Three Tuesdays ago, a bunch of the girls were in the mood for sushi, so we got dressed up and went downtown to a cool sushi restaurant. It was a great dinner and I will definitely be going back. (We also found out that if we print something out from their website before coming in to eat, students can get 25% off their meal.) The restaurant is sort of futuristic. Instead of boats carrying the sushi, it is on a track that moves by all of the tables.
After sushi, we went for a drink at Vodka Wodka on Ashton Lane. Ashton Lane has a bunch of great pubs and bars, including the Wee Pub that we went to a couple weeks ago.
Wednesday I stayed in and packed for Paris. I was scared that RyanAir would charge me for the size of my bag, but it ended up being okay the next day at the airport. Thursday, Briana and I left the flat at 11am to go to the library and we printed out our bus tickets for the trip back to Glasgow on Sunday. We then hopped on the underground to Glasgow Central where we took the train to Prestwick airport. We had to wait for a while at the airport, but we met a really nice guy named James. He said you have to wait close to the gate because when they open up the gate, everyone runs to get in line (since there are no assigned seats). I don't know what we would have done without James getting to Paris. We made it on the flight and somehow sat in the 5th row. The flight was only about an hour and fifteen minutes. James helped us get to the bus to take us to Paris, which was 70 minutes, and then he showed us the metro because our cell phones didn't work. Somehow we were able to find the hotel that Briana's friends were staying at near Notre Dame after walking down St. Michel. The four of us found a great place for dinner with a fixed menu. For about 20 Euro, I got onion soup, a salmon main course, and creme brulee. We all shared a bottle of wine and ended up staying at the restaurant just talking until 11:45pm. After dropping Briana's friends off at their hotel, we made it to the metro by 12:50am and realized there were no trains running. Thankfully we found a nice guy who spoke English who told us we would be better off just taking a taxi to our hostel. We had such a hard time telling our taxi driver where the hostel was, but we finally found it and Briana's other friends were waiting for us there. Our 10-person was all women and the beds were hilarious. I loved the curtains!
My bed was on the top right.
Here is our hostel during the day...St. Christopher's Hostel.
On Friday, we started off the day at 9am and made it to breakfast (of baguettes and nutella) downstairs at 9:30am. Our first tourist stop of the day was the Eiffel Tower. We took MANY pictures and took the elevators to the very top. It was a beautiful day and you could see all of Paris. The last time I was in Paris, my parents and I went to the top and you could not see the ground because it was so gray, rainy, and cloudy. My only memory of the Eiffel Tower was bad, so now I absolutely love it. It's funny how the weather can affect your experience and mood so drastically.
After the Eiffel Tower, we went to Notre Dame and met up with more people. Notre Dame was absolutely gorgeous inside, and we even got a picture of the Hunchback.
On our way to lunch, we walked by a restaurant called Le Loch Ness...I guess it was a sign not to forget about Scotland.
We had lunch in a cute cafe with the sun shining down on us in the glass covered seating area. I had another baguette (this time with ham and cheese) and then we decided to take the metro to the Arc de Triomphe.
We walked along the Champs-Elysees towards the Arc de Triomphe and it was beautiful. We all wanted to walk to the top because we thought it was free, but I guess we read the tourist book wrong. It was around 7 Euro and none of us were willing to pay that much to walk up the stairs. So, we took more pictures and then hopped on the metro to the stop called Madeleine.
The girls wanted to do some shopping, so Eric and I went to see the obelisk. We ended up catching the view at sunset and it was gorgeous. I have so many pictures of the Eiffel Tower at sunset. I just couldn't help myself.
After the shopping trip, we wanted to hit up another touristy spot and see the Bastille. Well, for the amount of walking we did to find a single monument in the middle of a busy street, we decided that was enough for the day. After the Bastille, we went back to the hostel, got dressed up for dinner, and asked where the best area to eat was. The woman at the hostel told us to eat in Montmarte and we found a restaurant called Villa Montmarte. After an okay dinner, we found a bar/club, did some dancing, met a bunch of Irish guys, and enjoyed speaking English with them. After the club, I had my first crepe in Paris and then we took a taxi back to the hostel.
On Saturday, on our way to the Louvre, we found a cafe with views of the Eiffel Tower. I had a croque madame and it was wonderful. After breakfast, we walked along the Siene and finally arrived at the Louvre. In the Louvre, I found a room full of many of the Italian paintings I studied in my art history class last semester. I couldn't believe that I was looking at these paintings from only a foot away. It was a great discovery and I definitely could have spent the whole day in that room, but we had to keep moving. After a long time at the Louvre, we walked towards the Musee de Orsay and found a little cafe for lunch. By the time everyone was done eating and we made it to the museum, we realized we missed the ticket sales by 15 minutes! Since we couldn't walk around the museum, we wanted to find somewhere to get crepes. Most of the girls got crepes and after they were done eating, we hopped on the metro and went back to the hostel.
We decided to eat dinner at the hostel because the burgers looked great and it wasn't too expensive. The hostel is right on the water so we had a beautiful view out the window from our table.
After dinner, we got back on the metro and met our other friends at the Eiffel Tower stop. It was freezing outside so we quickly took some pictures, walked around, and admired the sparkling Eiffel Tower. When we got back on the subway, the 3 people we met up with had not eaten dinner yet so they wanted to get some food. I was not in the mood to just sit at a restaurant and watch people eat, so I told them I was going to the Moulin Rouge. Briana and Eileen decided they didn't want to sit around either, so the three of us went the opposite way on the metro.
Even though it was freezing outside and we didn't stay for long, I got some good pictures of the Moulin Rouge at night and was satisfied with my little adventure. When we got back on the metro, we found out where the other 3 were and we met up with them at the restaurant. I had my second crepe in Paris while they finished their meal and then we all said goodbye to each other. The three of them staying in the hotel had to leave early in the morning on Sunday, so we wouldn't be seeing them again.
On Sunday, we woke up, packed, and checked out of the hostel. We ate our last breakfast in Paris and then got on the metro to the Musee de Orsay since we weren't able to go the day before. On Sundays, the museums are free (we would have gotten in free with our student IDs anyway) so there was a big line. We waited in line for a little while, walked around Orsay, I saw some art that we've been studying in my art history class here, and then we were on our way.
After the museum, we walked up Rue Royale and found a great cafe for lunch, with a Starbucks next door. After a huge lunch and feeling pretty full, we decided to walk all along the Champs-Elysees. We spent the rest of the day walking along it and even did a little shopping. We saw the Arc de Triomphe again, and then took the metro back to the hostel to get our luggage. Once we got our luggage, we took the metro to the bus station, and then got on the bus to the airport.
Our wonderful weekend in Paris was over and we made it back to Glasgow safely. Even though I had a great weekend and we lucked out with sunny weather, I was very happy to be back in Glasgow. Paris was so expensive and it made me appreciate being in Glasgow and speaking English. I know that might sound horrible, but I just wasn't interested in trying to speak French for three days.
Now it is 3 weeks later, and I just had a fun adventure with my friend Nicole. She flew from New York to come visit me in Scotland for 6 days and we got to see so much of Glasgow. A long post about our week will be coming soon. Today I will be doing some work on my art history essay and having an interview for an internship in San Francisco.
Love and miss you all!
Love Always,
Jess
