The city of love! PARIS :)

hello again,

The day is FINALLY here!!!!  I got to bed right around 12:30 and had a wake up call for 2 am.  does that count as sleep or a nap? i'm not sure either. either way I was so excited it didn't matter. we were picked up from the hotel by taxis and headed of for the Eurostar train to Paris. we got to the train station a little early so we had time to grab a bite to eat and do a little wandering if we wanted to. only thing is nothing was open at 3 am except Costa (it a coffee shop, its kind of like their Starbucks.) they have Starbucks there as well, but almost everyone i saw walking around had Costa. anyway,  I settled for a hot chocolate and a lemon poppy seed muffin before boarding the train.

just in case you are curious about the Eurostar, it is a train that travels around 187 MPH and goes under the English Channel. yep it goes underwater. I am slightly disappointing that I was so exhausted i fell asleep and missed out on this experience but then again knowing me it probably would have freaked me out. I am told it only takes about 20 minutes to go under the English Channel and is actually really uneventful. Guess I will have to visit again and stay awake next time!

after my nap I was awakened by the intercom talking to me in french which saying "welcome to Paris!".. I only know this because it said the same thing in English right after :) we exited the train and in all of my excitement the first thing I thought was "this is Paris" in my defense there was graffiti everywhere and it was really dark and honestly really sketchy. once we were in the main area of the station we needed to exchange money since they obviously don't accept American money or Pounds. while everyone else lined up to get their money laura and I decided we would sneak away and try and find a bathroom because quite frankly we were dying. after getting lost a few times we finally found one down stairs. once we walked into the bathroom soooo relieved that we finally found one, and our party was abruptly put to an end by a security enforced bathroom. what i mean by this is they had those turning wheel things where you had to insert 70 euros before it would unlock and let you go through. well this was obviously an issue because we had not exchanged our money yet and now we were going to have to wait in an even longer line once we got back upstairs. I wish i would have taken a picture of this but at that point a photo wasn't my priority haha. after exchanging 106 american dollars and getting 65 euros i was finally able to pay for a bathroom. we then made our way to another line where we had to purchase a one day pass for their underground tubes. the tubes in paris are pretty much the same but the atmosphere and the people made it feel so different. I had the benefit of being slammed in the doors of one of the tubes because it was so crammed we couldn't all fit (Chelsea said that the pure look of horror on my face was priceless, and she was still rolling on the floor laughing when she caught back up to us about 10 minutes later) about four people in our group got left behind and had to catch the next train. once we exited the tube station we were welcomed by a much different view of  PARIS!

we met up with the big red bus and jumped on for a ride to Notre Dame Cathedral.

the view inside was amazing 

this was a symbol on the ground outside that was a symbol of good luck you were supposed to cross it and it would help guide you in your travels. 

another tid bit of information before we move on. the day we were in paris and only shortly after we had all left Notre Dame a man walked into the building and committed suicide by shooting himself right at the alter. they had to evacuate everyone in the building and I for one was very confused when I came out from a nearby shop and saw thousands of people and cops and camera crews everywhere. i'm just glad i wasn't there when it happened. 

once we left Notre Dame we once again were on the lookout for a restroom. i'm sure by now you are probably wondering why we spent so much time in search for a restroom but lets just say they are a rare commodity around those parts and when the opportunity presents itself it is best to be safe then sorry. let me just point out that these next restrooms we encountered were picture worthy. 

this little tube like thing would be there "restrooms" 

you push the button when the light is green and the door opens up like so.  you then enter push the button on the wall to close the door. when you are ready to exit you hit the open button. simple enough right? well then the door shuts again and it "cleans itself." the light turns to blue and it literally turns itself into a little water cyclone in there. after it is done cleaning which seriously takes forever the light is green again and the next person can enter. safe to say we started doubling up because it took so long. and the fact that everything was wet and dripping in there was really really disgusting. 

Morgan and Alesha acting silly by the Toilettes 

looking at the instructions trying to figure it out haha 

after this hilarious and disgusting experience we jumped back onto the big red bus and took off for the Arc de Triomphe. we went past one of the main shopping areas and saw many shops such as louis vuitton, as much as i wanted to go into one of the shops me and a couple other girls decided that we look poor and they probably wouldn't even let us in the door. 

here is the Arc de Triomphe.

how large it really is. it is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. I read that it commemorates those who fought and died in the french revolutionary and Napoleonic war.

we had the option of being able to go to the top but we opted out of that since we were all pretty hungry by this point. we walked around looking for somewhere to eat when we stumbled upon a Mcdonalds. we decided we would go ahead and eat there instead of spending a bunch on money on a place where we might not like the food. we stood in line for a while and then thought "wait a minute its almost 8 american dollars for a hamburger" so we decided to find somewhere else. we found another burger place which was much cheaper and took off to order. we were stopped by a lady who simply stated "american?" when we said yes we were escorted to a different line where we had to order from a kiosk machine. this was a whole new experience because we couldn't figure out how to take off or add things we wanted. after ordering we figured the people working on this part of the line would speak English but nope, they were calling out our orders in french. this caused all of us to have to go up to the counter and try and decipher what order was ours. most people just settled for the "classic" hamburger thinking that it sounded pretty safe. lets just say it was overly funny when Chelsea bit into hers and realized it had been smothered in horseradish. 

after our dining experience we hopped the big red bus and took off for the one and only Eiffel Tower!!! 

the group on the big red bus!

Stevie and I sitting on the inside of the bus because it was soooo cold. 

this picture is of lovers bridge in Paris. people buy padlocks and write theirs and their lovers name on it, hook it on the bridge and then toss the key in the water after making a wish. 

i don't have a significant other but i couldnt resist the urge so i put a lock on the bridge. hopefully it will just bring good luck! 

after this exciting experience we headed off for the Louvre. unfortunately the museum was closed so we were unable to go in and see the Mona Lisa and many other things. 

at this point I think we were all getting a little worn out from our early morning and also from the cold and rainy weather. and when i say cold i mean i wish i would of had my winter coat. after this we took off and grabbed some dinner and by dinner i mean i had a crepe with banana and nutella :) it was delish. and they even brought it to me with a sparkler in it and i also had a wonderful glass of wine. after this it was back to the meeting point and back to London. it was a wonderful experience i just wish it would of been nicer so i could have enjoyed it more instead of only wanting to be inside to escape the weather.