Bonjour. J'Adore Paris.

Wednesday, September 29th we had our first dreaded British Studies exam which consisted of three essay questions. We bolted out of there at 4pm and had a cab waiting for us to depart to London Luton airport. We were in a slight crunch for time, as our flight was leaving at 7pm and it takes about 2 hours to get to the airport. Prayers were answered and we arrived with time to spare for a yummy Krispy Kreme doughnut!! Our direct flight from London to Paris didn't take long at all and we arrived into the City of Love that evening. Our first feat was finding the apartment we would be living in for the next three nights. As this particular week we were going was fashion week, finding a hotel room proved to be challenging. Our wonderful travel agent, Kelley Hartley, found us an Eiffel Hideaway apartment that was perfect! Having the apartment made our experience so much more enjoyable. We were living as the Parisians were!

We took a bus and the metro to finally find our quaint, tiny, apartment complete adorable window boxes and art throughout. That evening we stayed in playing some scrabble and listening to classical music. It was quite hilarious -- I felt so old!

The next day we woke up and got brunch at the cafe across the street from our apartment. I got a yummy baquet sandwich and chocolate croissant! We began strong by making our way to Notre Dame, the famous cathedral.

It's beautiful inside and out. We used Rick Steve's self guided tour and also joined a group to learn about the architecture and history of the cathedral.

We continued on Rick Steve's awesome tour making our way through a park for a little play time --and on to a memorial to the 200,000 French that died in World War II. Next on the agenda was the magnificent Saint Chapelle. This is a gothic chapel with the prettiest stained glass I have ever seen. It was beautiful.
Next we made our way to the Louvre which I never realized so so huge -- it's enormous. We visited the pyramid which was really cool to see as well as the famous Mona Lisa. Everyone has to see the Mona Lisa -- They say it takes about 6 hours if you really want to see all of the Louvre. We made a B line for Mona and called it a day; taking in the gorgeous art along the way of course.

Leaving the Louvre I found it necessary that we make a pit stop for some crepes. I had never even had a real crepe, I was waiting for Paris. I was so happy to find a yummy crepe stand and ordered a nutella and banana crepe. Here's the man making mine- It was soooo delicious, and such a mess!!

From the crepe man we made our way to the Champs Elysees, the famous shopping street which ends at the Arc de Triomphe. It's a humongous arch way and we climbed up the 284 steps to the very top for a fantastic view of Paris. We got to hold the Eiffel Tower in our hand. Shelby's mouth was as big as the Eiffel tower. hahaha.

It was a big day, so what better way to end the night than going to see the Eiffel Tower up close at night time when it's all lit up!

When we turned the corner after getting off the metro, there it was! It was no disappointment. For some reason, I was not expecting to be very impressed - but I was! While we were standing there beneath the Eiffel Tower, on the side where no other tourists were we ran into a group of 4 other Harlaxton students that we didn't even know were traveling to Paris as well. It's such a small world - and it continues to get smaller as I explore it. Every night, on every hour the Eiffel tower literally SPARKLES! It was so gorgeous.

We left the Eiffel tower and made our way back to our apartment with a pitstop at the local market where we got all the fixins' to make a gourmet spaghetti dinner- complete with french bread and cheese!

The next day we planned to visit Versailles -- pronounced Ver-SIGH! Not like the Kentucky pronunciation. :) We took the train and made our way to The Palace of Versailles where King Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette lived. The best part was Marie Antoinette's cottages and gardens in the very back part.

After our long day in Versailles, we took the train back to our apartment to get our rain gear and head out to the Eiffel tower in order to go up in it! It wasn't the best night as it was super windy and rainy but nonetheless it was really cool. The elevators went up the tower at a slant and we made our way up in several different elevators to the very top. Someone even got engaged while we were up there! So romantic.

Next on our to do list was Moulin Rouge -- we needed to see it and take some pictures! It's just one of those photo ops you can't pass up. Back to the metro we went to go to the Montmarte area where the beautiful basilica, Sacre Coeur. Sacre Coeur is at the very top of a hill and you have to take a tram up. When we go to the top it was 9pm but there was a service going on. We went in and listened for a little while -- very interesting having it all in french!

Saturday morning we packed up and headed to a large market before making our way to the airport to say Au Revoir to Paris!

It was a wonderful trip -- having the apartment made a big difference and I loved every minute of it. It's possible that I left some things out since I'm doing this so late. My goal this week is to get caught up.

Ta ta for now.

*Kitty Kait-Oprah*

*Yes, there is a story behind these nicknames. First there's Kitty Kait; I have been forced to begin to answer to this name. Miss Shelby Rader has decided that this is the perfect nickname for me. I don't really understand it but everyone, well Shelby at least, seems to find it hilarious. As far as Oprah goes, Shelby and I compare our friendship to that of Oprah and her friend Gayle. I, of course, am the sensible Oprah while she is the wild Gayle. Together = a good time!*