Bonjour, Paris!

Sunday I returned from a trip to Paris for Valentine’s Day weekend! It was a busy but exciting three days. We left on a bus to Pisa Thursday morning to catch our flight to Paris. After we arrived, we took our pre-booked transportation to our rented apartment on Rue de Fouberg Saint Martin. After finding the key, we settled in our small space. The flat was quaint, but smoky and cluttered with old clothes and strange art. That being said, we were thankful to not be stuck in a sketchy dorm-style hostel in the outskirts of town. After grabbing dinner, we met my French friend Adelaide for drinks at a local café called Syphex. I hadn’t seen her in about seven years after she moved away, but she was incredibly welcoming and nice! She was a great translator for us, and throughout the night helped us plan out our entire trip. She told us which metro lines to take, how much time we should allocate for each place, and how to avoid tourist traps. It was a fun night! The next morning, Valentine’s Day, we woke up early and started our day with crepes and coffee before heading to the Louvre. It was rainy and cold, but it didn’t stop us for waiting in the long line outside to get into the geometric enterence of the famous museum. Spent a couple of hours inside, but if we had wanted to see everything, we could have spent an entire day. My favorite work was the Mona Lisa, just because it was fun to see the famous painting in person.









After the Louvre we continued to the Pont de l'Archeveche, or the Love Lock Bridge. We all bought a simple lock on the side of the rode for 3 euros, and wrote all of our initials with the date. We found the perfect spot to place our lock, and each threw a key into the river with a wish.





Next, we walked down the rode to Notre Dame, where we walked around for a while before getting a bite to eat. From there, we took the metro to Laduree, the famous macroon store. It was amazing! There were so many unique flavors, and the displays were gorgeous. We each picked out three flavors. I chose rose petal, candy strawberry, and salted caramel. The salted caramel was awesome, but I think my favorite was the rose petal. It was sweet, light and refreshing.

Around 5:00 p.m., we took the metro to Adelaide’s neighborhood to meet up with her for the night. She lived in a very nice area of town, and she took us for a short tour of the garden and the area surrounding the government buildings. After that, we went to a few grocery stores to buy food and wine for the evening. Adelaide instructed us on how to purchase the best baguettes, foie gras, cheese, and other appetizers. She was an expert! We took everything back to her charming apartment, and prepared the food. For the next five hours, we sat around eating, catching up, and talking. She invited her friend from school over too, so it was fun to meet another French college student.

 


The next day was less eventful for me, since I hurt my knee the night before and couldn’t do much walking. However, I met up with the group mid-day, and went to see the Eiffel Tower. I had been there before, but it was fun to see the sight once again, especially when it lit up at night. That evening, we grabbed dinner at a small café, where I finally had French onion soup! The rest of the night we took it easy, since we had to wake up at 3:30 a.m. for our flight home.

 

Once again, it was a great weekend! Someday I hope to go back and see Versailles.