We grabbed food (unfortunately at a McDonalds, which is never the best idea in Europe but it was pretty inexpensive and we were all so hungry and impatient after flying!) We started off with the Louvre, the huge art museum in Paris. There, I finally got to see: the Mona Lisa in person, the Venus de Milo, and some other cool paintings/sculptures. The Louvre was HUGE! You could never see everything in one day..we were probably there for 3 or 4 hours. That was enough for me. I'm not a huge art person but I appreciated a lot of the art and it was SO COOL to see the Mona Lisa in person! We took lots of pictures in there.
After we left the Louvre we walked along a park outside and took some pictures, got scammed by some people trying to sell bracelets to us (no really, they surrounded us and nearly forced us to buy these bracelets, we all felt pretty terrible about it after it happened..don't really feel like typing out the story now, but it was a waste of 4 euros) and then we went and got some food and headed towards the Eiffel Tower! It was still light out at 9pm there which was very strange. Then we saw the whole Eiffel Tower for the first time! I got a first glimpse of the top of it out of the window of the Louvre. Seeing the whole thing in front of me was sooo cool. It was like a dream come true! We had a little picnic of ham and cheese sandwiches in the park below the Eiffel Tower and watched it light up twice. It's lit up all the time at night, but for 5 minutes every hour it sparkles! It's really pretty, I got a video of it. That was a lot of fun! We were all super exhausted after this day though, and we all had to pee so bad by the time we got back home because we couldn't find an open public bathroom! Apparently Paris is one of the hardest cities to find a public bathroom in..random fact.
The next day we headed back to the Eiffel Tower in the morning to actually climb it. There were soldiers walking around with machine guns for crowd control/protection which was a little scary. The Eiffel Tower actually has 3 levels you can go to, which I didn't realize until I was there. I also didn't realize how BIG it is until I actually saw it in person. We decided to use the stairs to go to the first and second levels because we wanted to say we had actually climbed it. You can't climb from the second level to the very top, the only option is an elevator. So we climbed as much as possible, which was a nice little workout. On the first floor they have a little restaurant/cafe so we had baguette sandwiches and french fries there, that was pretty cool having lunch on the Eiffel Tower :) I guess I didn't realize there was room on the Eiffel Tower for all that but I was wrong. Then we took the sketchy elevator to the very top and it was great panoramic views of the city of Paris! So cool to say I've been to the top!!
After the Eiffel Tower we got back to the ground and went to the park next to the Tower to get pictures of it from far away, and relaxed a bit in the grass. Then we decided to head to the Notre Dame church, another must see on our list. We took the metro cause it was a decently long walk. The Notre Dame is really, really pretty! I'm glad I got to see it on both the inside and the outside. The stained glass was awesome, I got pictures. Then we went to the Seine River and looked around a bit, THEN decided we were hungry, and found a restaurant where I got delicious roasted chicken (as did Erin) Paige got steak and Kris got spaghetti :) we all enjoyed our food. Then, we went for even MORE walking, got some awesome frozen yogurt where you picked out the fresh fruit right in front of you and they made it into the ice cream, and then got to the Champs-Élysées which is the famous street in Paris with the Arc de Triomphe at the end! We didn't go ALL the way down to the Arc because it was a long walk and our feet were soo tired, but we got fairly close and stood in the middle of the road (on a crosswalk section obviously :) ) and got a picture of the street. Last, we took a picture of the Moulin Rouge, which we were staying near.
The next morning we had to go to the airport early because it was so far away, so we didn't have time for anything else. had a great experience in Paris though! Most if not all of the people we met were friendly enough, so the French stereotype didn't hold up, at least in our short two days. I got a few great souvenirs as well, some are surprises :) food was good, and the city was great! It just may have been my favorite so far!
Then, we had another great day because on Monday, Gisela, my German teacher from UMaine and the program director of the NEUS program that I'm on, came to visit! She's such a great person so it was a lot a lot of fun to see her! The program paid for our dinner at a restaurant called Stiegl Keller, with traditional Austrian food, and it was delicious! I got some sort of Pork, with string beans and potatos :) very Austrian and very delicious! we even got to have dessert (I ordered Apfel Strudel-apple strudel). Gisela all shared the great news with us that the program has some money left over, so we're gonna be able to go to Berlin, Germany sponsored by the program!! I'm sooo excited about that, I've always wanted to see Berlin! AND, I also convinced Gabriella (resident director) that we should have class at Golling Wasserfall tomorrow! Plus we're going to the ice caves this weekend on an overnight trip. So basically, lots of traveling up ahead!
This morning I went to breakfast with Gisela (Ashley, Erin, and eventually this other guy TC also came too) at Tomaselli Cafe, the oldest cafe in Salzburg! It was opened in 1705 and apparently Mozart and other famous people used to eat there. Gisela treated us! I got a hot chocolate and an orange juice (we all got two rounds of drinks and I hate coffee) and for breakfast I tried a Topfen-Strudel which is like a cheese strudel/danish. They are known for their pastries and it was absolutely delicious. I've been spoiled for the past two meals not having to pay! I'm actually going out to eat one more time tonight at a restaurant called Wilder Mann, for my friend Josh's 21st birthday celebration, a bit early, and as a farewell dinner because Josh and the rest of his group are leaving on Thursday! It's sad :( so we're going out tonight to have dinner together!
Anyway, that was a lot of updates, but mostly all exciting fun news! I have some homework to do so I think I'll start it before I go to dinner with the rest of the gang. Miss you all and I'll try to update again soon about the waterfall we go to tomorrow!
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