December 22, 2019
Howdy💁 I tried to find the cowboy hat face emoji but my computer sadly doesn't have that.
A week ago, I was in Paris! It was so cool, despite the strikes. The strikes meant that most of the metro lines weren't running, but all of the buses were good to go, so we took a lot of those. We (Ryn and I) stayed in an Airbnb in Montparnasse, which is in the 15th arrondissement. It's in a pretty central area, and we walked to all of the famous places. I got in on Friday afternoon and Ryn joined me on Saturday morning. The fastest and most convenient way to get to Paris from Luxembourg is to take the TGV, the really fast train. Unfortunately, because of the strikes, most of these to and from Paris weren't running, so I took BlaBlaCar. BlaBlaCar is a carpooling service, a tiny bit like Uber. People who are driving from one city to another and want company/people to help with gas/toll money can register with this company, and people who want to travel to a city this way can look on the website and find a driver to go with. In the car that I took were two other passengers and it was a pretty experience. I (and my mom) were a little nervous about it, but it was totally safe. I would definitely recommend it, as it was cheaper than a train would be and more reliable than the transportation services in France during a strike. Once I got the keys to the Airbnb, I headed up to the apartment. Embarrassingly, it took me about 30 minutes to open the door. I found the apartment alright, and the keys were the right ones, but I couldn't for the life of me open the door. After several messages to the Airbnb host about how hard the door was to open, I Googled it. Some amazing person on Reddit was able to help me by explaining that their sister had the same problem when she visited Paris, and that was to turn the key and keep turning it when it stops, grab the knob in the middle of the door, pull, then push. I finally opened the door! The problem was that I didn't want to keep turning the key because I didn't want to break the key. 😬
Anyway, after I got into the apartment and figured out where I was, I went to a café called L'Inspiration, where I had a burger and homemade fries. Then I went to the corner store and got a Nutella snack and a cheap bottle of rosé, and went back to the apartment to knit.
Ryn joined me at the apartment the next morning after her bus got in. We had breakfast at a café down the block. I had a croissant and Ryn had an omelet. Then, we made our way to the Eiffel Tower. It took us about 40 minutes to get there, and it was cool to walk there. We didn't use a map, we just walked towards the Tower. It was so tall that we could see it pretty much anywhere. After walking around the base, we crossed the river and went to the Trocadero Gardens, where we could see it from a distance without buildings in the way.
After the Eiffel Tower, we walked to the Arc de Triomphe. There were a lot of police around, making me feel both nervous and scared at the same time. We then walked down the Champs-Élysées and had lunch at a Pret a Manger. We walked down to the Louvre and looked around outside it before heading to get our Paris piercings! (I got my nose done, on the same side.) We then walked to the Galeries Lafayette, where we took the escalators to the roof to look over the skyline.
We went back down to the cafeteria and had dinner, then waited an hour for the bus that took us to the stop closest to our apartment. In the cafeteria, they had a wine fountain/dispensary that was way cooler than the wine tasted.
On Sunday, we walked to the catacombs and explored those for a couple hours. It was quite moving in a strange way, and it felt weird to be down there with all the tourists taking selfies and group shots in front of the bones. Fun fact: there are approximately two million people buried down there. Here are a couple pictures:
After the Catacombs, we had lunch at a café with the nicest waitress. She did her best to speak English with us and made the meal a great experience. After that, we walked down to the Notre Dame, and read the outside exhibit on the fire and the restoration efforts. They have robots cleaning it up right now! We went in to a couple of gift shops and then had gelato, which came with a macaron on top. I had never had a macaron before, and it was really good.
We took a bus back to the apartment and then went to the café we had breakfast at the day before. We hung out and enjoyed being part of the atmosphere:) After a couple hours there, we went grocery shopping for dinner. We decided to do charcuterie, and had a couple different cheeses, bread with olive oil, apples, tomatoes, white wine, and some Nutella biscuits I found. I didn't much care for the cheese, but I love bread and olive oil and the Nutella biscuits were really good. I ended up breaking the wine bottle later when I tried to put the bottle in to the mini refrigerator that was too short for the bottle. Ugh.
The next day, we took a bus to the Louvre. It was so crowded, I wasn't standing on my own, the people around me were holding me up. It was such a relief when we finally got there. The museum usually opens at 9 but because of the strikes, it apparently opened up at 10 that day. We got there a little after 9 and weren't able to enter the museum until after 11. My advice: purchase tickets online before you go to the Louvre. That line moved way quicker and they weren't stuck in the rain like we were. It wasn't that bad, and it was worth the wait, but still, I suggest doing that to save time. Once inside the museum, we put our luggage in the free lockers provided. We went our separate ways, and I got a little lost. It's huge inside, and there's no way to see all of it in one day. I went to see the Mona Lisa, of course, and there was a huge line to see her, so I snuck a quick pic from the side. I went through the Greek and Egyptian antiquities, then the Louvre history exhibits. The Louvre originally was a castle, and you could walk through the dry moat around the central tower, part of which still stands. That was the coolest part to me, and something I'll have to read more about.
I got tired of the museum pretty quickly (I had a couple blisters and just wanted to sit down, sue me), so I went to retrieve my luggage and make my way to the train station. My locker wouldn't open up, even after multiple code entries and shaking of the door. I finally had to find a museum employee and he was able to open it, thankfully. Then, I tried to get a bus to the train station, but the third one that came that had room for me quickly became extremely crowded. I got off after a couple stops and walked the rest of the way, about 55 minutes. I left from Gare de l'Est on a TGV that went as far as Metz. At Metz, I took a regular train to the Luxembourg central station, then took another quick train to the Bertrange station. Because of my quick turn around on trains and general tiredness, I had a ticket for every part of my journey home except for the last train. I've ridden this train twice before, once with a ticket and once without, both times I've never been checked for a ticket, so I didn't have one for the last 5 minutes of my journey. As the train approached the Bertrange station, I got up to leave and saw a train employee asking people for tickets. I turned around and tried to go to another car, but she asked me for my ticket before I could escape. Ugh. So I tried to give her my ticket for my previous train, which she didn't accept. Then she asked for 3 euros, which I didn't have in cash and she didn't take a card. I was bent over digging through my bag looking for two more euros, when the train slowed down to stop at the station. I tumbled down the four stairs to the lower compartment of the train and landed on my shoulder and head. The poor train lady felt so bad for me that she handed me back my measly euro and helped me off the train, telling me to grab on to something next time the train slows down. I was so embarrassed. I still have several bruises on my right leg and shoulder, and my head still hurts above my ear where I landed on it. I still can't believe I did that and am embarrassed, but oh well. I learned my lesson: always, always, always have a ticket for your train ride.
Here are some professional pictures my friend Ryn took:
This past week went by pretty quickly. On Friday, I made chocolate fudge, Nutella fudge, and Christmas crack. I also took these pictures at sunset, after a full day of rain:
Saturday, we went to an all vegan restaurant, where I devoured my burger (I know, right? Adult coming through) and fries, which were delicious and homemade. We walked through the city center, between a couple of Christmas markets, and found these guys, playing Christmas music. It sounded funny, not going to lie, but it was pretty cool.
Later that night, we had dinner at my host mother's sister's house, where we had fondue. I brought the chocolate fudge and we had that with homemade ice cream.
Tomorrow (or today depending on when I post this), I leave for the US for Christmas. I'm so excited! I can't wait to see my family and friends and spend the next couple of weeks with them. I won't do a blog post while I'm home, so the next one will be in 2020. I guess that makes this the last post of the decade. Anyway, happy holidays to you and your families, and I'll see you next year!
A week ago, I was in Paris! It was so cool, despite the strikes. The strikes meant that most of the metro lines weren't running, but all of the buses were good to go, so we took a lot of those. We (Ryn and I) stayed in an Airbnb in Montparnasse, which is in the 15th arrondissement. It's in a pretty central area, and we walked to all of the famous places. I got in on Friday afternoon and Ryn joined me on Saturday morning. The fastest and most convenient way to get to Paris from Luxembourg is to take the TGV, the really fast train. Unfortunately, because of the strikes, most of these to and from Paris weren't running, so I took BlaBlaCar. BlaBlaCar is a carpooling service, a tiny bit like Uber. People who are driving from one city to another and want company/people to help with gas/toll money can register with this company, and people who want to travel to a city this way can look on the website and find a driver to go with. In the car that I took were two other passengers and it was a pretty experience. I (and my mom) were a little nervous about it, but it was totally safe. I would definitely recommend it, as it was cheaper than a train would be and more reliable than the transportation services in France during a strike. Once I got the keys to the Airbnb, I headed up to the apartment. Embarrassingly, it took me about 30 minutes to open the door. I found the apartment alright, and the keys were the right ones, but I couldn't for the life of me open the door. After several messages to the Airbnb host about how hard the door was to open, I Googled it. Some amazing person on Reddit was able to help me by explaining that their sister had the same problem when she visited Paris, and that was to turn the key and keep turning it when it stops, grab the knob in the middle of the door, pull, then push. I finally opened the door! The problem was that I didn't want to keep turning the key because I didn't want to break the key. 😬
Anyway, after I got into the apartment and figured out where I was, I went to a café called L'Inspiration, where I had a burger and homemade fries. Then I went to the corner store and got a Nutella snack and a cheap bottle of rosé, and went back to the apartment to knit.
Ryn joined me at the apartment the next morning after her bus got in. We had breakfast at a café down the block. I had a croissant and Ryn had an omelet. Then, we made our way to the Eiffel Tower. It took us about 40 minutes to get there, and it was cool to walk there. We didn't use a map, we just walked towards the Tower. It was so tall that we could see it pretty much anywhere. After walking around the base, we crossed the river and went to the Trocadero Gardens, where we could see it from a distance without buildings in the way.
After the Eiffel Tower, we walked to the Arc de Triomphe. There were a lot of police around, making me feel both nervous and scared at the same time. We then walked down the Champs-Élysées and had lunch at a Pret a Manger. We walked down to the Louvre and looked around outside it before heading to get our Paris piercings! (I got my nose done, on the same side.) We then walked to the Galeries Lafayette, where we took the escalators to the roof to look over the skyline.
We went back down to the cafeteria and had dinner, then waited an hour for the bus that took us to the stop closest to our apartment. In the cafeteria, they had a wine fountain/dispensary that was way cooler than the wine tasted.
On Sunday, we walked to the catacombs and explored those for a couple hours. It was quite moving in a strange way, and it felt weird to be down there with all the tourists taking selfies and group shots in front of the bones. Fun fact: there are approximately two million people buried down there. Here are a couple pictures:
The street art in Paris is great:
After the Catacombs, we had lunch at a café with the nicest waitress. She did her best to speak English with us and made the meal a great experience. After that, we walked down to the Notre Dame, and read the outside exhibit on the fire and the restoration efforts. They have robots cleaning it up right now! We went in to a couple of gift shops and then had gelato, which came with a macaron on top. I had never had a macaron before, and it was really good.
We took a bus back to the apartment and then went to the café we had breakfast at the day before. We hung out and enjoyed being part of the atmosphere:) After a couple hours there, we went grocery shopping for dinner. We decided to do charcuterie, and had a couple different cheeses, bread with olive oil, apples, tomatoes, white wine, and some Nutella biscuits I found. I didn't much care for the cheese, but I love bread and olive oil and the Nutella biscuits were really good. I ended up breaking the wine bottle later when I tried to put the bottle in to the mini refrigerator that was too short for the bottle. Ugh.
The next day, we took a bus to the Louvre. It was so crowded, I wasn't standing on my own, the people around me were holding me up. It was such a relief when we finally got there. The museum usually opens at 9 but because of the strikes, it apparently opened up at 10 that day. We got there a little after 9 and weren't able to enter the museum until after 11. My advice: purchase tickets online before you go to the Louvre. That line moved way quicker and they weren't stuck in the rain like we were. It wasn't that bad, and it was worth the wait, but still, I suggest doing that to save time. Once inside the museum, we put our luggage in the free lockers provided. We went our separate ways, and I got a little lost. It's huge inside, and there's no way to see all of it in one day. I went to see the Mona Lisa, of course, and there was a huge line to see her, so I snuck a quick pic from the side. I went through the Greek and Egyptian antiquities, then the Louvre history exhibits. The Louvre originally was a castle, and you could walk through the dry moat around the central tower, part of which still stands. That was the coolest part to me, and something I'll have to read more about.
I got tired of the museum pretty quickly (I had a couple blisters and just wanted to sit down, sue me), so I went to retrieve my luggage and make my way to the train station. My locker wouldn't open up, even after multiple code entries and shaking of the door. I finally had to find a museum employee and he was able to open it, thankfully. Then, I tried to get a bus to the train station, but the third one that came that had room for me quickly became extremely crowded. I got off after a couple stops and walked the rest of the way, about 55 minutes. I left from Gare de l'Est on a TGV that went as far as Metz. At Metz, I took a regular train to the Luxembourg central station, then took another quick train to the Bertrange station. Because of my quick turn around on trains and general tiredness, I had a ticket for every part of my journey home except for the last train. I've ridden this train twice before, once with a ticket and once without, both times I've never been checked for a ticket, so I didn't have one for the last 5 minutes of my journey. As the train approached the Bertrange station, I got up to leave and saw a train employee asking people for tickets. I turned around and tried to go to another car, but she asked me for my ticket before I could escape. Ugh. So I tried to give her my ticket for my previous train, which she didn't accept. Then she asked for 3 euros, which I didn't have in cash and she didn't take a card. I was bent over digging through my bag looking for two more euros, when the train slowed down to stop at the station. I tumbled down the four stairs to the lower compartment of the train and landed on my shoulder and head. The poor train lady felt so bad for me that she handed me back my measly euro and helped me off the train, telling me to grab on to something next time the train slows down. I was so embarrassed. I still have several bruises on my right leg and shoulder, and my head still hurts above my ear where I landed on it. I still can't believe I did that and am embarrassed, but oh well. I learned my lesson: always, always, always have a ticket for your train ride.
Here are some professional pictures my friend Ryn took:
This past week went by pretty quickly. On Friday, I made chocolate fudge, Nutella fudge, and Christmas crack. I also took these pictures at sunset, after a full day of rain:
Saturday, we went to an all vegan restaurant, where I devoured my burger (I know, right? Adult coming through) and fries, which were delicious and homemade. We walked through the city center, between a couple of Christmas markets, and found these guys, playing Christmas music. It sounded funny, not going to lie, but it was pretty cool.
Later that night, we had dinner at my host mother's sister's house, where we had fondue. I brought the chocolate fudge and we had that with homemade ice cream.
Tomorrow (or today depending on when I post this), I leave for the US for Christmas. I'm so excited! I can't wait to see my family and friends and spend the next couple of weeks with them. I won't do a blog post while I'm home, so the next one will be in 2020. I guess that makes this the last post of the decade. Anyway, happy holidays to you and your families, and I'll see you next year!
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