This weekend was our first excursion outside of Rome. A group of eleven took the weekend and flew to Paris. Hard to believe! Traveling there was relatively harmless and let me tell you that city is exquisite! The architecture, people, FOOD. Not gonna lie, I was worried about it before we left, afraid our hostel wouldn't have our rooms, or the metro would be closed when we got there, or we couldn't navigate the city, but everything worked out fine. I was expecting our hostel to be extremely sketchy but it turned out to be really neat. The best part had to be the American alternative music they played in the common room, or the chalkboard walls you could write on, or the guitar hanging on the wall next to a sign that read "play me." After we checked in we headed out to a local restaurant, Au Bout en Train. Jess and I split a vegetable pizza with artichoke, olives, mushrooms, and eggplant. It was delicious! For dessert our table split a chocolate mousse and créme brûlée.
The next morning our group split up and traveled to different parts of Paris: one group went to Disneyland, one group shopping, and my group of Jess, Alexander, Brielle, Mandolynn and myself ventured to Montmarte, saw Sacré Cœur; the city from the steps of Sacré Cœur; the artists' square; many local bakeries, wineries, shops, etc.; then walked through the city towards the river, La Seine. Montmarte had the most amazing food, particularly the croissants, macaroons, and pastries in general. Along the way we saw the Opera house from Phantom of the Opera (although we didn't go inside), the Moulin Rouge, A beautiful church, but we don't know what it's called, and finally the Lovelock Bridge, where Jess, Mandolynn, and Brielle all put locks on and threw the keys into the river below. From there we headed down to the Arc De Triomphe along the Champs Élysées, which took forever by the way! But it was worth it once we arrived! The traffic circle around the Arc De Triomphe was the only traffic remotely close to what we see in Rome any given time of any given day of the week at any location; the traffic in Paris is much more subdued and even civilized it seemed. That was a relief! After the Arc we headed down toward the Eiffel Tower. We saw it in the daylight, then Alexander took Brielle out to a specacular dinner atop one of the skyscrapers in Paris and Jess, Mandolynn, and I watched the Eiffel tower light up at night. After that we headed back to our hostel and dinner; authentic French onion soup and Rosé wine.
Saturday Morning we headed back to Montmarte to visit my favorite bakery, Le Grenier à Pain (The Breadbasket), and get one last croissant and macaroon, as well as quiché to save for lunch. After moseying around the shops for a while we took the metro to Notre Dame Cathedral, then grabbed lunch at a local restaurant and met up with the rest of our group at the Eiffel Tower and then headed home. It was a great weekend and I'm convinced I will visit Paris again someday when I can afford it. For now it's good just to be back in the convent and relax before classes tomorrow.