This past weekend the girls and I went to Paris and had the time of our lives. Wednesday night through Thursday night we did not do anything because we had a midterm on Friday so a fun weekend in Paris was well-deserved.
We were all really freaking out about the midterm. It was supposed to be really really hard. We studied like crazy. I was not happy about giving up fun nights out in Rome to study for a midterm. When we got to the test we were all very nervous. It was not as bad as we thought but still pretty hard. The biggest complaint was that the test asked very, very specific questions on hundreds of centuries worth of information. That is really why it was so hard. Right after the midterm Brittany and I went to a cafe and got a cocktail...it was very much needed. Afterwards we came home, packed, and got ready for PARIS!!!
We took a 4 hour train from Rome to Milan and then got on a 7 hour train to Paris. We slept in a 6 person car and we were only 4 people so we had 2 randoms...that was quite an experience. It was me, Rebecca, Brittany, and Olivia.
We got to Paris at 930ish and immediately got in a cab to go to the hotel, check in, freshen up, and go to breakfast. We found this cute cafe a few blocks from our hotel and right across the street from the Luxembourg Gardens. We all ordered omlettes and cafe au lait. I haven't had eggs since I was back in the states and it was soooo nice to finally eat some healty food! The other girls (Hilary, Ashley, and Kelsey) all flew so after breakfast we met up with them back at the hotel and started our touristy day in Paris.
Paris was absolutely beautiful! and very clean. Plus, the people were so nice. To be honest, we were just so happy to be wearing jeans and not sweat our body weight out. The weather was gorgeous: about 70 degrees and just a tad bit overcast. The Luxembourg Gardens were magnificent. They had little ponds where people were playing with toy sailboats just like in the movies. There was a palace off to the side that we took lots of pictures in front of :-)
We only spent about an hour inside of The Gardens because when in Paris make sure you have tome for SHOPPING! On the way to the shopping area we stopped at the Notre Dame. It is overwhelmingly huge. I wanted to go inside but the line was extremely long so I settled for pictures from the outside.
We spent the whole rest of the day shopping. I think we went to probably 12 or 15 different stores and 7 or 8 shoe stores! It was exhausting! But luckily we found a Starbucks...there are not any in Rome so we were pretty excited.
After running around Paris for hours we headed back to the hotel for showers. Brittany and I bought a bottle of wine and after everyone was ready we all met in one hotel room, popped it open, and drank to a great night in Paris. Then it was off to the eiffel tower. Most of us wore high heels because we can't wear them in Rome (the cobble roads are not really the greatest for high heels) and we were very excited! We got all pretty for pictures at the eiffel tower. We took the metro over, followed signs pointing towards the tower and when we least expected it, there it was right around the corner. Every single one of us all at the same time just said "oh my god it is beautiful!" and the cameras started going. We took ssooo many pictures! each step we took to get closer and closer more and more pictures were taken. Olivia and I were really the only ones interested in going to the top so the rest of the girls went to eat dinner while Olivia and I got on line. There were these kids in front of us (around the age of about 16, 17, 18) and the guys in line were talking about Olivia and I, it was extremely obvious. We ignored it and laughed about it later but at the top, we asked a random guy to take a picture of us and he turns out to be the trip coordinator of the little teen tour these kids were on. This guy was about 25 and Olivia and I spent the entire time at the top talking to him-he was pretty cool. We laughed about the kids he is in charge of. Some of the girls started giggling as we walked by them and all of the boys were like "oh my god! he is with those girls from the line!" It was extremely entertaining for Olivia and I. We were cracking up. It was a really good time.
When we got back down to the bottom we met up with the girls and some of our guy friends who were also in Paris that weekend. We went to some pubs and bars around our hotel and just had a really great time. Us girls ordered some really girly, fruity drinks and made the boys get girly drinks too-the pictures are pretty funny. Around 2am we went into a grocery store and bought just about everything in there. Olivia and I bought crepe bread, bananas, and nutella to make crepes....that did not wind up happening. We got back to the hotel and passed out.
Sunday morning we got up and went back to our breakfast place to get more omlettes :-) After breakfast we started our trek to the Louvre. We were all prepared to wait online for hours to get in but there was no line, we walked right in and, the best part, our tickets were FREE because we are students in Europe. We spent about 2 hours in the Louvre looking at all the famous art. We wanted to stay for longer but after 2 hours we were all ready for some food! We got the most expensive sandwiches, water, salads, and crepes of all time! The water alone was 4 euro....seriously, the most expensive meal ever! But I definitely got nutella all over my mouth from the crepe...totally worth it.
We wanted to walk over the Arch de Triumph from the Louvre but all the streets were blocked off for the Tour de France. Oh yea, I forgot to menion that the Tour de France was there that weekend. It was very cool to see that. Paris was really busy with all the tourists and there were a ton of events going on all weekend. Afterwards we did a little more shopping: I bought 2 cute Parisian paintings (2 euro) to put up in my room at school. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a bakery to get stuff to bring back to Rome. We bought 2 baguettes which Olivia and I used to get into a sword fight with...it was a lot of fun.
Once we finally got back to the hotel I literally passed out on Ashley's bed. I was out cold for a good 30 minutes before dinner. We were all pretty full from snacking on yummy french foods throughout the day so we just got french onion soup at a cafe down the street. It was the best french onion soup I have ever had in my life! And in France they just call it onion soup, not french onion soup.
At 8:30 it was back on the train :-( This time we shared our sleeping car wtih 2 old men who smelled really bad. I slept cuddling with my backpack because I was terrified of getting it stolen. I actually slept really well on the train: when the conductor knocked on our door to give us our passports back I did not move a muscle, I didn't even hear him knock. Olivia had to get down from her bed and wake me up. We got off the train and then got our train from Milan to Rome. I passed out ontop of Brittany in that train...we had snuggle-bonding time.
Finally back to Rome, we caught a cab to our apartment and complained the whole way about how unbearably hot it is in this city. I cleaned up the kitchen, which was a mess when we got back, made myself some risotto for lunch, and started my outline for a paper. The rest of the day was pretty boring: we made chicken, spinach dip, and potatoes for dinner.
A bunch of the girls and I went out and had such a good time until we got home....we were sitting on a ledge right outside of our apartment and some guy ran by us and grabbed Olivia's perse with her credit cards, cash, camera, phone, keys, and social security card in it! It was such a mess!! I stayed up with her until 5am calling the police, the embassy, and our school to get it all fixed. I barely slept and then had to get up at 730 am for class. It was a really really long day! I came home and passed out for 2 hours straight.
Tonight Brittany made baked ziti for us for dinner: it was DELICIOUS! After dinner the plan is to go to a club (maybe) and have a great time.
We are all just excited to go to Switzerland this weekend :-)
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