Well first of all there are a few Paris myths I'd like to debunk.
#1 Parisians are rude. This seemed to be false, everyone I interacted with was extraordinarily nice and were always willing to help when the only thing I could say was Parlez Vous Englais? The people working at the metro let us through when our tickets weren't working, not what I would call rude.
#2 Paris is dirty. One hundred percent true, that city was fairly nasty and smelled Horrible!!!
#3 You will get pick pocketed. Nope didn't happen to me, or anyone else on our trip.
#4 Paris has the best food you will ever eat. One hundred thousand million percent true :D and I have the pictures and the taste buds to prove it.
Paris, the city of lights, romance, and some other things? The lights were gorgeous, it was verrryyy romantic to be single in Paris....oh yeah that sucked. but luckily for me no creepy French men hit on me so I was clear.
The first night we spent was a little boring. After an extremely long train ride, we took a very long coach ride to the hotel. we were starving so my first meal in paris was a tomato basil mozzarella sandwich pre packaged sandwich from the grocery. Best pre packed sandwich EVER!
Then departed for the boat cruise....which we missed. That was pretty disappointing, so instead we walked around Bastille, which was kinda fun but super crowded so we just went back to the hotel and chilled.
The next morning we woke up and breakfast consisted of Nutella, croissants, Brie cheese and jam. Oh Paris how your food tempts me.
Next we took a sightseeing tour. This was an incredibly easy way to see the city and it was gorgeous. We went to all of the big Paris sights, the Arc di Triumph, the Louvre, The Opera House, Notre Dame and this one kinda weird shaped tower, I think it's called the Eiffel?? Oh well, either way Parisian architecture is super gorgeous and definitely worth seeing. Here are some of my best shots:
The view from the top of the Montparnasse Tower was one of my favorite of the entire city. We took the 38 second elevator to the 56th floor and then climbed up 2 flights of stairs to the helicopter pad. It was a breathtaking scene right out of a movie. Even though the weather was a bit overcast we still really enjoyed seeing the whole city in front of us.
We walked around Notre Dame, did quite a bit of shopping and went to the lock bridge. It's a beautiful bridge that is covered in padlocks that people write their name on, and then their love is locked in Paris forever. Again being young and in love in Paris must be nice... Anyhow the bridge is really cute and was featured in the recent movie, Now You See Me. (side note this movie is super entertaining, you should see it!)
We then ran into a glorious gay pride parade that was really lively and entertaining. They had shut down the streets and people were obviously having quite a bit of fun. I had a genius idea that since all of the best parades have candy, gay pride parades should throw skittles so you can taste the rainbow. I will be emailing the CEO of skittles and of the gays (Kathy Griffin) to get this started :)
The true magic happened next: our first bakery in Paris, not only did I have an incredible Eclair (with chocolate filling instead of custard, an interesting surprise) I also ordered 3 macaroons, Raspberry, Pistachio and Red Currant. The are too delightful for words.
We stopped back at the hotel before skipping of to dinner. Using the metro is almost as easy as the tube, just much dirtier and smellier with sketchier looking people. Dinner was three heavenly courses. It started with Cheese Croquettes aka the most delicious food on earth. They were like fresh mozzarella sticks but with softer tastier cheese and flakier scrumptious crumbs. Again with the drool. The main course was a steak with Bleu cheese crust and French fries, this actually wasn't great, the meat was super tough, but this was our group dinner for 70 so you can't expect perfection. Dinner was a splendid apple crunch that was mouthwateringly fresh and scrumdidlyumptious.
This time we made the boat cruise :) it was a spectacular night on the water and we really enjoyed some amazing views of the city.
Jason Emily Kara and I decided that we needed to see the Eiffel Tower do its awesome glitter show. Complete with a backpack of camera equipment we headed to the grass in front of the tower, we camped out and got a few shots. When midnight hit we knew we'd made the right decision, the tower sparkled like the Crown Jewels and five minutes was not enough to cover all of the beauty that ensued. We walked back that night in awe of the city we were in.
Breakfast again consisted of Nutella, crepes, Brie cheese and jam, but I also threw in some grapefruit for good measure.
Next stop: the Louvre, the building itself was worthy of some art awards. We saw Venus di Milo and some other incredible sculptures. The Mona Lisa was rather small, but still incredibly impressive after seeing it included in so much of history and pop culture, it was definitely a pleasant experience.
We headed back to the hotel and got one last view of Paris from our roof, it was a gorgeous view of the clouds and the Eiffel Tower. At the train station we played Heads Up for an hour and then boarded the train back. The stars were shining on me because I sat with three insanely good looking boys, all with British accents, be still my heart :) the one next to me looked like a British version of Daniel Grayson from Revenge. I may or may not have turned the volume on my headphones all the way down to listen to them talk for 2 hours ;)
Overall, I had a spectacular weekend in Paris full of wonderful food, and even better friends, but I must say my heart lies in London and I'm very excited to spend the next month here :)
Love always
Alexa
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