It was a Saturday and I was heading to Paris for the weekend to meet up with Rebekka Riek, who was my family's foreign exchange student when I was a sophomore in high school.
I got up early, 4:30 am, so I wouldn't be late to St. Pancras Station. I headed out around 5:30 to the tube station, since it is the weekend and some lines are closed I wanted to be sure I had plenty of time to get to the station. Long story short, I went an extra stop and then had to turn around. Thank you paranoid self. By the time I got to St. Pancras Station I was running late yet again. I had to go through a short security and jog to the train but I made it on and all was good. The train ride was about 2 1/2 hours long. Once I got to Paris I easily found my way from Gare du Nord station to our hostel. While walking up to the hostel Rebekka came up and we said our 'hello's'. We checked in and paid but would have to get our room keys later since it was still a little early. We put our bags into the luggage room and headed out. We had both been to Paris before so we had a hard time of figuring out where to go and what to do. We ended up just walking for a while and got on the metro to somewhere. We stopped by some shops and then came upon the free tour of Paris, so we joined them for a little bit and then went our own ways again. We then went in search of a place to eat. We ended up getting McDonald's which was actually in an area of Paris that I had visited with David and Jessie a few years ago. We sat nearby a fountain and enjoyed our chicken nuggets before heading to Centre Pompidou, which is a more modern building with giant pcp pipes along the outside. We walked through the inside and into a shop they had. We looked around at some of the cool things they were selling and off we were again. We walked a way's, looking for a metro station, no luck, but we ended up finding a church that was gorgeous inside! Also with a statue of a head outside, odd, but very beautiful.
After we walked around inside the church we headed out, again in search of a metro. We also enjoy getting sidetracked slash we didn't really have any plans for the day. Rebekka and I ended up stopping in a cooking shop, they had many different pans, cooking utensils. Rebekka Riek was in heaven! I enjoyed watching her walk around the store being fascinated with everything in it. I can't quite remember what she said but something about working in a restaurant, or just really loving to cook. When we finished walking through the store we headed out and found our way to the Louvre. Well part of it. We didn't go in, as I had been there a few years before with Jessie and David. We eventually did find a metro station and headed to Sacre Coeur. We found a metro stop near it, but still had to climb very long hills. Well worth it though. When we got there we stepped inside and then sat on the steps outside for a bit. It was getting quite hot at this point. We enjoyed the view and people watching.
When we finished our gelato we got back on the metro and headed back to the hostel. We sat around at the hostel for a little while so we could figure out what we wanted to do for supper. We ended up deciding on going to a grocery store. We headed out and found one maybe 5 minutes a way. I got a baguette, gouda cheese, ham and a water. Rebekka got an already made sandwich, she had a hard time making up her mind. We walked back towards our hostel and sat in the back by the river. We ate our food and just chatted, after I was done I threw some of my leftover food to the pigeons, they always make me laugh, plus I always feel bad for them. After that we got some long sleeves and headed towards the Eiffel Tower. We got there in perfect timing, it was just getting dark. I also think I took some pretty awesome pictures of it!
We didn't go up, I think we both had been up it before, and it also costs money. We walked underneath it, I got some more pictures, then we headed across the street.
Rebekk Riek and myself
I can't remember what the building across the street was, I apologize. It has a fountain in front of it though. This is also the place where everyone goes and lays out there blankets and put all these souvenirs to sell. Of course this is easy for them because they can then lift the corners of the blankets and take off. While heading up the stairs I spotted an Eiffel Tower key chain that they sell, just lying on the ground, so I picked it up and took it! My free souvenir from the weekend. We then headed down by some steps and sat waiting for the light show to come on. I was told that it comes on maybe around 9pm. As soon as it gets dark the Eiffel Tower does light up, it is quite the sight, I love it.
After the light show we headed back to a metro stop and went back to our hostel. We got ready for bed and hit the hay, resting for a trip to Versailles!!
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