Wednesday
Wednesday afternoon, at 1, everyone loaded their bags into the shuttle and headed towards the train station. This was quite a change since all over school trips we just road the coach to our destination. This time they were trying something different: putting us all on trains! It actually went rather smoothly. I was a little worried, because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to walk inbetween the seats with a big backpack and a duffel bag, but I did it just fine!
We rode on the train (all 53 of us) to London's King Cross, then headed to St. Pancreas, the station which has the Eurostar. It was right across the street so it wasn't that bad of a walk, except for the fact that my shoulders, neck, and back were in major pain based on my luggage....hmm...oh well! After we checked in, went through luggage and border control, we loaded onto the train. It was already dark outside by the time we got on, so we couldn't see when we actually entered the chunnel. Apparently it really isn't a big deal anyways, so no worries.
We made it to our hotel in Paris a little after 9. We did have a small snag in our traveling though. As soon as we got to the train station in Paris, the coach that was supposed to pick us up never showed. Dr. Kingsley called to hotel, they said to wait like 30 minutes but he said no, so they bought us all metro tickets and we used it. Good thing our hotel was right outside one of the metro station!
Meghan and I were rooming together, so we got our key to 504...which was all the way to the top. We had to go out a spiral staircase. Shocker there. Europeans certainly love their spiral staircases. What seemed like a mile hike up millions of stairs with heavy luggage, we finally made it to our spot! Our room was quaint and cute. I opened the window (which opened all the way, not just a small little slit) and looked out on the streets of Paris! The stars were out, and it was a good night.
Everyone was hungry, so a few of us met downstairs in the lobby and set out on a mission to find food. It was weird, basically every place we passed was still open even though it was past 9. So, we stopped at a little pizzeria place. The guy was very nice and met us outside the door, and brought us in. Of course the menu was all in French so most of us had no idea what we were getting. Jessica, Chelsea, and I shared a margherita pizza, and it was pretty good. Some other people got pasta or calzones. The guy that served us knew a little english which was very helpful. He truthfully told us that he used to hate Americans until Obama was elected. Then proceeded to stick his fist in the air and chant "Obama, Obama!" It was rather comical if you ask me.
Everyone was pretty tired, so we headed back to the hotel, which was just around the corner. Basically everyone came up to mine and meghan's room because if we had to suffer climbing up stairs, then so did they. Hehe! But we just lounged around, listened to music, etc. It was relaxing. Finally everyone left and we went to sleep.
Thursday
Meg and I woke up about 8, got ready and headed down to breakfast. We were the last ones there, which was typical. I had chocolate cereal, because it was sugary and we don't get that luxory in England. It's usually all bran and stuff like that. I also ate a croissant, which I have grown to love and don't even eat with butter or jelly! They are magnificent all by themselves! By 10, (I little bit of a late start) we had everyone: Meghan, Jessica, Sara, Adrienne, Chelsea, Robb, Chris, Adam, Daniel, and myself. There was a group of 10 of us...which can be good and bad at times.
Our main priority of the day was to see the Eiffel Tower. But were also going to buy the 2 day museum pass which would get us into over 60 different attractions. We got on the metro, found our stop and wandered around for a minute. We saw the tower from a distance which was really cool and we got really excited. But, we decided to go to the military museum first and then enjoy lunch under the Eiffel Tower.
We bought the museum pass at the military museum and wandered around. We were able to see Napolean's Tomb which was huge and pretty cool. I was more fascinated by the woman restoring the marble flooring though. A tomb is a tomb! But I did enjoy it. Next, we went into the actual museum part. We got to look at all the stuff about the french and the wars they'd been through. I became fascinated with the French language. So, whenever they had it written in French with English right next to it, I'd try to read the French (and check to see how wrong I was on the English part). I learned a few words and got fairly decent at reading French by the end of it. Unfortunately, I was taking quite a long time going through the exhibits because I was reading it so slowly that I was forced to hurry up through the exhibits I really wanted to read: World War I and World War II. But I did get to see some which was okay.
We'd lost Adam at some point during all this, so we waited outside for him for a little while. We had no idea where he went though and a few people were ready to leave. Finally he showed up and everyone started yelling (not a mean yell, more of an "where the heck have you been" type yell). But we pressed on, because it was lunch time, we were hungry, and we wanted to see the Eiffel Tower!!
Walking down the path, the that huge tower right in front of you feels so surreal. It almost looks like it's a photo...that it's not really there. We all took a few pictures with us standing in the middle of the park, with it behind us. There was a huge protest going on right int he middle of the park. We weren't sure what it was though. They had a herd of sheep running across the lawn, it was actually kinda funny. Except we got in the middle of all the crazy people and tried to book it out of there.
We found a little stand that served food and decided it was the best place to eat. I got a cheese and tomato bagette, which was very tastey. While ordering it, the guy taking my order started teasing me. He also kept calling me "baby" which was kinda weird but I just laughed because he was pretty funny. After ordering my food, he asked me a question which I responded "Yes, I mean si, I mean oui!" and my face blushed. Spanish....seriously?! The guy started laughing at me and teased me about not giving me back my money and saying that I really didn't order anything. Finally he let me have it and I stood off to the side.
I'd noticed these two guys next to us were kinda looking at us and they were speaking English. Of course I found one to be rather attractive... Haha! Finally the frenchman that took my order gave me my food (after a few more "baby's") and I went to sit down next to all my friends at the little tables and chairs that were in front of the stand. The two guys had sat down next to us and we all started up a conversation. They were Australian, and their accents were amazing! Adam asked about their lingo and they started telling him about the word "mate" and stuff like that. It was actually rather interesting.
Then, at one point, I noticed everyone was staring at me and I was like "What is on my face?" thinking that I had a long strand of cheese dangling off my chin and making a fool out of myself. No one said anything and I turned my head and jumped. Low and behold that french guy had his face right next to mine, trying to scare me. Well it worked, I started laughing and he did too, then hopped back over to his stand. It was ridiculous! Then I went to throw away my trash and he jumped out from behind the trashcan to scare me more. I swear, this french guy was not letting up. And he wasn't in his 20s or anything, more like mom's age. No offense mom... :)
After the Australians left (who were here for remembrance day because they were in the military) and the french guy had chanted "America" a few times, we proceeded to walk towards the Eiffel Tower. We walked through a huge mob of protesters dressed in green. We could only guess they were tree huggers or something. They had pickets of trees and various other things. So, we pushed through them and finally made it underneath the tower. The line to go up wasn't too bad, so we all got in line. This Asian guy that was in front of us kept turning around and pointing at Meghan and Adrienne. He kept telling them to smile then would take their picture. They kept shaking their heads No, and then finally Chris stepped in and said no photos. It was funny but a little creepy at the same time.
After I paid my 12 euros, so I could actually go to the very top, we crammed on the little elevator. Jess is terrified of heights, so she didn't look out, everyone else basically had their faces plastered to the glass to see us move higher than the rest of Paris. We made it to the second landing, and had to switch elevators. There we met Chris Wilson and Kelly, and went to the top with them.
The view from the top was absolutely amazing. Plus, we picked the perfect day to do it: blue skies, sunny, not very chilly. Everything I wanted to see in paris, I could see from up there: The Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, the military museum I'd seen that morning, Notre Dame, etc. It was a lot of fun. We all took pictures and crowded the small walking spaces, but we didn't care. Jess didn't stay at the top long, just long enough to get her picture to prove she'd been that high, then went back down. Chelsea went back down with her. We stayed at the top a little longer and then headed to the second level. There was a small gift shop and we all bought mini eiffel towers, because we are cool like that. Then we took a few more pictures and headed back down to meet up with Chelsea and Jess. We took the stairs down from the second level though. That way we could see more as we went down.
Once we got down, Chris, Chelsea and Daniel took off to the building across the street because apparently Hitler had posed there with the Eiffel Tower in the background. The history maniacs that they are wanted the same pose as Hitler....retards. Anywho, we followed them and just lounged around waiting for them to return. then we took off walking down the street. We wanted to see Notre Dame and the Louvre. Unfortunately, none of us really took into consideration how far of a walk it was so we just kept walking for what felt like miles. Jessica really had to use the bathroom but we couldn't find any so she was getting frustrated.
We finally reached a point where we could either continue walking to Notre Dame or go into the Louvre. I really wanted to see Notre Dame, but was unfortunately outvoted, so we all headed towards the Louvre. As soon as we got there, the place was closing. But we were able to run inside and see the Mona Lisa and a few things of Picasso before getting kicked out. The Mona Lisa...hmm...what is the big deal? It's not even that big! Anywho.
By the time we got outside, it was already pitch black and it wasn't even 6 yet. We rushed back to the hotel though becaus we were meeting Jon Harvey and Nick Hibbeler there (who were just arriving that day because they did it independently). Once we made it back, met up with everyone, all the girls went and "primped" by putting on deoderant haha. Anywho, our group had grown to 12 and we wanted to go to Hard Rock. The walk was long, too long, to reach it. Once we got there everyone started complaining about the prices. I didn't care though. It was my dad's birthday and I wanted to treat myself. Everyone left and Jess (who is broke) was frustrated that no one could make a decision and stormed into Hard Rock and said whoever wanted to eat with her could. I followed her, so did Meghan and Daniel.
After we got our seats, Jon Harvey showed up and asked if he could join us. Everyone wanted a drink (minus Jon) and decided to pay a little extra for the big glasses that we got to keep. And, we all had coupons that if we bought a main dish then we could get free dessert. So, we did that as well. I ended up having some kind of drink called the Hurricane which was very good, my main dish was some kind of macaroni and grilled chicken (which was amazing!) and then I had my ice cream sundae to end it all. The meal was 30 euros....expensive!! BUT I don't regret it. It was a fun night, our waiter was really nice (but had his shirt unbuttoned to his belly button with a very hairy chest....not so good).
We paid, and headed back to the hotel where we were meeting up with everyone. Jessica had bought me a Mango Breezer because I'd been wanting to try once since I got to England but haven't had the chance to...so she surprised me with one of those. Everyone was in Robb and Chris's room, drinking their cheap wine and having a good time. The original plan was to go to the Eiffel Tower that night and watch it sparkle and lit up. But, ,everyone changed their minds and said we should just go the next time, which made me a little upset. Like I said, it was Dad's birthday and I wanted that day to be perfect. I told Jess I still wanted to go. Being the best friend that she is, told them that we were still going and to come to come. Chris asked Jess why I wanted to go so bad, and she told him and so he came along as well. Our group turned out to be me, Jess, Adrienne, Chelsea, Meghan, Chris and Daniel. It was a good group and Iwas glad they decided to come.
We ran as soon as we got off the metro because it was supposed to sparkle every hour for 5 minutes. Well, it was 10:55 and we needed to rush over there to see it! Thank goodness it hadn't started by the time the Tower was in our view. We just saw a huge, blue tower. Walking closer, it started sparkling and it was so amazing!! We ran closer and plopped down in the park, on the concrete because the grass was wet. We sat and enjoyed it. Then we all got up and started taking pictures, jumping, kissing each other's cheeks doing the european thing, you know.
Then we decided to walk underneath and to the other side, because there were stars in a circle on the outside. They were yellow and stood out against the rest of the blue. We waited for midnight to see it sparkle again, then rushed back to the hotel because it looked at 1am. Once we got back, I laid in bed and passed out!
Friday
Well, this was the day me, Adrienne, Daniel and Meghan decided to go see the Palace of Versailles. Everyone else preferred to see museums, so we split up. It wasn't too difficult to find the direction there. I did ask a guy what we needed to do in the metro station and he was very rude saying I didn't need to ask him questions that I just needed to tell him how many tickets I needed. Made me a little angry, but whatever.
We hopped on the train, about half an hour later we were in Versailles. We just followed the signs and we found it! There weren't as many people there as I'd imagined, thats for sure. The firt thing I noticed were the gold gates. Not real gold of course...haha. But we went up to it and took pictures (after getting in for free with our museum pass). There was also something strange in the middle of the courtyard...a big green thing. I read the sign and it said it was an inflatable green flower. Come to find out, Versailles was full of these modern art sculptures by Jeff Koons. It made me a little angry because I wanted to enjoy the magnificance of the palace but instead I just saw these weird pieces of art smack in the middle of the room. You'll see in the pictures.
Anywho, we wandered around it was really interesting. The hall of mirrors was pretty cool actually. Then we went outside to the gardens which was my favorite. The landscaped was sculpted into all sorts of designs and patterns. The grass was still very green even though it was the middle of November. Of course all the fountains were turned off and the pretty white sculptures were covered...but we still enjoyed it.
We walked down to the little cafe they had, and ate lunch. I had chicken nuggets and french fries. It was very tasty! After we paid, we decided to walk back to the palace and leave. We stopped at a few souvenir places on the way so I get some shotglasses to go with my collection. Then we hopped back on the train and came back to Paris.
When we got back, we jumped immediately on the metro and booked it to Notre Dame. We wanted to get that in that day since we could go up in the towers for free with our Museum Pass. First we walked through the actually church and it was gorgeous. Unfortunately it was overcast and started sprinkling while we were in line. But we didn't move, we were determined to go to the towers! Even after reading the brochure that said it was 400 stairs, we didn't falter. I was a little worried..being out of shape and all...haha! But when they let us go through, we started out slow, up the spiral stairs. It took a few minutes to get up there but it wasn't as bad as I thought. but then again, we didn't go up the 400 all at once. We got off at the first landing, which was still pretty high. From there we could see the gargoyles around the edges which were pretty cool. They aren't what I would consider gargoyles which made it even better!
Then we got in another line which took us up to the very top which was cool as well. I didn't realize people could go to the very top of the towers, I always thought you could only go to that first landing we went to. So I was pretty happy to go up there. Then we had to go down 400 stairs, which became very monotonous and dizzying. It became just a continuous motion, going down spiral stairs that sometimes I found myself forgetting if i actually stepped down onto the next step! So, i just held onto the railings incase I lost my footing. We were supposed to meet everyone back at the hotel at 6:30, so we headed back. Meg and I collapsed on our beds as soon as we returned and didn't even go downstairs to meet everyone, we just figured Daniel and Adrienne would get them. But they came up to our room a little after 6:30 and said no one was down there. It wasn't long until Jessica came up and tried to scare us.
Everyone was hungry, so our group of 10 decided to head back out for dinner. Jessica was really frustrated at this point with some members from her group and was tired of making decisions for everyone. We looked at a few prices for places. Some people went to a restaurant with different kinds of pancakes, etc, but me, Daniel, Jess and Adrienne walked a little further and ate at a little cafe. The people were very nice. I ate a nice big burger and it was so good. I'd not had a hamburger in a long time so it was a nice treat!
After everyone ate, we walked back to our hotel and didn't do anything else for the remainder of the night. Originally we were going to go back to the Louvre since it didn't close til 9:45 on Fridays, but we were too exhausted. So, we all just relaxed in my room until everyone was too tired to move and we went to sleep.
Saturday
This was originally our relaxing day. We woke up, got breakfast, and then the 10 of us started the day by going to the Catacombs. When we got underneath the city, at first I didn't see what was so great about it. It looked like we were just walking through empty tunnels. Woo hoo... But then we entered into the areas with all the bones. Bones. Everywhere. Packed on top of each other, creating the walls I walked between. They even used skulls to make designs in the walls.
A few of us barely touched the bones with our fingers, just to verify they were real. It was crazy!Then of course, we always have a disrespectful person that does something stupid with the bones. Sara decided to pick up a bone from the top of the pile and start chanting and acting stupid. I got mad at her because that was someone's bone that died. I don't know how they died, but I'd be pissed if someone did that to one of my family members remains.
We just kept walking, what felt like forever. Bones and bones. Millions of bones, everywhere. I felt like it would never end. When we came out finally, we were in a completely different part of town. It was wild. But our next stop was Sainte-Chapelle. It was a cathedral built in the medieval period that was known for it's beauty and stainglass. After paying to get in, I realized why everyone came. The bottom chapel was alright. It wasn't much different from the other ones I'd seen, but then I went upstairs. It was amazing! Stainglass, everywhere. The windows told the story of Christ. We all just sat down in one spot and stared at the windows, trying to make out which part of the story it was trying to describe. All I could think was what that place looked like when the sun was shining right through all the colors.
Not all of us went in, Adam, Robb, and Sara decided to get a little snack while we were in the church, so when we came out, we met up with them. Everyone else was hungry so we hit up the first little cafe we found which served pizza. Oh gosh, it had to be the most amazing pizza i've ever had! It was fabulous. So we all sat on a bench on the side of the road and ate our lunch, enjoying Paris.
Some of the girls wanted to split up and do a "girls day" but these boys just would not leave us alone! Which isn't always a bad thing, especially since we were in a foreign city. But c'mon!! We walked around a little bit, and went to buy our tickets for the boat ride we were planning to take that night at 9. Everyone was starting to get very frustrated because no one was telling anyone what they actually wanted to do. I kinda wanted to wander around paris and do some shopping like that. And they knew that...because me and Jess had discussed lounging around and kinda shopping. However, tensions grew and the Jess got really frustrated and just took off. Everyone followed her. She was trying to find a mall to make Sara happy because apparently she really wanted a mall. I thought Jess was mad at me and I was already having a bad day. I ended up crying in the middle of the mall until me and Jess talked and she told me it had nothing to do with me. Petty stuff yes....but keep in mind this was a bad week for me to begin with!
Jess took control of the situation and said that we were all splitting up because the big group thing just wasnt working. So, Robb and Sara went some place, Daniel and Chris went to the Aquarium, Chelsea and Adrienne went to try to find one of Chelsea's friends that was studying abroad in paris, and so that left just me, Meg, Jess and Adam. All of us cheered up almost instantly.
My group decided we wanted to see the Arc de Triomphe, so we headed in that direction. We actually met Robb and Sara there but we didn't hang out with them. We did our own thing, and they did theirs. We took some pictures, then went into a few stores for souvenirs.
We got bored with that rather fast since everything was so expensive. Meg and I wanted a little compact mirror but couldn't find any less than 9 euros, so Jess took us back to the Notre Dame to a souvy place that had them for only 4.50. So, we bought a few things and then headed back to the hotel. We were meeting back at 6:30, so we could all go eat dinner together and then go to our night time boat ride.
Chelsea and Adrienne never showed, so we went on to dinner, because they knew where to meet us. Everyone dressed up pretty nice. The girls in skirts or dresses and the boys in button up shirts. We ate at the pizzeria place we ate on the first night there. It was really good. I got a calzone and ate the whole thing even though it was huge. But it was well worth the feeling of satiety. Adrienne and Chelsea finally showed up, ate real quick, and then we all headed back out to Pont Neuf (port 9), where our little boat was leaving from. Sara was the only one not going.
Jess and I got an ice cream when we got on the boat, because we get ice cream all the time! We ran to the top of the boat and sat at the very front, so we could see everything. It was chilly, but we didn't care. Everything was lit up nice and pretty. We got to see the Notre Dame lit up and the Eiffel Tower, which is always fun. Then we all decided to take pictures. Yes, that's right. We were THAT group. The loud group that is always laughing, jumping around, making scenes. But hey, it was our last night there, AND we had to live up the reputation of loud Americans...haha! We even got mooned a few times by people standing on the sides. That was hilarious, seeing pale french butts.
When the cruise was over (about an hour later), people wanted to get some crepes one last time. So, we found a little stand that sold them. I tried my first one with Nutella which was pretty good. The bottom had way too much nutella so I gave the rest to someone else. Then, we all headed to Moulin Rouge. the guys came with us because it was supposed to be a shady part of town.
There were tons of people there, walking around. We took pictures and then noticed that Jon Harvey and Bonnie were there! So we talked to them for a few minutes. Jess and Meghan jumped up on this little air blower thing, so they had to hold their dresses/skirts down so they didn't flash everyone. It was hilarious. Everyone wanted to go back to the Eiffel Tower, but Iwas tired so I wanted to go back. Daniel, Adam, Robb, and Jess decided they'd go back to the hotel with me.
Daniel and Jess hung out in my room for a little while, until Meg got back. Apparently I fell asleep with my laptop on my lap and my hand on the mouse. Thank God Meghan didn't take a picture of me, that would have been terribly embarrassing! Instead she very nicely took my computer and put it on the desk...hehe!
Sunday
We didn't rush to wake up on Sunday because we weren't leaving to head back home until 11:45, which is the latest I have ever left to come home. So, we ate breakfast then came back upstairs to pack. There was a little board in our room, shaped like a triangle which came off the wall, and there were a lot of people that had signed it and written messages. So, me and Meg did it too. We found one from Harlaxton, turned out they were friends of Jessica's from Wisconsin...it was pretty funny.
Side note: One day come back into the room, the metal part that attaches to the door at the top, unscrewed and fell off. We had no idea how it happened. But then our door wouldn't close on it's own, because that was the piece that pulled the door shut! So that got kinda annoying. I was afraid we'd be charged for it, but the lady was relaly nice about it.
Anywho, returning to Sunday. We all loaded up at 11:30 into the coach and it took us to the eurostar station. Soon enough we were loaded onto the train and were on our way back to England. I fell asleep for a little while, and apparently started twitching...at one point I kicked Jess in the leg, which I find pretty funny. When we got back to London, we walked back to King's Cross and waited for our train. Me and Adrienne saw a group of 4-5 people signing. For like 6 or 7 minutes we stared intently trying to understand what they were saying. Unfortunately British sign language and American sign language are completely different. (we also saw some french deaf people while in paris, which as sign language very similar to american). Before we could get their attention to try to make conversation, they left. So we were a little bummed about that.
An hour later, we were back in Grantham. All in all the trip was a lot of fun, minus the frustration that was always present while traveling with 10 people. But we managed. I would love to go back and see more museums like the Louvre, even though I'm not a big museum person. It was a good trip! This weekend, I'm not going anywhere. We have a Date Auction and Costume Ball on Friday, then we're having a movie night on Saturday. Trying to rest up for the last 2 trips of the year!!
Sorry it was so long...
Hope everyone has a good thanksgiving! Love you.
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