Spring break: Paris

So, here's where I'm going to talk about Paris. But before that, let me just show you all what I'm dealing with over here:



I think the reason I never do my homework is because I have nowhere to do it...

Game of "I Spy", anyone? I Spy... 3D glasses, a Sudoku book, gold eyeshadow, and a sweater with rainbow buttons.

So Friday night, Mom and I arrived in Paris. I was pretty happy to be back in France... I understand the language, I know my way around (for the most part... details to follow later), and also... my phone works. Yayyy SFR.

Our hotel was in the 7ème arrondissement, I think, and about a 10 minute walk away from the Eiffel Tower. On our first night there were went and visited (after getting dinner/gelato at Rue Cler) the tower, and went up to the first level. The view was gorgeous, of course, but it was also pretty crowded. And of course, there were a lot of stairs involved. But we were used to this by this point. Afterwards we headed out to Trocadéro for a view of the tower at night... along with pretty much every other tourist in Paris at the moment. And every mini Eiffel Tower keychain "salesman" within a 30km radius.

The next morning Mom went to the Louvre (pssssssh been there, done that) and I did some shopping (way to be cultured, Katy).

Then... Mom went to Notre Dame, and I did some shopping.

Okay, I actually did more exploring than shopping. I walked to the 4ème, and actually stumbled upon the hostel I stayed it during orientation. Crazy. So hard to believe that just 4 months ago, I was meeting everyone at MIJE Fourcy. Anyway... I then popped into a Monoprix to get a soda, and I found that they had these really cute "limited edition" Diet Coke bottles. So I mean, of course I had to buy one. I got it, I sat down at the Monoprix... and I couldn't open the bottle. It was like a beer bottle cap, but I didn't have any way to open it. There was too much of a line at the counter, plus a doubted that the girl at the counter would help me. I tried to twist it through my coat sleeve... and ripped a small hole in my coat. I tried to whack it against the wooden table... and dented the table.

I went outside, and had the genius idea of whacking it against the side of a trash can. So I mean, there I am, a non-Parisian looking pretty out of place standing next to a trashman and seemingly pummeling it with a metal soda bottle. It didn't work, and I was getting some pretty weird looks. Fortunately, a guy came over to me and helped me open it. Then it exploded. Success.

...why did I spend more time telling this sotry than describing anything else in Paris so far?

Anyway, I then met up with Mom and we got some of the most expensive/amazing ice cream I'd ever had. Berthillon's... quality. We then headed over to the Champs Elysées and did some window shopping at the most expensive stores in France. We did the Arc de Triomphe, which I had never done before, and took a lot of photos of the awesome night view.


Ohhhhh ice cream


View from the Arc de Triomphe


C'est moi! [/cliché]

And that's all I'm going to post in this entry, because I hate when they go on and on and on... so I'll just write another for Paris days 3 + 4 :)