Paris, Je T'aime

After our final hours in Orvieto (and saying goodbye to our favorite barista in broken Italian), Michelle and I started our crazy, exhausting, extra four days of traveling.

We left Orvieto for Bologna by train on Sunday evening. We got to Bologna around 8:30 pm and had about two and half hours to kill before our overnight train to Paris came. The Bologna train station was not at all exciting as everything was closed (not that there was a lot there to begin with) and the whole station was hot and humid so it was kind of an uncomfortable wait. While waiting at our track for the train, we asked a woman standing by if she was going to Paris. She replied in the french pronunciation, Paris, oui. Out of habit we replied grazie to which she corrected, Paris, merci. And just like that all the Italian I had picked up in the last five weeks became irrelevant.

The overnight train was definitely an interesting experience. Our cabin was about the size of an airplane bathroom and contained a triple-decked bunk bed and not much else. Michelle and I shared a cabin with a nice French lady. The train was also hot, as we didn't realize the window opened until morning. The nice thing about the overnight train was that our cabin locked so we could sleep without fear of theft. Trains usually rock me to sleep anyway, but you're really not supposed to sleep on Italian trains as they are supposedly the place to get robbed. So the train ride was pretty relaxing when the terrain was normal, but as we herked and jerked our way through the Swiss Alps, it was less relaxing and more "OMG THIS IS WHERE I DIE."

We arrived in Paris around 11 am and I noticed immediately as I got off the train that it was a hot, hot day. Our hotel was a metro ride and five minute walk away, and we were both drenched in sweat and close to heat stroke by the time we got there. Unlike the US, walking into the building provided no relief from the heat as Europeans don't really believe in air conditioning. So after two cold showers, Michelle and I headed out to explore Paris! Our first stop, naturally, was a Chinese restaurant, because we were both starving and it was the closest, safest looking option. Afterwards we went to see the structure I have been dying to see since I was a little Madeline fan--The Eiffel Tower!

It was just as magnificent in person as I hoped and I had to see it from every angle. I mean, this thing is HUGE. The area wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be, and I think a lot of that has to do with how hot is was. Let me clarify as to not sound like a complainer: it was 97 degrees and HUMID, and was the fifth hottest day in Paris since 1870. Walking around in it was sweaty and I was already exhausted before we even began, so after a while I decided I needed to seek out the Starbucks that I saw people carrying around. We used the GPS on my phone to get there, and it took us in a sort of roundabout way, but it was totally worth it.

 Michelle was dying to go to the real Chanel in Paris, so after that we took the metro to see the Arc du Triomphe and Champs Elysees (where all the designer stores are near).

Fun fact: there is a street called Avenue Kleber that runs to the Arc du Triomphe that is named after Jean Baptiste Kleber, who was a general to Napoleon and my Great, great (times however many generations) Grandfather!

We went into a lot of the designer stores and got weird looks from the doormen once they saw our footwear (we were both wearing flip flops) which kind of made me angry, I sort of wanted to say, "We have this same store in Scottsdale Fashion Square, MY mall, ok?" But then I remembered that I couldn't afford anything in any of the stores, so I let it go. But it was still AMAZING to see all the high fashion up close and Michelle and I both picked out our future Oscar dresses.

We then headed back toward the Eiffel Tower where I was meeting my friend Sarah from home who just started her own Study Abroad program in Paris. Unfortunately, we had some bad luck getting there because we got on the wrong train to begin with, then switched to a broken train, then I fell going up the stairs and got a nasty bruise, before finally getting on the correct line, switching lines once again and arrived near the Eiffel Tower. We had dinner with Sarah at a cool restaurant where the waiters corrected our French. I noticed that the French tend to do this which I found kind of funny, because no Italians ever did. I think the French get a bad rep as being rude because of this, but it helps us from looking like complete idiots in the future.

After dinner, Sarah had to go home, but Michelle and I went on a night cruise of the River Seine. It was a relaxing way to end a long day, and the city was absolutely beautiful at night with everything lit up. We saw a few more landmarks including the Louvre (which, by the way, is HUGE and covers 700 meters of city block, and has 14 km of galleries, to see every work of art it would take four months) and the Notre Dame. The Eiffel Tower looks amazing at night as well, and every hour on the hour it sparkles.

After a short, hot and humid night's sleep, we woke up, checked out of our hotel, had a nice French breakfast, and headed for the d'Orsay museum. It is across the river from the Louvre and housed in an old train station. It is sort of the Louvre, Jr. and houses what we can assume is a lot of Louvre overflow. We waited in line for a long time to get inside, and it was another hot day. But once we got inside we saw tons of French Impressionism, which was exciting for me since I'm not a huge art fan but I do love me some Monet. I got to see Monet's Blue Water Lilies and Japanese Foot Bridge over the Water Lily Pond, which are two of my favorites so that made the whole crowded museum experience worth it. The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays, so I assume everyone who would normally have gone to the Louvre were at d'Orsay that day instead. We also saw Van Gogh's Self Portrait and a Manet exhibition.

We didn't spend too much time at the museum because we had an afternoon train to London across town so we had a nice lunch at a French bakery (complete with baguette and eclaire) before taking the bus to the Gare du Nord train station. The bus was interesting experience because it was hot and the drivers randomly decide that any given stop is their last, but we did get a nice little city tour and saw the Paris Opera house.

We finally got to the train station, found the Eurostar Terminal, went through customs, and we were off on our way to London! We both really liked Paris and agreed that we would have to come back someday, but since it is such a romantic city we mutually decided that we will return not with each other, but with our future boyfriends/fiances/husbands.