Made it to Paris

Internet in Paris. Wooo! It is great so far. Our Hostel has wifi, but they only turn it on from 4pm to 11pm, and last night we got home at 11:15 and I missed the internet window. Major bummer. Other than that, life is good.

Christina and I took the train from Wil to Zurich in the morning and then we were on the train for about 5 hours from Zurich to Paris. The train ride was incredibly easy and I could totally get used to traveling comfortably like that. Once we made it to the city, I got my bearings together and figured out how to find the Hostel from the metro station. My strategy when I travel is just to accept that I am going to get lost for at least 15 minutes and not panic when it happens. We actually had pretty good luck yesterday going with the flow and had no problems finding the hostel.

Our Hostel

Ch and I are staying in the Bastille Hostel. We have a private room with bunk beds, an our own full bathroom. It is simple, but we are spending most of the time out and about to it has everything we need. Also, our friends are staying here too. Our friend Krystal who played softball at CSUN met us in Paris (a spontaneous trip) with her friend Omayra. The more the merrier when sight seeing.

Bunk Beds

 This is our bunk bed in the hostel. I am sleeping on the top, as usual.

OMG We are in Paris

 After we checked in and got our lives together we hit the town. The plan was to track down a restaurant that we read about my travel book. After finding the restaurant (that ended up being in the Gay District right next to a Mormon Temple... I'll tell you that story another time) we walked around Paris and saw most of the major sights. We had no intention of doing all those things but it was such a nice evening and we couldn't contain the excitement.

Notre Dame

 First stop was Notre Dame. It was right before sunset and the light was really pretty on the cathedral. I had seen the church before, but it was just as impressive the second time.

 Ch loves stained glass so I took this picture of the famous window for her. So cool, but it is hard to get good pictures in the church without a flash.

As the sun was going down last night we walked next to the Seine river to the Eiffel Tower. Again, just as impressive the second time around. We got there right at 10:00 when the flashing lights started. It was really cool because you could hear everyone around say Ohhhh.

DAY 2

This is my Paris Bucket List:

Eat 2-3 Pain au Chocolait every day (chocolate croissants)

Mont Mare

Sacre Coure

Versailles

AND... Track down a purple Furla purse that I saw in Salzburg with Vanessa. I am on a mission to find it. I researched 3 different Furla stores (Italian designer brand) and have so far found NONE.

The four of us woke up early this morning to beat the rush on some of the tourist attractions. We raided the bakery and then took the metro to Mont Mare. Sacre Coure is a huge basilica on top of a hill and we climbed a ridiculous amount of stairs to get to the top. 

 This is the view from the top of the hill in Mont Mare. It is the opposite view of the mural I have in my apartment in Pasadena.

Sacre Coure

 Here I am in Sacre Coure. So cool. They were doing some kind of photo shoot in front while we were there because there were a ton of models wearing crazy outfits. We fit right in.

Secret Photo

 The basilica was pretty inside, but it still doesn't beat my favorite church in St. Gallen. They said no photography was allowed, and as usual, I decided that rule didn't apply to me if I turned off my flash. Win.

Models

 This is the four of us posing on the street in front of Sacre Coure. We totally fit in with the models.

Ch, Me, Krystal

This afternoon we wondered around the Latin Quarters and shopped in the Champs-Elysees. I bought an awesome Adidas track jacket with hearts on it (to wear to IH) and I tried to find the Furla store. The address is on Rue Champs-Elysees, but finding it is way easier said than done. My plan is to do some more research tonight and figure it out later in the week.

At 4:00 exactly I signed on to the internet and I am feeling very fulfill. I think we will eat crepes tonight and go to Versailles tomorrow. I have crossed a lot off my list already but I am looking forward to the rest of the week.