Paris Weekend! (Day Six, Seven, and Eight; July 5th-7th)

Friday began with session on Charles Simeon's sermons on Galatians. We had session in Holy Trinity Church, the church that Simeon preached at for fifty years, which was really cool to be in after just reading all about him. After session, we were free for the weekend, and three of my friends and I had decided previously to travel to Paris for the weekend. Our bus didn't leave until 6:30pm, so we had the afternoon to pack and get ready to go. We took a bus from Cambridge to London and then caught a connecting bus straight to Paris. When it was time to board that bus, there was a mad rush to get on the bus (British people don't form lines to get on buses), but God was on our side and we found four seats open in the very last row of the bus. The bus left London around 10:30pm, and I dozed on and off until we got to Dover - and even though it was dark outside, we could still see the enormous cliffs! That was cool. At Dover, we had to get off the bus and go through customs to cross the English Channel into France. Going through French customs was a lot different than UK customs - the French barely looked at our passports before they stamped them and let us through. After that we got back on the bus and waited to board the ferry. Our bus drove onto a lower level of the ferry, and then we had to get off because we weren't allowed to be on the bus during the ferry ride. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera with me off the bus, so I didn't get any pictures of the ferry. But it was really big and there was a food court and a bunch of comfy chairs and couches. We went outside on top, and the view was beautiful even though it was dark. It was really cold though, so we went back inside and slept (it was around 2am). When we woke up, we could see France from the windows (still dark though)! We got back on the bus and the bus drove off the ferry and we continued on our merry way. We were in Calais, France and it was now around 4am. We all were able to sleep during this leg of the journey, which was good. We finally arrived in Paris about 7:30am!

On the bus heading to Paris!

Upon arriving, we set out to find a map and figure out how to get somewhere. We bought 2day bus passes and decided to head to Notre Dame and find food along the way. We had a bit of confusion with the bus stop and getting the right bus though, and we ended up getting helped by an Italian lady who spoke French and English (and who knows what else haha). We chatted with her while we waited for the bus, and when she found out that we were Americans, she got so excited and fell in love with us! It was so funny! She even touched all of us just because she wanted to touch Americans. She got even more excited when we said we were from California (which is ironic because none of us were actually from California - two Georgians and two Washingtonians). She didn't say why she was in Paris, but she told us she didn't like French weather or food. (The weather, however, was hot and sunny! It was a beautiful day to us.) She specifically told us not to eat French pizza. We told her all that we were doing, and she was impressed with Nathan's French (he's the only one of us who could speak more than a few words). The bus finally came, and she shook all of our hands in farewell. It was quite the welcome to Paris!

The bus took us into more of the center of Paris, and we got off and found a little food place that had croissants and omelets. The guy we ordered from though wasn't French and he preferred to speak to us in English rather than French, which was kinda funny. But we got breakfast and some energy which was the important thing (it was around 10am by this point). We found a Starbucks with free wifi and free water. Then we found the Notre Dame! It was amazing! SO gorgeous and we took a ton of pictures. We were a little worried of the really long line to get inside, but it moved quickly and only took us about 15 minutes. Once inside, we were supposed to be silent because there was a Mass going on, but people were still being noisy. We took our time walking all the way through the building and just taking everything in; it was really quite stunning. When we got back outside, we walked around the outside of the building and crossed one of the Bridges of Locks over the Seine River. I'm pretty sure this is the bridge that Cat's lock is on, but there was no way I would have been able to find it without knowing exactly where it was - the bridge was completely covered in locks!

 Notre Dame

 Inside the Notre Dame.

We sat down at a park and determined to find the Shakespeare and Company bookstore. I had the address and knew it was near the Notre Dame, but we could not find it on the bus map we had. We finally just decided to start walking, and turns out the bookstore was on the other side of the park! Favorite bookstore ever. It was so cool!! Really tiny, crowded space but so many cool, old books. It has a library upstairs with even older books that you can sit and read while you're there, but you're not allowed to take them out. There's even a little old piano up there that you can play! We stayed there for a long while. It was just so wonderful.

It was now around 2pm, and we decided to try to find our hostel (check-in time was 3pm). We had trouble finding the right bus stop that we needed (for some reason, they were never were the map made us think they would be). We ended up walking to the Louvre before we found the right one. We didn't stay at the Louvre then though, because we were going to go the next day when it was free. We made it to the hostel just fine, and I got my first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower from the bus! The hostel was actually a pretty nice place, for a hostel. Narrow hallways and not a very big room, but big enough for two bunk beds, a desk, and two chairs. We also had our own very tiny bathroom. Our window looked out on the street. We rested there for a while and freshened up (walking around Paris in the very hot sunshine while carrying around our backpacks means that, yes Liz, I was once again sweaty, haha). We asked the lady who checked us in where a good place to eat would be, but she told us she didn't know! So we decided to head for the Eiffel Tower and just see what we could find around there. I absolutely loved the Eiffel Tower! It was so amazing!! We stayed at its base for awhile and just marveled at its beauty (and took lots of pictures). It was so surreal to be there but really really cool. We were planning on going to the top, but we wanted to eat first. We walked to Rue Cler street and ate at a crepe place. We each got a dinner crepe (I had ham, eggs, and cheese in mine) and then got a Nutella and strawberry crepe to split. It was sooo yummy!

The Nutella and strawberry crepe.

This couple sat next to us who were from a town in Idaho close to Spokane, Washington, where Heather is from. So we chatted with them for a while (the service was slow at the crepe place, but our waiter was a little old man and he was really funny). It was 8pm by the time we left. We walked back to the Eiffel Tower and took a lot more pictures. Unfortunately, the line to buy tickets up to the top was really long, and there was a wait time of 45 minutes just to get from the second floor to the top. Since we were all tired and we didn't know how late the buses ran (it would be a long walk back to the hostel), we decided not to go up. Which just means that I have to go back someday! I really loved the Eiffel Tower. We took a bus back to our hostel around 9:30pm, read Galatians out loud together (since we're supposed to be reading it every day; I don't know if I've said that or not), and then got ready for bed. Heather and I used the computer in the main lobby to get online, but the French keyboard tripped us up for a bit! It took me 5-10 minutes just to figure out how to type the @ symbol! It was funny. Even though there was no AC in our room and it was really hot, I slept well because I was just so exhausted from the day.

 My reaction upon seeing the Eiffel Tower up close.

 Heather, Scott, Nathan, and I underneath the Eiffel Tower.

 The Eiffel Tower!

Sunday morning, we ate the free breakfast at the hostel (croissants, jam, and orange juice or coffee) and then headed to the Louvre! The Louvre is only free the first Sunday of each month, so we had planned our Paris trip this weekend so that we could get in free. It opened at 9am, but we got there at 8am because we assumed the line would be long. We then sat down in the line and read for an hour (like the good Torrey students that we are), and when we stood back up, the line had multiplied by like a thousand, haha. It was so long! We were able to get inside pretty much right away though because we'd gotten there so early. Once inside, we were thankfully able to check our backpacks into a baggage place there so we didn't have to carry them all around the museum. We decided to find the Mona Lisa first, but the museum is so big and, even though we had maps, really confusing. And of course we got distracted by everything else along the way (because everything is so cool!) so it took us awhile to find the Mona Lisa. It was clear when we were finally getting close though, because the crowd went from non-existent to very full. They don't let you get close to the painting and there's glass around it, but it was really cool to see it. We then decided to split up since we all probably didn't want to see the same things. I saw so many cool things! The Venus statue, the Sphinx, the Code of Hammurabi, the winged Victory statue, the medieval Louvre, so many cool intricately painted ceilings. The building itself is an amazing work of art. The only unfortunate thing was that most of the descriptions about the art were in French and we didn't purchase the audio guides, so I didn't really learn anything. But it was all still really cool and absolutely beautiful.

 The Louvre Museum

The really long line (this was actually part of the "beginning" of the line).

We all met back up around noon and went to the gift shop to buy souvenirs. Then we had to find the bus stop to take us to the Eurolines bus station and head back to London. This took forever! The bus stop was not where the map said that it was (at least not that we could find) and we had to walk a ways before we found it. We had wanted to get to the bus station at 1pm (two hours before our bus left) but we didn't get there until 1:45. We decided we had time to get some food then anyways, but unfortunately, the only thing open in the mall right next to the station was the McDonalds. But I guess it was fitting that we ate French fries in France. :) We made it to our bus with plenty of time to spare though, around 2:30pm. The bus didn't end up leaving until 3:30 though. Instead of the ferry this time, our bus took the Eurotunnel underneath the channel. Before we got on, we had to pass through the British customs, and the guy I had kept asking me the same questions about my traveling plans! They were so interrogating to all of us. I really don't think they like getting foreigners...haha. The tunnel itself was so weird because we were on a bus on a train in a tunnel under water! We were allowed to get off the bus during the ride, but the only thing on the train was other cars. It was a cool experience, but I liked the ferry better, even though the tunnel only took about 30 minutes. We got to London an hour behind schedule (10:30pm) and had just enough time to catch our connecting bus to Cambridge, which left at 11pm. We made it back at 12:45am. What a crazy weekend! It was so much fun though, and I'm so blessed that God worked out all of the details and kept us (and our passports) safe. My mother's prayer were answered. :) It was an exhausting weekend, but I wouldn't take it back for anything.