We arrived in Paris around 8:00 pm and found our hostel was right next to the train station. When we checked in we found out our reservation had been 'cancelled.' There was a new guy working at reception and he was able to put us in a four-man room which already had two people bunking there. So, I got to sleep on a mattress on the floor. In the morning we woke up early to sort the mess out. We talked with the lady at reception about the situation, she looked through her books, we were not recorded anywhere. She told us we would have to wait for her to transfer all the previous reservation into rooms before she got to us. Which I do not really understand considering we had a reservation booked with a down payment. When she had finished she told us 'this is very odd, but we have no more openings, we usually have a couple.' Payton and I both told her that this could not be possible as we had a confirmed reservation. She looked through her books again. Nope, nothing. I showed her our confirmation email and suddenly she was all helpful. We were able to book three more nights, again, and she had to rearrange some girls. She only booked us for two more nights initially, but we got everything sorted out. Only took two hours. Then we headed off to Versailles.
We took the train out to Versailles and got split up from each other. I went to look to make sure we were heading in the right direction and when I came back I saw that the train we needed had arrived. I jumped on and yelled at Payton and Keith...only Payton got on. So, we waited for Keith at the next station and were reunited. At Versailles we waited in line to get tickets and found out that we did not need to wait to get tickets to the garden. Those tickets could be purchased in the gardens. Awesome. Wasted some time. Got our tickets and headed in.
We walked around the Orangery, all of the Bosquets, the formal gardens, and the fountains. Which were on! They were having a fountain spectacular that day - I recommend going when they are doing this. It is so much better seeing them on. Then we headed towards the Grand Trianon where Payton and I left Keith to head out to the end of the Grand Canal. Random side note: from the Chateau it takes a hour to walk all the way out there. It was tiring. Walked back to get Keith and found him under a tree. Headed towards Le Petit Trianon, but decided not to go in since we were very tired and sunburned. Got on the train again and headed back to Paris.
We got off the train at the Eiffel Tower and assaulted her with photos. We decided to wait in line to see if we could get tickets for tomorrow and ended up going up right then. Walked the stairs up to the second level and walked around there a bit reading the history. Then headed up to the top. We got up there and took some more pictures and, since it was so close to sundown, decided to wait for the sun to set. It was a pretty cool view. Keith got some gross, expensive champagne. Then headed down before the crowd and stopped at the restaurant to get food and beer. Delicious, and reasonably priced. Realized it was pretty close to the turn of the hour and ran down to catch the hourly glitter show. Got some more photos and headed back to the hostel.
Walked to Notre Dame in the morning and saw the HUGE line to go in and agreed that if we would be waiting in a line, we would rather wait for the Louvre. Waited in line. Watched the maintenance people pressure wash the algae in one of the fountains. Got sprayed by the pressure washer. Very refreshing. Finally got in and bought tickets. Went to see the two temporary expos of Lorrain and Rembrandt then headed to find the Mona Lisa. You would have thought she was a live nude the way people crowded around and attacked her with their flashing lights. Saw some other paintings. Headed to the inverted pyramid. Did not see Mary Magdeline. Then we left and headed up the Avenue des Champs Elysees toward the Arch de Triomphe. Photos photos photos. Then got some dinner at a fancy restaurant; true to style, not very good. It tasted like my salmon came from a can. Bleh! Then we headed, to Keith's joy, to watch Kung Foo Panda 2. Keith wanted to see it the entire trip, but it seemed like it was never out in any of the cities or there was not a English showing cinema. Excellent movie. I recommend see it. And the 3D was actually pretty good in Paris. After the movie was over we headed back to the hostel to crash.
Slept in. Felt incredible.
When we got up we headed to Montmartre to see the Basilique and the 'supposed' market. Did not find much of a market there, Katie. But before that we stopped at the site of Le Bastille along the way. There is just a monument there now, and the Opera House! Which is pretty cool. When we got to Montmartre we got swindled out of €10 for a lame friendship bracelet. They are pretty cool, but certainly not worth €10! I was thinking it would be about €2. But 'hakuna matata,' as Payton's swindler kept on saying. After getting swindled we headed up the hill and went inside the Basilique. Walked around little bit and went in a bunch of shops. Skipped on down to Montmartre Cemetery and ran around there for a bit. Then headed back towards the touristy area and bought some souvenirs. Then we decided to head back to the Champs Elysees and saw another movie. X-Men. It was okay, what would be expected from the fifth movie in the series. But what really got me was the fact that they changed their own story-line. Pretty lame. After the movie was over we headed back towards the hostel and saw the French version of The Highline. It was pretty cool. Saw a pizza place and order some pizza for dinner. It was gross. So, we headed back to the hostel and slept.
The next morning we slept in again and got packed up. Checked out of the hostel and headed to grab some breakfast/lunch and chilled in a park for a bit. We had our dessert in the morning again, because most places around the hostel did not have appetizing looking desserts. Keith had rhubarb pie, Payton had a apricot pastry, and I had chocolate chip short bread. All bought from a small shop, all delicious. Sat around and people watched for a bit then headed to the train station. Played some cards to pass the time. Then said our goodbyes to Keith before heading up to catch our train back to London. Keith was heading to Madrid and elsewhere to visit some of his old roommates.
Payton and I got back to London and headed to King's Cross Station to see if we could go to Hogwarts. Apparently we are true muggles as we could not find platform 9 3/4 anywhere. Lame! Checked in at the hostel and headed out to grab some food. Grabbed some last minute souvenirs on the way. Had delicious food again and headed back to sleep because it was going to be an early morning for us.
Arrived at the airport in the morning and had to check in via Virgin Atlantic's very unusual check in system, which did not work. Were told by a very rude lady that our bags would have to be checked because they were obviously over the allowed weight and would not fit into the luggage baskets. The baskets they had set out for people to see if their luggage would fit was so small I am sure my backpack would not fit into it. In any case, checked our bags and headed to the gate to get on the plane. Found out that we had somehow gotten Premium Economy seats and were pampered the whole way home. It was awesome. Watched a lot of movies. And arrived safely back in Chicago.
That is all of the trip. Although, I am still going to post a recap of where we went and what we learned. So stay tuned if you want. Otherwise, thanks for following us around Europe.
steinkraus.
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