Adventures, Life Lessons and Pastries - French Style

Wow. These last few days have been some of the most amazing of my entire life! And it’s probably going to take me a few pages to tell you all about it, but hang in there – it’s gonna be a good story.

My and Lauren’s trip to Paris began on Wednesday, February 10. We got up, got on the bus to San Sebastian, and did our best to forget about how much school we were going to be missing. Our excitement was mounting all the way to the Euskotren station, where we boarded the TOPO train to Hendaye. We knew our trip was off to a good start when we got to the station without trouble and hopped on the next train, which left approximately five minutes after we got to the station. After a few stops at stations that had unpronounceable Basque names, we were excited to be across the French border in Hendaye! We got to the TGV train station with over two hours to spare. It got a little boring after a while, but we just read Cosmo (in Spanish!) and decided that we would far rather have to wait than be rushing to make our connections. Finally, our train to Paris arrived, and after a bit of confusion as to which direction we needed to go, we were sitting on our train car, brimming with excitement. We were the only ones in our car for a while (it was a smaller one, the kind with seats that face each other with tables in between), so we were naively holding onto the dream that we would have the car to ourselves for the trip. Alas, it was not to be – we made a few stops and the car filled up pretty quickly. But the two most attractive men in the car sat across from us, so we decided we were okay with it :-P

Five hours later, we were starting to get a little stir crazy, and were more than ready to stretch our stiff knees and find our hostel. When we got to the train station, we found out that it connects right to the metro, and since we’d written down the metro line and stop beforehand, we went to buy a book of ten metro tickets and got onto our line. We had to ask for help to find the street that our hostel was on, but a really nice lady showed us where it was on her map and we found it with no trouble after that. And we found out that it was really close to the metro stop, which proved to be super convenient for the rest of the trip. That night we pretty much just checked in and got settled, did some journaling, and went to bed. The hostel itself was pretty good – a little old and the beds were reeeeally shaky (though comfy), but the amenities were nice, and it met all of the needs we had there – but our roommates that night were a little interesting; it was us and three guys. They didn’t seem scary, but we chose the top bunks, slept with our luggage on our beds, and told them that we were from Canada (a tip we heard from my parents – a good way to steer clear of the stigma of being an American in France), just to be safe. Ironically, two of the guys in the room, who were the first people we used our Manitoba ruse with, were actually from Canada in real life. Thankfully, though, our cover was never blown. And all three men moved on the next day, which we were glad for, especially since the third dude decided it would be a good idea to stay in the shower room for two hours. I kid you not. This necessitated our use of the extremely tiny showers downstairs, but whatever. They were hot, at least.

The next morning, we were off on our first day of Parisian adventures! After a fantastically starchy breakfast at the hostel, we headed off to la Fontaine de Saint-Michel (a cool fountain with a statue of Saint Michael stomping on Lucifer) for our free tour at 11. We found it in time (after asking for help again) and were excited to see that Kristen and Lise were already there, waiting with the accumulating group. After a long day of travelling to a new city, it was great to see some familiar faces! While we waited, we talked with some of the other people in the group and made friends with a Chinese girl named Quay (I think this is the correct spelling…it’s pronounced Hway, in any case). Pretty soon our tour guide, an extremely cool and energetic British dude named Colin, gathered us up and introduced himself, and then we were off to explore Paris. He showed us Notre Dame, the river Seine, the Palace of Justice (one of the only places in Paris which bears bullet scars from WWII), the Jardin de Toulleries (gorgeous fountains and statues), the Egyptian obelisk (don’t remember the name of the courtyard it was in, but it stands in the place where they used to guillotine people during the revolution), the fountain into which Anne Hathaway throws her cell phone at the end of The Devil Wears Prada (my To-Do-When-I-Get-Home list now includes re-watching that movie), the president’s house, and several statues and other buildings along the way. We also saw the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe looking all foggy and mysterious in the distance (it was snowing for much of that day). And we even got to stop for a lunch break at Starbucks! It was so nice to warm up and eat one of the seemingly endless sandwiches that my host mom packed for me (seriously, this woman is awesome), and I had the best vanilla latte that I have ever had. In my life. Seriously.

Our fantastic tour ended at the famous street Champs d’Elysées, so Lauren, Kristen, Lise, Quay, and I decided to head down it toward the Arc de Triomphe, which is at the end of the street. Since the Arc de Triomphe is so big, we thought it was a lot closer than it actually was. Thankfully, Champs d’Elysées is one of the most famous places to shop in the entire world, so there were plenty of stores to check out along the way, even though we were afraid to touch anything, because this street is also known for selling the creations of some of the world’s most well-known designers. It was so cool to see places like Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabana, etc. Finally, we made it to the end of the street and got to the Arc de Triomphe. It was stunning with its amazing stone architecture. And the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, whose place is marked by the Eternal Flame, was definitely worth seeing. It didn’t take us long to see all there was to see here, though, so we headed down the other side of Champs d’Elysées (at which point Quay left the group and continued on to meet a friend) and stopped in the McDonald’s for a while to warm up and eat again. McDonald’s is way ritzier in Paris than in Minnesota, let me tell you. They even sell beautiful French pastries and fancy coffee!

After that, we headed to a souvenir shop (these are everywhere in Paris) that Lauren and I had liked the looks of earlier. It took us a while to find it again, but find it we did, and we bought a few things to take home. Next, we headed to the Musée d’Orsay, which holds many realist and impressionist paintings, some by none other than Van Gogh, Monet, and Renoir. We’d found out that this museum is open until 9:45 on Thursdays, so we decided it would be a good way to end the day. We were right – we had been getting colder and crankier by the minute at that point (or maybe that was just me…), so seeing the beautiful paintings and statues in a serene and gorgeous atmosphere was just what we needed right then. We loved the paintings and had a good time taking pictures of ourselves doing silly poses in front of the artwork. People probably thought we were crazy, but it was great fun and we were beyond caring at that point. We had to take our minds off of our aching feet somehow!

After the museum, we all headed back for some much-needed dinner. We were having trouble finding somewhere to eat that didn’t cost an arm and a leg at that time of night, and Lauren and I eventually ended up heading back to Saint-Michel, since we remembered seeing another McDonald’s there and decided that hamburgers and fries sounded like the most delicious thing in the world right then. When we got to Saint-Michel, we couldn’t remember where exactly the McDonald’s was, but we went in the direction that looked familiar. Just when we were despairing of its existence, we turned the corner, and there was McDonald’s, gleaming brightly in front of us! That was a beautiful moment. I can honestly say that I’ve never been more excited to see a McDonald’s in my entire life! We exclaimed for joy and went in. I ordered a burger, fries, a coke, and a salad (Not having had vegetables in a good 24 hours, the salad may have been my favorite part). And oh man, it was heaven. We even went back for round two, at which point I ordered a cheeseburger and a McFlurry Definitely the most delicious McDonald’s experience of my life! We spent a good bit there, and it may be sort of lame to eat at McDonald’s in France, but we regret nothing!! So with our tummies happy and our feet about ready to fall off, Lauren and I headed back to the hostel to rest up for another big day. To our further delight, we found out that our new roommates – a guy and a girl from Portugal, a girl from South Korea, and another guy from I don’t know where who are all studying English in the UK – were really nice, and that we didn’t need to worry about a thing in that department. What a blessing!

The next morning, we got ready for another big day. After grabbing some extra bread at breakfast to make sandwiches with (we had to be sneaky about it because the server lady didn’t like the fact that we were taking more. But then we saw a bunch of other people with multiple bread rolls and then we decided to stop worrying about it), we headed to the metro once again. Our first stop was the Louvre, which we got into for free because we’re studying in the European Union! So fabulous. Anyway, the Louvre was without a doubt my favorite part of the entire trip. I can’t imagine that there is a bigger or more beautiful museum in the world! They say it would take 64 days to see everything there is to see in the Louvre, and it’s chock full of everything from realist paintings to statues to Egyptian archeological finds. We’d had our fill after a couple of hours, though – one can only absorb so much at once, even when it’s something as fantastically gorgeous as the Louvre. But we saw so many wonderful things, my favorites of course being Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and the one and only Mona Lisa. My other favorite part was the ceilings – they’re full of beautiful paintings and sculpture that defy description. We also both loved a room that was full of statues – the ceiling was mostly glass and it let in the most beautiful sunlight. The serenity of the beautiful white marble statues and the quality of the light made our hearts happy :-)

After finishing up at the Louvre and having a quick lunch, we headed off to Notre Dame. I was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed at this point, and rather unnerved by the…interesting…people one sees on the streets of Paris, so I had a hard time absorbing it, but it was very beautiful. The pipe organ and stained glass windows were so gorgeous! I tried to take pictures, but like most photos, they don’t do any justice to the real thing.

After that we headed to the neighborhood around the Eiffel Tower. I was starting to run out of steam, but we got some delicious pastry at a patisserie and some coffee at Starbucks, and that helped to perk me up a bit. We did a little planning there and then explored the area a little. We were happy to see that the neighborhood had an Ed, which is apparently the cheapest grocery store chain in Paris – we decided we would definitely be coming back there later, since we were running low on bocadillos (sandwiches).

When we were done looking around, it was time to climb up the Eiffel Tower! We waited for a while to buy our tickets and then began the ascent – we decided to take the stairs and save a few euro. It was frigid outside (not so bad by Minnesota standards, but it doesn’t feel too nice when you’re out in it for a long time and are a couple hundred meters above the ground), so the walk up was pretty arduous before long. We were chilled to the bone and our legs were noodles by the time we got back down, but it was worth the view and the experience. We even got to see a beautiful sunset from the 2nd floor!

We then took a few great pictures and headed back to the neighborhood we’d been in before to do a little shopping before the tower’s light show. We got some provisions at Ed (along with copious amounts of French chocolate), stopped at a cute store or two, and looked around for a place to eat after the light show. And we learned that you shouldn’t take too long looking at the menu of a restaurant outside, because a waiter might sneak up behind you and stare you down, wondering what kind of weird foreigners are loitering in front of his restaurant. Anyway, we got back to the Eiffel Tower a little before 8:00 to wait for the show. By this time, I had absolutely nothing left. I was cold, tired, and dreadfully homesick. For some reason, as I was sitting there I felt a desperate need to go home – to my real home, not Pamplona – and see my family, and knowing that I couldn’t do that just made the feeling worse. But thankfully Lauren was there to give me a hug and remind me that this isn’t going to last forever – there may be homesick moments, but we’ll be home again before we know it so we need to enjoy this time while we have it. Anyway, the light show finally started, and it was gorgeous and blessedly short. After a few minutes of watching lights race up and down the tower, we left to get our frozen bodies into a restaurant. We had some delicious pizza with ham and mushrooms, which left us feeling a lot better. By the time we got back to our hostel, I was ready to fall over…I don’t remember a time when I was more exhausted. It was an incredible day, but boy, did I sleep well that night!