Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and then, one not-so-special day, I went to my typewriter, I sat down, and I wrote our story. A story about a time, a story about a place, a story about the people, but most of all, a story about love. A love that will live forever...Wow. Got a little carried away with that Moulin Rouge quote, but I figured it was a good start to my Paris post.
Not to miss out on any cultural experiences, we also made sure to check out the Parisian discothéques, a decision my body would later regret when I forced it to wake up 3 hours later for a lecture across town. C'est la vie.
I attached this photo to my application at the Moulin Rouge. I'm hoping for a summer internship.
Since this trip was about a month and a half ago, I'm going to keep it brief and stick to the highlights and just show pictures. Although we had four full days and nights in Paris, we were there with the program and were unfortunately kept relatively busy visiting NGOs like Médecins du Monde and Action Contre La Faim during daytime hours and were forced to become crazed super-tourists during all off hours in the late afternoon and evening in order to cram in all those "must-see" tourist sites that Paris has to offer (because who knows when I'll be back someday!). We even had to resort to the late night Louvre visit, finally getting kicked out at 10 p.m. and then struggling to use the complicated metro system to find the way back to the hotel in the pouring rain. Not exactly my favorite memory from Paris...
Obligatory optical illusion picture.
Found her. Making my best Mona face.
Being the super-tourists that we were, we got the most out of our metro passes to fit in visits to the Eiffel Tower (a short walk from our hotel), Musée d'Orsay, Notre Dame, Montmarte and the Sacre Coeur, Champs Elysées, Arc de Triomphe, Moulin Rouge, Hôtel des Invalides, and probably any other tourist stop you could think of in Paris (sadly no Versailles). Needless to say, we were exhausted, physically and mentally, and as much fun as we had there, I think my next trip there would be more enjoyable without the stress of seeing every major tourist site, because there are just way too many in this city for such a short stay.
Arc de Triomphe
Sacre Coeur
Notre Dame
Not to miss out on any cultural experiences, we also made sure to check out the Parisian discothéques, a decision my body would later regret when I forced it to wake up 3 hours later for a lecture across town. C'est la vie.
Being able to visit all the sites that I have seen in so many movies and pictures was an incredible experience and to think that that was only one of several unforgettable trips I've already made during my stay in Europe makes me realized how blessed I truly am that this is my life! Next post: Brussels and Amsterdam, probably. Then Morocco. Then Portugal. Now that I'm done with classes and just have the month of April to travel and write a 20-30 page paper means I should have more time for blogging. Get ready.
