Paris

outside of the louvre

This morning, I arrived back in Madrid from a wonderful weekend in Paris. I left on Thursday at 7, and took the overnight train that arrived in Paris at 8:30am on Friday. I was really looking forward to the train ride as it was my first use of my eurailpass, but it turned out to be much different than I had imagined (and was told) it would be. I went early last week to the train station in Madrid to reserve my seat on this train. Although I already have the eurailpass as my ticket, I needed to reserve and pay for a seat to and from Paris. The lady said she was selling me the cheapest seat she could, as she knew I was a student and this is what I wanted. I asked her to describe what she was selling me, and she told me I would be sharing a room with three other people, and there would be two sets of bunk beds in our room. The reservation was 47 euros each way. This seems like a lot, but it would have been 200 something each way had I not had the eurailpass. So, Thursday afternoon comes along and I go to my assigned seat. I found myself in the car of seats, not beds. There were probably 40 seats in this car, and I had to spend both 13 hour train rides sitting up, not lying down, next to crying babies and smelly people. Oh well.


Besides the train rides, the rest of the trip was a delight. My host for the weekend was my friend Borden-a student at Wake Forest University with whom I worked at Anthropologie two summers ago! Meet Borden:


I am lucky I knew someone to visit--most of my friends are going abroad next semester, as that's what's popular at Michigan (football obsession, perhaps?). Although her "madame" made me pay 30 euros for staying in Borden's bedroom, I really enjoyed sleeping in a classic French apartment--from her balcony we could see the Eiffel Tower!--and Borden was an awesome hostess. Some highlights of the trip include:

• Sacre Coeur and Notre Dame
• Morais area for great falafel and walk through the Jewish quarters
  
• Musee D'Orsay and the Louvre
• Walk down Champs Elysses to the Arc d'Triumph
• Visit to the hotel where my parents met
• Nutella Crepes (yes, more than one)
• Flea Markets Sunday Morning
• Crepe Restaurant and Bowling with Borden's Friends
• Visit to the Eiffel Tower at night to see the light show
• Angelina Restaurant for the best hot chocolate I've ever had

falafel number one


"and the rest is history, dollie!" --mom






Thanks to my French friend Borden for an awesome weekend in beautiful Paris!