Paris in a Day

Thursday was possibly one of the longest days possible. At about 2 a.m., I realized I was answering the question to my history essay completely wrong. I had to pretty much start from square one and get it done. By about 4 a.m., I took a break and skyped with Claire. I watched the sunrise and finished my essay. I went to class, packed my bags, and headed to my tutorial session, which went surprisingly well considering the circumstances. Dr. Archer was impressed with my answers and said that obviously I had understood what he was asking. I laughed and told him it took awhile. Afterwards, I bolted to the train station to meet Steph and Adriana where we made our way to London Paddington. At Paddington, we took the tube to Kings Cross station to catch our chunnel ride to Paris. About two hours later we arrived at the Gare du Nord around 9 p.m. The three of us were initially a little overwhelmed. Steph’s attempt to speak English to the currency exchange woman did not go over so well, so we found a different kiosk where I tried my French. Luckily, more of the language came back to me than I thought would. We then bought our metro tickets and I asked the woman at the information desk how to get to our hotel. She circled about five different stations we needed to change at to get there. This obviously did not seem right. We asked someone else, who told us a much easier and direct route. I think the lady at the desk just wanted to see us suffer. After figuring out what turns out to be a very easy metro system (in my opinion), we checked into our hotel. The man at the desk was so sweet but only spoke French, so once again I tried as hard as I could to make sense of the language. After successfully breaking the language barrier, we put our bags down and made the 15-minute walk over to the Eiffel Tower. We went up and reality sank in that I was finally in Paris. The view was amazing and the lights were spectacular. By this time it was pretty late and we were starving. We found a café that served until 12 and I had a croque monsieur, something I have wanted to try in Paris since learning what it was in French class. Going off of no sleep, I hit the sheets within seconds.
Friday, not under the influence of any boys, we all woke up around 8:30 to make the most out of our day. Its funny that even though I only had one day, I saw more than I have in probably any other place knowing that I was on a very strict schedule. Not having to wait around for a huge group of boys didn’t hurt either. We took the metro over to the Notre Dame. We had breakfast at unfortunately one of the more touristy cafes. We tried not to fall into the trap, but were so hungry and didn’t want to waste any more time looking for a place to eat. After, we spent a good amount of time inside the Notre Dame. The architecture was amazing and the stained glass phenomenal. I was able to appreciate the Church more after taking my Reformation History class and learning about the decadence of the Roman Catholic Churches. Afterwards, we headed over to the Musee du Louvre. Unintentionally, we found ourselves at the Jardin du Luxembourg, a beautiful garden. Steph went to meet the guys at the hotel and Adriana and I headed to the Louvre. I’m glad we got to spend such a long time there and really see what the museum had to offer. As our feet were starting to drag at the museum, Steph and the boys finally made it. We met them at the Mona Lisa and walked around a little more. The boys stayed while we made our way up les Champs-Elysees. The walk was a bit deceiving; just because you can see the Arc du Triomphe does not mean its close. We reached the avenue and had dinner at an amazing café where I finally got my French onion soup. I loved being able to utilize my French when ordering my meal and I think the waiters/Parisians in general appreciate it when you try and at least attempt to speak their language. We unwinded with a glass of wine and I was completely content that I had seen all I had in the day. With about an hour or so left until I had to leave for the train station, we hopped on the metro and got off at the Trocadero to see the Eiffel Tower one last time. I couldn’t leave Paris without some pictures in front of it. I parted ways with Steph and Adriana and went to the train station around 8 p.m. The area was a little bit sketch and the stop to get off at for the Gare du Nord was unclear. I asked a French girl how to get there and she was nice enough to pull me on the right train with her. All I can say is thank goodness I spoke French. I got to the train station at the perfect time. I witnessed two guys get handcuffed when going through customs and was relieved once getting to the Eurostar since it had a much better crowd than the rest of the station. I didn’t mind being by myself, especially since travelling alone is much more efficient, but I was ready to get back. A huge sense of relief came over me when I got into London. I bought my tube ticket and went from Kings Cross (the Harry Potter Platform 9 station) to Paddington. I actually was getting frustrated with the people in front of me who clearly did not understand the tube ticket machine. I felt as though I lived here and they were the foreigners. They had closed the Circle line so I had to switch trains. A few weeks prior and I probably would have freaked out. However, I knew exactly which train I needed to switch to and felt a sense of accomplishment when I did so on my own. Being much more prepared for this trip than any other, I had looked up train times back from London to Oxford since I knew I would be by myself. Getting to Paddington at about 11:15, I ran to the platform to hop on the 11:20 train back into Oxford. I ran into the UGA Law class coming back from their day trip so I was no longer alone. I fell asleep with the reassurance that I was not by myself and woke up in Oxford around 12:30 a.m. I got to the house, still in disbelief of what I had done that day, showered, and packed my bag for my class trip the next morning. I was proud of myself for not only seeing all the places I wanted to see in Paris that day, but for making it all the way back to Oxford by myself. I came to the conclusion that I love travelling with the guys, especially at night when safety is a main concern, but it was nice being able to do the sight-seeing I wanted to do on my schedule. That being said, Paris is a little scary at night to be in without any boys. Also, if I was on some program with a million of my friends, I never would have had to do things, such as find my way home alone or map out how to get to the places I want to visit, which in turn are making me grow. I was only able to rely on myself to get back safely and I did.