At the end of the Champs Elysées, there is the Arc de Triomphe. We went and saw that also, and oh my is it huge!! I did my best, but I couldn't get it entirely into the picture frame. But we took pictures regardless and spent a good half hour just looking at it. It was six euros to go to the top, but we decided not to and instead just jumped around excitedly since we were in Paris! And of course helped other people take pictures also. It was really convenient having Eduardo there to take my pictures after I took his.
After our Arc de Triomphe adventure, we ended up running into a couple other kids that we knew and we walked a bit together, looking at Ray Ban sunglasses and going into a couple other stores like H&M. I have decided that I really want a pair of real Ray Bans. But at the end of my exchange, when I'm not broke after two weeks of traveling ;). We also got me a sandwich and went into the Disney store, only to be disappointed after finding out that it was actually just a store for babies...
We met back up with the rest of the students and made our way to our afternoon activity: La Louvre. And I must say, it is the most beautiful museum. Ever. I could spend weeks in that museum. Of course, with school we only had a couple hours, which wasn't nearly enough. But Madame Noel was our guide and she showed us around to the important things that the students needed to know about for their other classes. So we saw things like the Sphinx, the Venus sculpture, and of course the Mona Lisa. Everyone had told me not to expect much out of it and that it was small and not that awesome so I was really expecting this tiny painting, but I guess it was a good idea that everyone told me that because I still thought it was cool and really kinda creepy the way her eyes follow you... After we saw all the things that we needed to see, we had a little bit of free time to look at what we wanted. Eduardo and I walked through a couple of the Greek and Roman rooms with all the different statues. Seriously, I wish we had had a couple of days there. It was so incredible to see all the history that was in those rooms. And it's really cool and kind of weird to see the paintings and sculptures that are in all the history books and that was have studied in our classes, and then to see them in real life is kind of surreal... But I definitely loved it and would go back in a heartbeat.
After the Louvre, it was time to grab dinner and head back to the hotel. We ate in a little restaurant on a back street in Paris. We had chicken and fries and of course everyone complained about it being gross, but I thought it was fine. We had a little chocolate mousse thing for dessert also. We were all so tired though. After dinner we had a little bit of free time but then it was time to pile back on the buses and go to our hotel. On the way, all the kids started screaming and chanting, and Eduardo and I were so tired and found it pretty immature and I'm not gonna lie, we were really annoyed, especially because Madame Noel was trying to give explanations of all the things that we were passing in the process. But we ended up talking to a couple people and made a few friends. And honestly that whole phase didn't last long. Before we knew it we were being just as loud and obnoxious and them and we enjoyed ourselves! And then we saw it. The Eiffel Tower all lit up for the night. It even twinkles at one point. We stopped and got off the bus to take a couple pictures, and I was annoyed cause I couldn't seem to get a clear one. And then Eduardo and I almost missed the bus because we ventured closer to get better pictures... But we did get back on the bus and everything was ok!
Once we got to our little hotel, we were put into our rooms and I was put with a couple of girls that I didn't know at all. Of course, this didn't bother me either because at this point, being an exchange student, we are used to meeting new people and living with people we don't know. The rooms were really tiny with nothing in them except the beds and a sink and a little tiny table. There were communal bathrooms in the hallways with the toilets and showers and they were also co-ed. And kinda gross. But I don't like to complain... I washed my hair in the sink anyways.
The next morning we woke up nice and early and I attempted to shower, but the water was so hot that I couldn't put my skin under it. Somehow I managed and still got downstairs to have my free breakfast at the hotel. Nothing fancy like pancakes or anything, just some bread and jam and cereal. I had a nice conversation with a couple of Aussies though who were trying to find some cold milk for their cereal, though there was only hot milk. Then we started off for our day. We spent the morning at Versailles, which is the giant palace in Paris. It was a hot day and we had to wait outside for a while until our tickets were valid, but it was fun because we talked with the Belgians and took lots of pictures. And again, just soaking up the sun was wonderful since it doesn't seem to really exist in Belgium... Finally it was time for us to go in and we spent the morning walking through it, guided again by Madame Noel. It is so beautiful. There are rooms up on room that are painted from floor to ceiling with intricate murals and covered in gold. The sculptures and architecture are just to die for. After we went through the whole palace we got some free time on the grounds where we could just walk around. Eduardo and I walked around the entire main courtyard and took pictures, though I wish we would have had time to walk through the gardens, cause I'm sure they're gorgeous. But regardless, it was sunny and warm and the grounds are just as lovely as the palace itself.
Afterwards, we walked just a little ways from the castle to eat lunch at this little restaurant. Eduardo and I sat with a bunch of other kids outside and we had a few courses for lunch. We started off with crepes that were stuffed with a sort of cheese sauce. It was ok, but you could definitely tell that it was something boxed that they just had to reheat. The main course was a kebob of mystery meat and a potato with the same cheese sauce. Again, it was ok. We were most amused by this boy Axel and the hat that he made out of his napkin. And joking about the fact that one of the girls at the table paid three (or four I don't remember) euros for a Coke. We had chocolate eclairs for dessert also. Afterwards, we had a little bit of free time, which we spent just chilling cause we were all exhausted and it was hot. We then piled back on the buses and made our way back into the center of town to see the Grevin Wax Museum. Normally, I really don't like wax museums because I think they're creepy. But this was still cool to see. They had all kinds of figures, like George Clooney, Mika, Elton John, Elvis, Michael Jackson, Obama, etc. Eduardo and I took pictures with all of them. Which means I have a ridiculous amount of pictures with fake people... Then we had some more free time in which Eduardo and I looked for shorts for him for the voyage rhéto. We didn't find any, but he bought some sunglasses! We also had some other free time after that where we went to the Repetto store, which is the big company of dancewear in Paris. It doesn't exist outside of France at all and I just had to go there. I bought a bag for my dance things that says Repetto Paris on it! The store was absolutely gorgeous too. I would love to have the chance to go back and get my next pair of pointe shoes...
After that, it was dinner time, where we went to a buffet style restaurant, and then it was boat time. We got back on the buses and drove for a bit until we found ourselves beneath the Eiffel Tower! Again, it was lit up for night and we took pictures and video. It was the first time since we got there that all the groups were rejoined together and I saw Romane again. Then we all got on a boat for a nice little trip down the river. It was nice to just feel the wind on a nice calm boat and see the city that way. Every time we passed people sitting on the edge, they would wave to us and we would wave back. There was even one guy who made his hands in the shape of a heart and pointed at me. I of course pointed to myself asking "who, me?" and he nodded and blew me a kiss. It was cute. After the boat ride was over we went back to the hotel and settled in for a good night's sleep.
The next day was the same morning routine. We woke up and went down to the same breakfast, packed up the bus with our things and headed off towards Montmartre and Sacre Coeur. We climbed up all those steps with the people trying to sell us things left and right. There was a guy at the top playing harp music and people painting the landscape too, along with other people dressed up as statues. The whole atmosphere was really nice. We were given free time to visit the church and the other things around it. Eduardo and I went inside the church and saw that and then went back behind it to explore the little village around it. We saw some sculptures, the artists, the paintings that were everywhere. We even went all the way back down the steps to finish our souvenir shopping since everything there was cheaper. And I bought my sunglasses that I had been searching for the entire trip. And we ran back up all the steps in about 5 minutes to get to the meeting point on time. We were panting by the time we got up there, and of course nobody else was on time. But it wasn't a big deal. We amused ourselves. We then met up with everyone else and walked down into town again. We passed through the not-so-great part of town, including the celebrated Moulin Rouge. Which I thought was pretty cool. Then we met back up with the bus, went to lunch (I had Lebanese food) and after, drove some more until we reached our final big destination: Notre Dame de Paris.
Madame Noel gave us the explanations outside the church and we walked around to see the sides of it and such. It was really hot out and kind of difficult to keep the focus, but the building is just so big and beautiful, you can't help but take it all in. Then we got in the long line to go through it, but it went fairly quickly. I'm not going to lie though, the inside was much less extravagant than I imagined it to be. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful. But the other Notre Dames that I've seen just made me think there would be much more to it, especially because the outside is so intricate. Nonetheless, it was great to see. Afterwards, we had even more free time and Eduardo and I did a little shopping. We were still on the lookout for shorts for him, but no luck. However, we did find that one store that I had talked about when I went to Lille during Carnaval. Remember? I found awesome jeans there but I forgot my wallet? Well, lucky me! I found them again! And yes, I bought them. It was my last Paris purchase. Because after that we had to run back to meet the group on time. We then took a group photo and then it was back on the bus to go home. We stopped once for food, but mostly we all slept. It was a wonderful trip. We made great friends and we were singing and chanting and screaming with them by the end of it. We got back around midnight and I went home from an amazing three day trip. And I went right to bed.
Of course, after all the good, of course there must be some bad. The next day was a little hellish because I thought I had lost all 550 pictures that I had taken. I had put the memory card in my computer and downloaded all the pictures. It then asked me if I wanted to erase the card. Well I always say yes so I said yes this time too. Well then the program froze and I had to force quit. And none of my pictures were there and only a few were still on the memory card. I freaked out. I could not find these pictures or figure out how to get them back. I spent the next few hours frantically searching the internet and looking everywhere for these pictures. I even made an appointment to call Apple and figure this out. But finally I looked in a folder marked "All Images" and there they were. Among everything else. Thank God. So I was able to transfer them back into iPhoto and everything was fine. But I was having a nice little heart attack for a few hours there. And that night we had visitors who came for dinner. We had a lot of really good food and conversation, but I was so tired for the trip and I had also gotten all ready and packed to leave the next day again that I wasn't really in any of the conversation.
The next day I left for Italy. But that's for another day and another blog post. I will try to write all about that adventure tomorrow. For now, it's bedtime. Bonne nuit !
By the way, pictures will be up in a separate post I think tomorrow... I hope!
