The days leading up to my first, big, solo trip were, to be honest, pretty nerve-racking. I don’t speak much French-the last time I had it as a class was in 3rd grade. Needless to say, I don’t remember much. I can count to twelve, introduce myself, and I know all the pleasantries. Living in New Orleans, I can also say Lésiez le bons temps roulez. However, I was pretty sure that wouldn’t help me any! I also don’t think that is perfect French from France. Anyway, I really thought that language was going to be a problem. Throw in the factor that Parisians have a reputation for being rude, especially to Americans, and I might say I was just as scared to go as I was excited!
In order to compensate for the nerves, I got organized. I asked friends of mine that spoke French to send me some phrases that I might need to use, and I got advice on where to go from friends who lived there for a semester. I read my Best of Europe guidebook about Paris and decided which places I wanted to go. Then, I wrote all of those names down, with the admission costs and hours of operation. I also printed out a map of the Paris metro system. My guidebook listed all the metro stops for each place, so I drew that information on my map. I even printed my hostel out on a map, so I knew how to get there as well. By the end, I did fill a lot better! I know that it is a corny saying, but knowledge is power. The best example I can think of to demonstrate my point is giving a presentation. If you quickly throw some information onto some slides and present it a week later, you are going to be nervous. However, if you take your time preparing the slides and practice presenting a couple of times, you are going to be a lot less nervous!
Finally, Friday came. I woke up and almost immediately realized that I had forgotten to look at how to get to the airport! I knew that I was going to take the metro, but I hadn’t actually looked at the map. I pulled it out and realized that there are two stops-Terminals 1, 2, and 3 or Terminal 4. I didn’t know which one I needed, and since I didn’t have the Internet, I couldn’t look it up. I hurried into the kitchen to ask Paloma before she left. We looked it up on the Internet-Terminal 1. All of a sudden, I felt better again!
I went back to my room to finish getting ready. Everyone kept telling me how cold Paris was going to be, especially at the top of the Eiffel Tower, so I made sure to dress warmly. I even brought my ear warmers! Come 10am, I was ready to go! It took me about an hour to get to the airport via the metro. Then, I had to find the RyanAir desk to get my boarding pass stamped. I asked a girl at the information desk. She sent me down the corridor to the office on the right. They sent me back down the corridor, through the cafeteria, to the office on the left. There were no personnel in the Visa Check line, but the guy next to it was stamping passports for a family. No one was in his line, so I got in his line. Meanwhile, the other guy came back and people got in his line. Anyway, I eventually got my boarding pass stamped. Then, I went through security and found my gate. I was early so I bought a drink, listened to my iPod, and studied for my Economics of the European Union test.
I was flying with RyanAir which is the low cost airline, or as they say low fares airline! Therefore, similar to Southwest, they don’t assign seats. However, unlike Southwest, they don’t do boarding groups. Therefore, at some random point, a line starts to form of people waiting to get on the plane. (Sometimes, there isn’t room for a line, so it is just a crowd of people all running for the door!) We lined up an hour before the flight was scheduled to leave. I waited for a few minutes, and then I joined the line as well. Well, the plane arrived late-twenty minutes before we were supposed to be in the air. We were standing there a long time. The plane was supposed to leave at 1:00, but we didn’t leave until 1:40. However, we miraculously landed on time!
The Beauvais Airport about 50 miles north of Paris is one of the smallest airports I have ever been to. It is a low cost airport that RyanAir flies to. The only airport that I can think of that might be smaller is Portland, Maine. But I stress the word might. I took the steps down to the tarmac and walked into the building. Less than five minutes after walking into the airport, I was standing outside in line for the bus to take me into Paris. I also saw a bus there for Disney to take people to Disneyland in Paris!
Literally, about 15 minutes after landing, I got off the plane, walked through the airport, found the bus line, waited to buy a ticket, got on the bus, and left. The ride into Paris was about an hour and a half. It was a nice ride though. I got to see some of the French countryside, which was absolutely gorgeous. I tried to take pictures of it through the bus windows, but they can’t do the scenery any justice.
Once in Paris, I found the metro pretty easily. I went to the ticket machine to buy a booklet of ten tickets. Unlike most machines, you have to start out in French and then you can switch languages. I was so proud of myself that I managed to figure it out! Then, I went to pay, and I couldn’t find where to insert my paper money. I only saw places for coins and credit cards. The machine didn’t accept cash money, so it cancelled my order. I had to get in line to talk to the person in the ticket booth. I finally got my passes, and I looked at my metro map that I had created. I went to my hostel first to check-in. It was already 6pm.
When I got there, I realized that I didn’t pick the best hostel to stay in. I had to pay to use the sheets, and there was a curfew at 11pm. Not that I planned on staying out very late, but I had a lot to see and was only there for a day and half. Anyway, I went to my room and made my bed.
My bed is the bottom bunk in the lower right hand corner of the picture.
I decided to spend Friday afternoon at the Louvre. I knew from friends that there was food there also, and I was starving. I made it there with no problems on the metro. Luckily, in Paris, the metro stops are all pretty close to the big attractions. You can usually see where you are going when you get to street level. There was a sign for the Louvre, so I followed it. When I saw it, I couldn’t believe how big it was. It was impossible to take a picture of the whole thing at once! It was breathtaking!
So many places that you see on TV or read about in books, just can’t live up to that image, but the Louvre was different. To enter the museum, you walk through the large pyramid. The line was so long!
I don't know if you can tell that this is a line, but the distance from the pyramid to where I was standing was the line.
Once on the inside, I walked around for hours and saw basically nothing. I saw the exhibits on the history of the Louvre, Greek art, and Spanish and Italian paintings-including the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa was encased in thick glass about four times the size of the actual painting. There was a rope around it so that viewers couldn’t get closer than fifteen feet. However, it was impressive.
When I left there, I found a little outdoor café to sit down and have dinner. It is easy to see why Paris is one of the most romantic cities in the world. There are little romantic cafes everywhere, with beautiful sights. This is where I ate though, slightly less romantic than most!
If you look under the "l" in Royal, you can see an empty space. That is where I sat!
After dinner, I went back to my hostel to make it in time for my curfew. I charged my camera and uploaded my pictures to my laptop. I tried to use the WiFi to put the pictures on Facebook, but it didn’t work.
Hostels are really hard to actually sleep in because people are constantly coming and going. They are turning on the lights and making noise. So I slept as much as I could that night, and then woke up the next morning to go to breakfast at 7:30. Then, I walked to the Eiffel Tower. I got there an hour early, but there was already a line forming. By the time it opened, the line was snaked this way and that, but I bet it was close to a mile long!
From the ground the tower doesn’t look that tall. However, as I went up and up in the elevator and the city got smaller and smaller, I changed my mind! Unfortunately, it was a foggy morning so visibility was limited, but here are a couple pictured from the top.
If you look closely, you can see that this is the Arc de Triumphe.
Then, I went to see Saint-Chapelle and Notre Dame. I didn’t go in Saint-Chapelle, but it was impressive from the outside.
Notre Dame, on the other hand, left me speechless. It was gorgeous-inside and out. The stained glass is some of the most beautiful pieces that I have ever seen. Here are a couple of pictures from Notre Dame, but sadly, they don’t capture the true beauty.
I left there to do a little souvenir shopping and to grab some lunch. There was a little café on the corner of a street that sold paninis to go. I grabbed one of those and a drink and walked across the street to the Seine River. I sat on the steps and just took everything in while I was eating. I was quite enjoying myself until the pigeons came. One got so close to me that I thought it would hop into my lap!
When I finished eating, I walked along the river for a little while taking pictures. I love the water and the unique bridges and boats! I suppose that is part of life growing up constantly surrounded by water! This is one of my favorite pictures.
I watched the old man for about 15 minutes get the boat ready all by himself. Then, I went to Musee D’Orsay. It is my favorite museum! I loved it! I enjoy looking at paintings and sculptures, but I really love to look at photography. This museum had some beautiful pieces. It also had a special exhibit on music. It had original scores, notes, and photos from some of the world’s greatest musicians! I thought it was simply incredible! I couldn’t take pictures inside this museum.
And finally, I made my way to the Arc de Triumphe and the Champs Elysee. I walked down the Champs Elysee for a little ways. There is so much going on down this street. I saw beautiful restaurants, designer stores, and even an embassy for Denmark!
The Arc sits in the middle of the biggest roundabout I have ever seen! It was absolute craziness watching as cars, bicyclists, and pedestrians all fought to get around it. At any moment, cars would come to a screeching halt because some pedestrian would be running across to get to the Arc. But there were cars going in every direction, so as you can imagine horns were more frequently used than not! One of the last pictures I took is of the Arc, the Eiffel Tower, and a sign saying Place de Charles de Gaulle (where the Arc is located).
As you can see, the skies were starting to look gray, and I heard from a friend that was there that weekend with her mom that it started to rain shortly after I left! Once back at the Beauvais Airport, I struggled to find a place to sit. There were so many people there that every chair and half of the floor was occupied! Everyone was waiting for them to start checking in their flight. The entire night from this point on became quite an adventure.
I finally checked in my to my flight, made it though security, and discovered that it was the same on this side of the airport. No place to sit. I finally found an unoccupied corner so I sat there with my iPod and studied again for Economics of the European Union. Finally, everyone started to line up for the flight. We again walked on the tarmac and up wobbly stairs to the plane.
This was the craziest plane ride that I have ever been on. On a flight from Paris to Madrid, the first language they spoke was English. Therefore, I got to hear every announcement in English, then Spanish, and then French. It was obvious, however, that whoever was making these announcements didn’t speak the language. There were several awkward pauses, and he even forgot the name of one of his coworkers! They sold cigarettes and makeup on the flight. Then, there was this one year-old, who I remember seeing in the airport, barely walking. However, here she was walking alone down the aisle of the plane. Then, as it got closer to landing time and late at night, we were fortunate enough to listen to her scream. Also, I have never seen people get up and walk around so much or leave their seat belts unbuckled. When we landed, everyone clapped. Not just once, but three times! I have never been on a plane where people clap for the landing. Let alone two additional times. We didn’t even clap on my flight from the U.S. to Madrid! I thought it was just in movies and TV!
Anyway, I finally made it off the plane and onto the metro heading home. Towards the end of the metro ride, I felt like I was in New Orleans. There was a large group of guys walking around with open alcoholic drinks. That is illegal here, but they don’t care. It is a tradition apparently. I forget the exact word in Spanish that they use to describe it.
When I exited the metro, it was raining pretty heavily. I, thankfully, had my umbrella with me. I began the 15 minute walk home. Along the way, I saw cars parked in the middle of the street to increase the amount of parking in the city! By the time I made it home, I was soaked. It was pretty windy, so it didn’t help that much that I had an umbrella. I quickly changed into dry clothes and went to unpack. That is when I realized that there was an actual puddle of water in my backpack! The water had soaked right in. My cell phone for here and my iPod Touch were sitting in the middle of it! I took my cell phone apart and hoped it would be okay drying overnight. I wanted to put my iPod in rice, but I didn’t want to wake the family up to ask them. That would have to wait until morning. Then I got my journal out so I could write about my crazy night. The water had gotten to it too! The bottoms of my pages were smeared a little and after drying would definitely be warped. I was so upset!
However, the next morning I put my cell phone together and it worked. I fixed my journal as best as I could. I decided that it was just another memory of what happened. And, I put my iPod in rice. I took it out the next Wednesday night (almost four days later), and it worked! I was so excited! I have had my iPod for something like 4 or 5 years now. It is one of the first iPod Touches.
The rest of that Sunday I spent relaxing and studying. I had a lot to do before I left for London the next Friday!
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