Paris!

Oh, Paris! What a lovely, beautiful time we had in this amazing city. I have been here once before with my mom when I was 12, and we got to do a lot of cool things since it wasn’t out of my own tiny budget pocket, but this time I think I got to enjoy it a little more. Maybe just because I’m old enough to drink now… Just kidding, but I guess I am old enough now to appreciate it more. Our travels getting there, however, weren’t so wonderful, as we found ourselves caught in a huge dilemma when we missed our first train on our route to Paris from Hamburg, due to taking the wrong train and arriving at the wrong Hamburg station…. Stupid stupid stupid! We had 10 minutes to get to the other one in time so we hopped in a cab and prayed we would get there in time by some miracle. Of course, this was unsuccessful and we missed it, just by 4 minutes. Is there anything more irritating than being THAT close?! It’s just painful! There was another train there leaving just a few minutes later than our original one, going to the same destination, so we hopped on just in time.  Unfortunately we were informed a bit too late that this was a slow train, and the one we missed would have gotten us there about 2 hours faster. Such a bummer. There was no hope whatsoever now that we would make our connection.  Eventually, we made it to Paris but not until 7 that night, when we were supposed to arrive in the afternoon. The only good thing that came out of this whole disaster was that we were upgraded to first class for our last train ride. I’ve never been in first class for anything so I was pretty excited about it. Finally, after an unnecessarily long day of travel, we made it to our hostel.  The next day, we set out nice and early to see all the Parisian sights! We walked and walked and walked some more in the torturous heat that accompanied the burning sun, but we saw everything on our list! The Eiffel Tower, l’Arc de Triomphe, Rue Champs-Élysées, Sacré-Coeur, The Louvre, Moulin Rouge, Le Grand Palais, and so on… It was surprisingly easy to get everywhere, just quite exhausting since we decided to walk pretty much everywhere with the occasional metro ride every once in a while.  In the evening, we wandered around and indulged in some macarons and chocolate banana crepes! This last one didn’t go so well for me as it was very hard to eat and very messy, and anyone who knows me can say without a doubt that I am the messier eater that ever did live, so I struggled with this more than the average human should. It was all over my legs, my hands, my face, even my hair… I’m a five year old. An old lady sitting across from us was even laughing at me at one point… It was that bad. Oh man, I hope one day I can learn the art of consuming food in a clean and grown-up fashion.  Later that evening, we picked up some wine and headed to the Eiffel Tower to watch it light up gloriously after the sun went down. We sat in the open field in front of the tower, sipping a delicious rosé, watching one of the most famous structures in the world twinkle!! It was one of my favourite nights of the whole trip, I think. A little alcohol flowing through my veins made the spectacular sparkling tower even more impressive, if that’s even possible!  The metro took us home to our hostel and very shortly after I was out like a light. This was Gracie’s last night in Europe, she left the next morning to head home, and I’d say it was a great end to her trip. It’s weird that she isn’t with us anymore, but it’s only 5 days until we are home too, so it’s not too bad.  And that was all for our time in Paris. It seems short, but it was one perfect and busy day in one of the most magnificent cities in the world, and I’m quite pleased with it.  Next stop: Amsterdam!  Tal