Arrival
WE FINALLY MADE IT! (and without our parents) Personally I am pretty proud that I didn’t lose my passport, but I must say I could not have done it without the girls. Evelyn, Kassandra, Ali, and I were in Paris, ready to take on all the museum and learn all the history, but first we had to get to our Airbnb rental. We made it this far, so why should this be any harder? Well, as we got to our rental, we realized one we didn’t know how to get into the building, where the actual apartment was (the French don’t label everything as much as Americans do), or how to contact our host as Wi-Fi was hard to find. After a couple of failed plans, we finally had a local let us borrow her phone to contact our host (hallelujah!!) Next, we climbed six floors to get to the elevator-less apartment. SIX. Once we made that journey up the stairs we arrived at the cutest Parisian apartment. Good Airbnb find.
After we got settled in, we hit the streets of Paris to have dinner. Since I hadn’t been out of the US for more than 48 hours at this point, this is when I realized what the two most difficult things would be for me while I was abroad: The food and the language differences. Not that the food here is bad, but it’s just not cheese fries. I know that this is supposed to be about learning about a new place and culture, but I had to take it slow. We decided to play it safe, and we went to a pizzeria, and even though I couldn’t understand the menu, I figured you couldn’t go wrong with a pizza. We each ordered a pizza without really thinking about it, imagining we would get one maybe two slices, but naturally we each got an entire pizza. I wasn’t mad though because this was the best pizza I had ever had!
Later on that night we met up with our old roommate from Arkansas that had been an exchange student from Paris (it was so good to see a familiar face and not feel so touristy). We met at a cafe, and then she gave us a quick tour of the Champs-Elysees.
Palace of Versailles and tour of the city
The next morning we went to Versailles. It is about 15 miles from Paris, so it actually took us 2 hours to get there, mostly because we couldn’t figure the trains out, but when we finally arrived, there were crowds of people on the streets, and many police cars, which was concerning for me, as being in a city this big made me slightly paranoid the whole time. I was glad to find out everything was okay, and we had just run into a memorial service.
Getting to the actual palace was breathtaking. I felt like a little kid running into Disneyland. After waiting in a line for what felt like centuries, we finally had the chance to go inside, and it was even more breathtaking. The fact that I was walking in the same halls as many powerful people in history such as King Louis XIV and Marie-Antoinette was mindblowing to me.
After walking miles at this palace, we went back to Paris and decided since we had done enough walking for the day, we should hop on one of the big red tourist buses and get to every interesting point in Paris. This was the best idea ever because it started pouring right after we got on. This two-hour route consisted of passing by the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, taking a quick power nap or two, and listening to a lot of history. I definitely felt like those 33 euros I paid for this tour were well spent. After this, we got the great idea of going up the Arc de triomphe. I was not too excited about this since elevators aren’t really a thing here in Paris and I really hate stairs, but I bought my tickets anyways and climbed fifteen flights of stairs (284 steps) and got to the top. I can honestly say I have never seen anything like this. We were literally in the center of Paris and we could see out in every direction. This was our last stop for the day, at this point we all needed a good 12 hour nap.
The Louvre, lunch on the Seine, and the Eiffel Tower
The next day, Evelyn and I woke up to visit the Louvre. It was the first of the many museums I hope to see in Europe, and it definitely did not disappoint. There was so much to see, but honestly I just had to get to the famous Mona Lisa and cross that off my bucket list.
Next we went to have dinner on the Seine River, and this was for sure the best food I had in France, with the best views for sure. Later on that day we met up with Estelle (our foreign exchange roommate) again to have crepes and to just walk around the city like a local. After we finished that we headed to a bench and just stared at the Eiffel Tower for hours. This was probably my favorite part of the trip since there was nothing planned for that exact moment, it was just us relaxing with a great view. We waited until the tower lit up one last time before we went home that night.
Notre Dame
We woke up bright and early that sunday to go to mass at Notre Dame, and yet again, another breathtaking moment for me. Although I could not understand the mass a lot, I could still follow along, and to me that was amazing to do in another country and in a cathedral with so much history.
After this, it was time to leave Paris, and although it was a beautiful city and a great trip, I was very relieved to go back to a slightly more familiar setting in Valencia.
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Read more from Gabriela at https://gjmolina.wordpress.com/
To find more internship and study abroad opportunities
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