wicked fun and american girls in paris

*sorry if any pictures are repeats from Facebook, but these are my favorites!

Wednesday- decided to go to Paris. Eurostar tickets were expensive because of such short notice, but the hostel (more like budget hotel!!!) was only 20 euro!

Thursday- Went to eat wings at sports cafe again. Lots of football games were on, so lots of men in suits (it's happy hour) were there! Cider's pretty good, beer not so much. (only sipping)... while we were walking, Shelley, Danielle, Pheobe and I felt like the four gals from Sex and the City. It's really funny, since we all have the personalities of one of the characters. I was chosen as Charlotte (obviously)... and everyone else's personality is REALLY like the girls. Weird, eh? Then, off to see WICKED!!!!!!!!!! My new favorite musical, besides Beauty and the Beast (which was my first ever)! I'm listening to the soundtrack as I'm typing. There were no understudies there, Idina Menzel was Elphaba! She's the original Elphaba and Maureen from Rent. Everything from the set, to the music, to the story, was SOOOO GOOD (and it was funny!). The tickets were only $30 too. Adam Garcia was there too (from Coyote Ugly), and the lady who was the nurse from Romeo + Juliet and was Prof. Sprout in Harry Potter. After taking the bus back home, we watched my downloaded Project Runway and ate Magnum ice cream bars. The best night ever :)
pictures are coming soon!

Friday- After class, it was off to the train station! It felt like an airport, and I got more passport stamps! :) We got to Paris at around 8. The saddest part... getting scammed by a creeper within five minutes of stepping foot on Paris. He sold us "passes" for the metro but were just one way tickets :( OH well, lesson learned. We left our bags at the hostel and headed the the Lourve. It's so gorgeous at night. We got to see the traffic go through the Arc d' Triomphe :) :) and the Eiffel Tower. We squealed with delight when we saw it. It was so surreal that night to actually be in Paris... I've wanted to come here longer than I did with London. We decided to follow the light (like flies) towards the Tower. Walking along the Seine was great, except it was really empty along the streets. There were lots of people in military garb holding machine guns, which was unsettling. We finally got to the Eiffel Tower, which was happening. People selling souvenirs kept yelling greetings in every possible Asian language. The rumors are true- the French have bad B.O., and I feel lots of them are a little snobbish. But then again, I'm a stupid American tourist.

Saturday- The hostel had breakfast! SO GOOD! I finally felt full for once. We got baguettes and croissants, and stuffed some extras for lunch. Off the Champs Elysees! OMG the shopping is amazing... since it's on the Euro, you can get more for your money. We walked towards the Arc d' Triomphe, then headed along the avenue towards the Louvre. Took pictures by the obelisk and walked through the park. There were lots of French kids on scooters! At the Louvre, we saw all the masterpieces, including the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and Venus de Milo. Boy, was it tiring! X_x Next, off to the Notre Dame Cathedral! It's on an island in the middle of the Seine. It's sooooo beautiful! The Rose Window's so intricite and amazing! We took the metro to the department stores (which are crazy with people and name brands). BTW, the Metro is really dirty. I missed London then. The sky was clearing up, so we rushed back to the Eiffel Tower. The wait was 2 hours! The wait and the elevator ride totally felt like a ride at Six Flags or something, minus the scary drop. It was beauuuuutiful! :) I was lucky enough to see fireworks from the top! We ate at this really touristy (translation: expensive) cafe right near the tower that night.

you're never far from an azn tour group the Eiffel Tower picture everyone hasfountain near the Obeliskinside the Louvre

One of the few sightings of blue sky!

The Rose Window inside the Notre Dame

Notre Dame The Seine from the Eiffel Tower Our wonderful Hostel/2*hotel, baby steps in backpacking

Me with the Renoir

The delicious cake at Laudree

The cafe!!

Sunday- On the way to the metro, I saw the cutest French boy. Best hair (see tidbits, had his little brother, and was walking with two dogs!) First stop, the Musee d'Orsay. I love love LOVEEEE this museum! I could stare at these paintings alll day long. I saw lots of my favorite pieces, Degas' dancers, Renoirs, a whole room of Monets, Manet, and Van Gogh. There's so much more that I'm forgetting right now. :) The coolest thing was seeing pieces that I've sketched before in art class. It was sad the painting of Van Gogh's bedroom was traveling :( We took the metro to the Champs Elysees for some shopping, but alas everything in Paris closes on a Sunday. sadness!!!! I guess I saved money. Well, to cheer ourselves up, we ate at this really fancy schmancy tea house on the avenue, Laudree. It rivals Jin Patisserie (my favorite place!). They're famous for they're macroons! Then, it was back to the train station and home sweet home to London. Right when we walked out of Waterloo, there were fireworks! I guess London really missed us (actually, it was the end of the Thames River Festival). We got to walk around the city for a little bit at night :) Big Ben was light up with green lights!

More tidbits:

• The French are so attractive. Women- they're so natural looking and effortless. They don't try nearly as hard to look pretty as Americans. The guys have such good hair!!! I cannot emphasize this enough. Did not see any hairy armpits thank God.
• Paris is definately prettier at night. The fountain at the Louvre was green. ick. But just like people, everything's looks 100x better at night.
• To all at home: I'm not sure if I can bring presents home :( It's so hard to buy souvenirs and lug them back with only a backpack. I will bring food items! But I don't think any keychains or doodads (like the ones you get from the states)
• The patisseries and chocolatiers smell SOO GOOD. I swear they blow that baked bread smell onto the street. *_*
• French bread is better in France.
• The journey on the Channel Tunnel (the part that's actually underwater) only lasts for 20 minutes.
• Story of my life: everytime I walk around with an umbrella, it won't rain, but if I manage to forget it, there's a 100% chance of rain.
• My camera memory is failing me! My picture happiness is returning ._.