Spring Break Week 1 - Perusing Paris

Bonjour mes amis! So, we just finished up week one of our two-week spring break, and what a time! Last Monday through Wednesday I was in Paris with another of the JSAs here at St. Andrews: Amanda. We left early on Monday morning so that we could tour around Edinburgh a bit before our flight left that evening, so we had an excellent time at Edinburgh Castle (pics of that will be in a separate post). We arrived in Paris about 9:30 that evening and had quite an adventure riding the RER train to Gare du Nord and trying to find our hostel (it's the building with blue lights in the photo). Eventually, we ended up calling the reception desk at the hostel and they gave us excellent directions so that we made it safely to our beds that night. Tuesday morning we got up early, had a delicious breakfast of croissants, jam, tea, and cheese, and then commenced our tour of Paris with a wander around Montmartre. Our tour guide later that day said that, "the Axis of Paris is what Paris looks like, but Montmartre is what Paris is like." I think she's right. Montmartre was fantastic! We toured Sacre Coeur, which is set on the highest point of Paris, and we decided it was worth the 5 euro to go up to the tower, so that we would be at the highest point of the highest point. Despite a terrifying encounter with some vicious Parisian pigeons, the view was spectacular and merited climbing the 400-some narrow, winding steps (It's a Where's Waldo-style photo: can you pick out the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe in this photo?). Later we made our way to the Moulin Rouge and the Cafe des 2 Moulins (from the movie Amelie) and ate lunch at a real French creperie (best crepe I have ever eaten in my entire life). After this self-guided tour of Montmartre, it was off to Place St-Michel for our 4-hour guided tour of the Axis of Paris. This took us along the Seine from Notre Dame down to the Louvre, the Jardins des Tuileries, into Place de la Concorde, and finished on the Champs-Elysees. We saw, of course, tons of stuff in between and our tour guide Amelia filled our noggins with many interesting and fun facts about Paris along the way. She also took us to Laduree at the end, the best macaroon shop in Paris (the macaroons were incredibly tasty and I successfully completed my entire order en francais!). Amanda and I finished out the day at Arc de Triomphe, although we came back into central Paris later that night to see the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower lit up. Wednesday was devoted to the inside of Notre Dame, the Louvre, and the Musee D'Orsay. All were amazing and a bit overwhelming, to be honest. By the time we finished all that, it was time for us to part ways as she was off to Barcelona the next day and I had to get back to the airport for my return journey to St. Andrews. All in all, it was a FABULOUS trip! I loved Paris; the weather was so beautiful and sunny that I even got a little bit sunburned from being outside so much! I would definitely go back in a heartbeat! The next post will have more pictures and also some thoughts on Paris...