The Last Weekend in Paris

Time to pick up where I left off on my Paris report, which is last Friday (oops). I took the opportunity to sleep in for the first time in over a week, since everything had been go-go-go from Bristol to London to early morning class to the Loire Valley field trip on Thursday. I actually made it to breakfast before it closed at 10am in time to snarf up a few chocolate croissants and nab some cellophaned pancakes for later, but immediately returned to my bed for another two hours before I got up for the day. Ugh, life is hard.

We had decided Friday would be dedicated to exploring the Latin Quarter neighborhood in Paris, which is the area surrounding the Sorbonne University in Paris. We were searching for young people, and more importantly prices based on a college budget. The area was upbeat and slightly more affordable, yet still pretty touristy. I think that would be my one complaint about Paris. Everywhere I went I felt like I was at a tourist attraction, mostly because there are major monuments and landmarks embellishing the entire city so you're bound to run into one every couple of blocks or so. And of course, every attraction is then surrounded by cafes, creperies, and souvenir shops abound, which all adds up to a constant sense of chaos. We did find one little souvenir street tucked away behind Notre Dame with affordable unique gifts, so we spent hours perusing the inventories and even came back on several occasions simply for the quaint atmosphere. Another gem we discovered there--the only one in all of Paris--a froyo joint. I have never been so excited to find something reminiscent of California. A staple in my college diet back in Westwood, all of the sudden gelato was no longer enough and I needed my frozen yogurt fix.

Reunited at last.

Not much else happened that day because it was spent getting significant work done on the law midterm due Monday. Although other highlights included successfully locating a famous patisserie called Eric Kayser in the Latin Quarter and indulging in cookies, eclairs, and fruit tarts over cups of coffee at a street corner cafe. Ah, quand en Paris... 

The reason why we had to get as much done as possible on Friday is because Saturday was Versailles Day! Which I can now say from experience is an all-day excursion, so I was quite pleased that we had planned ahead. It was about an hour train ride to Versailles from Paris, but the Metro could only take you so far before you had to pay an extra 4 euro to hop on the RER for the duration of the trip. In total travel time was probably an hour each way. I had checked the weather that morning and "accu"weather promised me it was going to be hot and sunny at Versailles, so I threw on shorts and sandals hoping not to repeat the day before when I sweat all afternoon long in jeans and boots. 

Fail. The second we got off the train it started to rain. (It fell mainly in the plain.) So we scouted around for shelter, and happily took haven in a nearby Starbucks. After an hour of lattes and small talk the storm had still not subsided, so we decided to carry on anyway and grab a couple of ponchos on the way in. Because of course after a week of carrying my umbrella "just in case" I had blindly put my trust in an online weather service's hands and left the rain gear at home. Alas, 6 euros and an obnoxious red poncho later, the rain stopped for good as soon as I left the store. 

Either way I was glad because we had to wait at least an hour in line just to get into the castle. Apparently everyone else had the same idea of "getting there when it opens" but instead arriving two hours late. The line formed a giant snake in the front courtyard, which was quite unfortunate because it meant we kept passing the same family eating hot dogs and fries for the entire hour on empty stomachs. At some point I was like finish it already because I was tired of being teased. Who takes an hour to finish that? That kind of meal wouldn't last ten minutes in my hands. 

The gates of Versailles. Note the unopened poncho in hand.

Versailles is HUGE. The Louis (plural) must've had a huge posse surrounding them all the time because nothing else could explain the massive amount of space in the palace. I wonder if the King needed a map to get from room to room. Most of the castle was bare, however, because the angry peasant mob stole everything during the French Revolution when they stormed Versailles trying to kidnap/imprison/guillotine Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. (FYI--they escaped, but were caught at the border of France trying to flee the country. AP European History FTW). The whole trip was made totally worth it though by the famous "Hall of Mirrors" which finally came to life after years of studying it in my French books. 

250ft of floor length mirrors. A sorority girl's dream.

We arrived at Versailles in a group of four, but left in pairs. The place is so big and so packed with people and giant tour groups that it was inevitable we would be separated. But eventually we all arrived home safely (and exhausted) from our all-day adventure. 

And just in time for a night out. Because the rule in college is if you had a long day and are tired, party till 5am. The bartender we made friends with a couple nights earlier brought us to this underground (literally) French club where we got to dance to American music and avoid French creepers all night long. 

This photo is misleading. We were packed like sardines down there. 

Sunday involved less sightseeing and more studying. The whole school thing really does put a damper on the abroad experience since you're constantly worrying about assignments with due dates on the horizon. Which is why ideally I'll find a job abroad for next summer so there's more time to explore without having that constant, daunting, and often torturous feeling of there's something else you should be doing. (Like right now when I'm blogging instead of completing my final.) The ease of the 3-day school week is quite deceptive because in reality the heft of reading and assignments you have to do takes up a significant amount of out-of-class time. 

So, in short, that was my weekend. A little bit of crazy and a lot of fun, with bits of studying interspersed here and there.