As the title suggests, France was the only non-monarchical society I've visited - crazy how those kings are still around right?
Anyways - Paris was by far the most magnificent of the trips I was able to do, but unfortunately it was my last :(. Friday was my birthday (and now I'm finally 21!), and I arrived in Paris around 5:30, but not until after having had to fly RYAN AIR one more time.
Let's start with Ryan Air. Sure - the airline is cheap - I paid €20 to get to Paris...only I didn't go to Paris...I went to Beauvais, an airport about an hour and a half north of Paris. To get to Paris, you have to take a bus...that costs more than your flight. Also, the service is terrible, and I doubted the pilot's abilities on more than one occasion. But - what can you do when you pay €20 right? Enough about that miserable experience.
After arriving to Paris, we went to a small bistro, and I had some quiche that was out of this world. I stayed with my friend who is living literally blocks from the Eiffel Tower, and it was so beautiful. After that Richard and I met up with Derek and Ryan (and some of Derek's friends) to go out for my 21st birthday, which was awesome. Unfortunately, the metro closes somewhat early in Paris, so Richard, Ryan, and I walked back to the apartment, which was somewhat of a trek. Richard went to bed, but Ryan and I really wanted to eat. After wandering through Paris we finally found a cafe that was open at 6am. We had orange juice, hot chocolate, bread and croissants - SO AMAZING. By the time we finished it was almost 7am, so we decided sleep was overrated.
At 9am - same day (although it felt like a different day) - we went to the Louvre. The only thing I can say is that the Mona Lisa is the most underwhelming painting ever in person. You expect it to be this really awesome big painting, and it's really tiny and heavily guarded. The actually building was magnificent though. It's an old, grandiose palace that is just as magnificent as all the art in it! Ryan and I spent about an hour and a half there before we decided to go through Paris to see some things.
First we went to the Bastille. FYI - it's not there anymore, it's an opera house. If you're interested, no need to go see. Then we went up and saw where Moulin Rouge was, which was pretty cool. After Moulin Rouge we went down to the Eiffel Tower to see it by day which was pretty cool. Since we were starting to crash from lack of sleep, we just sat on a bench and watched people for a while. Always a fun activity. After a souvenir salesman on the street wouldn't stop accosting us to buy mini-Eiffel Towers, we went to grab some coffee and relocated to another part of the river. We people watched for most of the afternoon, which was tons of fun, then took two hour naps (amazing).
For dinner we all met up with Derek's friends and went to a place near the apartment. I had a croque-monsieur, which is basically a ham and cheese sandwich grilled with cheese on top. The food in Paris is absolutely amazing though - I miss it already. For dessert we got some little snacks on the Champs Elysées and hot cocoa. Since Derek and his friends had an early flight in the morning we all headed home, and I went to bed around midnight.
Sunday was my last day :(, but we still explored a little more. Unfortunately when I woke up it had started to rain. At 9:30 we headed over to Notre Dame cathedral. Since I didn't visit Westminster Abbey (very expensive to even get in) I can't compare the two, but Notre Dame was fabulous. The stained glass windows, the high gothic arches, and the giant organ made it by far the most beautiful church I've ever seen in my life. Ryan and I stayed for a mass for about 20 minutes (which was interesting) and then left. The people there were so disrespectful to the mass (since you can visit at the same time), but I guess some people are just rude. Between the rain and the 40 degree weather, we wanted hot cocoa/coffee by the time we left. We crossed the bridge (since Notre Dame is on an island in the Seine) and went to this cafe.
Best story of Paris. While we were sitting enjoying our warm drinks, I noticed a cat in the cafe. In America, I'd be disgusted - but this is Paris. The cat came over and jumped up on the bench with Ryan. It proceeded to sit there in his lap while we had our drinks! It was so precious, so we named him Pierre. If only he had a cigarette and a baret - then he would have been a true Parisian cat.
With some time to kill, we went to the Luxembourg Gardens and saw the ORIGINAL STATUE OF LIBERTY (¡VIVA AMERICA!). So cool. Then we met up with Richard for lunch in the Jewish quarter - the falafel was amazing. After lunch we wandered around Paris for a bit, until I had to make the trek back to Beauvais and then Madrid. The pilot on Ryan Air was a little less skilled than other pilots I've had, and the landing was certainly not my favorite part of the flight. Nonetheless, I'm back in Madrid and alive!
Pictures will be coming soon, but I'm done traveling now! Aside from some day trips around Madrid, I will be spending the last 4 weeks I have in Madrid. I'm somewhat excited though since I actually don't know Madrid that well yet. This weekend some friends and I are going to El Escorial, a palace about an hour outside Madrid (similar to Versailles and Paris) that is supposed to be magnificent.
¡Hasta la Próxima!
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