Paris, France

While I was doing my internship in London, England in 2005, my friends and I had a chance to travel to Paris.  We had dreams of sitting in a little french cafe, drinking coffee and people watching...things did not turn out quite as we expected.

We did a weekend excursion put on by a company that does these for the college students staying in London over the summer.  It wasn't necessarily a good option.  We probably would have spent less and gotten directly to Paris by doing it on our own.

So we caught a bus in London and drove to Dover, England in order to catch a ferry.  We then drove on to our ultimate location, which was...we thought, Paris.

Scarlett & me on the bus to Dover

Dani on the bus to Dover

When we finally go across the English Channel to Calais, France, we got to go to a rest place to use the restrooms and grab a little something to eat.  The place was called Cheers and it happened to be the largest alcohol store I have ever seen.  It also had a little food but mainly it was an alcohol place.  It was like a 21 and over paradise!  

After Cheers, we got back on the bus and ended up in a little town about an hour outside Paris.  The hotel, which I did not take pictures of, was a terrible little hole in the wall that didn't even have mattresses but foam instead.  The plan, after hours and hours of driving was to jump back on the bus and go into Paris.  Once there, everyone was only going to have three hours to do what ever they wanted and then to go back to the "hole in the wall".  

We hadn't known the plan before and had just had it with this tour company, so we packed our bags, left a note and took a train into Paris.  Scarlett's Mom had gotten us a room at the Hotel Elysee Union. When we first arrived, we tried to take a taxi to the hotel but every time a taxi stopped and heard our accents, they would say they were no longer running and couldn't take us.  So we tried to ask passing Parisians directions to our hotel.  We were told they didn't know and to not talk to more Parisians.  That it wouldn't be safe for us...as a last resort, we found our way to a police station and asked there for directions.  The police, at first, pretended not to speak English.  They circled around us and started saying things about us in French.  We imagine it was not good.  Finally, one female officer got frustrated with her male counter parts and gave us directions and told us to hurry up and get out of there.

When we got to the hotel and checked in, we really needed food.  We went to a nearby restaurant but when we asked for a table, at the nearly full establishment, they said they were no longer open.  We went back to the hotel and went to bed hungry, tired, and very disillusioned.  

Finally at our hotel safe!

Our hotel at night.  Yes, that's the Eiffel Tower all lit up!

Scarlett letting her Mom know we had gotten there safe

Dani letting her Mom know we had gotten there safe

Our hotel at day

The next day, we purchased tickets for the EuroStar (fast train that goes underneath the channel) and headed out to find food.  We eventually found a very cute farmer's market set up in the city and got savory crepes.  We also found a cafe that actually served us finally!  We had the opportunity to walk around for a couple hours before we took a taxi to Charles de Gaulle to catch the EuroStar.

The Arch de Triumph

The Arch de Triumph

Obelisk of Luxor

Champs Elysee

George Washington

Le Grand Palais

Quadriga 1 on the Grand Palais Exposition Hall

Quadriga 2 on the Grand Palais Exposition Hall

When we got onto the EuroStar, all of the workers were French and we got verbally abused a little more...by the time we got back to London, we were so happy to be back that I actually kissed the ground in the station.  If you have ever been to London and know how dirty the ground is...then you can understand just how happy we were to be back!  This was the sign that we read as we were walking off the EuroStar:

It's the Yoda poster...wait for it...

It says, "Unlearn what you have learned."

We figured it was God telling us to let it go.  We got a great giggle out of that and immediately started planning a trip to Dublin to get this experience over shadowed!

I plan to travel through northern France, all throughout Normandy, this summer with Jack, Keenan, and my sister-in-law.  I also plan to go back to Paris with someone who speaks French and fall in love with it.  I have known so many people that have had a positive experience and I know we just caught Paris at a bad moment...I feel it deep in my heart.  I will go back.  I will love it.  I just know it!