Long Weekend in Paris

            As much as I loved the relaxing feel of spending the week in Norderney I couldn’t have been more excited to visit Paris and see everything there was to see in the three days we had. We spent most of Thursday traveling to Paris, but once we got there the atmosphere and fast movement of everything got me reenergized. Our hostel was called the Generator and, I have to say, I definitely got spoiled for my first hostel experience. The entire feel was very grungy and modern and within the hostel there was a bar, a club in the basement, and another bar on the rooftop that overlooked a lot of Paris. We had to go down and dance at the club on the first night and meeting all of the people from all over was so interesting and fun.

            The next morning we slept in a bit and then went out to grab a latte and chocolate croissant from a nice French bakery. We ended up at a mega bakery that had the most beautiful-looking pastries that I’d ever seen. After breakfast we headed to the Arc de Triomph to start our Parisian adventure. The Arc was wonderful and massive with the names of the French generals and a memorial in the middle with a burning fire for one of the soldiers buried under it. Next, we headed down to the Champs Elysee to check out some of the shops. I’ve never seen such a long street of expensive stores, but luckily we were able to find some cheap ones to go into and do some shopping without going broke. It’s so interesting to see the fashion in other countries and the European styles. After that we were exhausted, so we headed back to the Generator for a few minutes to nap and get ready for dinner. We ended up eating at a French restaurant that had a view of the Eiffel Tower. The restaurant had a sassy American waiter and the food was alright, but way too expensive for the quality. The real highlight of the night was going to the bridge next to the Eiffel tower and then walking over to the field right in front of it and just admiring it. I knew it lit up but I had no clue that once an hour it had a light show that sparkled. I was in complete awe of the tower and that I was so lucky to be able to sit right next to it with my favorite people and just enjoy it. There were plenty of people selling champagne and wine so we grabbed some and toasted to being in such an iconic place.

            The next morning we woke up early to make the trip to Versailles. Our ticket was for the palace and the gardens, which was probably the most ornate piece of architecture, aside from the Vatican, that I had ever seen. There was gold everywhere and so many rooms inside the palace. It was interesting to see that there were not only gates surrounding the palace but also a guarded bedroom. I had no idea they were so worried about intruders at a palace but I guess with all of the valuable things and people inside it makes sense. After exploring for the morning we went to a creperie for lunch. That afternoon we went back to Paris and went to the Notre Dame. Unfortunately we arrived too late to be able to look inside the church but we walked all around it and it was still breathtaking. There were also street performers outside the church that were doing fire tricks. I have no clue how they did it but it looked amazing and it ended with basically a fireworks show. Lastly that day, we went to watch the sunset at the Sacra Cur area of Paris that had a beautiful white church as well as the most amazing view of Paris. There was yet another street performer who was doing karaoke with people in the crowd in the amphitheater area, which made it even more laid back and fun. Needless to say we took plenty of pictures there and stayed for a long time watching the city and soaking up the atmosphere.

            For our final full day in Paris we woke up and headed for the Louvre. This was something that I was happy to do but wasn’t a must-see for me because I’m usually not so excited about large crowds of people. To my surprise, by the time we got there, there was no wait to get in and the museum was relatively empty. I popped in my earphones and explored all the exhibits while chilling with music. I loved seeing the Egyptian exhibits as well as learning more about the Greek mythology pieces. The Mona Lisa was underwhelming but I didn’t have my heart set on it being amazing so it wasn’t much of an issue. Overall the Louvre ended up being so much more amazing than I expected and definitely my favorite art museum of all time. Following the actual museum we met outside at the pyramids and dipped our toes in the fountains. The rest of the day we decided to relax and not rush through things. We decided to do something a little different for dinner and had Asian food at a restaurant by our hostel. This meal was hands down the best we had in all of Paris and the owners were so helpful and happy to have us, which didn’t always happen in the other restaurants we visited. We decided to finish the trip back at the Eiffel tower for one last sunset and brought cards to play games and drink more champagne. Finally, at around 2 or 3am the tower lights turned off for the night and we headed back to the Generator for a short nap before our 5:30am train trip back to Bonn. The lack of sleep was definitely worth the extra night in Paris, and the whole trip was something I’ll remember for my entire life. And just in case I forget I’ll always have the 388745928357 pictures we took.