Paris!

First off, I am so sorry this post is so late! I have been super busy!

Paris was the first trip I took outside of London. I have seen so many pictures of how beautiful a place Paris is and I was soooo excited to go! This trip was through my program provider, AIFS, so we had the whole weekend planned for us. We all met up at St. Pancras station to take the EuroStar to Paris from London. The EuroStar is a high speed train that goes 130 mph and travel under water from London to various places in Europe.

When we arrived in Paris on Friday night, we all gathered as a group and made our way to the hotel that we were staying in for the weekend. Getting off the train and stepping onto the streets of Paris for the first time was so surreal. It wasn't until I saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time that I actually felt like I was actually in Paris!!

Once we got to the hotel, we had a chance to freshen up before we met in the lobby of the hotel to go to the boat cruise on the Seine that was included in the price of the trip. We took the metro, which was conveniently right outside our hotel, to Pont Neuf, where our tour left from. Just from walking through the metro station, I could already tell that London was a much cleaner, organized city. The metro system is rather confusing compared to London's underground and I really don't like not knowing how to get around a city!

Once we came up the stairs from the metro at Pont Neuf, we were right on the river and there was the top of the Eiffel Tower! That was when it finally hit me and I got really excited! As we walked to the dock to get on the boat we passed the fence that had all the Love Locks on it. Unfortunately, it isn't the original "Love Locks Bridge" because they had to start taking the locks off due to the fact that they were so heavy, they were tearing down the fence they were on. It was still really cool to see all the Love Locks on this fence though, and to read what people had written on them.

Once we got on the boat we were taken down the Seine. My friends and I wanted to sit upstairs in the open air so we could see the whole city without looking out a window, but it was raining and it was SO cold! So after we passed the Eiffel Tower we went down to the covered area on the bottom floor. The views were gorgeous and it was so pretty at night. The Eiffel Tower is so much cooler in person and it is HUGE!! After seeing the city from the water, I couldn't wait to explore the city on foot the next day.

This day was very long and we were all exhausted so after the boat tour, we went back to the hotel for the night.

On Saturday morning, breakfast was included with the price of the hotel, so after we ate, we all met in the lobby again to go on a bus tour of the city. We had a really funny tour guide, which made the tour that much more enjoyable. On the bus tour we got carted around the city being told this and that about each building and intersection we passed. I don't remember everything that we were told about every single thing we passed but it was really cool to hear about how the city developed and the history around certain things. When we passed the Eiffel Tower on the bus, it was even bigger than I thought it was the night before. It is so incredible to see it up close and personal, it is definitely one of my favorite parts of this trip.

After our bus tour, we were given tickets to the Louvre museum. The Louvre is huge. It is absolutely impossible to see the entire museum in one day, even if we wanted to. So, we decided to go right to the wing that held the Mona Lisa. Even though we heard it was tiny and underwhelming, I couldn't say I went to the Louvre museum without seeing one of the most famous paintings in the world. It was literally like going through a maze trying to find where the Mona Lisa was. It was super cool seeing how many paintings were in the building though. The walls were literally covered in paintings of various sizes. My favorites were the huge ones that took up entire walls. They're so impressive! Once we got to the Mona Lisa, there was a huge crowd of people with cell phones in the air taking pictures of this tiny painting held behind bulletproof glass. I mean, it was cool seeing the famous painting, but I really did expect more! Oh well, at least I can say I saw it.

After we left the Louvre, we wanted to go see the Notre Dame church. However, it was a 30 minute walk, and it was pouring rain! By the time we got there, we were all soaking wet and freezing. But, hey at least we're in Paris, right?! Inside of the Notre Dame is beautiful. I cannot imagine the amount of time it took to build that church because there are so many details everywhere, and they are all gorgeous.

After the church it was time to go to the Eiffel Tower so we could take the elevator up to the top! We take the metro to the Eiffel Tower and walk to buy our tickets. Once we get inside, we have to take two separate elevators up to the top. The first one goes to the second floor, which is all open. The elevator up is so scary! It is all glass and you're literally right in the middle of one of the legs of the Eiffel Tower, so you can see everything!! It really is remarkable! Once we got to the first stop, the second floor, it was freeeeeezing & so so so cold. The view was amazing, so we took our pictures and started to head up to the top, hoping it would be closed off so we could warm up! We got into another scary elevator and once we got off, I was speechless! It is so beautiful, the view beats the view of London from the London Eye on any day!!

The last thing that I really wanted to see in Paris was the Eiffel Tower light up and sparkle. It sparkles for the first five minutes of every hour from sunset to one in the morning. Since we had been going all day, and we were cold and tired, we decided we were going to try to see it sparkle for the first time that night, which would be at 6 pm. After we came down from the top, we had some time to kill, so we went to go find a little cafe where we could eat some crepes! We walked down the street a little and found a nice restaurant that served crepes. They were delicious and we were able to warm up a little bit. We then made our way back to the Eiffel Tower to it shine! It was beautiful!

On Sunday, we were able to do whatever we wanted, as long as we were able to make it back to the hotel by 5:45 so we could head back to London. We decided to go to the Palace of Versailles for the duration of the day! It was totally worth it. I had so much fun here and the grounds are absolutely beautiful! The actually palace is gorgeous. It is huge and every room has an unbelievable amount of details and it's honestly breathtaking. The gardens are just as gorgeous. However, if I could i would definitely go back in the spring so I could see all the flowers in bloom and the fountains going! It is super cool to be able to walk around those grounds though. Once you walk further back on the grounds, you reach Marie Antoinette's Estate and the Petit and Grand Trions! Basically, three more amazing palaces. They're all gorgeous and I could never imagine ever living there!

This trip was honestly a lot of fun. The weather could have been so much better but I am just grateful the chance to get to go!!

Until next time...! Thanks for reading :)