Bonjour {Paris 1}

There is so much to say about Paris! I have been learning the last 2 months how to live in a city and like it. Boy oh boy was that tested this last weekend. Paris is a city like you have never seen! And I have to say I was quite comfortable in it. Do I still feel incompetent that I don’t speak any other language well? Does looking at French words and trying to pronounce them seem like a headache? You bet! But, I saw a beautiful city full of history and people and places that have a story that makes it worth it to stop and say hello. So here is a rundown of day 1 and how we arrived…

Tip 1: Avoid the RER trains at all costs. If you are going to Versailles tough luck…But we didn’t! yay! But seriously avoid ‘em…

Story 1{arriving}: welcome to Paris, ‘er , the airport way outside Paris. So we had to take a bus into Paris and then the metro. I love metros. But…when you get a metro pass and then wait 30 minutes and there hasn’t been a train in the right direction you look at the other routes. After a lovely waiting underground and extra stairs while carrying luggage we made it to the apartment we were renting and found the key. Another tenant in the building thinks we are the crazy American girls because I couldn’t get the doors open with the code. Sigh. We did it though.

Tip 2: figure out every discount possible. I love that I have an Italian visa in my passport…yay free museums!!! And if you are a young person {between the ages of 18-25} + traveling on the weekend =get the discounted metro pass. {There are discounts for children under the ages of 16 and often 18, but I didn’t fit into that category…}

Story 2{day 1}:The next morning Robyn and I went in search of the usual. Coffee and pastry. We had to walk a ways but we found both in the same shop finally. I had a croissant. With lots of butter and flaky-ness. Can you tell what I’ve been missing?! Butter, you can never have too much butter {name that movie…we quoted it a lot this weekend}
We then took a less amazing metro ride to the cemetery. Yep the first place I went was the cemetery. And I saw the grave of Colette and Jim Morrison, and other famous dead people. And then Oscar Wilde’s grave which is under restoration… who restores a grave? Isn’t it supposed to look old? And really what is restoration going to do, restore the person?
Then we went to the center of Paris, well close anyways. We came up by the Tuleries garden. And we walked around enjoying the leaves and got a crepe. And then we realized we weren’t in the Tuleries garden but across the street. And then we walked to the Tuleries garden, for real this time. And we sat at the pond and people watched. And we got another crepe for good measure. And then I watched people running and vowed that if I ever live in Paris {knowing me highly unlikely…truly highly unlikely} I would gladly run through the garden for exercise.
There is an amazing museum on the corner of the garden called the L’orangerie. It has Monet’s water lilies. And it was amazing! Def in the top two of my favorite museums in Paris.

Tip 3: go to museums in Paris. They are well done and worth every cent. They make me happy!
Next came the famous street. We walked the Champs Elysee and I’ve decided it’s a shopper’s amusement park. There are massive amounts of people and you have to wait in line to get into stores (the winner of the longest line is Abercrombie & Finch). There are lights and famous people shop there and you can buy expensive food. Needless to say we didn’t do any of those things…
We then went back to the apartment and met up with our friends that we were renting with. We tried going to a restaurant that was supposed to be good, but we didn’t make I that far. We stopped before we got there as it was sprinkling and a little bit of a walk. It was a cute little place and it was clear that the locals came here often. I ordered a beef dish {yeah it was steak} and delightful!

A good end to a long day and more to come…