Wednesday, September 9, 2009
2nd to Last and Last Night in Paris :(
Yesterday was quite an adventure.
We started the day off with an excellent boat ride on the Seine, seeing all of Paris by water, all of the monuments, taking pictures, etc. It was beautiful. We then went to the Eiffel Tower... I have to say that my experience this time at the Eiffel Tower was not as good as the last time. As you should know, I'm a very impatient person. Waiting in that long time does not suit me! On top of that, when we finally made it to the top to watch the beautiful sunset, there were too many freakin' people to see anything... so instead of me being able to watch a peaceful sunset like I did on L'arc de Triomphe the other day, I had to spend it with a lady smacking her stupid gum in my ear. Can we say "GRRRR!" So after, we sat in front of the lit tower to watch some awesome fire dancers. The two boys have been practicing for 4 years and were amazing. How spectacular it was to watch them with the Eiffel tower right in view.
Frog and the Princess turned out to be a great little student bar on Tuesday nights with cocktails and pints for only 5Euro. Surprisingly our bartender was from Arizona and she spoke english!! YAY. I found out the equivalent to Bud Light- Naturale Blonde! Just in case anyone else needed to know.
This place ended up being way too crowded and filled with a lot of younger students, so we left and went to Chez George! This place was awesome! It was a winery and had a bar in the cellar. It felt like I was almost in a cavern with the damp, mildewed air, but with the music, wine and friends to accompany, it turned into a cute, quaint choice of destination for a Tuesday night! After we left Chez George, we walked around the streets of Paris for a bit before we left to come home.
Today- Bar des Artists was our first stop. Jean-Mark and I met Frederique, Diana and Camille here to eat an authentic french meal. We had foie de gras (which I found out for the second time, I do NOT like) and fried goat cheese (amazing!) for a starter. I chose "poisson" (fish) for my meal when I should have chosen the steak, but I was told by a certain person (JM) lol, that it was on a kabob. So I went with the fish, which was good, but tasted just like something I would catch in a pond, and for 14Euro, I was hoping for something with a little more flavor. The dessert, however, hit the spot. Something like a wonderful lava chocolate cake with white chocolate sauce around it.. yummmm! Yves, met us for dessert and un cafe and then we all, besides JM, headed out to Mont Martre. Spent some time there, walking around and such. The boys left, and while I was waiting for Fred and Diana to go to the top and come back, I sat on a ledge of the church and wrote while the breeze filled my lungs with cool air and a man played violin in the background. I felt at peace.
I asked the girls to go to Le Louvre with me. It was the only big monument I hadn't been to while I was here this week and it was my last day in Paris. My last meal was an amazing Italian restaurant with Frederique, her parents and Diana.
And here I am, on my last day in Paris, with a stuffy nose and sore throat, but still enjoying every minute of this trip! It will not bring me down!
Long day tomorrow.
Leaving for Grenoble around 9:30am, arriving around 12:30pm and then trying to lug all of our suitcases to the university is going to be a sight to see. I'll try to take some pictures along the way!
Who knows how long all of this will take. Might call for a night out tomorrow ;)
More to come....
We started the day off with an excellent boat ride on the Seine, seeing all of Paris by water, all of the monuments, taking pictures, etc. It was beautiful. We then went to the Eiffel Tower... I have to say that my experience this time at the Eiffel Tower was not as good as the last time. As you should know, I'm a very impatient person. Waiting in that long time does not suit me! On top of that, when we finally made it to the top to watch the beautiful sunset, there were too many freakin' people to see anything... so instead of me being able to watch a peaceful sunset like I did on L'arc de Triomphe the other day, I had to spend it with a lady smacking her stupid gum in my ear. Can we say "GRRRR!" So after, we sat in front of the lit tower to watch some awesome fire dancers. The two boys have been practicing for 4 years and were amazing. How spectacular it was to watch them with the Eiffel tower right in view.
Frog and the Princess turned out to be a great little student bar on Tuesday nights with cocktails and pints for only 5Euro. Surprisingly our bartender was from Arizona and she spoke english!! YAY. I found out the equivalent to Bud Light- Naturale Blonde! Just in case anyone else needed to know.
This place ended up being way too crowded and filled with a lot of younger students, so we left and went to Chez George! This place was awesome! It was a winery and had a bar in the cellar. It felt like I was almost in a cavern with the damp, mildewed air, but with the music, wine and friends to accompany, it turned into a cute, quaint choice of destination for a Tuesday night! After we left Chez George, we walked around the streets of Paris for a bit before we left to come home.
Today- Bar des Artists was our first stop. Jean-Mark and I met Frederique, Diana and Camille here to eat an authentic french meal. We had foie de gras (which I found out for the second time, I do NOT like) and fried goat cheese (amazing!) for a starter. I chose "poisson" (fish) for my meal when I should have chosen the steak, but I was told by a certain person (JM) lol, that it was on a kabob. So I went with the fish, which was good, but tasted just like something I would catch in a pond, and for 14Euro, I was hoping for something with a little more flavor. The dessert, however, hit the spot. Something like a wonderful lava chocolate cake with white chocolate sauce around it.. yummmm! Yves, met us for dessert and un cafe and then we all, besides JM, headed out to Mont Martre. Spent some time there, walking around and such. The boys left, and while I was waiting for Fred and Diana to go to the top and come back, I sat on a ledge of the church and wrote while the breeze filled my lungs with cool air and a man played violin in the background. I felt at peace.
I asked the girls to go to Le Louvre with me. It was the only big monument I hadn't been to while I was here this week and it was my last day in Paris. My last meal was an amazing Italian restaurant with Frederique, her parents and Diana.
And here I am, on my last day in Paris, with a stuffy nose and sore throat, but still enjoying every minute of this trip! It will not bring me down!
Long day tomorrow.
Leaving for Grenoble around 9:30am, arriving around 12:30pm and then trying to lug all of our suitcases to the university is going to be a sight to see. I'll try to take some pictures along the way!
Who knows how long all of this will take. Might call for a night out tomorrow ;)
More to come....
Monday, September 7, 2009
Eiffel Tower, Moulin Rouge, Montmartre!!! Day 4 of Paris Exploration :)
I walked so much today I was exhausted by the time we sat down for dinner in a quite little French Chinese restaurant in Jean-Mark's ville Reuil Malmaison. Did you know that General Tso's Chicken was actually not a real chinese dish. It's roots are uncertain but it's been discovered that it became popular only in the United States and Canada. I wish I had've known this before trying to order it here in France. JM and I had a really nice, long and relaxing dinner over wine, our meals, my sad attempts at french and deep thought.
We set out around 12 noon and headed to Montmartre, a beautiful history church at the top of the hill in Paris, seen from everywhere. But stopped by Moulin Rouge first to see the Red Windmill at work. Well of course you know it doesn't actually spin, but I got some great photos of that "part of town!"
In the church we saw this girl alone..she had been up in the tower with us and then we saw her again in the crypt, so of course, knowing me, I went up to her to ask her if she was by herself. Just my luck, she didn't speak english, even worse, she didn't speak french! Last resort, using the little spanish my roommate Sarah taught me to communite. (Not the correct spelling) "Me amamo Kristi!" etc. We were going to invite her to join us on our adventure through Paris, but being as we both spoke no spanish, we figured that might be a little confusing. So we said our goodbyes.
In Montmartre, I love the little cobblestone streets and small cafe's that bring character to this town. It's so different from the city of Paris that you could kind of consider it its own small village, says JM. And you can definitely see where he's coming from. We ate ice cream and laughed as a vendor told some girls who didn't know french that the flavors were "la voiture, la rue, les autoroutes" In english- "the car, the road, and the highways!" They all sound like great flavors to me! I think I'll have la rue!
It was such a beautiful day today. I wish I had worn a sun dress. The breeze felt wonderful and the air was soft and warm. Jean-Mark and I sat in front of the Eiffel Tower for about an hour, just soaking up the sun and the thought of being where we were. I played in the water and took pictures and just relaxed until it was time to meet JM's best friend. We walked around a little and the headed back home.
Over all- an amazing day!
2 days until Grenoble!
We set out around 12 noon and headed to Montmartre, a beautiful history church at the top of the hill in Paris, seen from everywhere. But stopped by Moulin Rouge first to see the Red Windmill at work. Well of course you know it doesn't actually spin, but I got some great photos of that "part of town!"
In the church we saw this girl alone..she had been up in the tower with us and then we saw her again in the crypt, so of course, knowing me, I went up to her to ask her if she was by herself. Just my luck, she didn't speak english, even worse, she didn't speak french! Last resort, using the little spanish my roommate Sarah taught me to communite. (Not the correct spelling) "Me amamo Kristi!" etc. We were going to invite her to join us on our adventure through Paris, but being as we both spoke no spanish, we figured that might be a little confusing. So we said our goodbyes.
In Montmartre, I love the little cobblestone streets and small cafe's that bring character to this town. It's so different from the city of Paris that you could kind of consider it its own small village, says JM. And you can definitely see where he's coming from. We ate ice cream and laughed as a vendor told some girls who didn't know french that the flavors were "la voiture, la rue, les autoroutes" In english- "the car, the road, and the highways!" They all sound like great flavors to me! I think I'll have la rue!
It was such a beautiful day today. I wish I had worn a sun dress. The breeze felt wonderful and the air was soft and warm. Jean-Mark and I sat in front of the Eiffel Tower for about an hour, just soaking up the sun and the thought of being where we were. I played in the water and took pictures and just relaxed until it was time to meet JM's best friend. We walked around a little and the headed back home.
Over all- an amazing day!
2 days until Grenoble!
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