At the beginning of the year Michelle (a dear friend of 10
years and former roommate) and I decided that it was time for another adventure
(previous adventures included but are not limited to Australia and India). Seeing as Michelle had not yet been to Europe
that was our decided destination. Soon
Kelson (the pharmacist), a friend from our freshman year at BYU and who now
lives near Michelle, joined the planning.
Then with some convincing Nathan (the laundry king of White Pine county)
joined the plans for the trip as well.
So after a few months of Google hangouts discussing our plans for this
crazy adventure we were off!
We all met up in Seattle on June 6th to fly on an
airline that none of us had heard of before and could only hope at the cheap price
we got our flight would take us to our destination.
June 7th – Much to the misery of Kelson and Nathan, Michelle
and I chatted for nearly 5 straight hours of our 10 hour flight over catching
up on the little details in our lives and laughing at old memories. Arriving in Frankfurt, Germany we picked up
the car and hit the ground running in a Ford Kuga much to the disappointment of
our dear friend Nathan who would have much preferred if we sported a more local
car. After some minor struggles with the
GPS we were on our way to Paris. We made
a quick stop in this quaint German town for some lunch/dinner. We enjoyed the bakery and a little jaunt
around town to stretch our legs. This
German bakery was my first of many painful realizations that I should have
taken the time to learn the language even just a little bit. It was quite embarrassing, and if I were to
go back I would have been studying the basics for the months beforehand. All the same,
I love the cozy feeling of Europe
June 8th—I love public transportation! As gross
and creepy as it may be at times, I love it!
Perhaps it goes back to taking buses and the subway for the first time when
we moved to Chile but I feel as it has always been associated with some amusing
memories. So our day in Paris started
with a 20 minute ride into the city on the subway. Our first destination of the day was breakfast. We popped out of the metro close to the
Louvre, as our intention was to be there when it opened. We walked around a little bit searching for
the perfect café for breakfast, in the midst of the search I just tried to
breath in the city. I love city centers,
especially in the morning as they start to wake up. I love standing on the streets in Paris and
knowing that that is precisely where you are: Paris. I believe we were
initially looking for some place that served crepes for Miss Michelle, and
luckily found this café with a kind waiter.
Between the crepes and omelets and the waiter’s sincere “Voila and Bon Apatite”
our adventure seem to have an official start.
Now since I had already been to the Louvre I was kind of just
along for the ride, it seemed that nobody really had any expectations once we
were actually there which made it easier I guess. We made it to some of the more famous
paintings the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and Napoleon’s apartment amongst other
things. One of my favorites is The Wedding at Cana by
Veronese simply it’s sheer size is impressive in addition to the depth of the
scenes in the painting. Perhaps the most
amusing part of the museum was when some idiot tourist decided to step up Winged
Victory, which did not amuse the security guard in the least. It was hard to hold back audible laughter at
the stupidity of the tourist as the guard yelled “Get off! This is not
Disneyland! It is a museum!” 
Following our stroll through the Louvre we headed to Notre
Dame and had a look outside. The line to
go in went down the street so we decided we were satisfied with a view from the
outside and headed to the Sainte Chapelle to see
the stain glass. The room was impressive
but the price was a little steep just to see one room, but still beautiful all
the same.  |
| Waiting in line for the catacombs |
After Sainte Chapelle we headed
to the catacombs, which I was strangely excited about wandering around
underground Paris. On the way I had my second incidence in which I desperately wished I had studied the language even just a little before I left on the trip. I had purchased a day subway pass which decided to stop working so I approached several different booths in attempt to explain my predicament. Without the ability to change it for several stops it led to some awkward squeezing and crawling to get on the subway. I was not trying to cheat the system I had paid but had noway of explaining my situation. All the same I made it to the stop of the catacombs.
We waited in line
holding our breath that they would not cut us off as the last group was let in at
4pm, and we were still in line at 3:50.
Luck was in our favor and we headed down into the depths of the
catacombs. I personally would never want
to be down there alone and I was for a brief moment as I stayed to read something
and everyone else moved on. There was a
slight moment of panic but took a deep breath and finally caught up to the rest
of the group. So I’m nearly 30 and still
a little afraid of the dark, but it didn’t help that I was underground wandering
through what seemed like endless tunnels.
Nearly 6 million bones are in the catacombs which they have arranged in
some interesting configurations including hearts and crosses. Nathan accidentally brushed up against some of
the bones and slightly frantic shared some of the death dust with me. When we finished
we seemed to emerge in the middle of nowhere on this quaint street in Paris.
Our next destination was the
Eiffel Tower, what would a trip to Paris be without a visit? The last time in
Paris I did not go up in the tower so that was a must do on my list this time
around. While it was a bit of a wait in
line it was worth it. A few times an
announcement came over the loud speaker, “There are pickpockets in the
tower. Please watch your personal
belongings.” That’s really comforting, but I appreciated the warning none the
less. There are a few things in life
that are simply iconic and being at the Eiffel Tower is one of those that just
makes you smile to be there taking it in.
We enjoyed delicious crepes
across the bridge from Eiffel tower, which I mistakenly thought was a great
dinner but later to be informed that other people in our group were left
starved by the end of the night. We
continued our jaunt through Paris walking along the river Seine seeing what we
believed was a bridge/walkway featured in Inception. Then as the night was growing long we took
some quick photo ops at the Arc de Triumph, Moulin Rouge, and the Sacre de Coeur. Around Sacre de Coeur I was informed of the desperation
for food at this point, and we stopped and I enjoyed some delicious French onion
soup. I was kindly informed by the
gentlemen of the group that in the future 3 meals a day would be
necessary. Considering my normal travel
habits this would prove difficult for me, not because I did not want to but it
simply did not cross my mind or my stomach to stop as much.
As busy as the start
of the trip was, I was impressed with the dynamics of our group and would
gladly travel with them again. I
particularly loved Kelson’s excitement for everything. He made everything seem new and exciting, and
Michelle likewise. Nathan’s ridiculous
humor along the way was also much appreciated.
We took the subway back to our hotel at nearly
midnight and despite the overwhelming heat of our rooms, we concluded the first
real day of our trip.
