Paris

Well I went to Paris over the past weekend. It was absolutely wonderful! It was so surreal seeing all those famous sites that most people only dream of ever seeing. I went with another Au Pair I met through my host mom. Her name's Nicole, she's from Florida and she's working for an American family near Amsterdam.
We left Friday evening around 6pm. We took the train which was a new experience, sort of, I've never taken an international train before. It was pretty sweet as well because we got to be in first class because of an student deal that Nicole found. We arrived in Paris at around 9pm and got a bit lost while trying to figure out how the whole metro and bus system worked. We ended up wandering up and down the streets of Paris for way too long trying to find our hostel and although the people we asked were very nice they were all absolutely horrible at trying to give us directions. Anyway, we did eventually make it and roomed with two Australian girls who had been back-packing around Europe for the last two months. It was very interesting hearing their stories.
The next morning we started out at the Eiffel Tower. We got there just slightly after it opened but it was already pretty busy. We of course went all the way to the top; it was an excellent view of Paris. Paris is much bigger than all the cities I've gotten used to in The Netherlands. After that we hopped a bus and took a look around Notre Dame.
By the time we were done with that both of us were pretty hungry so we stopped for some famous French crepes and they definitely did not disappoint, hmmmm. The weather had been beautiful so far all day, a little cold but what do you expect in November? Suddenly however, it decided to rain so we took a break from outside and did a bit of shopping.
When we were all shopped out, it was still raining so we gave in and bought umbrellas, so of course it stopped raining five minutes later and didn't rain again the rest of the trip! Oh well, I have a nice umbrella now. We walked over to The Louvre and I went in and saw the Mona Lisa. It cost €8.50 so Nicole opted out. I would've loved to spend an entire day or two there it's so huge and there's so many magnificent works there but we didn't have that. Seeing the Mona Lisa was totally worth every penny though.
From there we took the metro over to Arc de Triomphe. There was some type of ceremony going on there with the police, I'm assuming it had something to do with remembrance day but I'm not sure. By then it was almost 6pm and dark so we went back to the Eiffel Tower and saw it all lit up. During the day the Eiffel Tower is an interesting structure but at night it's very nearly breathtaking and on the hour it has lights that sparkle for ten minutes which makes it even more spectacular.
From there we hopped another bus and went back to our hostel to put our stuff down. We relaxed for about ten minutes and then went back out to see Sacre Coeur and The Moulin Rouge. On the way we ate another delicious crepe and I got my portrait done by a street artist.
Finally we went back to the hostel for the night and Nicole went to bed. I however, went downstairs and met a bunch of really nice people, most of them from Seattle. Around 2am I decided it was time for bed.
Sunday we woke up early and took a train over to Versailles and saw a bit of the chateau. I didn't know someone's house could be so huge and extravagant. With most of the rest of France starving it's no wonder there was a revolution! We didn't have much time there because we had to head back to Paris and catch our 3pm train back home.
So, it was a short but amazing trip. I definitely want to return and be able to spend a bit more time there but I am happy for the little time I had. I know how blessed I am to have such a great job that I can just head out Paris for the weekend. I plan on doing plenty more fun little trips like that during my stay here. Just one of the benefits of being an Au Pair!