Weekend In Paris

Kyle is here! Its so cool to have someone come visit from back home. Ok, well he wasn’t really back in Cali, but he is from there. When he called me, I was surprised he really was coming since I thought that he had only said that and that he wasn’t really going to go through with it. Either way, I knew that it we would have a good time.

I figured out a housing situation for him so that he wouldn’t have to pay for a place to stay. Maggie and Megan found an apartment together and I asked them if I could have Kyle stay with them. They had no problem with doing that for me.

So as soon as I picked up Kyle from the airport, we took the bus back into the city. From there we dropped off his bag at Guillaume’s and started to make our way to Bellecour to buy our tickets to Paris. There was no way that Kyle would come to France without going to the city of lights! I knew that it was going to be expensive, but I tried to use my traveling expertise as much as I could.

After buying our tickets for the next day (Friday) we went to an internet place to book our hostel for 2 nights. Everything is sooo expensive in Paris. For 2 nights at Aloha hostel, we both paid about 50 euro for two nights! I paid half of that when I went to Portugal and stayed at a hotel for 2 nights and had breakfast included! But I was just happy that we were able to find a place on such a short notice.

Then, night fell and after preparing dinner at Guillaume’s we started our journey over to Megan and Maggie’s place in Villeurbanne, a suburb of Lyon about 20 mins by metro. But, it took us a little longer to get there because they wanted us to bring over some beer. Since I wasn’t too familiar with the area at night, we stopped at the stop after Jean Macé (our starting point) and I left Kyle waiting in the metro while I walked out to find any store open that sold beer. So after almost 10 mins of searching I finally found a place in a very shady alleyway – not a surprise! I don’t know why I didn’t look there before…

So after getting beer finally, we made it to Maggie and Megan’s and I made my way back to Guillaume’s. We had our train the next morning at 7:46am.

The next morning I woke up early to have enough time to get to Villeurbanne and then come back to Lyon to catch out train. I made it there in less than 15 minutes. But, when I got there, I woke up Kyle! His alarm had not gone off because it was still on UK time – which is an hour behind. When he finally came out, I tried to be as optimistic as possible and kept thinking that we would make our train. We made it to the train station a minute after the train had left! We missed our train! I had never missed a train before so I had no idea what to do. But, I was able to ask the people working at the station and they were able to exchange our tickets for the next train an hour later. But, we had to pay a little bit more in order to make the difference since the prices change from one hour to the next. Despite the fact that we were already an hour behind schedule, we made it to Paris in no time! It takes only 2 hours on the TGV, the high speed trains.

At the train station, we were able to get city maps, our metro passes, and our museum pass. With that in hand, we made our way to the hostel and hoped to make it there safely and quickly as to not loose anymore time. For being my second time in Paris, I felt pretty comfortable. Yet, I was still in shock when I opened the metro map to see…


It looks intimidating but its relatively easy to navigate

Once we stepped out of the metro, I immediately looked up and was able to see the top of the Eiffel Tower. I looked over at Kyle and pointed it out – he was amazed! I remember feeling the same feeling of shock and disbelief. He could not believe that he was in Paris. His face was priceless. After checking into the hostel, we went to a grocery store to buy some food to carry with us so that we could avoid buying expensive food at the tourist locations.

I asked Kyle what he wanted to do first – his response: Walk to the Eiffel Tower. So we started our trek over. It didn’t seem far at the map, which it wasn’t, but the map failed to mention how many forks we could encounter on the way and we almost started going in the wrong direction but we were able to catch our mistake and eventually made it to the tower.

We walked along the Champs de Mars and had lunch on the grass below the tower. It was great! We made sandwiches with some cheese and Bayonne ham – cheap and filling! After taking 100s of pictures of the tower, we continued to Trocadero, a square from which you can see the tower and then headed over to the Arc de Triomphe. The view from the top was awesome! Since we had the pass, we went back later that night to see the city at night. From there, we went to Place de la Concorde and walked through the Tuileries Garden before ending up at the Louvre. I think we set a record since we went to the Louvre on a mission – to see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo and whatever else I thought was worthy. It still took us about an hour or two because of how huge this place is, but we did it!

Like I said earlier, we went back to the Arc and saw the city by night. After taking some pictures, we went back to the hostel to call it a night.

We got back pretty late, about 11pm. We were hoping that our dorm mates would still be awake – but they were knocked out! Thank goodness for cheap cell phone with a built in flashlight (lol) because without it, we would have had to walk around in the dark. Granted, we could have turned on the light, but we didn’t want to be assholes.

Day 2 in Paris

We went down to breakfast and headed out for the Eiffel Tower. Our goal was to go the top! We had to wait in line for about an hour and while we were waiting, the top floor was closed. So we made do, and went to the second floor and waited in line again to go to the top. But, our luck with the weather hit its highest point when we were up there. It had been drizzling before, but only in 5 minute intervals. But, at the top, it started to rain and it felt much colder and harder since we were up soo high. The sad thing was that as soon as we came back to the ground, the sun was out and shining. Oh well. At least we made it to the top.

Since that took almost half of the day, we decided to see as much as we could in what time was left. So we decided to head towards the Rodin museum to see the statue of The Thinker. We literally walked in to see it and walked out – why not? The museum was included in our pass so we took advantage of the fact that we had already paid to get in and could do what we want. After checking it out and the Gates of Hell, we walked over to the Invalides – the place that has the Army Museum and Napoleon’s tomb.

From there, we went over to Notre Dame. The line to walk in was ridiculous. So, we went around and sat at the park behind it. After doing that, we decided to walk about a block over to see Sainte Chapelle – an old Gothic church from the 1300’s and the Conciergerie – a prison where Marie Antoinette and other French people were held. When we finished with that, we went back to Notre Dame and were able to go in and walk around despite the fact that a mass was taking place. I loved being able to witness a mass going on while tourists are going around snapping pictures. At first, I didn’t want to, since I wanted to be a little respectful, but I couldn’t resist. It was cool that the mass was also being said in Spanish because for the most part, I could understand what was being said.

Since it was already late and most of the museums were closed, we headed to Montmartre and the Basilique de Sacre Coeur, one of my favorite places to go to. The church is amazing and the view from it is captivating. The decorations inside the church are also impressive but you can’t take pictures- so you’ll just have to go to see it yourself!

Since it was our last night, we went back to Trocadero Square to eat a crepe and watch the Eiffel Tower twinkle on the hour. It was great way to end out trip to Paris. It was cold out but we managed to suck it up and enjoy the view. Even with the guys selling the keychains and plastic Eiffel Towers, the feeling of being in Paris was a surprise to me again. It was also at this moment that I realized, yet again, that I was back in France even though I had just been here a year before!

Sunday

Our lazy day, we slept in, had breakfast and then headed back to the train station. This time we made it to our train on time and made it back to Lyon by 1pm. We left our stuff at Guillaume’s again and then went over to the Parc de la Tête d’Or to walk around for a bit. We sat by the lake an admired the park – its too bad that there isn’t anything like that in the States. Yes, we do have national parks, but city parks are soo small and have really nothing to offer. People here enjoy the parks because they do not have yards of there own so they feel free at these places – or at least that is why I think parks are so important to people here.

Since I had work Monday through Thursday, I had to leave Kyle alone, but by the time I got back to Lyon, we would manage to do some sight seeing. Overall, I think that he had a great time….or at least I hope he did. It was too bad that our breaks didn’t coincide because we would have been able to do much more. The day that he left, I started my break.

I don’t have any plans for the break since I need to focus on finding a place to live. I hope I can find one before I start classes again so that I can finally settle in. I’ve felt more homesick this time because I still don’t feel at ease knowing that my bags are still full of clothes. I appreciate everything that Guillaume has done for me, letting me stay at his place, taking me with him to his parents’ house, but I don’t want to overstay my welcome and start to bother him.

While I was with Kyle just before leaving for Paris, I got a call from the lady who had shown me a studio in Villefranche – the town I work at. It is fully furnished and only about 350 euros. The day after she showed me, it was already taken by someone that the landlord had found. So, I gave up.

But when she called me back, she told me that it was available again because the person who was set to move in had lost their job and could no longer take it. Too bad for that person, but yay for me! I signed my lease and can move in on the 1st or before if I would like. Now, I just need to fill out some paperwork and then I’ll be set. I’m glad that I will be able to finally finish unpacking and be in my own “home”.

Plus, it will be a lot cheaper and more convenient. Living in Lyon would have been awesome, but I need to think about what I came here to do. I came to work and earn some money so that I can save up. I’m out of school now so I need to start thinking about the future. I didn’t want this day to come, but no one can stop time. I’m out in the real world and need to take advantage of all the opportunities that I have. Just the idea that I am in a different country and working in a field that corresponds to my studies is more than enough. But, with the money I am saving by living in the small town will help out a lot. I will be able to pay my parents back and pay my own bills, and maybe even pocket some money to use for traveling. I know that I will need to spend money on going out and buying some clothes, but I hope to do so responsibly.

Life is a learning experience and I am ready for it to take me along for the ride. I think I am in the right mindset and that I am ready for anything. But, only time will tell. My life is great right now and I want to savor the moment.