Well, we were in Paris, but now we are not. We are now in Milan, Italy.
Our time in Paris was crazy and fun... so I never got a chance to write.
Here it is...
Saturday Night- April 3
We arrived at Paris Nord and it was crazy. So many people in this huge train station, some weird guy following us around, and us trying to figure out what Metro to take. Luckily I knew we needed to buy a carnet of Metro tickets, so we bought those and saved $$$.
We got on the right train and headed for Port Malliot, where we caught a bus headed for the campground. We had been on the bus for about 5 minutes when an old lady noticed our backpacks (they are hard to miss!) and asked "Camping?" She proceeded to tell us (all in French) to push the button to stop the bus. Luckily, Kenny figured it out and the bus stopped before we missed out campground.
Bois de Bologne is mostly for RVs, but we got a site right by the showers and with a view of the Eiffel Tower- oh, one thing... the Tower is AMAZING! I actually gasped when I first saw it :)
Sunday- April 4
The next morning we headed for Versailles. It is the coolest place! The size and grandness of it all is mind-blowing.
There was a line about a half a mile long to get in, but since we had a Museum Pass, we didn't have to wait!!! The Museum Pass in Paris is the best investment!
After walking through the palace we took a short nap by a little pond and then walked and walked and walked- the place is HUGE! We saw some "little" palaces and the Grand Canal and then went into the gardens to see the fountains. Kenny got us in for the student price by showing his business card- LOL :)
Once the fountains went on we ran from one to another taking video. They were very cool. After the fountains, we went into the king's chambers. They were ok, but pretty much the same as what we saw earlier.
Back to the Metro we went to leave, but our tickets wouldn't work so we jumped over the turnstiles :)
Once we got back to the campground we decided to eat at the restaurant there. We spent 10 minutes looking up what was on the menu in our phrase book, only to learn that they only serve one thing on Sundays- pate' veal. It was ok. The waiter laughed at me when I made a little sandwich out of my bread and pate'. It was the only way to eat it easily! I forgot to mention that we had a great breakfast of a baguette, cheese, salami and Candy-Up (chocolate milk) that morning.
Monday- April 5
We woke up and got more Candy-Up, cheese and a baguette and headed for Notre-Dame. Wow! What a neat place. I wasn't too impressed at first (having been jaded by the grandness of Versailles), but once we went inside it was amazing! So beautiful... all the stained glass and everything.
After walking through (with very few people since we got there early), we stood in line to climb to the top. While in line we met a young couple from Washington DC- Danny & Sandy (like Grease). They were so nice and we hit it off. We were able to take pictures for them and them for us as well and just joke and talk. It made it even more fun.
The view from the top was amazing- we took so many pictures of Paris and all the cool gargoyles :) We even saw Quasimodo's bell tower- this is where Sandy fell down the stairs :)
After Notre-Dame we walked to the Louvre. We skipped the lines- thanks again to the Museum Pass- and spent a few hours out of the cold, windy weather looking at famous art. We even saw the Mona Lisa- it was so neat to have a front row view.
After the Louvre, we got on a bus to the Eiffel Tower. After a few stops, this old lady tells us to get off because this is where the bus stops (all in French). Weirdest thing- the bus stopped and then another with the same number picked us up (costing $2 more!) and too us the rest of the way.
The Eiffel Tower is amazing and gets even more so the closer you get. We waited in line for an hour or so then up we went to the 2nd floor. After another wait we went to the top. It was a bit scary actually to go up the elevators that high, but totally worth it for the view on top.
We were able to eat at Altitude 95- an expensive restaurant on the 1st floor. Kenny ordered duck and I thought I would order rabbit because I had never had it before- it ended not looking like any rabbit I had ever seen! It was pureed rabbit and fruit in 2 squares- so gross!!! And it was 25 Euro! Kenny was so nice and ate it. I felt so horrible. His duck was ok. The weird thing is that it was on top of refried beans! Weird French food. Dessert made it all worth it. We had this great chocolate cake (8.5 Euro). Oh, I forgot to mention Kenny's coke for 4.5 Euro! They were mighty proud of themselves. It was a neat experience none the less.
Tried to mail a post card, but the post was closed :( My bad.
Tuesday- April 6
It rained and hailed all night, but we stayed dry.
The bad day begins...
The night before we had put our Nikon battery on a charger in the bathroom. In the morning it was gone :( Long story short, we lost a battery, charger, converter and even the carrying case. Bummer.
We packed up and left our bags at the campground. We went to the Rodin Museum (skipped the line :)) and saw The Thinker and The Gates of Hell. Then we went to the Musée d'Orsay (skipped a HUGE line) and saw Monet's Water Lilies and many Van Goghs. We then headed for the Arc de Triumph and climbed up for a nice view. The best part was watching the cars below in what is one of the busiest circle drives in Paris. We decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower. On the way we bought a charger, which didn't work :(
At the base of the Tower we bought ham & cheese crepes then went to sit down when an old lady took about 3-5 Euro from us. It sucked and I cried so I din't really enjoy my yummy crepe. Then we got on the wrong Metro train, it started to hail on us and we still had to get to the train station to leave. We were one Metro ticket short so I tried to get through the gates behind Kenny, but got stuck in the gate!!! My back was too wide with the tent on the outside. We had to try to get through 4 or so gates and every time I couldn't get through!!!
(INSERT DRAWING FROM JOURNAL)
Once we made it to the stop for the train, we had to go through a scary area with a ton of people only to find out we went the wrong way! Once we made it to the station we had to sit and wait in a room next to two drunk, smoking bums! The bathrooms stunk and I almost threw up. Finally we got on out train.
I am so thankful that we had our own cabin- it made it so nice after such a bummer of a day. They gave us champagne that night. We both slept pretty well and in the morning we got hot chocolate and a croissant.
Wednesday- April 7
We got off the train and tried to find a tourist info place to help us find a hotel room, but then just went outside and walked to a hotel with a doorman- it was a 5 star hotel starting at 250 Euro per night. He showed us what street the 3 star hotels were on and we walked in the first nice one we saw- San Carlo. It was 100 Euro and pretty nice. There were two girls at the front desk who were stupid ad wouldn't talk to us, but then another guy checked us in. He was kinda dumb- gave us wrong directions twice. Later in the day, though, there was a new guy at the desk who was great! He gave us a map, showed us where to go and even called DHL for us.
Once we check in we washed all our laundry in the sink and hung them all to dry. Then we took a nap :)
We got on the Metro and went to see the Duomo di Milano - it was amazing! Kenny wanted to pay 5 Euro a piece to get to the top so we did- I am so glad because it was unbelievable! We could even see the Alps from the top!
After an hour or so, we went to the church to see the Last Supper. Thankfully we had reservations and we got right in. It was way bigger than I thought it would be and so neat. We got to see it for about 10 minutes (and I even took video- I don't think I was supposed to!)
Once we got back to the hotel we rested a bit and then went next door to eat (oh, I forgot to mention our first meal in Italy was Mc Donald's!). I ordered a 4 cheese pizza and Kenny got gnocchi. It was sooooo good. Yum! The funny thing was the restaurant charges us each a charge of 1 Euro to eat there. Weird. Slept pretty good that night. It was nice to be in a hotel.
(I CAN'T BELIEVE I DIDN'T MENTION THE BEST TIRAMASU ON THE PLANT THAT WE ATE THERE)