Paris, je t'aime

Kelly's 21st birthday weekend. Epic. We toured Paris with Aubrey and the boys for the three days we were in the city. Upon arriving we jumped in a taxi and Cory busted out some rather proficient French to get us to our hostel, aptly name the "Young and Happy" hostel. As this was my first hostel experience, Kell and I had come equipped with a duvet cover and towel which took up a good 2/3 of our backpack. We weren't able to get a room for just the four of us so we shared it with two other roommates, so to speak. When we got there around 11 on Thursday night, we walked into our room to find one of these roommates already asleep so it became a balancing act of depositing our stuff on our bunks while holding open the door so as to not turn the lights on and disrupt. The room was in no way worth its 33 euro a night charge, however.
Aubrey met us at the hostel as we were checking in and we decided to walk around the Latin quarter where we were staying to find a spot for dinner. We ended up having typically authentic Parisian cuisine, sushi. Because there is only one sushi chef in all of Venice, we all had a craving for sushi and the Parisian location did not disappoint. After we finished dinner right at midnight we walked to the Pantheon to get a great nighttime view of the sparkly Eiffel Tower. We walked over to "Le crocodile", a hot spot hangout in the Latin quarter before we decided it was time to return to the "Young and Happy".

The next morning following our croissant and tea breakfast, Aubrey met us at our hostel and we left for our Paris metro initiation. Our first metro stop took us to Notre Dame where we crossed the Seine and entered the cathedral where Aubs gave us a detailed description of the building's origin and history of the city. We ventured across the street to the famous "Shakespeare and Co." bookstore which was a favorite of Hemingway.

Next stop, Louvre. We did a highly abbreviated tour due to the fact we had barely eaten anything all day long and we were admitted for free as there is no admission fee for students studying in the European Union. We simply flashed our visas and received a free pass to see the Mona Lisa, among others. As Aubrey tours the museum frequently for her classes she gave us an abbreviated yet detailed tour.

We then metroed to the Champs Ellyses where we found a creperie for lunch. I had a delicious crepe with ham and egg where they literally cracked the egg atop of the crepe while cooking it. Delicious.
Following our crepe of a lunch, we strolled down the famous street passing by the Louis V mecca and arrived at Laduree. A bakery open for more than 100 years, Laduree bosts the best macarons in all of Paris. Although we had to wait in line for a good 20 minutes, we left the Victorian-esque cafe with an assortment of macarons, mine being chocolate and hazelnut which was a divine combination.
Due to the strikes rampant throughout the city, the Arc was closed preventing us from climbing to the top. So, we opted to metro to the area of Montmartre to see Sacre Coure. After walking through the church we walked further into the village of Montmartre where we stumbled upon artists peddling their work in the cute village. Kelly picked out her 21st birthday present which was an oil on canvas collage of Paris. Quite the souvenir.

We continued to walk around Montmartre until we stumbled upon (with aid of course from Aub's handy-dandy pocket guide) Le Refuge du Fondue. The restaurant happened to be a stop on the Wake Forest summer Euro-tour and so the grafiti-ed walls of this hole-in-the-wall showcased multiple "WFU" groups. It was quite a unique establishment; we were greeted by the owner who assisted us in stepping over the table to reach the bench where we would enjoy our 3+ hour long meal of fondue. We were started with an aperitif and appetizers plate and then were asked simply if we wanted cheese or meat fondue, red or white wine. Our wine was then served, and get this, in baby bottles with the restaurants name on the bottle! We cooked the meat piece by piece, hence the length of the dinner, and concluded the feast with a fruit cocktail for dessert.  Following the epic dinner, we journeyed back to the Latin Quarter before returning 'young and happy' to our hostel.

Day 2.5 in Paris. We began the day at the Musee D'Orsay which is the Paris museum originally a train station now devoted to showcasing 19th century French impressionist paintings. (For those of you Gossip Girl fans, the museum was a major venue in the first two episodes of this season!) We saw many a Monet, Manet, Van Gogh to name a few although a large number of Monets were temporarily removed for another exhibit in Paris. The D'Orsay was incredible and is certainly up there with my favorite museums that I have visited since beginning my study abroad experience. 

(Thanks to Kelly's mad photography skills, albeit prohibited in the museum)

Following the D'Orsay we walked towards the Champs through the gardens where we stopped on our way to get a bite to eat for lunch. Walking over the Seine Aubrey told us about the master locks that were adorned throughout the railings of the bridges throughout the city. Custom is to write the names of two "star-crossed lovers" who then lock the lock on the bridge and through the keys into the Seine. Aubs said that her little brother and her had made one the week before.

(These 'locks of love' so to speak are again courtesy of Kelly.)

We continued down the Champs to see that the Arc was still closed so we decided to hit up the Galeries Lafayette, which is the grand department store boasting a 50% off sale at Longchamp. We had met some American tourists with huge Longchamp bags the day before and they had told us about the event and we decided that we had to check it out for ourselves. However, we were not the only people in Paris with the same idea. 

After waiting in line for nearly an hour just to be allowed into the Longchamp store, we were determined to get in as so Kelly and I could coach Cory in finding the perfect bag for his girlfriend who is visiting him while abroad. We documented the experience with pictures and finally decided on the perfect bag, which we know she will love! After fighting the crowds and exhausting ourselves from such the rigorous cardio workout of shopping, we opted to return to our hostel and rest for a while before we went out for dinner. Aubrey met us later and we chose a Greek/French restaurant for a dinner crepe which we brought back to our hostel and enjoyed. That night we metroed to the area of the Bastille monument where we enjoyed our final night in Paris.

And to adhere to our quote of a crepe a day, the next morning before we had to return to the airport we met up with Aubrey one final time ending the trip where we had started Kelly's birthday celebration in front of the Pantheon for a final picture. We had breakfast crepes at a place Aubs had been to before when her family had come to visit her. It was a fabulous end to a fabulous weekend.