Thursday I was not feeling to well. I was hanging out on my bed doing some homework between teaching and class. It was about 15 minutes before class I felt horrible - feverish, really tired, and I had a cold. So I decided to lay down, and ended up sleeping through my first class. I needed it. Almost slept through the second one, but señora and her friend interrupted my nap to make room for the two Italian girls staying with us. Yes, that's right, I have to share senora now!!! Two students from Italy are staying here for two weeks. There's no extra bedroom but the living room where I usually eat lunch has a pull out couch. The reason that they were rearranging my room is because I had an extra bed. So they took that out and put the extra furniture from the living room in my room. I met the two girls briefly so I don't really know what they're like. Anyways, I made it to my second class. Some kid who did the Teaching Development program last semester came in and talked to us. I had been cold while I was napping, so I was wearing two pairs of socks, uggs, and a sweatshirt. The class was so hot. I really thought I might pass out. I debated either leaving, but I thought that would be rude, or taking off my sweatshirt, which I thought would be inappropriate because I was wearing an undershirt that was little and see through. So I was sitting there trying to listen to this kid, and trying not to die. I eventually caved and took off my sweatshirt and kind of laid it over myself so my shirt didn't look skimpy. I took my boots off, even my socks. Luckily this was my TDP class and I'm friends with everyone so they didn't judge me. I opened the window next to me too, but it was loud outside so I had to close it. Class dragged on, but I made it. At this point, Paris the next morning was not looking too great. I went home and packed. I felt horrible. Had a lot of trouble sleeping that night and only got maybe four hours. Somehow though, when I woke up I felt a lot better.
Paris Day 1
Met up with Michelle and Kirsten at the University at 8 to grab the bus to the airport. Another RyanAir flight. I'm actually really liking flying with these low cost airlines. Not only because they're cheap but because they're surprising quick and efficient. Part of the reason they're so cheap is because they go to the littler airports. So the buses we take to and from the airport go to one door, and your gate is right there. No rushing through the airport frantically looking for your flight. Also we haven't been checking any luggage, and since there are no assigned seats people rush to board the plane, and it's all just very quick. The landing in Paris was not quite as smooth. The plane hit the ground very hard and bounced back up. We made it though. Took an hour and a half bus to the main part of Paris. It was a nice day in Paris. Mid 50s and sunny. We found a metro station and we waited in line to buy tickets. The line was very long because a bunch of people had just come from the same bus we had. We got to the front of the line after about 20 minutes and the machine wouldn't accept our credit cards. We were frustrated and didn't want to deal with it, so we grabbed a taxi and went to our hostel. I had always had such a negative image of hostels. But it was so cute! The walls were zebra and it was decorate with cool lamps and pretty things. We lucked out and got our own room, as opposed to when I go to Ireland with Nicole and Sarah and we'll be having a room with 15 other people. Anyways, Kirsten and I shared bunk beds - I got top bunk. We left the hostel and went to a bakery next door and got pizza. It was AMAZING. It was on thick foccacia bread with cheese, pickled zucchini and eggplant, onion, and some other green vegetable. It was so good. We then went to the Sacre Coeur which was a few minutes from our hostel. I didn't recognize the name but once I saw it I realized I had been there. It's a beautiful white bascilica. We bought tickets to go in it. Kirsten and I bought tickets, and the Kirsten realized the receipt said it charged her for two, but she only got one. And so did mine. So we went and asked the lady inside about it. She was so rude to us. Turned out it was a Mistake. So then Michelle went to buy her ticket, but the machine shut off while she was buying it because it was closing soon. We went to the lady inside, and told her what had happened. She said there was nothing she could do, but then had a change of heart and let Michelle give her the money for it and let her go through. Sure she just pocketed the money, but whatever. We climbed up it, climbed allll the way up the stairs, which was a lot. Especially for someone who hasn't worked out in about four months. It was a beautiful view right at sun set. We walked down, and on the stairs in front of the bascilica, on a big hill, with a really pretty view, there were a bunch of people sitting there. There was a guy playing the guitar and singing "Hallelujah". Love that song. We sat on the steps with all the french people and listened to him play for a while. We then walked down to a street straight ahead with a bunch of touristy shops. On our way down some African guys stopped me and put some strings for a friendship bracelet on my hand. I said no, but then he was like "No I just show you". So then we all stopped and had African guys making friendship bracelets while we held the strings. Mine kept saying "Hakuna Matata" over and over. "Like the Lion King! You know?" Well by the time he was done with the green, black, and yellow bracelet, I really couldn't say no. I mean, it was a Hakuna Matata bracelet that got made on my own hand by some guy in Paris. The other guys asked my friends for 5 euro, which of course I refused to pay. Got mine for 2. Worth it. Anyways, France is so pretty - there were lights all over the street and it's just so lively. And there are carousels everywhere. We saw at least three during our weekend there. On the next street over, I found the most amazing shoe store. The shoes were incredibly unique. So many crazy boots and heels. I wish I had bought more. But I bought a pair of light pink heals with black lace. I wish I had done more shopping, but that's all I bought during my time in Paris. We then took the metro to the Arc de Triumph because we wanted to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle. We went to the top. The view of the city at night was incredible. The Arc de Triumph is an arc right in the intersection of about 5 roads. So to get to it you have to go underground and come up right at it. When you're up there it looks so cool because all of the streets lead right to it. We waited about a half hour, and then saw the Eiffel Tower sparkle. There's nothing like it. It looks cool during the day, pretty when it's lit up yellow at night, but when it sparkles with twinkling white lights (every hour for 5 minutes), it's amazing. I got some pictures, but of course they don't do it justice. On the way back we stopped at a cafe on the Champs Elysees and got banana nutella crepes. Delicious, of course. On the way back we took the metro. There were tons of lines, but it was easy to figure out. However, we did run into one issue. My friend Michelle lacks common sense. She also panics about things and is nervous about everything. Now I have no idea what the issue was, but he metro ticket wouldn't work. So Kirsten and I went through, and the train was coming, and all of a sudden we hear Michelle yelling "Guys I can't get through! It won't work!!" According to her the machine accepted her ticket, let her through the revolving bar, but the door at the end wouldn't open. So we start yelling at her to crawl through. She panics and tries to fit in on the side (it's not a full door), but doesn't fit and clearly that's just not possible. So I yelled at her to go through, and she was literally about to cry at this point. Meanwhile the train is here, so with a look of panic on her face she jumps to the ground and flops around like a dead fish, and is able to fit through and make it just in time to get onto the metro. Her and Kirsten were freaking out about it. I didn't really care. Then we got to the station where we had to switch lines. As with any metro you just walk under ground and change lines. Well between one line and the other we were walking in a tunnel, and we see these guys in puke green jump suits come at us, speaking French. They were checking everyone's tickets. Kirsten and I had the same guy stop us, and Michelle was all alone, almost shitting her pants. None of us could find our tickets. We each had five of them, some we had used already. So I gave the guy one of mine, and apparently it wasn't the right one. I was trying to explain that I had more, but he was saying something in French and pulled me aside. Luckily I ended up finding my ticket and so did Kirsten. I don't know if Michelle ever did, but she got through somehow. They're still convinced that this was all because Michelle snuck through, somehow the people working at the metro knew, and the "Gestapo" was after us as Michelle kept saying. Right. Well despite sneaking into the metro and getting chased by the secret police of Nazi Germany, we made it back just fine. It was a close one.
Day 2
Woke up and had breakfast downstairs in the hostel. Had wicked good cereal. It was granola with a bunch of dried fruit, and I mixed it with cocoa crispies. Had some bread and croissant with cherry jelly too. Today was cloudy and chilly. We then went to the Eiffel Tower via the Metro. We probably should have known better and watched Michelle when she went through, because she had trouble once again. This time she panicked again and squeezed through the side. She was not happy and says she hates Paris now. Anyways, we got off at a stop a little further than the Eiffel Tower because it's higher up and a great place to take pictures. We walked over and waited in the extremely long line to go up it. The line was formed in a circle under the tower leading up to the entrance. There was some guy in the middle with an old school pilots hat and a black dog nose. Anytime someone would walk through the middle he'd announce something like "The President of Kasikstan!" or "My girlfriend!" or "Paris Hilton, ladies and gentleman!" Or he'd get up real close to them and follow them until they noticed. It doesn't sound very fun but it was pretty entertaining and everyone enjoyed it and went along with it. We finally entered and had to take the first elevator to the halfway point. The first elevator is weird because it's really big - fits probably 25 people, and it goes up diagonally. We got to the halfway point and had to wait in line for the next elevator. It was freezing up there. The next elevator was normal, and we went up to the very top. Of course it's a beautiful view. Went down and got some crepes at a vendor across the street. We got ham and cheese ones. They roll them up and serve them to you like a cone. We sat on the steps along the Seine river and ate them. One crepe was just not enough. Well it may have been enough, but I should have known myself better. If I'm eating a crepe I want it to be sweet. If I want ham and cheese I'll have it in sub on some fresh bread. I needed a banana nutellla one. Actually Kirsten was the one who wanted it, but it sounded like a good idea. So after two crepes we went to the Louvre. The Metro stop we got off at was inside of a really cool mall called Carousel that was connected to the Louvre. It had this amazing home goods store. Everything was really bright colors and unique designs. I have some pics of it. We took some pictures outside of the Louvre but didn't go in. We then walked to Notre Dame. One the way we walked right through some parade type protest. I got a cool video of it. No idea what they were protesting since I don't speak french, but they kept saying "Something something NO NO! Something something OUI OUI!!" I just love hearing them say oui oui (wee wee) because it sounds so funny. Stopped for post cards along the way and I saw one of Moulin Rouge, and realized this was in Paris and I wanted to see it. Kirsten tried to convince me it was far away, so I asked the lady who worked there. Turns out it was right by our hostel. Sweet! Saw Notre Dame. We were absolutely exhausted by this point. Took a quick walk through. Then we went to Moulin Rouge. The sign was lit up with a lit up windmill next to it. The rest of the street was lit up, however it was not as historical or pretty. It was filled with sex shops, strip clubs, and restaurants. We headed back to our hostel, and just sat. Couldn't move. After about 30 minutes of just sitting we walked to a bakery near by and got bread for dinner. Kirsten and I split a baguette and some raisin nut bread that was amazing. We bought cream cheese for it and I got an almond french macaroon. We went back and sat on one of the beds and ate our bread. So good. And the macaroon was AMAZINGGG.
I'm loving these weekends trips. While I feel like I don't get to spend much time in Sevilla, these trips are so fulfilling. And tiring, but worth it. By the time we're leaving I'm ready to go home. I feel like I've seen everything I wanted to and it's just really easy to do. I'm really excited for Morocco next weekend, and even more excited to show my Mom around Sevilla the next weekend!!
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