Versailles

At 9:30 am we were met by our instructor in our hotel lobby to go to Versailles. We spent the whole day at the Chateau and only got to see probably less than half of the whole property. What we saw was very grand and I especially loved the Hall of Mirrors which they just finished renovating on Monday after 3 years so we were very lucky to see them in all of their glory! I’ll leave the rest up to the pictures because I don’t know how to describe it in words.

Musee d' Orsay, Catacombs, Paris Opera House, Pere Lachaisses

The first early morning start of Paris to go see the Musee d’ Orsay which was full of impressionist art and lots of sculpture. My favorite part was their Art Nouveau exhibit.
After d’ Orsay we had a free day to go see what we wanted in Paris so a few of us were off to the catacombs which is the underground burial ground for thousands of Parisians. There were just bones and bones and bones stacked at least 5 feet tall and maybe 3 feet deep! I had to remind myself that those were real bones because there were so many that it seemed fake.
It was a little creepy and a little surreal but really awesome. Our next stop was the Paris Opera House where the Phantom of the Opera was filmed.
Once again it was a building with beautiful gold detail. The highlight of my day was going to Jim Morrisons grave at Pere Lachaisses. It was a really old cool cemetery and it was an adventure in its own to walk through. I’ve been a Doors fan every since a very young age so it was cool to see the resting place of a rock icon.

St.Chapelle, Notre Dame, Pompidou, Louvre

Monday…well what can I say? We got to sleep in again and left at about 10 to go to Saint Chapelle which is a Cathedral made in the 1200s.
It is really striking because it is almost all stain glass windows which makes the whole place just light up and glow color. From St Chapelle we went to Notre Dame which was also amazing. It was just so big and had so much detail and was hunchbackesque?? Jk.
Pompidou was next on our list which is a building that is inside out. All of the pipes and the structure is shown on the outside which makes for a very innovative design.

After walking through their modern gallery we continued to make our way to the Louvre. We were supposed to do the Louvre on Tuesday and have a full day there but it is closed on Tuesdays so we ended up only having a couple of hours there.
Although it was a rush, it was a nice first dose and I’ll be back one day. Monday night I tried to meet up with a friend of mine at the Eiffel Tower but it ended up being rainy and windy so instead we walked around the general area and got crepes. A delicious end to a busy day.

Disneyland

Free Day number one of Paris and where do we go? DISNEYLAND! A few of my friends wanted to go to Disneyland and seeing as I haven’t been since I was about 3 or 4 I decided I should probably check it out. I was a little skeptical at first and a little tired this morning also a little groggy so I wasn’t so sure that in this cultural mecca of the world called Paris we should head off to the one place that is completely Americanized. It didn’t take me too long to warm up to the idea though. All I had to do was go on Space Mountain and I was sold. We actually ended up going on Space Mountain 3 times! I could have just gone on that ride the whole day and loved it. But we didn’t. We went on Indiana Jones, Star Tours, Pirates of the Carribean, Haunted Mansion, on the Snow White ride, walked up the Swiss Family Robinson tree and through the Disney Castle. Food wise was a little pricey as theme parks tend to get but the part I liked was them selling crepes instead of churros. The crepes were good though. And I would also like everyone reading this to know that today I went on my first rollercoaster ride that goes upside down. Oddly enough it has taken me 19 years. But Space Mountain has two loops and Indiana Jones had one. As for the people, we had very good experiences today with people being very helpful and nice and very understanding. Also I was worried about feeling more threatened here but I don’t as long as I keep an eye out and am aware and smart I feel totally in control. So today was very successful and enjoyable. It was a nice change from all the chateaus and cathedrals.
P.S. I’m hoping to get pictures up soon. Tomorrow we might have wireless…fingers crossed.

Fontainebleau and Vaux le Vicomte

Today we got to sleep in! The hotel served breakfast which was croissants and Nutella and laughing cow cheese. Doesn’t sound like a good mix but it actually was. We left at noon from our hotel on a coach that took us first to Fontainebleau. It was a very pretty place. There is so much architecture packed in that it is hard to see it all in an hour and a half or so but it was a nice change to be in France and see different styles of art and architecture.
After our audio/self guided tours we stopped off at a grocery store and bought food for a picnic at Vaux le Vicomte. It was a little tricky seeing as most of us don’t know any French but we figured out the cheese and bread easily and ended up getting a mixture of meat with bacon, ham and salami and then another packet of chicken. All I have to say is that the picnic was amazing seeing as the food was fresh and delicious. We did the candle tour of Vicomte but it doesn’t get dark till about 10:30 here so it was more like walking around a house with candles. It didn’t glow so much on the outside as we imagined but the inside was cool because lot of the rooms are pretty dark anyway so the candlelight actually gave off a good mood. Before our tour started we had plenty of time to walk around the grounds which were very vast and relaxing.
Nice time to sit and enjoy the idea that we’re actually seeing all these things we’ve learned about and the idea of being in a new place!

Paris

Cassie and I on the train to Paris.
Goodbye London. Hello Paris! We were out of our hotel and on the tube at 8 am! West Kensington to Westminster on the District Line transfer to Jubilee Line to Waterloo upstairs to Eurostar and in 3 hours we will be in Paris. I’m on the train now typing this so I will have to add more when we get to Paris. The rest of the train ride was pretty uneventful and we arrived in Paris at 2:30 pm with no problems. Out of the train station onto the streets of Paris to find that our coach hadn’t come. Next thing we know its 6:30 pm and we’re getting onto taxis because our coach never came. That’s right...about 4 hours of just sitting on the streets of Paris. Good time to see the bums and the gypsies at their finest. Really it wasn’t that big of a deal and to be honest I thought we were only there about one, maybe two hours. We passed the Louvre on the taxi and some other things and got to our hotel and settled in nicely. I can see the Eiffel Tower from the window above my bed and you can also see it if you stand outside of the other window and lean to the left. We like to live on the edge. :P We are now down to 3 room mates in a decent hotel room with our own bathrooms and new towels everyday! Next order of business was food at a nice Italian restaurant by our hotel. And then again sleep.
The group waiting on the streets of Paris for our bus
The Eiffel Tower from my Hotel.

Last Day London

Here I am on the last day of my London trip. Time really has flown. I woke up at about 9:30 and wondered how come we all were still in our room when we were supposed to be down stairs in the lobby to go to Windsor Castle at 8 am. You see, I wake up to other people getting ready instead of setting my alarm clock. So far it has worked nicely. Windsor Castle got canceled and today was a free day which was mostly filled with shopping, organizing and packing. I don’t even have any pictures so this little summary will have to do.