Fancy a crepe?

Literally, crepes are probably my favorite food. They are just soooo yummy. My new favorite is oeuf et fromage (egg and cheese.)

Ok... so, here goes. This will definitely be a long post.

We took the Eurostar in to Paris, and it was such a smooth and quick ride, it made me never want to fly again. I was all smiles upon arriving in Paris. I have very found memories of the wonderful city.

Our hostel was comfortable and the room newly refurbished (smelled a little like new paint, but thats OK). It was possibly the smallest room for 4 people I have ever stayed in, however. There were 2 sets of bunk beds, with a foot and a half in between them, 3 feet between the base of them and the window, and a small area when you walk in. It was not possible for all four of us to be standing up at the same time. Haha.

The first night we walked down to the Red Light district and took a picture of Moulin Rouge. I did not realize that the Red Light district was still so hoppin' in Paris. So... that was interesting.

After a yummy breakfast of croissants and chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) we got started super early to Versailles on Friday, and had only one minor delay when a pigeon decided to take a giant poopy all over Linda's hair, purse and coat. Woops! Good thing we had just left the hostel and were able to turn around.

Versailles was pretty much as I remembered it to be. Beautiful, extravagant, CROWDED. There was not a single cloud in the sky the entire day and by midafternoon I was wearing a tank top! After being a vampire for two months, it felt so good to be out in the sun. We enjoyed the palace, but we loved the gardens much more. Flowers had not been planted yet, but the grass was green, the sky was bright, and the water was blue.

We walked around the gardens for a good four hours, the highlight being the Queen's Hamlets, on the back of the property. Marie Antoinette had the little farm estate built for her, and once it was built, she rarely stayed in the palace. It was her place of peace and escape from the stuffiness of being of royal blood. We felt like we were walking into an imaginary world.

At dinner that night we went around and shared our favorite part of the day. Mine was as follows...

Little Wilbur Pig grew bored of the lavish lifestyle of being the sole piggy in the pen of the Hamlet farm animals. As I made my rounds through the pastures, admiring all of the sheep, goats, pigs, birds, and bunnies, I noticed dear little Wilbur starting to fidget. He was a small little thing, about the size of a mid-age piglet. As I watched, Wilbur began to wag his little curly tail and the silly stupid sheep began to notice him. As he would walk toward them, they would all run away in fright. Well, being the smart little piggy that he was, Wilbur caught on and began to chase all of the sheep around the pasture. When one group would run away, he would begin to chase the next group. Even if this tiny, mischievious piggy even turned in these massive horned sheeps' direction, they would high tail it as far away as they could. It became a sport for Wilbur, and quite a spectacle for me. I laughed and laughed as the stupid sheep allowed a teeny pig to dictate their actions. Hm... sounds a bit like humanity sometimes, doesn't it? No wonder we are always compared to sheep.

Wilbur became my hero. Here is some photo documentation of his boredom-turned-mischief.

We ate dinner near the Louvre, and I ordered a croque vegeterien (a toasted cheese and veggie sandwich.) The Louvre is free on Friday nights to students, so we did not feel bad about only going there for about an hour and a half. We only hit the big things like Mona Lisa, Venus De Milo, etc. It was cool, but I've seen it all before, and by this time after 14 hours of non-stop movement, I was pretty much dead on my feet. We had fun taking photos outside the pyramid afterward as well.

Saturday morning we took off to L'arc de Trioumpe and made the climb up to the top to enjoy the view of the city. Then we went to the Paris Sewers (not as gross as it sounds) and took a hike through the bowels of the city. 2,100 km of tunnels in the sewers make the Paris latrine system the cleanest and most efficient in the world. Despite this however, the river Seine is still pretty polluted. So here's a tip: Don't drink from it!

We grabbed lunch from a crepe stand next to the St. Michel fountain where we picked up our free walking tour from the Australian girl named Jacqueline who was in Paris learning to speak French. She was quirky and cute, and the tour was an interesting 3.5 hours of all the tourist sites and history behind them. There were two Dutch bankers on the tour who talked with us for awhile. They were very nice, and had perfect American accents. I told them they watched too much American TV. I'm not sure if they appreciated that. Oops.

After the walking tour we headed over the Sacre Couer (famous church on a hill in Paris) where Kathryn got her portrait done in Place Tertre and we walked around admiring the artists. We ate dinner in the square, but it was cheap with bad service. We did love the artists there though.

ALSO. At Sacre Couer there was a break dancing troupe. Check it OUT! They were awesome!

We misread the time on our Eiffel Tower reservations, so we showed up a half hour late and they would not let us up without paying again. So I decided since I've done it 3 times before, that I would pass and go sit in the park instead while they went up the tower. It really was beautiful to just sit there and gaze up at the architectural wonder of the world.

Sunday we started off by heading to Notre Dame and Saint Chapelle cathedrals, and on our way we watched the Paris Marathon runners as they ran along the Seine. It was so moving, I was crying behind my sunglasses. All of that energy and power in one place is really something else. I especially cried as a group of cheering young people ran out from under the bridge pushing a tricycle with a handcapped individual in it. They were all taking turns pushing this person the whole 26 miles. Now that is love.

We got crepes again for lunch, and then headed to the Paris Catacombs, which I had not been to since I was little. It was cool, but eerie, of course. There were thousands and thousands of people's bones down there. Talk about the plague. Down deep underneath the city, I was wearing my Elon hoodie to shelter me from the soggy coldness of the damp Parisian ground, and as we beginning our ascent, a gentleman with a soft southern drawl asked "Do you go to Elon?" Turns out two couples from North Carolina were vacationing in Paris for the week, and they had been to Elon only two weeks ago! One was from Burlington. It was sweet to have the close connection to home. They were typical North Carolinians... gentle and friendly.

Afterward Brooke wanted pictures of La Tour Eiffel in the daylight, so we went and sat in a little cafe and had a plate of cheese and tea while she took pictures. It was nice to relax for what I felt was really the first time all weekend.

Then, we packed up and headed home. I slept basically the whole trainride. We were all pretty physically exhausted.

One thing I was really surprised and pleased with, was the fact that my French really came back to me. I was able to communicate and understand people! One man in line for icecream had the cutest little doll baby for a daughter, and without even thinking about how to say so, I said "Elle est tres mingon." Which means she is very cute. The only problem was I did not turn mignon into mignonne which is the feminine form of the word. However, he understood me and got the point!

So moral of the story is: I love Paris (I know that isn't really a moral... guess I should use the word theme?)

EDIT: Theme of the story is: I LOVE PARIS!

Now... back to work.... lots to do, so little time (the family comes in on Thursday!!!!)