J'aime Paris!!!

Paris was AMAZING! It was SO great to reunite with some of my best friends in the universe (there were 7 of us in all: me, Josh, Megan, Alli, Callie, Norah, and Seth) in the amazing city that is Paris. FABULOUS.

Norah and I left Sevilla super early so we could have most of the day to spend in Paris. This trip was incredible because we literally saw all the major sites in Paris in only 2 1/2 days, thanks to our amazing tour guide, Josh. Since he is practicing to be an actual tour guide in Paris, he knew pretty much everything about everything in the city, including the histories of each museum, monument, and famous site. I really loved everything we did, but my three most favorite attractions were probably the Eiffel Tour, the Louvre, and the Basilica. The Eiffel Tower is so stunning, and we saw it both from afar and from up close. And at night, it would SPARKLE for 10 minutes each hour. WOW.. something that can't be captured in a picture. I was so excited that we were able to conquer the Louvre in 3 hours on Saturday morning. There was obviously so much to see there, but we tried to function in a fashion of organized madness to see everything we wanted to see. SO worth the 9 euros! And the Basilica (which we climbed 2 giant stair cases to get to) had something really special about it. All the candles combined with the singing of the nuns was.. well, a little indescribable. Other things we did/saw: Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, Pantheon, the River Seine, Musee d'Orsay, Moulin Rouge, the artist district (and I'm definitely forgetting a lot) and we also stayed at the Ritz (just kidding, I WISH).

Also, the Pantheon has the phrase "Aux Grands Hommes La Patrie Reconnaissante" (to thank the men of Paris) inscribed in gold across the front, but it was just International Women's Day and a giant banner with the phrase "Aux Grandes FEMMES La Patrie Reconnaissante" with pictures and quotes from 9 famous French women on it was hanging on the building. Glorious!!

And obviously since it was Paris, we didn't stop eating the entire time. Literally, there was not a time during the entire weekend when I wasn't stuffed to the point of near-death. First of all, my senora made me a bocadillo (sandwich) to take with me, which I ate half of (Josh ate the other half) when I got there. But, Josh also greeted Norah and I with chocolate croissants, which we ate too. Then, as we began touring the city, we ate crepes (mm mmm!!!!) and then, because we were obviously still hungry 10 minutes later (not), we stopped at an amazing bakery and bought these strawberry pastries that were literally 1lb in weight. Thus far, the amount of food we ate could have fed several small armies, but clearly that didn't stop us from eating dinner. We ate at a place called Hippo, where we ate endless bowls of fried chips, crusty bread and olive oil, and drank (ironically for us Spaniards) Sangria as well as amazing salads with brie cheese. And that was just the first day. So, we continued in this fashion for the rest of the weekend, and indulged in such things as cheese fondue, gelato, crepes, falafel, baguettes, and more. And also wine out of baby bottles at a funky restaurant.

I love Paris! I love my friends!