Together in Paris

So remember that movie that came out like 15 years ago... Anastasia?  And remember how she had to go and find and meet her grandmother in Paris?Yeah, well that's what I did too!  Kinda.

Our whole group went to Paris for a week at the end of February/ beginning of March and my mom and grandma decided to come out and meet up with us too!  Paris is already amazing, but add your mom and grandma and it makes it that much better.

They didn't come to Paris until the second day I was there, so the first day I did stuff with the group.  We went to the Arc de Triumph, climbed the Eiffel Tower, and took a sightseeing sunset cruise alone the Seine that night.  The view from the Arc and the Eiffel Tower were spectacular-- but our legs killed by the end after climbing about 100,000,000 stairs.  Worth it? Yes.

The next day we had a list of things to see/do.  Among this list was Notre Dame, Saint Chapelle, and the Louvre.  After sitting and waiting at San Chapelle for an hour and a half, they made it!  But- you can't really complain when this is what you get to look at while you sit and wait:

But of course, it was well worth the wait!  Seeing them was probably one of the happiest moments :)  It was just so nice and so comforting to have your mom and grandma with you when you have been away in a different country for so long (and by so long I mean 2 months.... haha).  We had a great day- saw a few churches, walked around Luxembourg Gardens, tried to figure out why the French children were so much cuter than English children, ate some delicious Marcroons, and went to the Louvre.

Marmie (yes, that is what we call my grandma) was a little bit skeptical of the Louvre at first.  But not for long… she was sold on it as soon as she walked into the room and saw Marley’s Horses.  This was her reaction:

Also… like (grand)mother like (grand)daughter…?

So I took this class in high school called AP Euro and it was the death of me.  Hardest class I’ve taken- to this day.  Hands down.  But definitely worth it.  Anyway- this picture was on the cover of our textbook for that class!  Naturally, I hated it back when I was 15, but I’ve grown to like it, and I was so excited to see it in real life!

We went to dinner at this place called Restaurant Chartier and it was one of (if not the) oldest bistros in Paris.  It was there before restaurants were even around.  It was a really fun place- super packed- but for good reason!  The only problem was that we had NO idea what we were ordering.  Luckily the waiter knew enough English to stop me from ordering the blood sausage.

The highlights of the next day were Monmarte, Angelina’s, and the d’Orssay.

Monmarte was this charming little neighborhood that had a central plaza with a ton of local artists.  It was so fun to stroll around and look at all the different paintings and artists’ depictions of Paris.  I found this little man who I loved, and his artwork was beautiful.  So we bought a little painting of Monmarte that he had done.  He was so proud of his work :)

Back in Paris, we had been told to this chocolate shop called Angelina’s and get some of their hot chocolate.  I am not lying when I tell you that it was the BEST hot chocolate I had ever had.  It was like drinking the most delicious chocolate bar you have ever had.  It was so thick and extremely creamy and rich.  They don’t give you very big cups of it, but you really couldn’t drink much more than that. 

After we went to the d’Orsay museum.  Hands down, my favorite museum I have ever been to- and being in Europe for a few months… I have seen my fair share of museums.  I discovered that I really love Impressionist art- I think it is absolutely beautiful.  So we spent a few hours there just taking in all the Degas, Monet, Renoir, and Cezanne.  And of course we had to see the Van Gogh as well.   

That night we sat in the park near the Eiffel Tower and watched it light up and sparkle- it was beautiful (minus the HUGE rat that ran under our bench right as we’re trying to take in the moment…).

And finally we ended the night walking down Champs Elysees :) 

Sorry for such a LONG blog post- but the next day we went to Versailles.  I was SO excited for this.  Ever since I learned about Versailles in AP Euro in high school, I dreamed about going to see it, and especially the Hall of Mirrors.  The palace was ENORMOUS.  It is seriously no wonder the peasants were mad and revolted… (history major…. Haha).

Mirror Pic in the Hall of Mirrors!!

Back in Paris, we went to this stand and I got a waffle with bananas and nutella.  It was the best waffle I have ever had in my entire life.  I’m being completely serious.  I would not stop talking about it for the next 20 minutes.  It was delicious.

And…. As our last thing before we left- we saw the Paris Opera House!!  Phantom anyone??

so so so SO yummy.

Paris was such a beautiful city; I really loved it.  It was full of amazing art, history, and food :) I only wish we had more time to spend there!