Day 3-The InSEINE adventures of Sam and Pete
Pete gave this day the highly politically incorrect title of Samantha Schaefer’s Bataan Death March. When I’m in tourist mode, I’m kind of hardcore, apparently. I was determined to see a lot of sights, and when I'm in that mood, strap on your walking shoes or else.
We started out the day by doing a little shopping because Pete needed another sweater, and I wanted to see if I could capitalize on the better exchange rate. I ended up getting nothing, but Pete got a couple of good shirts. I honestly think he has a better sense of style (guy’s style at least), than I do.
We were planning on doing a group walking tour of some of the city’s sights, but at the last minute, decided to set our own itinerary so as to take our time and see what we wanted to see most. We started at Notre Dame again, but this time, took a tour through the inside. Its stained-glass windows are just as incredible as everyone says.
The beautiful South Rose Window, one of the most famous pieces of stained glass in the world.
We then took a leisurely stroll down the Seine River that cuts through the heart of Paris. We had an incredible afternoon on our journey, staging ridiculous photo shoots and visiting vendors that set up tourist-trap shops along the river banks. We ended our walk at the Eiffel Tower. By that time, the line was over an hour long and a little more pricey than we would have liked, so we both enjoyed the experience of looking up at it as opposed to looking down from it.
The Eiffel Tower from where we stood.
Looking at the Eiffel Tower from where we stood.
It was at this point when we were accosted by a number of women (who we were informed were gypsies) who approached us one by one, handing us a sheet of paper to read about their sad situation, and begging for money. One after the other handed us the EXACT SAME sheet of paper with the exact same story, so we eventually crossed the street to avoid them. We ended up buying a waffle on this side, but moved out of the way to eat it in secret so they wouldn’t see that we actually had cash on us. We then had to map out our escape route to the metro that best avoided their territory. OK, it was all a little immature, but really funny to us at the time.
Eating my tasty waffle in secret.
Lauren, my suitemate from freshman year, is studying abroad in Paris, so she, Pam, Pete and I all met up for a nice wine night near Lauren’s apartment. It was nice having someone with us who could at least speak French a little (well, a lot) better than us. And her apartment is absolutely adorable--very Parisian chic.
Day 4-Beware the Early Flights:
Pete, Pam and I had a fairly casual day, just exploring little shops in the Saint-Germain area and enjoying one last panini before Pete left to catch a train back to Pamplona. It was a sad goodbye, but I get to see him again in a little over a week for Easter break, which definitely helps out with the heartache.
Pam and I ended up having a bit of a freakout when we realized that the Regional Express Railroad, which we had planned on taking to Orly Airport the next morning, would not be running early enough to catch our flight, so after dinner, we tried to figure out that situation. Lauren luckily saved the day by getting a cab to pick us up bright and early the next morning. He picked us up at 4:10 a.m., so honestly wasn’t that bright at all, both in terms of sunlight and our moods. Words of wisdom for you: Do NOT get early flights in cities where you have to rely on public transportation to get to the airport. Generally, the subways and trains are down until about 5:30 in the morning, so you end up relying on the pricier cabs. So not fun.
That about wraps up the Paris portion. I absolutely loved the city and would not mind going back again. I felt like I only scratched the surface of what the city has to offer. I'll have to buffer up my French a bit and go back for a longer stay one day
Check out my facebook album for this portion: http://www.facebook.com/photo.phppid=37826212&l=885e5&id=15921830.
Also, Pete has made a good video montage of our photos and posted them on his blog that you can access by going here: http://pamplonaprose.blogspot.com/
Enjoy!
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