Paris: Practically Perfect in Every Way, Day 1

PARIS!

Last Tuesday we Chunneled off to one of my very favorite places...PARIS! I was so excited. We spent all of Monday night packing and I was more than happy to get up at 5:30am so we could be on our way. The Chunnel ride was excellent. I slept soundly for the 2.5 hours and woke up to us arriving in the Paris train station. From there we had to literally run after the Sopers to the metro so they could show us where the hotel was. Lauren almost got stuck in the doors in her haste to get on. Luckily all of us made it (almost) unscathed and we were on our way. After a metro ride that took us way out of the city we arrived at our hotel. I have to say I didn't have high expectations for it, but I was happily proved wrong. The "Novotell" was actually quite nice and to top it off Lauren and I were roommates. I called Cath to let her know we were there (because she was already in Paris with her parents), and we finished our lunches while waiting for her to arrive. When she got there I was so excited to see her. When she left on Friday it was the first time we'd been apart in 80 days. Weird. It was so fun to see John and Lisa too. They both gave me a huge hug. They also came bearing gifts. My mom gave me a necklace with the Eiffel Tower on it! I loved it and wore it the whole time we were there.

When we were ready we decided to head up to Sacre-Coeur. It is a really beautiful church that overlooks the whole city. Ann, Abs, Kristen, Lauren, Laura, and I grabbed our map and hopped on the metro. It felt weird to be in a place where English wasn't the native language. I quickly learned that I am terrible at pronouncing French words, but I did my best. When we made it to our intended stop we now had the task of finding the church. We ran into Courtney, Emmy, and Megan so all of us headed toward what we hoped was the right direction. We were in luck because after about 10 minutes we found the church. It was really fun to climb to the top of the stairs and have our first view of Paris. I just love that city. It made me so happy to be there! From there we decided to head to the little town behind it and eat our first crepes. Ann and I shared a chocolate one and it was quite delicious. I could tell this would be the first of many crepes I would be eating in the next five days.

As we made our way down the hill we found Cath and her parents again and decided to head to the Arc de Triomphe. When we got there we had fun taking a bunch of pictures and walking around and underneath it. Yes, my name is proudly proclaimed on the Arc. My parents had it engraved there for me. Everyone loved the arc as much as I do. It's just such a cool structure right in the heart of Paris and at the top of the Champs Elysees. Speaking of the Champs, we decided to wander down it after finishing up at the Arc. I love the Champs Elysees. It has such a lively atmosphere and so many fun stores to wander in and out of. It was especially fun because all the christmas lights were up. It was here that we found our favorite candy shop "Glup's" that we would visit many times in the next few days to pick up our daily dose of bon bons.

When we reached the end of the street we wanted to go on a river cruise on the Seine. We decided to walk along the water in the hopes of finding one. After about a half hour we found it. It was freezing cold, but a lot of fun. It took us all the way around the river and we saw Notre Dame, the Lourve, and the Eiffel Tower all lit up! We actually passed it right on the hour so not only was it lit up, but sparkling too. It is one of my favorite things about Paris. I love the Eiffel Tower at night. It just seems to light up the city and make Paris everything you'd hope it would be.

                                        

When the river cruise ended we were freezing so we decided to head to....you guessed it! McDonald's. Aren't we oh-so-predictable. My only reasoning I can give is we were freezing and hungry and the hotel was much too far away. This McDonald's was located on the Champs Elysees so it felt quite gourmet. I ordered myself a delicious chicken mcnugget happy meal and felt fully satisfied. When we felt like we had warmed up a bit we decided to start heading back home to get some sleep. I went with Cath to her parent's hotel to pick up some things first. There, I was greeted with another surprise from my mom! She sent me two "New Moon" shirts and a hear necklace with "Edward" on it. It could not have been more appropriate. She and I will always be Team Edward. When Cath was ready we hopped on the metro and took our long journey back to our hotel. That night Laur and I entered our lovely smoke-smelling room, showered, journaled, and went right to bed.

I LOVE PARIS!