NOOO!

I had written out an entire (rather lengthy) blog post about Paris on a word document, but I don't think I actually saved it! That could be a problem. Oh well, I shall start again:

Sorry it took so long to update this blog! I have a lot to catch up on, so I think I will start with Paris, then create separate posts for the other topics.

SO PARIS: What a beautiful city! What an amazing city! What a....smelly city! (Seriously, the stereotype is true; I almost passed out on the Metro a couple of times from smelling people's...uh... "au natural" scents (ohhhh dear, body odor).  But other than that, Paris was amazing! Everything that a tourist should do in Paris in only a weekend...we did.  I feel very accomplished for only being there for a few days!

When I got to the airport, I first had to navigate my way into the city and meet up with my friend (we flew into different airports, so we just decided to meet at the hostel).  And lemme tell you, it is frustrating going to a city where for once, I couldn't understand anything! French is not my specialty.  Not only is it not my specialty, I got there and realized I didn't even know how to say "please" "thank you" or "where is...?" in French.... the three phrases that probably would've come in handy.  Lucky for me, though, I had my Madrid-exploring skills under my belt, so navigating through the city wasn't too bad (minus the fact that I couldn't pronounce a single Metro stop for the life of me).  Well, that and the fact that half of the people in Paris spoke English =]

After getting into the city and checking into the hostel in the afternoon, we decided to go the Notre Dame.  No sign of the hunchback anywhere (hardyyy har har), but the building was beautiful!

Afterwards, we explored that area, cross one of the millions of beautiful bridges in the city, and took in the city.  We eventually made our way to the Orsay Museum, dedicated mostly to impressionism, which means we got to see a lot of Monet, Degas, Manet, Van Gogh, ect. I LOVED it.  The museum itself was a beautiful old train station, and the art inside was amazing to see.  I got to see one of Van Gogh's self-portraits... must've been an older one, though, since both ears still seemed to be intact =P

After the museum, we decided to venture over to the neighborhood with the Moulin Rouge.  Though we didn't actually go inside, the building was cool to see.  We ate at a nearby cafe, where I had salmon pizza (don't judge it until you try it, that's all I've gotta say!)... it was yummy.
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The next day, we woke up and decided to head over the the catacombs.  Ahh yes, amazing underground tunnels under the city filled with 6 million of my closest friends. Dead friends. Dead friends' skulls and bones, to be specific! Let me tell you, walking through two kilometers (yes, I'm over the "miles" thing after being in Europe, but we'll get into that later) of dead Parisians' bones is a little creepy....but still kind of cool. When I was done, though, I was definitely glad to go back outside into the sunlight!

My new best frands:

After that, we went to the Louvre Museum, which was HUGE! So huge, in fact, that if you stand in from of every work of art in there for one minute each, you will be in there for four months! At least that's what a tour guide told me.  But I believe him; I spent three hours in there and felt like I wasn't even close to even getting started with that place!

After the museum, we went to the most touristy place ever famous place in the city--the Eiffel Tower, of course! After seeing the huge line to ride the elevator to the top, we decided to take the walking option.  Walking up the Eiffel Tower = no big deal. At the top, we got to see the entire city stretched out in front of us. The sun was starting to set too, and I kind of felt like I was in a cheesy romance movie.... minus the, uh, romance. But you get the idea, right?
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On our final day there, we went to Versailles, the even-huger-than-Louvre palace just outside of the city.  Oh Marie Antoinette, you really outdid yourself, didn't you?  We walked through the inside of the palace, then spent the rest of the day enjoying the area and small town around the palace.

That evening, I enjoyed a crepe as we took a boat tour around the city.  What a great way to end my time in Paris! When I first came to Spain, I wasn't sure if I wanted to travel to other countries or just travel around Spain; now, I'm definitely glad that I ventured to a non-Spanish-speaking area.

(but where's Nicole Kidman? bahahaha... it's good thing I didn't make any hunchback or Nicole Kidman jokes while I was there... I don't want to be that American tourist!)