Back for the Baguette

I've been in Paris the last few days with Brittany, Mary, and Brittany's UC friend from Leeds, Nicole. I know what you're all thinking, I've already gone to Paris this year with my Mom, but there were a lot of things I didn't get to do while with them and so I made a point of covering all those things this time around! Our hostel seemed to be popular with 12-year-old school trips, but it was nice and centrally located, with breakfast included. Here's our room:

Most unfortunately, the airline lost Mary's luggage, and even though it caused a big headache for her, we had fun getting up in the morning and going shopping for her "outfit du jour" as she called it. The first day we went around visiting all the major monuments, my favorite of which was Saint-Chapelle, because I had never seen it before. It is a lovely church on the same island as Notre Dame that is hidden behind other buildings. It's small but covered in beautifully intricate stained glass.

Praising Rick Steves, the travel God, in front of Notre Dame

Crepes behind Notre Dame...
this can get a bit messy.

Level one of Saint-Chapelle

Saint-Chapelle's rose window

Mary twiddling her thumbs under the Arc

That afternoon we went to the Musee D'Orsay, which we got into for free for being under 26! The museum is in an old train station and is most well-known for its collection of impressionist art, especially Van Gogh. This is one of my favorite works in the museum...it's very similar to Starry Night:

The next day we got up super early to go to the Louvre. I would say it was the highlight of my trip to Paris. Mary, Brittany, and I had a lot of fun contemplating all the religious and historical questions the art brought up. Mary asked if it's possible to believe in the old but not the new testament. I told her yes, but that means you're a Jew. She looked all shocked and said, "Well, I guess I'm a Jew!" It was a great religious revelation, hehe. Here's me with my lady Lisa...I had been so warned about her small size that I actually thought she was quite large:

Cute elementary school class discussing the masterpiece that inspired Les Miserables.

B: "That looks like it's from Pier 39."

K: "Don't you mean Pier 1?"

After a lovely afternoon rest accompanied by baguette, cheese and wine, we made our way to the neighborhood of Montmartre. The main thing we wanted to see was the Sacre-Coeur church on the top of the hill which was just gorgeous, with a great view of the city.


When we finished the stairs up to the top, Brittany exclaimed, "Hey, there's our friend!" Confused, I asked, "Who?" "Jesus!" was her response. He was perched up on the church, blessing us all. It was so funny.

It gets dark really late in Paris for some reason, like at 1030, and so we always lost track of time and ate really late. But we did manage to find some cute restaurants in our area and always ate well. Late that night, Brittany, Nicole and I decided to make our way to the Eiffel Tower to try to see it light up on the hour. So we run through the metro trying to get there in time and fling ourselves up the stairs to the top only to find that we missed it. We took some nice pictures, caught our breath, and made our way back to the subway. While waiting for the train, there was these two young guys next to us who were playing guitar and seeing American songs. We ended up making friends, but they spoke very little English so it was great fun trying to communicate. They were really sweet and a little flirty...at one point one of the guys said, "I like your look"...what a line! It came time for us to get off the train, and behind me there's this flurry on the platform and apparently Brittany had stepped on Nicole's flip-flop and she totally tripped coming off the train and it was so embarrassing in front of the boys! We were laughing so hard and as the doors are closing the boy yells out, "Be careful!" And I just waved.

On my last day we spent the morning at the Picasso museum and then stocking up on pastries for me to take home with me. After that it was time to go, so I said my good-byes to the girls and headed for the metro again. This would mark the start of my trip from hell. So I take the metro to the main train station from which I'm supposed to take the B train straight to Charles De Gaulle airport. It's so big and confusing that I end up on the A train, have to get off one stop later, go back to the other station, and then wander around until I find the correct line. By the time I get on the right train, I only have 45 minutes until the check-in desk will close and I'm not sure how long it will take to get there. I had noticed that it said it was the long train...so I start panicking because if I miss my flight there would be no reimbursement and I would have no idea what I would do. The stops are taking forever and I notice there's like 15 between me and the station! Luckily I start noticing that we're skipping stations and heading straight for the airport.

By the time we roll into the airport it's 3:32 and I have to make it to the desk by 3:45 or they will close the flight. So I start hauling you know what up the escalator but get stopped at the ticket turnstiles. Turns out I need a different ticket for the train I took and have to put it through the machine to get through. So I'm turning in circles seeing no people working and no last minute place to buy a ticket, so I follow the guy in front of me and throw my bag over and jump the turnstile! I continue running up more escalators and trying to find terminal 2B. I'm running down moving walkways with my jacket, purse, and giant tote trying to follow the signs to 2B. I arrive at 2D frantically looking for another sign but to no avail. I catch up to some janitors and ask them where it is and one guy throws his arm forward as if to say, "It's way the hell down that way"! So I curse under my breath and keep on trucking, dodging luggage carts and strollers and heaving until I see an EasyJet line. Turns out it's the wrong one so I'm directed around the corner to an area that's filled with a million people waiting for EasyJet so I find some lady, ask her for the Milan line, and she sends me straight to the front. I get there at 3:41, with 4 minutes to spare but 4 months off my life. Two seconds later a girl shows up heaving right behind me and we ended up bonding over our mutual stress.

So after checking in I make my way to security, where I get detained for liquids. They say my liquid bag's too big and I have to fit it all into a smaller one. Upon my supreme unsuccessfulness at doing this the lady hands me another small bag and tells me I can use two. Can someone please tell me the difference between one big or two small bags!?!? It was such a waste of time. Anyways I finally make my way to the line to board and talk more with the Italian girl I had met before. Right before boarding the plane I notice a flight attendant who has a bag just like mine. Then I look down and realize I don't have my purse. What an idiot. So I walk up to the lady and say bashfully, "that's mine." And she seemed so relieved to have found me! I would have been more relieved too had I even noticed I'd lost it. I was just so flustered from everything else!

I had a pleasant flight talking with Maria Julia about the differences between Italian and American government and education. However, the plane was late landing in Milan, the bus and train prices have gone up, and I caught myself falling asleep on the lady next to me on the bus at more than one point. How embarrassing! Anyways my day started to brighten when a sweet man found and returned my euro the vending machine had eaten and when the jolly ticket man came to validate my ticket. Plus, everyone at home was so happy to see me and I spent the evening drinking tea and eating French pastries with Char and Shawn. Paris was lovely...but after that trip yesterday I'm so happy to be home!