Monday, March 15th, 2010

Paris, je t'aime! Today we left the Centre around 7:15am in order to get to King’s Cross Station to catch the Eurostar to Paris! I got to travel through the Chunnel. It wasn’t that cool, because you couldn’t see anything at all. We did go by a lot of very pretty countryside before we went underwater. My ears were very sensitive to the changes in pressure we experienced whenever we went underground. We arrived in Paris!

Bonjour Paris! First thing we did was board a coach. We took the coach to Chartres, pronounced shart. You know… shart… a fart when a little bit of… ya you get the picture. Haha Chartres/shart jokes never get old! Chartres was a very beautiful city. We had an hour and a half to roam the city before our appointment to enter Chartres Cathedral. I bought my first French pastry – pain au chocolat! Other than Germany, this is the only time I really felt a language barrier.

We went to Chartres Cathedral, where we were given a tour by an elderly man who had worked there for many years. He was very informative. My favorite part was him going though the stained glass windows and explaining each and every pane. The cathedral had some of the most beautiful stained glass. We left Chartres shortly after leaving the Cathedral.

From Chartres, we headed to our hotel – The Hotel Mercure. We stayed in this hotel chain in Wales too. Apparently there is some mythological reference in the name of the hotel. All I know is that it is the god Mercury, but our professor wants us to see if we can find any other information. Problem is; no one really cares. So, I am rooming with Briton. It’s fine, I am just still upset with Macfarlane.

Paris is amazing. Allyson and I went out to dinner with some girls. I got a vegetarian pizza with olives, mushrooms, artichokes, onions, and peppers. It was really good! Allyson ordered pasta, even though I told her that she asked me not to let her order it again, because she doesn’t like it. Well, she ignored me and ordered the pasta. Well, guess what…She still hates it.

After dinner, we rode the subway to the Eiffel Tower. I love it! I am truly in Paris now that I have seen it. I never really imagined that I would be standing beneath it. Pretty spectacular. It is ginormous. I guess I didn’t even think it would be that big. Very impressive. We spent a lot of time taking photos. The most exciting part was when it started twinkling and lighting up on the hour. It was fantastic. Very beautiful. I can’t wait to go up it. Love the Eiffel Tower! To top it all off, we bought crepes near by. That’s right… I had a chocolate crepe, in Paris, under the Eiffel Tower, with my best friend. It was quite possibly the most awesome moment ever!

Got back to our hotel around midnight. We have a curfew, and have to call our arbiters to check in by midnight. At least this way we will sleep, because who knows if we would ever come back!