One of the best ways to see Paris and outside of Paris is by taking the Metro and buses. Yes, it's intimidating. If I didn't have my handy dandy Iphone. My Iphone was a blessing. I used my Paris Metro application religiously. Other important apps, especially if you have WIFI access, are: skype, clock (for international time listings), AIM to text U.S. contacts for free!, currency converter, and maps.
I actually ended up buying a credit phone here to contact french numbers. It got expensive when i called international numbers and used the credits to quickly. Otherwise I recommend it.
On Saturday the ladies and I left Paris and headed to meet Clément to go on a weekend trip. We reallly wanted to make it to Amsterdam but it didn't seem worth it to drive 6 hours and be there for less than a day. We instead went to Brittany, France, which is located on the Atlantic coast 4 hours away.
I passed out most of the ride and the weather had been rainy all week. It was still a great weekend, and got sunny the last day. The beach was 1 minute walking distance from the house.
Brittany is apparently where crêpes were invented!!! you know i had to eat some!!!!! We went to the best place for crêpes according to Clément and Guillaume in Brittany. I have to admit that they were absolutely delicious! I had a cheesesteak-esqe "American" crepe, while everyone else sampled thai style, ham, sausage variety, etc. And then..... our second round of sweet!!! I had a Gourmandise, which was sweet apple slices, homemade caramel, and butter. The other mouthwatering dessert crêpes on our table were sweet creme, chocolate, ice cream, and vanilla varieties. simply amazing.
Sorry there are no pictures... it would have been a bit tacky to use flash photography in that restaurant anddddd the crêpes disappeared very quickly:(
We ended up having a pretty fun time that night, staying in because of the weather and playing card games and singing songs.... ("America and France"!! Jen? ha).
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The next day we got up fairly early and did a quick walk to the beach.
The wind was insane. Of course there was the one crazy guy in the water windsurfing. It was absolutely beautiful and without rain. yes I look like an elf.
We drove an hour or two to Mount Saint Michel.
What a beautiful place!!!!! I think that the photos can speak for themselves....
Yes, some people actually live here! And what was awesome was walking through tiny alleys and steep, wet stairways. We went up to the cathedral and took breathtaking photos, the entire time trying to beat the Asian tourists to each site so we could take photos first.
The sand that you see was actually quicksand from the receding waters!!
We also took the time to eat at one of the tiny seafood restaurants. I ate a seafood platter and had awesome mussels with fries :).
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Day 2 (Fri 6)
I can't even begin to thank Clément and his family. It is the most amazing thing to have my own room to go to after a long day. And a place to shower for that matter.
I forgot to mention that because of the time change and my plane ride I pretty much lost a day of travel. So my visit really began on thursday/friday ish. Friday I met up with Jen and Robin. It was a bit of a challenge getting there with the metro. My commute is often 1-3 hrs depending on if there's a strike. We met up near St. Michel/Notre Dame area. Got the most AMAZING hot chocolate, and did a bit of last minute window licking. We went to the Notre Dame that night....breathtaking.
_photos_
We had perfect timing and arrived during mass. There was a beautiful youth choir singing hymns.
_photos_
After, we took a walk along the Seine River. Breathtaking! Even in the distance was the Eiffel Tower. Alot of the major sites are fairly close together.
(outside of the louvre)
That night Jen and I went to a party (against our friends' better judgement) that turned out to be pretty entertaining. I'd say I even had fun. Jen was invited by Raul from Vancouver to his friend's penthouse in Opéra district. It was a nice place, that I would never spend 3500€ per month for. But to each is own. Other than Raul everyone was f*****ng awkward and clearly uncomfortable with us there. It was still pretty fun anyway, and seriously liquor will make even the most impersonal bastard a nice guy. So that was fun.
_photos_
I crashed on Lucie's couch that night.
I forgot to mention that because of the time change and my plane ride I pretty much lost a day of travel. So my visit really began on thursday/friday ish. Friday I met up with Jen and Robin. It was a bit of a challenge getting there with the metro. My commute is often 1-3 hrs depending on if there's a strike. We met up near St. Michel/Notre Dame area. Got the most AMAZING hot chocolate, and did a bit of last minute window licking. We went to the Notre Dame that night....breathtaking.
_photos_
We had perfect timing and arrived during mass. There was a beautiful youth choir singing hymns.
_photos_
After, we took a walk along the Seine River. Breathtaking! Even in the distance was the Eiffel Tower. Alot of the major sites are fairly close together.
(outside of the louvre)
That night Jen and I went to a party (against our friends' better judgement) that turned out to be pretty entertaining. I'd say I even had fun. Jen was invited by Raul from Vancouver to his friend's penthouse in Opéra district. It was a nice place, that I would never spend 3500€ per month for. But to each is own. Other than Raul everyone was f*****ng awkward and clearly uncomfortable with us there. It was still pretty fun anyway, and seriously liquor will make even the most impersonal bastard a nice guy. So that was fun.
_photos_
I crashed on Lucie's couch that night.
Day 1
The plane ride.
We all know my luck. I took airfrance, and unfortunately the flight was wrought with technical difficulties. The strikes for this flight were the following:
1. It was an intercontinental plane used for a transcontinental flight.that means SMALL.
2. The tv's were COMPLETELY down. no music, no movies. for 6 hours.
3. Dinner was salmon and rice. Breakfast was prepackaged yogurt and minute maid. From what i understand it wasn't very french cuisine.
4. While landing, the overhead compartment across from me fell open!!! and dumped everything onto the woman next to me....shall we say, "lawsuit"???
on the way outside the city...
So, that was in a nutshell the welcome to France. Heidi was so amazing and met me at the airport. We rode back to Paris by taking the RER B line into the city. OK. PARIS IS AMAZING...so beautiful. The first day i was overwhelmed. I stayed with Heidi for a bit and met up with Jen and Robin later. I finally made it to Clèment's family home...totaling 18 hours since sleep!!!
I pretty much passed out after saying hello.
We all know my luck. I took airfrance, and unfortunately the flight was wrought with technical difficulties. The strikes for this flight were the following:
1. It was an intercontinental plane used for a transcontinental flight.that means SMALL.
2. The tv's were COMPLETELY down. no music, no movies. for 6 hours.
3. Dinner was salmon and rice. Breakfast was prepackaged yogurt and minute maid. From what i understand it wasn't very french cuisine.
4. While landing, the overhead compartment across from me fell open!!! and dumped everything onto the woman next to me....shall we say, "lawsuit"???
So, that was in a nutshell the welcome to France. Heidi was so amazing and met me at the airport. We rode back to Paris by taking the RER B line into the city. OK. PARIS IS AMAZING...so beautiful. The first day i was overwhelmed. I stayed with Heidi for a bit and met up with Jen and Robin later. I finally made it to Clèment's family home...totaling 18 hours since sleep!!!
I pretty much passed out after saying hello.
Paris!!!!
This is a sort of post-trip blog. I decided to take time to enjoy myself this trip instead of blogging all of the time. I have two days left here and a little free time so, here goes!
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