Paris

Last week i was in Paris, seeing the sights and visiting with my brother (Will), sister (Alex) and her Fiancé (Martin).

This trip has been in the planning for quite a while. It all began with Alex and Martin planning a trip to the UK to visit me while on my exchange. It was a good excuse to go, plus Alex had a few friends who were also living in England. This, coupled with all the relatives that we have over here, made for excellent conditions for a trip to the UK. In the planning stages things got shifted around and we had decided to meet up in Paris instead of her spending a few days of her vacation staying in the cell-like rooms of Grizedale College in Lancaster University. Will, who also decided to travel to the Uk, for similar reasons as Alex and Maritn, was flying into Paris on the 6th. This was the reason why we all decided to meet up in Paris instead of meeting at different times in the UK.

I flew into Paris on the 4th and met up with Alex and Martin at the Aloha Hostel. Though in my personal opinion they should change the name to Canada Hostel, as many of the guests who were staying there were Canadian. If i had to hazard a guess, i'd say that well over 60% of the people who i met while staying there were Canadian. It was a welcome suprise as they were the first Canadians that i have actually met in the whole time that I have been in Europe. I do not joke.

After a long day of travelling, i arrived in Paris, at the hostel at 11:30pm. So i just chatted with Alex and Martin for an hour and then we decided to go to bed and get a good nights sleep so that we could tackle all the tourist sights the following day.

If some one were to ask me what paris is like, i'd have to honestly say its one big flight of stairs! the four of us, at various stages of our week in Paris must have climbed up every single monument in that huge city! the Eiffle Tour, l'Arc de Triomph, La grande arch de la defence, la bassillica de sacré coeur in Montmarte, not to mention the Louvre has about a bizillion different stair cases that warrented climbing. All the carbs ingested via baguettes were definitly exercised off!

May 5th we walked to the top of the Eiffle Tour, then marched back and forth through the Camps de Mars (the gardens leading up to the Tour) and ended the day at the Cathedral de Notre Dame. Very good day, very sore feet by the end of it!

May 6th we went to the Moulin Rouge (during the day when it was less impressive than it wouldhave been at night) but didn't catch a show. Cheap seats begin at 89 Euros and require fincay dress, something that backpackers don't exactly have. Luckily sacré coeur was just 5 blocks away, so we headed in that direction and walked to the top of this huge church situated on a hill. It provided some great views of one of the cities most visually pleasing neighbourhoods.
After sacré coeur we headed back to the hostel to wait for Will who was expected to arrive that afternoon. However after much waiting we finally called home to ask about Will's flight info. Turns out that he wasn't arriving until 7pm that night. So back to sight seeing we went!

L'Arc de Triomphe was next on the agenda. we climbed to the top, and were simply taking in the city from yet another birds-eye vantage point when these fighter jets flew over head trailing the Olympic colours behind them. It was an attempt by the French Gov. to gather support, from the public, for the 2012 Summber Olympic Games bid. Managed to get a few good shots both from the top of the Arc and the bottom!
Will arrived later that evening and we all went out for a meal and a walk to the Eiffle Tour to see it light up at night. quite impressive!

The following day Martin left us to return to Montreal. Alex, Will, and I were all left to our own devices. So we spent the first part of the day at the Louvre, getting cultured and... shit. We did the main touristy sights, the Mona Lisa, and Venus de Milo, but we also strayed off the beaten path and got to enjoy some other paintings and sculptures. One that i really enjoyed was one of Hermies, the Greek Mesenger God.
That afternoon we just wandered around aimlessly looking for a tourist shop so we could try to plan a day trip to Belgium, however trains were too expensive and we decided to stay in Paris for another night, and then part ways on the 9th. We also tried to go to the Catacombes, a place where thousands of dead parisians were burried when the plague hit France, but it was closed until June, so no skulls for us that day.

The following day we went to Napoleon's Tomb, the armoury museum, the Sewers of Paris, and Jim Morrison's Grave. If we couldn't see thousands of dead parisians one day we were at least going to see the grave of a famous dead guy!

Then on the 9th we all parted ways. Alex and Will headed off to Belgium, I stayed in Paris for one more day, just because it was cheaper to do so, but mentally and physically I was ready to go back home (Lancaster) by this point. so i decided to hop the Metro and go see the grad arch de la defence. after going to the top of that monument (it had an elevator thank God!) i decided that it would be interesting to walk all the way from the grande arch to the arc de triomphe and then to the small arc de triomphe in front of the louvre. It was a very long way but i did it. after that, i took the metro to the hostel and went to sleep. that night i just hung out at the hostel, had a mellow evening, and then made my way back to Lancaster on the 10th.

I am now desperately trying to study for my exams. i have my first one on Monday. not looking forward to it! but it has to be done, so best just buckle down and get it over with i guess.
So that is my trip to Paris. I'll be uploading photos later, on one of my other breaks.
A plus tard mes amies!