Miluju se Paříž!

(Translation: I love Paris!)

There was not a single city that I visited that made me question choosing to study in Prague until I went to Paris. Paris was definitely my favorite weekend trip that I took. You might get bored by every single detail that I choose to describe, but I want to remember the trip. It may sound like I did nothing, but I felt like I got to experience Paris a lot more than the last time that I was there running from sight to sight.

Friday

Karen, Blair, Jill, Alex, Courtney and I took a 6am flight to Paris, meaning that we left our dorm around 3:30am. Jenny and two girls from her program came as well, so there were nine of us. We got into Paris a little before nine and checked into our hostel. It was the nicest hostel I've stayed at, so it was nice not having to worry about that.

We took a free tour in Paris, just like we had in Berlin, and once again it was very good. The tour guide was great, and we saw some of the major sights early on in the trip. We got crepes for lunch, and then we went to Galleries Lafayette. For those of you who don't know what it is, it's sort of like the Harrod's of Paris. Jenny had found online that they do a fashion show for free every Friday, so being in the fashion capital of the world, we all went. I had never been to a fashion show before, so it was pretty cool to see. Since I have been to Paris before, I was glad to be seeing something different, like a fashion show.

After the fashion show we went to the Louvre. They let people under 26 in for free on Friday nights. I've been to the Louvre before, but never at night, and after seeing The Da Vinci Code it was really interesting being there at night. They don't really turn a lot of lights on, so it almost feels like walking through your house at night using the glow from streetlights. I've been to the Louvre before, and we were all really tired from getting up so early, so we headed back to the hostel after seeing the major sights at the Louvre. We were lucky that we even got to go to the Louvre, because for all weeks for us to be there, workers at French museums had been going on strike on and off all week.


Saturday

Jenny, Emily, and I slept in pretty late and then took the metro to Sacre Coeur. After that we walked through Montmarte and then to Moulin Rouge. We then walked all the way to Hotel De Ville (the town hall), where we had heard there was supposed to be ice skating, but the rink wasn't frozen yet. I'm not going to lie: I was very disappointed! We ended up walking to the Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomph and seeing all the Christmas lights and Christmas markets there, which was so pretty! We then walked to the Eiffel Tower, but since it was starting to rain we decided not to go to the top. It was still beautiful to see again, especially with the sparkly lights. I think that the Eiffel Tower and Prague Castle at night are my two favorite landmarks in Europe. (Just a little fun fact I thought I'd throw in there).



Sunday
I want to thank my friend Cara because even though she is currently in Georgia (the country) with the Peace Corps, she managed to give me some great suggestions of what to see off the beaten path in Paris. I decided to explore the city by myself and see the places that she had suggested and the places that I have never really explored before. I started by going to the Bastille, because I remembered going to a great market there on a Sunday morning the last time that I was in Paris. I bought a great winter hat at the market that I refused to take off the rest of the day. I literally wore it all the way back to Prague. It was so nice out that I was getting so hot and I took my coat off instead of taking my hat off. Pretty genius, I know. Just wait until you see this hat.

Anyway, after I went to the market at the Bastille I wandered around La Marais and went into a million little boutiques and vintage shops, just like Cara recommended. I bought some rolls at one of the many Jewish bakeries around there, just as she had recommended. So good!

After La Marais I wandered down to the Latin Quarter, which I have never really explored before. I went in a million stores there too. Amazingly, the hat is all I really bought that day! After the Latin Quarter and St. Germain, I walked up to Galleries Lafayette and grabbed some lunch and walked back to Montmartre to wander around again.

The highlight of the day was definitely having three different people ask me in French how to get places. There was only rally one place that I could help with, but the fact that I didn't look like a tourist was pretty exciting. However, I hadn't showered all weekend, making me fit in pretty well over there, so that may have had something to do with it!

Having all the people ask me for directions was nice because I got to use a lot of French. That may have been my favorite part of the weekend, speaking in French and understanding everything going on around me, because that is something that I have gotten used to ignoring here in the CZ. I have forgotten how fun it can be to eavesdrop on random people, or read stupid ads in the metro. In Prague I don't have that luxury, but in France I did. I had forgotten how nice it is to understand everything.


Even though Paris made me question my choice to study in Prague, I am still very glad that I did. I love Prague, and I think that Prague is a much more relaxed, comfortable city. It isn't as classy as Paris, but it definitely isn't as expensive either, so I am able to do a lot more here. I would love to visit/live in Paris someday when I have an actual adult income, but Prague is perfect for a student because you can experience everything on a student budget.

Anyway, I will get my Paris pictures up as soon as possible, but for now it is time to celebrate that it is THE WEEKEND again!

**I ended about 5 million sentences with prepositions today. If I could ignore it, you can too!**