Weekend in Paris ♥

Kenny and I on the river right outside of Notre Dame!

A crucifix in Notre Dame...

I just love this photo... The stained glass in Notre Dame was incredible!

Notre Dame!!!

Bonjour! What can I say, Paris stole my heart! It was everything I had hoped for and so much more. Kenny and I both arrived at the Charles de Gaulle Airport on Thursday night... While waiting for his plane to arrive I finished the first Twilight book and it was AMAZING! By the time his plane landed the trains had stopped running so we kind of got swindled into take a cab... luckily we were able to share it with some Australian guy. Still, it was about 60€; that is a lot of money! The cab dropped us off right in front of the Eiffel Tower, it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen! As we pulled up it was illuminated and shining so brightly; I was in awe. We got out of the cab and headed towards the hotel, and, as if the Tower wasn't amazing enough already, a light show started and there were thousands of blinking strobe lights sparkling all over it.

Kenny, being the sweet boy he is, took it upon himself to find us the most amazing place to stay. We were about a 10 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower at Hotel Ideal. It was perfect. We decided to hit the hay almost immediately. The next day we got up and went to lunch at this cafe across the street from our hotel. Nobody spoke English but they were so friendly. Kenny and I both decided at that moment to try and learn as much French as possible while we were there. (I kind of became obsessed and now I really want to learn French!) Anyway we just pointed to the first thing on the menu and ordered! YUMMY!!!! That definitely set the standard for food for the rest of the trip, and I promise you, French cuisine does not disappoint, EVER!

Next was our first bout with the Paris Metro... I so wish we had good public transportation back home! We were headed for the Catacombs. We got off at the right stop and walked in a gigantic circle around a little town square trying to find the right street to turn down... little did we know, we were circling the entrance the entire time. Upon realizing this, we found a sign on the door that informed us we were about 10 minutes too late for the last entrance of the day. However, we didn't fret... we headed straight for Notre Dame. How AMAZING!!!!! The ceilings were incredible and everything inside was just so incredibly beautiful! Afterwards we were hungry, so we stopped by a little cafe and had some coffee and our first crepe! Delicious! Then we headed to Le Louvre. I can not even begin to describe the grandeur of this museum. Kenny told me that he read it is the largest museum in the world; I believe it! Just imagine the largest building you can think of and multiply it by 20... that may be close! I am not kidding, it was HUGE! It is home to the famous Louvre pyramid and Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Everything inside was insanely amazing! I was practically in shock! After it closed we headed towards home and grabbed a cheap bite to eat... our new FAVORITE, paninis! We went straight to bed after because we were exhausted!

The next morning we woke up and sought after the Catacombs for a second time. Apparently a long time ago the cemeteries in France were a main source of disease so all dead bodies were extracted from the ground and moved to the Catacombs. They go 60 meters into the ground and lie below the Metro, sewer, and water lines. Basically its just massive amounts of bones stacked along paths for the public to view. There were wall to wall bones; femurs and skulls stacked about 6 feet tall encased other bones against the walls... Very cool! From there we headed to Montmartre which is a famous neighborhood that houses the Sacre-Coeur, a huge cemetery, and the Moulin Rouge. While we were walking down the streets a parade broke out that was very cultural. I think my favorite sight of the trip was the Sacre-Coeur... its the huge white church in the pictures. Unfortunately no photos were allowed inside the building. Because on the ceiling was a gigantic mosaic of Jesus and the saints... It was probably the size of half a football field and was literally one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. The amount of time it must have taken to create such a masterpiece just blows my mind. We also had my favorite crepes of the trip in Montmartre... they had nutella, banana, and whip cream on them, can you say yummy?! By the way, nutella is the best thing ever... it is almost like a chocolately peanut butter. After taking photos in front of the Moulin Rouge we headed back to the hotel to take a nap. And after our nap we met up with Kenny's friend Eloise that he met at a hostel in London. She was a very sweet girl. She took us to a night club that was packed. It was super fun... but drinks were so expensive. Kenny bought us each a drink and it cost 36€!!! At this club I also encountered one of the strangest people I have ever seen in my life. He grabbed my shoulders and sat next to me at several points... That may not seem so weird, but he was wearing a dead fox around his neck. He was kind of the Andy Warhol type. Basically, a total weirdo! Yikes! We got home at about 6 in the morning, I was exhausted!

The next morning we woke up and headed to the Palace at Versailles. It was insane! It was gigantic! We did an audio tour, so we found out some interesting information about the palace and about King Louis the XIV, who built it, and his wife Marie Antoinette. The church inside the palace was crazy and had one of the coolest organs I have ever seen. After leaving the palace we headed to the Eiffel Tower and got some more crepes! We also tried macaroons and they were very tasty! We took some photos of the tower and then took a walk down a neighborhood street. We found a cute restaurant and decided to try our luck again by selecting the dish of the day, and yet again, it was amazing! We got back to the tower right around sunset as it was being lit up. It is so surreal to see something so beautiful in person! Then we rode up in an elevator to the the second tier... what a view! On our walk home from the subway, we decided to conclude our trip with one last crepe stop! Ha ha! We couldn't help it... they are just too delicious!

Finally, this morning we said our good byes to the fabulous city that is Paris and to each other. I'm not going to lie I was kind of a mess as I left Kenny at his gate. It was pretty hard to leave. But I hope to visit him in Madrid pretty soon! This weekend I am headed to Berlin, Germany with some people from my group. We are taking a bus on Thursday night and heading back on Sunday morning... I am pretty excited! The following weekend I am going on a wine trip to Moravia, Czech Republic with a bunch of people from the group, so that should be really fun! I really feel like I am living the dream; everything here is just so amazing! I miss you all and I love you a ton!

XOXO,

Sarah

P.S. I think Paris was even colder than Prague is right now! I was in pain! Obviously, it wasn't too bad though because I failed mentioning it until now!

P.S.S. One last thing, the French people are EXTREMELY nice... don't ever believe anything different. Everyone was so friendly and willing to help Kenny and I out. Our waiters even smiled as we slightly butchered the language; I guess they were happy we were trying!