Day 10- Today: Catch up time

Mom and Dad I am alive. I just haven't blogged because I've been lazy or busy, one of the two. Soooo time to catch you up if you haven't been following my instagraming. On May 29 it looked like there was definitely some rain potential as Valerie and I headed to the Louvre. Okay, that museum is ridiculous. We got these audio guides, which are Nintendo 3Ds, and they also have GPS so you can figure out where you are in the museum. Yeah, had no clue where I was in the museum. I ended up seeing more sculptures and more epic ceilings. Oh, I of course saw the Mona Lisa and all those other important pieces of art. Honestly, they are mostly overrated, because there were WAY better pieces in there I had never seen before. We hung out at the Louvre for about 5ish hours and then ran into a random church called St. Germains. It was a reallllyyy pretty church and someone from the choir was singing so it was really nice. Then we ran and got beverages for Matt's apartment as he was making a delicious meal that night. He made an honest to goodness delicious three course meal. Cockles for entrée, duck with some amazing sauce and mushrooms and bacon, and crepes with homemade caramel sauce and nutella (not homemade). So all six of us chowed down--Weston's dad flew in the night before--and had some fantastic conversation in-between dish shifts. Finally around 11pm we headed out to the Eiffel Tower  and at midnight watched it light up! It was soooo cool and probably one of my favorite days in my trip.

The next morning Valerie played housekeeper and cleaned almost all of Matt's apartment (I was asleep) before we headed out to Notre Dame yet again, as we wanted to view Paris from the towers. Ohmyheavens. It was AH-mazing. The view was absolutely stunning despite it being absolutely freezing. We also went to the crypt of Notre Dame and learned some history about 5th century France. (Spoiler alert: it wasn't super exciting) Then we came back to the apartment where we hung out for an hour before giving Matt his keys back. We then took the RER B to Charles de Gaulle, which I think is tied with Madrid as one of my least favorite airports, however their food is delicious so it makes up for something. After taking a bus for 10 minutes to get to our terminal and FINALLY figuring out where to get our tickets, we made it to our gate with an hour to spare. But AirFrance Flight 5182 was delayed. Hooray. I didn't care as long as I got back to Prague which is as close to home as it's gotten for me on this trip. Kaja and Alan picked us up and we headed out around 8:30a the next day to explore the city.

The day is May 31st on a day very much like today. (jk, this isn't the Twilight Zone, but it was seriously raining like today). I took Valerie to Vasclav Namesti (Wenceslas Square) , Republic Square, Old Town Prague, Lesser Prague, the Charles Bridge, and Prague Castle. I took some illegal castle pictures, but oh well. It was mostly of stuff outside the castle, just saying. Did some souvenir shopping and saw the nighttime Prague. But I needed to sleep since our bus to Budapest left at 7a  the next morning.

June 1: Woke up at like 5:15a after not getting a lot of sleep. I was super paranoid I'd sleep through my alarm and miss the bus, because that would be just my luck. Luckily I slept on the bus, which was actually really nice. I had my own personal TV, so I watched The Big Bang Theory Season 3, New Year's Eve, and part of Catch Me If You Can. We found our apartment all right and it's actually quite nice considering we'll only be here for a little bit. I however was tired and hungry so I'm acting like Mr. Grumpy Gills and dragging poor Valerie around looking for the exchange place and a reasonably priced restaurant. I finallllyyy ate and was a little bit happier but then we had to find the market, which we walked by and luckily Val was paying attention. But now I'm tired so you get some pictures and I may or may not blog the rest of the trip... who knowwwwsss.. Love you!!!

The Mona Lisa is watching you.

Gargoyles. Ain't they cute?

Notre Dame and the little park after some rain.

Prague from the clock tower. (Oroloj)

Day 6 & 7- Just a little behind...in Paris

I know, I know, I'm behind in my blogging!!! Time for the quick recap:

Day 6- I went to a palace in Bohemia in the Czech Republic. The son of the people who own and LIVE there gave me a private tour!!! It was so cool being in a palace that is still being used and in the middle of restoration. We then ate at the brewery right next store and it was simply delicious. We were all exhausted and then I skyped with my parents. Because, it was time to get ready for a day full of airports and getting lost.


 

The renovated palace. FYI nobility lived here, not royalty

Day 7- I left Prague temporarily so Kaja can study for her exams. I took a fantastic AirFrance flight to Paris (it was not so fantastic as there were two screaming children literally right behind me, thank goodness it was less than two hours). Valerie's flight had gotten in about two hours before mine, as she was temporarily delayed in the United Kingdom, and waited for me in the airport. Okay, I thought Madrid-Barajas was a confusing airport, but I had yet to experience Charles de Gaulle Airport. It was kinda, sorta, just a little bit, crazy. But, Valerie and I found each other and we were both beyond ecstatic. Now it was time to figure out how to get to Matt's place. We got most of the way there before we had some issues with turnstiles and figuring out how to get to another train. Val, called Matt and he rescued us at a station and assisted us (well Val) with our luggage as we walked the streets of PARIS!!! Matt is quite the hospitable person, as right after he dropped us off he went to a nearby Starbucks to pick up a couple otherrrr friends who are staying until Thursday!!!

So, Matt's trying to come up with a game plan for us to get used to the Metro system and the city, as well as finding a place to eat. The four of us are just more than grateful to not be paying some ridiculous hotel/hostel price and tell Matt that we are just as flexible as can be. He starts to catch up with us all as he serves us some delicious French pastry and foi grais. Yeah, that was seriously our welcome-to-Paris snack. (Did I mention that Matt is a level superior student at the French cooking school, Le Cordon Bleu?) We all freshen up and walk down Champs- Elysse and see the Arc de Triomphe, which I had only seen before in Mary-Kate and Ashley's "Passport to Paris". It was seriously beautiful and we hung out with the tourists taking pictures of it. Matt then led us to a delectable restaurant (after finding out the crepe place was closed) called Café Restaurant Le Murmure. It was sooooooooooooooooooooooo worth the 16€, I paid for the best squid, vegetable, and chorizo plate I've ever eaten in my life. Below is the spread of French cuisine. I'll blog again tonight, about today hahaha. Sorry Mom and Dad, but at least you have something now!!

Arc de Triomphe

My calamari, Val's raviolis, Weston's burger, Grant's steak
and Matt's ratatouille & duck