Paris Take 2

Well my weekend in Paris was epic! I had a good time. We boarded the bus and left late (not surprising), and took the 3 hour bus ride to Paris. We did a tour of Paris on the bus when we got there, so I got to see all the major things that I saw last time. I enjoyed site seeing though! We arrived at the hostel, and it wasn’t that bad. I roomed with Kim and Rebecca, and we had a basic hotel room with our own bathroom and shower, which I wasn’t expecting.

My main prerogative in Paris was to go to the market, so that’s what I did. Madame Beckman told a group of us where to go, so we took like an hour long metro ride to the opposite side of the city. This market was not what I was looking for. We were in the sketchy ghetto part of Paris and the market was like that too. There was old furniture, old DVD’s, random electronics, thong underwear, and just a lot of run down items. We left after five minutes. I was peeved we had wasted so much time on the sub-par market.

Me and Hannah eventually met up with Kim and Rebecca. We headed straight to a café near the Notre Dame to take a break. Paris was SO FULL with people. It was way more crowded than last time. This weekend was a long weekend with a bank holiday on Monday, so it was annoying dealing with the crazy crowds. After our break, we headed toward Moulin Rouge. It was a lot smaller than I expected, but I am glad I got to see it. Sacre Coeur was nearby, so we wandered around town and eventually found it. That side of Paris is really nice. It is full of restaurants, bars, and cute shops, so I didn’t mind wandering around. Sacre Coeur was, of course, amazing as usual. I am glad I visited it again.

We went back to the hostel and started to drink wine the boys bought for us. The plan was to “pre drink” before our visit up the Eiffel Tower. Our reservation was for 11pm at the Eiffel Tower, so we ended up there at that time. I wish I had brought my camera because it was beautiful seeing the view of Paris at night. Before I knew it, we had to leave, and we ended up following a girl in our program to a street with bars. The street was lame and the bars were too, but we ended up at one bar with some dancing, so I danced for a while. The metros were closed, so we had to take a bus back. Somehow we figured out which one to take and got home safe and sound.

I woke up early the next morning and headed to breakfast. I ran into some people going to Versailles and decided to tag along since I knew my roomies would sleep in. A small group of us headed to Versailles, and the metro to get there took so long. I was tired from the previous night, so I napped. The metro was full, so it was crowded when we all got off. I assumed the metro would take us right to the palace, but there was a town first. We decided to buy tickets before we got to the palace and waited a while for that. I paid 16 euro for a ticket to the palace and later learned I could get in for free with my French student ID, so I am mad about that. We waited like 1.5 hours to get into the palace. The line to get in was sooooo long, but luckily, it moved pretty fast. We finally got inside, I pretty much saw everything in 45 minutes. There were hordes of crowds in there and you could barely walk, so I was glad to leave. I honestly didn’t think the palace was that amazing. It was so touristy, and I felt like I was being herded down the halls the whole time. I am glad I saw it, but I don’t want to go back again. The whole process getting there and back and the amount of people made the experience not as good as it could have been.

It was a long day, so I was glad to get back to the hostel and relax. Luckily, my roommates showed up soon after, and I was glad to see them since I hadn’t all day. We walked around the area near our hostel and bought some alcohol. We then stopped at restaurant across the street from the hostel and had dinner. I had spaghetti fruits de mer; it was good. It was nice to have a break from a sandwich and crepe haha. We then got ready and met up with some of our group and headed towards Moulin Rouge for a bar crawl we found in a brochure.

We showed up late, but somehow found the people organizing the event. You had to pay 12 euro to go to three bars and night club and you got a free shot with when you bought a drink and you didn’t have to pay the cover to get into the club. I decided to not buy into it, which ended up being a cheaper decision for me. The bar crawl was a lot of fun! All the bars had a lot of people and I met a lot of people in the group. I met some guys from University of South Carolina, which was nice to meet someone who knew where I was from. I snuck into the night club successfully so I didn’t have to pay haha. I had the most fun at the club. I just danced the entire night, which was fine by me!

Today I was just tired and didn’t want to do a lot. I ended up fowlloing people to see Jim Morrisson’s grave. We got lost but eventually found it. It was cool. I didn’t really care. I just wanted to find somewhere to sit and relax and that’s what we did. We found a little restaurant and had crepes. I had cheese, egg, and mushrooms. It took a long time but tasted so good! I love crepes so much. I wish America was more into them. We headed back near our hostel and stopped at a café for hot chocolate with extra whipped crème. That was so yummy too! We continued our food escapade and bought chocolate croissants at a bakery. The last thing I did in Paris was visit a cute, little park near the hostel. It was beautiful. I love the parks in France. They are just so pretty and right in the middle of the city!

I slept and read on the bus ride back. I am now back in my dorm. I had a good weekend. I am glad to be back and get some rest though. Tomorrow I visit SKEMA!!! I am very excited. I may get dinner downtown and visit H & M. That’s the plan at least!