(France was awesome, I'm just not a fan of the language)
Thursday, November 22rd:
I woke up at 6:00 to make it to the bus station by 7:00 to get to the Malaga airport by 9:00. Everything went according to plan, I had all of my things ready to go and I was set. I got to the bus station with plenty of time to spare, got on the bus and we were off.
Everything was going smoothly until the last stop on the bus. Some guy decided to ask the bus driver about a million questions, so we were at a stop for about 20 minutes, putting us way behind schedule.
Needless to say I arrived at the airport at 9:30 to make a 10:05 flight, which according to all monitors was delayed. I figured that was in my favor until I got to the check in gate.
Seeing as how i was 35 minutes "early" for the flight, I figured I'd still be able to check in and get my ticket... but according to madam "i don't freaking think so" that's not an option... even though I'm pretty sure it's a standard procedure.
I went to the EasyJet desk to ask for help and he said he could put me on the next flight, two days later, at 8pm... No way Jose. I asked for a refund of some sort and he said that they can't do that... even though I was not longer able to use EITHER ticket that I'd bought though their services... Oy.
So, I walked around trying to find cheap flights, found a computer and searched for the lowest fare for a flight that day, seeing as how my best friend AD was meeting me in Paris that night.
Eventually I found one that cost less than both of my kidneys and my liver. I went to AirEuropa and the woman gave me a less expensive ticket and was super helpful. However, the flight wasn't until 6pm... and it was only 11:00am... So, seven hours in an airport... Sure.
I wandered around the three terminal airport for about two hours. Then found an empty row of seats and took a one hour nap... Then walked around a little more... Then ate some snacks that I'd packed... Then searched around the Duty Free stores for about an hour... Then sat and watched the plane tables for another hour or so... Then finally my plane was ready for take off.
I landed at the airport 20 minutes before AD and sat by the arrivals board until she got there. It was so great to see her again after not having seen her for about six months. We headed to her friends house, where we'd be staying Friday and Saturday just to hang out before we had to head to our hotel. We were both super hungry, I especially since I'd only eaten two bananas and bread all day. So we ordered food for delivery... my first french meal was Sushi. Yep, sushi. And it was fantastic. :)
After we finished eating, and met AD's friends boyfriend we headed back to our hotel to go to sleep. We were planning on waking up kind of early the next day so that we could get started on our walking tour of Paris. :)
We got to the hotel around midnight or so, checked in without a problem, and got into our room. I told myself that I wasn't expecting much, as it's a two star hotel, and it's what I expected. It was a tiny outdated room, two small beds, a rustic looking bathroom and a flat screen plasma tv?... Yeah I still don't get that. But it was what we paid for, and it was warm, and comfortable, so I couldn't be upset. We both got a good nights sleep then and everything was great.
Friday, November 23rd:
The next morning we checked out with the nice man from the night before and headed out to AD's friends house to drop off our stuff then went out to Notre Dame!
We went to the Cathedral and to our surprise there wasn't a line waiting to get in. Once we entered we realized why... there was mass going on. Neither of us wanted to get struck by lighting so we headed out quickly, taking a few pictures.
We then headed to Pont Neuf -- the bridge with all of the locks on it, and that was mind blowing. They all put the locks on the side that faced the Eiffel Tower and then throw the key in the river to symbolize eternal love or something... Romantic, but cheesy.
After that we headed over to see Pablo Picasso's house, walked down the river and looked at the "green boxes", little side stores, AD got some gelatto, we walked around some more, headed to the Louvre -- which is fantastic. It's HUGE so I'm glad that we didn't go in, but we saw the pyramids and everything which were way more exciting than I thought they would be.
After the Louvre we ran into some arc that I thought was the Arc de Triumf... nope, just another Arc thing... pretty, but just there. We walked through a few parks to get to Concorde where the Rouge de Paris and the (big pointy thing that looks Egyptian) is. Sorrrry forgot what it was called.
After that we kept trekking down the road and found a big Christmas Market. It lined both sides of the street and was filled with places selling warm red wine (which is delicious and VERY strong), deserts (chocolate covered marshmallows), christmas decorations (that were WAY too rich for my blood), and lots of other things. It was a great little market, so we ate there. After the market we went to a pharmacy so that I could get lactose pills so that I could eat all of the FREAKING cheese that they have everywhere in Paris.
While I was at the ATM, someone threw a newspaper in my face and pushed the 300E button on the withdraw page. I turned around and saw a little seven year old kid standing there and almost had the gall to punch his lights out. However, I waited patiently for the ATM to spit my card back out, because I can't withdraw over 200E at a time. Gaw I wanted to kick him in the teeth.
So I left sin dinero and we walked on to the Arc de Triumf. It was huge!!!! We stopped and took a bunch of pictures, ran into some Americans, studying in Sevilla, and then went to get tea so that we could sit down and re-energize.
After that episode we hopped on the metro to get to the eiffel tower. By this time it was about 7pm or so, so we knew that the lights would be on. We walked almost right past it without seeing it because the closer you get to it, the more building start to cover it. But once we found it, oh jeesze, I jumped up and down like a freaking three year old. It was SO great!
We walked up from behind it and at 7:50, and knew that the light show would start at 8:00 so we booked it to the other end of the lawn and tried to make it before the show started. We made it to a prime location just in time for the show and the tower lit up and sparked like a Christmas tree! It was so great! I hear people a lot say things like "How American." but it really is done quite beautifully. I didn't think that I'd like the sparkles as much as I did.
Once the show was over and were done taking pictures we texted AD's friend about dinner and headed to Pont Alexandr III, the pretty bridge with the angels on it. We took pictures because it was in Midnight in Paris, and then hopped on the train to get to where we were supposed to meet AD's friends.
When we got to the metro stop we saw that there was a huge shopping center and strip of restaurants, not unlike Ruta de Tapas here in Granada. Once her friends arrived we walked around a few of the shops while we waited for another friend. We stopped into a restaurant that was a little pricy for my likes, but I figure, when in Paris do as the Parisians do. And they're rich, soooo we had a fancy dinner. ... that was totally worth it.
Dinner:
First course: mushrooms stuffed with jamón
Second course: roasted duckling with some sort of goup that was amazing. (try the grey stuff it's delicious, don't believe me ask the dishes)
Third course: Crembrule with nutella!!!
Drink: Chardonnay (i'm still a fan of sutter home.)
After dinner we headed to ADs friends house and headed to sleep. Our first day was jam packed with activities and the next day was too.
Saturday, November 24th:
The next morning we woke up at 7:00 to make it to Versailles by 8:30 to beat the rush to get in. We left for the metro, and got to trekking. At 7:45 we made it to the RERC, which takes you right to Versailles, so we hopped on the next train, only to find out that we got on the wrong one. So at 8:20 we got on the right one and then we were on our way to the Palace!
At 8:50 when the train stopped at some random station we found out that the route had changed and we needed to find another train... damn french people man. So we made it to the Palace a little after 9 and the place was crowded.
AD and I booked it to get our tickets, and then tried to beat the rush of asian tourist groups through the security check and audio guide lines. We spend the next four hours or so walking through the palace and admiring everything. I was in heaven because I love the history of Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette.
We kept separating a little and then finding each other, but after the hall of mirrors and Napoleon's room I couldn't find her anywhere. It was now, somewhere around 11:45 or 12:00 and that's when Marie's cottages opened. So I waited until Noon for her outside and when I didn't find her I started walking to the cottages. I asked almost every employee on the way if they'd seen her, along with every family who spoke English. I made it over to the second part of the palace where Marie used to "escape" her daily life and ran into a woman who I'd asked earlier where she was. She told me that she'd sent her back to the exit... :l
I quickly walked over to the cottage in the hopes that she'd still be there and there she was. Turns out there'd been a little mix up inside the palace as to the exit and more museums... But alas, we found each other and everything was fine. We toured the house and it was great, not as extravagant as I thought it would be, but it was still really pretty.
After our little mishap we headed back to the city for lunch because AD knew of a great place to eat for relatively cheap. We got to the restaurant sat down and immediately ordered whatever we saw first.
First course: Escargots (BRILLIANT!)
Second course: Steak something -- french sauce, kind of like mayonnaise.
Third course: Apple tart with ice cream on top.
All of it was amazing, and I had lactade so it was great.
After that AD's friend took us around to see pretty Christmas decorations and all sorts of monuments that we hadn't seen yet. We saw something that resembled the Parthenon in Rome at Madeline, Sacre Cours, The Opera House, a tower in Paris that looks over the whole city, and Moulin Rouge... along with the sex district. HAHA It was fantastic. It reminded me of Little Five's.
That night we met up with a bunch of friends of AD's friend and they had a little cook out at their place. It was great because we were just hanging out with French people, but at midnight we both hit a wall of exhaustion and really wanted to go to sleep. However, french people like to go until 1:30 or so. When they finally left I crashed like a sack of potatoes only to be awoken at 7:00 to an alarm telling us it was time to go to the airport.
Sunday, November 25th:
AD and I split ways at the end of the metro ride to go to our significant airports and it was super sad. We both texted each other to make sure that the other had landed safely and everything was good, but now I know that I won't see her again until December.
I made it to the airport at 9:30, to wait for a plane that came at 11:30, so I slept, read, and walked around the ONE terminal airport there.
After the plane landed safely in Malaga, at 2:30, I waited until 6:30 for a bus that would take me to Granada. Needless to say I finished 3/4 of a Spanish book and wrote in my journal about everything. I tried to sleep but was unsuccessful, then ate some BK and got a little tipsy from the beer there -- which is served at McD's and BK... God Bless Europe.
When I finally made it home I was ready to crash. I'd slept less than 8 hours for the entire trip and needed sleep desperately. I zonked out that night and started today with minimal sleep and am now writing this instead of taking a siesta.
That was my trip in Paris. :)
Fotos up on Facebook now!
<3
Buenas Tardes
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