Aahh, Paris!

It had been eight years since the last time I was in Paris and this time was just as wonderful as before. I arrived in Paris on a Wednesday evening with Allyson, Lizzie, and Emily. Of course, there was a huge French transit worker strike. Getting from the airport to the actual city was going to be very complicated. However, due to Emily's connections, one of her friends who lives in Versailles picked us up and drove us in. Steeve (yes, two ee's) was Emily's friend from NYC. He brought along his friend Fabrice. Fabrice can be described as the epitome of Euro trash, but he was absolutely hilarious.

Steeve and Fabrice dropped up off at Oops!, our hostel. It was located on Avenue des Gobelins. We walked into this psychedelically decorated lobby (neon lights, animal print wallpaper, etc) and then went to our room. Now, Oops is a fairly new hostel, which we took for a good thing--clean, some amenities, etc. However, we did not think the wall would not be finished in our four bed (bunk beds...I was on top), one bath, room. Now, some people would be concerned about that, but us girls needed few things in the great City of Lights. The beds were comfortable, they had obviously used a lot of bleach to clean the bathroom, and it was warm. Also, as we discovered our last night there, it had a view of the Eiffel Tower--if you leaned far enough out the window. Oops proved to be a great experience.

The neighborhood we were in, on the Avenue des Gobleins, was lovely. I had never been in that section of Paris, but it was very lively and fun with great shops and cafes. It was a little far from the center of town without public transportation, but the 40 minute walk into the city was absolutely magical each day. We walked through tons of outdoor markets, down cute streets with window boxes, and along avenues with fabulous shops. We were lucky we had great weather, albeit cold, the entire time, so the walks were always enjoyable.

Okay, back to Steeve and Fabrice--After dropping our stuff off at Oops, they took on a driving tour of the city. It is soo beautiful at night! We ended up near the Eiffel Tower at an Irish Pub (I swear, every city has one and they are always fun). We hung out there for a while listening to the adventures of Fabrice and Steeve, then went home where we promptly fell asleep.

The next day we walked into the city with plans to meet Lisa and Andrea, two of our friends who also work in the ES, at Notre Dame. This was the first full view of the cathedral:

We waited for 45 minutes for Andrea and Lisa, then we got a phone call from them saying they had walked the wrong way along the Seine and they were probably a half hour away. We decided to tour Notre Dame while we waited. This is the famous rose window:

We went back outside and decided to take in the view of the amazing church.

Here I am in front of it.

Emily, Allyson, and Lizzie (left to right) waiting outside Notre Dame

We continued to wait for Lisa and Andrea for another hour and a half...they were really lost. We decided to get something to warm us up at a cafe near Notre Dame. I had my first glass of vin chaud (mulled wine) and I was hooked. It definitely warms you up on a cold day.

Lisa and Andrea finally arrived and met us at La Saint Chapelle. This is a lesser known church than Notre Dame, but it my opinion far more magnificent. It was the king's chapel and was originally built to hold relics of the cross. It is known for it's amazing stained glass windows. The pictures don't do it justice, but here is a taste:

After La Saint Chapelle we decided to have lunch. We walked down Rue du Saint Germain, the main drag in the Quartier Latin. Thanks to a recommendation, we ate at Les Deux Magots, a swanky and apparently famous Parisienne cafe. The food was amazing and it was here that we were introduced to Beaujolais Nouveau. As you know, there are many wine regions in France and Beaujolais is one of them. We happened to be in Paris when all the Beaujolais wines were "released." All the restaurants were advertising this new wine, so we had to try it. We ended the meal with amazing apple pie and chocolate cake. We also discovered willing to indulge is a must in Paris :).

Me and Emily with our Beaujolais Nouveau

After lunch we decided to go to the Musee D'Orasy. This is one of my all time favorite museums. It is in an old train station and has the most amazing views of Paris. We walked there, about 40 minutes, along the Seine. You can see Andrea (brown jacket), Lizzie, and Allyson in this picture:

When we arrived at the museum, we discovered it was closing early due to the transit strike, so they wouldn't let us in. Although we were disappointed, the Eiffel Tower made up for it. We walked another 20 minutes to get there and had a great time just being near the amazing structure.

After walking around all day, we decided to get a cab back to Oops to rest up before dinner. As we were waiting in line for a cab, a family of ducks came marching across the road. Two men were stopping all the cars on this very busy road so that the ducks could pass safely. It was adorable.
After arriving back at Oops we decided to eat locally because we were so tired from walking around all day. We went next door to a creperie and had a wonderful, hot meal, then went home to bed. It was a great first day!

The next day we decided to make the Musee D'Orsay our first stop so we would be sure to get there on time. Before going to the museum, Allyson and I decided we needed haircuts. We found a place near Oops and both of us had a very relaxing and much needed haircut. We then walked the 45 minutes through the streets of Paris (because the metro still wasn't running) to the museum. Here is a picture of Le Sacre Coeur from the Musee D'Orsay:

After a wonderful trip through the museum we decided to have lunch at a little bistro on the Rive Gauche, or the fancy side of the Seine. It was on our way to our next stop, Le Champs Elysee. We all had steak and frites with a glass of Beaujolais Nouveau. It was delicious!

After our meal we split into two groups, the shoppers and the non-shoppers. The shoppers, which included me, headed to the Champs Elysee, the famous road surrounded by some of the fanciest shops in Europe. We worked our way down the street indulging in new boots and bags, and we ended up at L'Arc du Triomphe. As with everything else in Paris, it is amazing at night.

After shopping up and down the Champs Elysee, we decided to have a pre-dinner treat of chocolate mousse. From there we walked to the Eiffel Tower where we caught a cab. Walking of the Seine gave us an amazing view of the tower lit at night.
We arrived back at Oops and after an even more tiring day of sight-seeing and shopping, we decided to take naps before dinner. Well, naps turned into sleeping for the night. I was very well rested the next morning.

On our last full day in Paris Lizzie and I decided to go to the Louvre and the Opera House. Here I am in front of the famous pyramids of the Louvre.

Inside Lizzie and I decided to stick to one section and just see some of our favorite pieces. It was, relatively speaking, a very quick Louvre trip, but it was worth it. After the Louvre we walked 20 minutes to the Opera House. Neither of us had ever been there before and it is definitely a place I want to go back and tour. We couldn't help but sing Phantom of the Opera as we walked through. Here are a few pictures from there:

The day ended with another meal at our local creperie, along with three bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau. It was a very fun evening and a great way to end our trip to the city of lights. We left the next morning, definitely not ready to go, but with wonderful memories.