A Passport Filled: We'll always have Paris

Thursday Night

We arrived in Paris late Thursday evening five girls short (they sadly missed their flight due to transportation malfunctions just another learning experience and a mistake that will never be made again!). We settled on traveling via Easy Jet which was not the most reputable as far as airlines goes but the flights were cheap and we got to Paris safely so you can't complain too much about that. A word to the wise when flying on these shuttle airlines- they are sticklers about the one bag policy so if you plan on traveling with your longchamp and a backpack they will make you put your longchamp in your backpack so you don't pay for the 50 euro extra baggage fee so if you have a larger duffle bag I say you're better off bringing that as long as it is carry-on approved. Once we landed in Paris we purchased a 3-day unlimited metro pass (best deal in town) especially if you plan on taking the train to and from the airport or if you're going to Versailles you can ride all modes of transportation for free with your 3-day pass. We arrived at the Aloha Hostel a little after midnight. The hostel was mediocre as far as location goes it was great but cleanliness and safety were definitely a major concern. But you know going into these sort of things that you can't expect the Ritz Carlton and for how little time you spend in the hostel it really doesn't matter in the end.

Friday

We set our alarms for 9 am and were out the door by 10am! Everyone was hankering for a neutella crepe and we came across this darling little cafe near the Notre Dame called La Boulangerie De Papa. With our caffe lattes and banana neutella crepes in tow we walked over to our group tour meeting spot. We hopped on our double decker HEATED tour bus and for only 19 euro we were able to hop on and hop off the bus all day. The bus came equipped with headphones and an audio tour that explained all the history of the major landmarks we drove by.

After the three hour tour we met up with two other friends at a cafe called Cafe Madeline right off the Champs Elysees. I was told we couldn't leave Paris without indulging in a Madame Croquet with chips... it was a little slice of heaven!! After lunch we walked to the Louvre and managed to get in the museum for free with our student visas and student id cards (mostly all museums in Paris allow free entry for students).

Saturday

We were up and out the door by 8 am to make our descent to Versailles but unfortunately we embarked on the wrong train going in the wrong direction so two hours later we finally made it to Versailles and it was every bit of beautiful as I envisioned. We got in the museum for free (with our student visas) and spent a good portion of the afternoon waltzing around the palace.

Before the sun set we wanted to climb the Eiffel and take the elevator to the highest point. I had visited the Eiffel with my family in 2003 but we couldn't climb it because of the fog so it was always something I was dying to do. I had a minor anxiety attack taking the higher up we got but it was so worth any fears I experienced prior.