Oh, the Places You'll Go: Paris

I'm back with your weekly dose of stories from Europe! Strap in, keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times and enjoy the ride!

Alright, first things first, this is a long post and to keep it from being even longer (and thus boring you to tears, where you would then cry over your personal electronic device and ruin it due to water damage), I'm leaving Versailles and Napoleon's apartment for another post.

Now onto the good stuff, mes amis! 

We spent some time in the Galeries Lafayette, which was also amazing. I didn't buy anything because everything was super expensive, but I had a macaroon, a hot chocolate and took pictures from the roof. It was fun. 

We didn't have a lot of time in Paris (three or four days, I think?) and so we had to run everywhere. We had about half an hour at Notre Dame, which was cool, but I would have liked to go on a tour there. I went on one last time I was in Paris and learned lots of cool stuff, like how every single statue has an incredibly long story behind it. 

The first thing you need to know when navigating the Parisian metro is that there are different zones in the city, and you pay different prices for different zones. If you go to an outer zone, you pay more. If you go to an outer zone and don't pay for a different ticket, you get fined. 

We didn't know, ok? 

Anyways, the guy who fined us was really nice (you know, minus the fact he fined us) but it was still wasn't a good start to Euro Disney. Also, may I point out that Euro Disney is really lame? The rides were boring, the food was awful and THEY DIDN'T EVEN PLAY DISNEY MUSIC. And we also spent about ten hours in the Lego store. 

The Louvre was also pretty cool, but we were all very tired and had very sore feet so none of us were in the best of moods. But the enormous statues were all very cool, and we got lost in the painting and artefacts and marble hallways. 

(But seriously, how condescending are statues?
This one was absolutely huge.)

 The Arc de Triomphe was also cool, but we ran out of time and didn't get to go up. We met a nice Korean dude who took our picture there. 

Aaaand then there was the Eiffel Tower. It was so darn cool. We went there during the day and night, and unlike the Colosseum we could see it from forever away and we got a little bit of a buildup. It was too bad because there were lots of pickpockets and gypsies around, trying to sell and/or steal stuff, so it wasn't like we could wander around mindlessly. 

But man, is it ever beautiful. 

We spent a good portion of our time in Paris walking, which was alright, I suppose. I did have very sore feet, and I would recommend not wearing fabulous boots until they are also walking boots, even though they're fabulous. I also lost a lipstick in a part somewhere. (Well, I guess if I'm going to lose my favourite lipstick (and I don't usually wear makeup so the fact that it was my favourite lipstick was a big thing) it may as well be in Paris.)

I also got to use my French, but not as much as I'd hoped. I translated for a taxi driver and ordered some food in French and read quite a few signs, but that was all. It was a little sad (to me, at least) because EVERYONE in Paris spoke English and we didn't speak French, and we were in their country. When there's a tourist here, everyone expects that they'll know English but if we're in their country they learn English for us. 

Which is sad. 

I have plans to go to France next January to learn some more French, so it was nice to spend some time there with my family beforehand. I don't know if I'll spend all my time in Paris, though, and I think I'd like to explore a little around France. In 2013, I went with my French class and we went a few hours south to the castles, and I'd love to go back again. 

Have you ever gotten lost on public transport? And is it just me, or is the Mona Lisa kinda small?

P.S. In other news, I'm going to try to win Camp Nanowrimo this April. So we'll see how long I survive for. I'm also looking for someone to swap critiques with for Formulas, so if you have some time and a manuscript and won't mind receiving/giving a critique, email me at victoriajackson9901@gmail.com and we'll work something out.