Shimps and Mooftards

This weekend I went to Paris with Caleb. We had a fantastic time, but here is what I learned:

1) It really does smell bad, that's not a stereotype

2) I'm really bad at trying to pronounce French

3) When I don't feel like pronouncing French, I make up words (ex. dog in French is chien...but pronounced weird so I just decided to call dogs shimps (like shrimp without the r)

4) Though it may seem easy, the Arc de Triomphe isn't always the easiest thing to say

5) I like London way better

Now, having said all that, Paris was a blast. Though the temperature about about 15 degrees warmer than in London, we walked all over the city. Everything was much more spread out and harder to get to, but that just made the walks along the Seine River that much more beautiful. We stayed less than five minutes from Notre Dame and it was gorgeous, though I did want to yell "SANCTUARY!" when I went inside. Our first day we wandered around and walked from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower which took close to two hours. We had dinner at the great Asian restaurant that Caleb was obsessed with because the food was cheap and delicious.

I was really overwhelmed by the size of the Eiffel Tower. I had assumed it was big, but I just had no idea how impressive it would be. I think I like really tall man-made structures. The Washington Monument, Big Ben, and now the Eiffel Tower. Underneath the tower were dozens of vendors selling replicas and souvenirs. Caleb and I made the haggling dream team when we convince this one guy to sell us the largest statue of the Eiffel Tower for 6 pounds (his original asking price was 20). Being really proud of my purchase, I held on to it for a while. This one lady in line overheard us talking about it and was upset because she had paid a lot more. We ended up going to the top of the Eiffel Tower and watched the sunset. It was a gorgeous view, and we were even in the tower when it lit up (which is does every hour after dark). We started around 8:45 p.m. and by the time we got down it was around 12:30 a.m. We haggled some more with the guys down below and got light up Eiffel Towers and key chains (I really think that bargaining is our calling).

The next day we set out to see the city. We went to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. Caleb's back was starting to hurt so we set out to get some lunch and relax. We ate at the great cafe on the top of a department store overlooking the city. After that we crossed the street and went to this free photography exhibit called Paris in Love.

We then made the trek to the Moulin Rouge, which was much too expensive to go into, but really cool to see outside. You literally walk right out of the metro and you're there.

At night we headed back down to the Eiffel Tower area and stood by the river watching it light up. There was a big football game going on at the large outdoor field with a giant screen near us. When the game ended, we decided it was time to head out. For dinner we ate overpriced ice-cream next to the Eiffel Tower. Mine was Citron (lemon), which I thought was Vanilla at the time. Not a good feeling when you take that first bite.

The last day in Paris we traveled to Versailles. It was probably the hottest day of the trip, and we had to wait in line for tickets forever. We actually ran into two girls who went to our high school while in line....that's how long it took. It was definitely worth the wait though. The palace was so ornate and immaculate that I felt like a peasant inside it. We got to see the Hall of Mirrors, Louis XIV's bed chambers and Marie Antoinette's as well. My favorite part of Versailles, however, were the gardens. They were huge and some of the side mazes reminded me of the 4th Harry Potter book. In defiance of the hotel charging us for breakfast, we stole sandwiches to bring to Versailles. It was great to sit in the shade and eat them looking out over the impressive gardens. They really made you feel insignificant. After walking around for a bit, the fountains came on and that really made the gardens spectacular. There were fountains everywhere, each more decorated than the last. We ended up parking ourselves by a big fountain and putting our feet in to relax.

Soon we headed back to get ready for my departure. We treated ourselves to the first sit-down meal we'd really had (besides the awesome Asian), and were forced to listen to some horrible trumpet players looking for money. Sadly, the weekend came to a close, and I headed back on my overnight bus exhausted. I got in at 5:30 a.m. yesterday and proceeded to go to work and class.

Last night we had the fantastic opportunity to go to Wimbledon! I was really excited because I'd always watched Wimbledon on TV with my parents. Rachael, Katie T, Sam and I sat in on a mixed doubles game for a few hours. Andy Roddick and Roger Federer were both playing, but we didn't have the tickets necessary to see those games.

That's pretty much all I have for the weekend. It was amazing, and I know it will be a hard one to top.