About to go to sleep now since I’m exhausted (on maybe 4 hours of sleep) but I wanted to write a blog post while everything is still fresh in my mind. Paris is amazing…truly the City of Love and excessive PDA. It was cute at times and a little too much at others and PDA was everywhere, from McDonalds to the Metro. Anyway, after getting to my hostel, Heena and I met up at the McDonalds across the street and grabbed something quick and cheap to eat before going to see the Eiffel Tower! The weather was absolutely horrendous today so we only took pictures from far away but I’m definitely planning to go back back and take more pictures up close and from on top when it’s not as snowy/windy/cold. I was so stunned when I first saw it, it was so majestic and completely caught me off guard. Then we took the Metro to see the Arc de Triomph and walk along the Champs Elysee. The Arc was breathtakingly beautiful and I will be back before I leave to actually climb it and get one of the best views of Paris. After walking down the Champs Elysee and grabbing some Starbucks to refuel, Heena and I decided to go watch a movie since with the student discount it’s only 7 euro which is not bad considering movie prices in London. We saw I Love You Phillip Morris, which starred Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor. One of the craziest movies I’ve seen in a long time and I encourage everyone to watch it if you want an amazingly twisted story and unexpected ending. I literally laughed, cried, gasped out loud, and laughed some more. It came out pretty early in France and is coming out in March in the States…so watch it as soon as it comes out! Anyway, after the movie, we went into this cafe and got some dinner which was pretty expensive but since there is essentially no tip (!) in Europe, it came out to what a good meal in the US would cost. Another thing that’s awesome about Paris is that I took the Metro at least six times today, maybe more, using a three-day unlimited pass for only 20 euro! Extremely useful and it’s nearly paid for itself just in one day.
It was a really fun day and Heena and I will be waking up bright and early to take a free tour of all the sights in Paris and check out the museums (Louvre and d’Orsay) since they close pretty late and are free for students on Fridays :) Pictures will be up tomorrow.
Before I end, I just want to say that I don’t know a lick of French and if it wasn’t for Heena, I truly would’ve been lost. Being blabbered at in a completely foreign language and not knowing how to respond isn’t a great feeling and really made me more sympathetic towards people who don’t speak English in the US. At least in France when you tell people you don’t speak French (I tell them in English, since I don’t even know how to say “I don’t speak French” in French…really need to get a phrase book) they’ll start speaking to you in English, whereas people in the US who don’t speak English are essentially lost in translation with little or no help. Definitely a good experience for me to have and one I’ll remember for awhile.
