Ah Pari...

*My Paris trip finally arrived, though it seemed as though it would never happen. Last week was beyond long and mildly frustrating during certain points. Regardless, it all seemed to wash away once I was on the train heading into London. I arrived at Kings Cross about an hour two early so I had the opportunity to catch up on some reading. I decided it was in my best interest to leave all work at school.

We arrived in Paris, after being delayed for a good 30 minutes, around 10:30. At that point we were both rather exhausted. Queing for a good hour to get a taxing wasn't at all helpful. Finally, we got to our hotel. I was a bit apprehensive about our choice of places to stay as some of the ratings for our hotelon tripadvisor.com seemed to be rather scathing. In all honesty, I think those people who gave the grim reviews came to Paris to stay in their hotel rather than go out out and take in what the city has to offer. It certainly was a 4 start hotel (with the exception for the lobby, which really did look like something out of Dracula). By the time we checked in and put our luggage down we were both beyond hungry. Unfortunately, we were surrounded by upscale shops, which meant nothing was open at 1130pm on a Friday night (with the exception for Bars--they don't serve food after a certain hour so they were useless). After wondering for a good 20 minutes, we were flagged down by a guy who, at first glance, gave the impression that he could be a potential junkie. It turned out the guy was from Texas and on vacation for one of his friends weddings. He had decided to stopover in Paris for a few days to do a bit of sightseeing. Ironically enough, he was also trying to find food, but had been just as unsuccessful as us. So the three of us banded together and I managed to spot a dimly lit convenient store that sold over priced food and other such related things. I don't think a box of fresh rasberries and a chicken sandwich ever tasted so good together.

The next day we walked along the Sien. Adam was such a trooper--Paris in the Autumn is so incredibly lovely and seeing as I have a new camera, I now have enough pictures to cover my entire apartment. We enjoyed a lovely lunch at a small cafe near the Lourve, were scammed by a homeless person who claimed to have found a guys wedding band (he got a euro out of us, not too bad really), walked through the little island that Notre Damn is located on, watched some street performers, and then headed back to our hotel. That night we ate in a restaurant that was so posh, I turned to Adam at one point during the meal and said 'I feel like an impostor.' Despite the fact that the price of the meal utterly made me cringe, it was worth every penny; the service was immaculate and the food was aesthetically pleasing (both to taste and sight). I have never eaten in a place as wonderful as that in my life--I feel almost guilty to have experienced a place like that at only 23.

The next day we met up with my cousin Aurelia and her fiance, Benjamin. It was so lovely to see them, and I'm so excited for their wedding in November. After lunch they took us around, showing us City Hall, Jarden de Plants, and Luxumbourg (sp?)--it was such a wonderful afternoon--I felt as though I was wading through some Hugo novel. After they left we made our way back to the hotel, packed up our belongings, and headed back to Guarde de Nord for our train out to London.

Over all it was a simply fantastic trip. I'm having trouble putting up my pictures on facebook, so bear with me, those who are eager to see them. Hopefully they'll be up by the weekend.

Time to get back to work. Planning and what not for tomorrow. Thank goodness it's Friday already!