Day 8 & 9- Museums and Mastering the Metro

Day 8- Valerie and I had the lovely task of trying to find out where we could buy a museum pass. Paris sells them and gives you access to over 80 museums and monuments in the Paris area. We started off at Notre Dame, realized we may not be able to get our tickets there, so we walked to a bookstore to buy them. Well, the bookstore only had six day passes (we wanted four). So, I was slightly frustrated and irritated but told Valerie I wanted to look around for an adapter for my computer. After some searching I found one!!! Yay!!!! So the trip wasn't completely worthless as Val pointed out. We decided to buy our passes at Sainte- Chapelle, so we wandered over to the church. The stained glass in that church was simply BREATHTAKING. The windows on the second story depict over 1,113 scenes from the Bible. Some renovation is going on, but it was still amazing how much history is involved.

We then officially went inside Notre Dame. The organ was playing and it was simply the most wonderful sound I have ever heard in my life. They do hold masses inside still, and although that would be cool, we just did not (or do) have the time for that. We also came during the 850th anniversary of Notre Dame which is actually pretty fantastic. On Thursday, we plan to climb the towers of Notre Dame and visit the Crypte.

Finally, we ended the day with walking to the Eiffel Tower (about a 30 minute walk from where we staying) and then climbed alllllllll the way up. Via the stairs. To the second story. This is about 500 steps. It was awesome. Thank goodness we've been training via stairmaster, because the city at dusk is simply breathtaking. I'll be honest, I don't think Paris is the most beautiful city from the ground, but from the Eiffel Tower, your perspective changes. We met up with the guys at Le Piano Vanche to listen to some gypsy jazz in a random bar. I took video Eddie, because I think you'd really enjoy them.

And what have we learned from all of this besides all of the history involved? We've learned (and in my opinion) mastered the metro and the stupid ticket thing.


Day 9- It's been raining. All day. I'm on vacation. It shouldn't be raining. But Matt took us to Le Cordon Bleu where one of the chefs did a demonstration. Ohmyheavens. It was the most beautiful food I've ever seen in my life. And the most delicious. I have pictures on my phone but I guess that doesn't really help you as a reader huh? So we hung out at the school for a bit then came back to the apartment. I still wanted to do something since you know, I'm in Paris so we took the Metro to Musee Rodin. We mostly mocked statues, pretended we were statues, or admired statues. I mean that's all you can really do right? It was fun despite the mud, granted I was exhausted (and still am). But we tried to hit up Muse d'Orly. The line was way too long for my liking as I was about ready to pass out so we just headed home. I made what was supposed to be dinner, but it ended up being dunch/linner. So far I'm enjoying my trip, but I miss my bed. And the sun. A lot.

The Thinker (le Pensevr)

Me and Valerie at the Eiffel Tower

Stained glass windows in Sainte-Chapelle



The outside of Notre Dame



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



Day 2- 500 Pictures in 5 Hours

Super cool book tower

Today I got to do all the touristy things in Prague. Kaja took me to Old Prague where she had to make a stop at the public library. Their public library is so cool that I had to take a picture inside :). They also have a national library, but you can't check out books. Oh well that's still pretty cool.

Orloj

She then took me to Old Town Square where I indulged in a trdelnik (see instagram photo). She also took me to Orloj, the clock tower. There's an interesting story behind the tower. Back in the 1400s a clockmaker made this clock for the city of Prague. It's an astronomical clock and on the hour the doors open up and you can see different saints. At the end, the rooster crows. It's quite amazing. Anyway, many different European cities wanted the clockmaker to make clocks for them and the mayor of Prague said absolutely not. This is going to be in Prague only, so he blinded the clockmaker. The clockmaker was so upset that he stuck his hands in the mechanics of the clock and died soon after. The clock didn't work for 200 years. Morbid, yes, but fascinating none the less. There is NOTHING in America that was built in 1200, so that fact alone is amazing.

The end of the Charles Bridge that takes you into Lesser Prague

After walking around Jewish Prague, Kaja took me to meet up with Lucy who spoke Italian and Czech fluently with a little bit of English. So I got to practice my Italian (thank goodness my comprehension in foreign languages is better than my speaking abilities.) Lucy took me across the Charles Bridge into Lesser Town. She also took me to a park where there are PEACOCKS!!! How awesome is that??? They just roam--similar to the OC Park--and are just hanging in windows or trees. She also took me to the bridge with locks, which you can apparently get arrested for now.


I saw St. Nicholas Cathedral briefly and then hiked up 100 steps to Prague Castle. After hiking these steps you get the most spectacular view. You can see the US Embassy sitting all by it's lonesome at the top of a hill (in typical American style) with the Germans fairly close by. The one thing I love about these vistas is the face that everything is green or a brick color. Or blue. I've only seen skies this blue after a rain in SoCal. We continued on to St. Victus Cathedral and it is seriously one of the most beautiful cathedrals I've ever seen, not that I've seen many. The stained glass is so detailed it's amazing that it was built in 1060. I feel like the people of that time put more thought and energy into the details of it all. Like seriously, each statue is devoted to a saint or an important person and everything tells a story.We saw the changing of the guards, which I think they do every hour. Lucy also explained to me about the flag on top of the president's house. Similar to the United States, if the flag is up, the president is at home, if not he is away.

St. Victus Cathedral- Simply stunning

Some interesting things I've  noticed while here has been lack of children and doors. Like there are plenty of kids here but they're families of three maybbeee four. I have yet to see more than three kids together that aren't part of a school group. It's a cultural thing here though, it's just something that's super unique to me. Now about the doors. Yes I'm being literal, I guess I could be figurative as well. But there are doors e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. Almost all of them old and original. These doors are beautiful, just like the ones in our lives. They are locked or unlocked at specific times for specific reasons. Despite the wear or the amount of detail on the door, each door is unique and beautiful, leading to the next part of the adventure.