pari(e)s for the weekend

the (e) is so you pronounce it like parie, instead of Paris with the 's' sound. feel me?

it was a fast paced weekend. holly, kerst and I arrived into montparnasse station at 11:15ish on Friday night because Sarah and Mary didn't have Friday classes so they ventured into the city early Friday morning. upon arrival, we were quite hungry. France however closes everything at 9pm or earlier, so we saw the Golden Arches in the distance and walked ourselves to McDonald's. IT WAS SO EXPENSIVE I couldn't believe it. we made it to our apartment for the weekend, an airbnb in the latin quarter. holl and i snuggled up on the tiny pull out couch and giggled out butts off as we watched silly youtube videos because we were so tired we couldn't sleep. 

saturday morning we all ventured out, grabbed a fat starbucks latte (FINALLY A COFFEE I DON'T CHOKE DOWN) and a pastry from a cute little shop. we walked to the notre dame first, and it was stunning. when you walk inside and see the grandeur of it, chills run right over you. humbling experience for sure.

after that we walked to the louvre, getting some city sightseeing in. the louvre was really incredible - HUGE is an understatement. its comparable to trying to take on disney in a day.. just can't be done. we saw the egyptian exhibits which i really enjoyed, and ventured into paintings which was wicked cool. some of the paintings were massive and extremely intricate, my favorites we're the religious ones (mostly because i knew the story they were telling, and didn't have to decipher the french description box on the bottom left..) we also saw the mona lisa, which was totally neat but definitely overrated. she is TINY and she's in the same room as some crazy large paintings that are honestly a lot more impressive than a little lady. but regardless, she's a BFD (big freakin deal) and it was neat to see her.

we left the louvre totally hangry, and struggled to find a decent place that we weren't spending $$$$$$$ to eat at. that was tough, as it is paris. we settled on a little restaurant, and about died when we asked for water that we had to pay $8.50 for a bottle that maybe got us 3 or 4 sips each. welp

we continued our venture to l'aduree, which is the famous macaroon place. it was so pretty in there! i bought a rose petal, a chocolate and a coffee macaroon. not a roon girl at all, but they were delightful. we passed by so many odd looking clothing stores that i coudln't pay for even if i won the lotto. funny to me how high end fashion is the weirdest combinations and ensembles, ever. 

after that we trekked it all the way back to our "home" in the latin quarter. sarah mary and i stopped at the grocery and picked up some goodies to make dinner. $14 bucks and some change for all 5 of us. i was pretty stoked about that. we made a tasty pasta dinner (with a baguette too of course) and then we sipped on some (a lot) of wine and then we ventured out. the bar we had heard about was asking for a $15 cover.. as if. there were so many guys waiting in line to get in, then they brought us to the front and asked 15 a piece. HA they would be so lucky to have us. so we went to a very weird bar where star wars seemed to be the theme but it was a free cover and ordered a bottle of wine and danced to some seriously american songs (pointer sisters came on, needless to say i got a little excited.) après (after) we were walking the streets of paris, (and felt very safe i might add) and saw the eiffel in the distance. collectively decided it would be so cool to see it at night so we started our walk there. it was REALLY far away so we ubered the rest of the way but i'm impressed with how far we did make it. when we arrived, the tower was having a sparkly light show and it was really incredible. it only lasted about 3 minutes, but it might've been my favorite part of the trip.

sunday we got up (slowly but surely) and went out on a hunt for food. it was a bit warmer sunday, so we ate outside. i had a croque madame, and it was delightful. holl decided to head back to the apartment, so kersten mary sarah and myself walked (quite the distance) to the eiffel to see it in the daytime. we snapped a few pics, then decided to walk up to the first floor. holy smokes it was a ways, my calves were shaking. but it was neat to see the city from that perspective. we walked further to get decent views of the eiffel, and some of the pics turned out pretty fab. 

took us over an hour, but we made it back to the apartment, cleaned up, and headed out for the train station (another 30 minute walk.)

all in all, we consumed a few pastries, saw some historic sights, and easily walked over 20 miles in two days. it was a pretty fabulous weekend, with mes amies en paris.

cheers, jkro

view from the "first floor" of the eiffel