (American Probz).

After I got over my astonishment of the driving I focused back on our bus tour. First we stopped at the Place de la Bastille to pick up our French tour guide. Her name was Ana (maybe two N’s?). She was really quite funny and very friendly. My teacher was really impressed. He didn’t remember ever really having a guide in Paris that was as talkative and informative.

Props to you Ana if you ever see this (probably won’t, but if you do!). From there, we drove by all the main touristy places that are a must in Paris. Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens):

Walking into the Park (um er I mean Garden)

People exercising. I want to run there one day, the scenery would be really nice to distract me from the boring and painful act of running.

In case you can’t tell from all the pictures, I really like this place.

One mini Statue of Liberty (There are two in Paris)

The Louvre: The Oprah House- Palais Garnier: Place de la Concorde. Where the U.S. Embassy is located. (FELLOW AMERICANS! If you ever need to go to the embassy in Paris, remember this location!):

There was some construction going on when I was there.

Texas Embassy:

Fun Fact: The first embassy of the Republic of Texas was in this spot.

And a must, de la Tour de Eiffel!!!!

My Instagram picture where I joked “The Eiffel Tower is on point ;)” ….

Unfortunately, we did not have time to go up. 😦 Being on a scheduled tour, almost every second of our trip is allotted for something. But not going up to the top is just another reason to go back to Paris one day!

After a little short photo-op….We almost got left behind by our bus! I felt like I had just transported into the movie Monte Carlo when Grace (Selena Gomez) and her friends (played by Leighton Meester and Katie Cassidy) got left by their tour group and bus at the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, we did not run into my rich British doppelgänger, pretend to be her, and have a huge and glamorous time in Monte Carlo. Instead we waved down our bus and jumped on once the driver opened the doors.

In reality the bus had only pulled from the curb and slowly started to move a few feet, but in my drama filled head it was actually racing away.

Oh, what a wonderful adventure that would have been! *Sigh* A girl can dream.

Once we were back in our seats we drove to the Arc de Triomphe. Where again, I was amazed by the various car drivers’ capabilities to navigate the huge roundabout. The traffic just seemed to effortlessly flow without any traffic signs or lights.

And like crazy people we head into the wild mess seen above.

We dropped off part of our group that was not taking the additional trip to my summer cottage and instead were going to the Louvre.

After everyone was either safely off the bus or in their seats, the bus tucked into the roundabout traffic and we were on our way to my cottage –  *Kirsten coughs* – okay Versailles.

Again a girl can dream (BIG!).

We rolled up on the golden gates and like clowns getting out of a car we filled out of the bus. And I began giving my fellow travelers a tour of my second home. Okay, well back to reality.

Versailles is GINORMOUS!

The King’s room

The Hall of Mirrors

my The Queen’s Room

I can’t even imagine living there! (Okay, yeah I can.) The gold, the paintings, sculptures, and furniture or so elaborate and beautiful. I’ll just let the pictures do the talking.

Ooo, then let me show you my backyard!   I want to go back one day and explore more!

Our Versailles group had split up at the garden and at our designated time we met back up to get on the bus.

Below are some pictures from the drive back into Paris.

The Eiffel Tower is in the distance.

The second mini Statue of Liberty in Paris.

The bus dropped us off at the Louvre. We wanted to try to go in, but we only had 2 hours until our dinner reservation. The line would have taken too long and we were not going to be able to get in by that time.

With the limited time we had, my teacher thought it would be a good idea if we went to Notre Dame and go inside. We made the roughly 20 minute trek to Notre Dame and waited in the line. It was more like a conga line, it was moving so fast (without people holding on to each others shoulders and singing). The inside took my breath away. I had studied cathedral architecture in a classroom setting and have seen so many pictures, but I was not prepared for what I walked into.  Nothing can compare to the real thing. The colors of the stain glass windows are incredibly vibrant. It is a wonder the people back the were able to construct something as massive and well put together. Cranes and normal building tools didn’t exist. I really wish I could travel back in time and see the cathedral when it was under construction. Well it went through numerous renovations to get to the final result, but I want to see maybe one of the renovations. Also to see the people that went to the services and how the services were held.

After walking around the inside we decided to try to go up to the top of the cathedral. When we went to go find the line, excuse me, queue we were met with a string of people that wrapped down the sidewalk. We had 30 minutes to meet back up with the rest of the group and decided we did not have enough time and started on our walk back to the meeting spot at the Louvre.

From there we walked to dinner and then took the metro back to the hotel. Where after a hot shower I collapsed into bed and went to sleep with the unusually late sunset. (I did not expect the sun to still be up at 10 in the evening. Blew my mind.)

Stay tuned for more European adventures!

Us  Me truly,

Jentry

Bonjour Paris!

A few weeks ago a dream of mine was finally filled, actually a few dreams.

1. I finally traveled out of the country.

2. I finally got to go to Paris. (And a few other places that will be revealed in the next few posts.)

The day started out by dressing in really comfy clothing and double-checking (by then I’d probably checked 10 times ->paranoia at its finest) everything was packed up and in my suitcase. Then I threw my stuff in my mom’s car, jumped in, and went straight to the dentist…?

You’re probably saying, “hold up I thought this was a travel post and you’re leaving the country right now?!”

Yes, it is a travel post, but I did, in fact, go to my dentist before leaving, if I rescheduled I would have to wait six months for another appointment. My dentist is very  popular! (I have a sudden urge to tell y’all all about my dentist. I have always loved going since I was a kid, but I’ll refrain.)

Okay, so one thing y’all should know about me is that I pack everything but the kitchen sink when I travel anywhere. So, when I went to go buy a new suitcase before this trip a got a 28 inch spinner. (*pictured above*  Turns out I didn’t need that much space AT ALL. There was so much room left in my suitcase that when I opened it in Paris, everything had shifted out-of-place.)  Anyways, the reason I’m talking about my suitcase is that before we left the high school when all the luggage was being packed up in the car my teacher had joked about my luggage being huge compared to everyone else’s. But when checking our luggage in with the airline my suitcase weighed 3 pounds less than his!!!! That made my day right there. So, let that be a lesson to everyone, the size of your suitcase doesn’t reflect how much you pack, it’s the weight! (At least in this situation.)

Now back to the awesome adventures!

We hopped on our first flight to Atlanta and then onto our final flight to Paris.

 ^MOST GINORMOUS HUGEST GIGANTASAURUS plane I have EVER seen!

(it looked bigger in person- trust me)

My cozy neck pillow from the trusty bestie, Kirstie.

Thankfully, I had a window seat and when we finally arrived over France I was blessed when some amazing views.

The coast line

Gorgeous French Countryside

Once we touched down we met our driver and drove to our hotel, we met the rest of our tour group there. Our plane had landed a little after 2 pm which didn’t leave us much time that day, especially with our dinner reservation at 7. With the little time we had we went to see the outside of Notre Dame and one (of the many) love lock bridges in the area.

 There are some really elaborate locks. Some of them are engraved with names, dates, and even designs. From there we went on to dinner and a much needed sleep back at the hotel.

Us *opps* Me Truly,

Jentry