Topics: study abroad, Paris, bearcats on the road, snow
Topics: study abroad, Paris, France, Gina McKlveen, Musee d’Orsay, macarons, Eiffel Tower, Musee de l’Orangerie, Arc de Triomphe
Bonjour Paris!
Friday, Jan. 22, 2016
Our flight to Paris was scheduled to leave from London Gatwick Airport at 4:45 p.m. and arrive at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport at 7 p.m. It is only an hour flight to Paris, but there is an hour time difference between London and Paris. At 1 p.m. Korrie, Tori and I met Kenzie (who was coming from her class at Hamilton House) at Kings Cross St. Pancras Station to catch our train to the Gatwick airport. When we got to the turnstiles we decided to ask a worker if we purchased the right ticket to board the Thameslink train to Gatwick, but it turns out we did not. The workers at the station were very helpful about getting us the right ticket we needed. So after a little bit of confusion, we had our tickets and were on the train to Gatwick.
The train took us right to the airport terminal, so we quickly got off and made it through security, then had a late lunch before our plane departed. When it was time to board our flight, I was shocked to find out that I had to walk outside, on the runway, to board our plane. Like I mentioned before, I have very little flight experience so climbing up a set of shaky metal stairs into the back entrance of an airplane is certainly not the ideal situation for someone who isn’t a frequent flier. Once I made it on the plane and got comfortable, I fell asleep and the next thing I knew, I was in Paris.
At the airport we had to wait in line at immigration since we were entering into a different country. After a wait that felt like forever, we made it through and were on our way to our hostel. The difficult part was finding our way to the hostel. Since we were in France, most people obviously spoke French so it was difficult trying to follow the directions we were being given by people who barely spoke English. Although I have some knowledge of French from high school I am by no means fluent, and I only know a few basic phrases. Fortunately, a man at the information desk at the airport pointed us in the right direction tracing out our route from a train at our terminal. So we got our tickets and boarded the train.
The Metro was a lot dirtier than the Tube and smelled terrible. If this is what public transportation was like in other countries, I was grateful I was staying in London. Luckily, it was a short train ride and we made it to our hostel without any problems.
After we got settled into our room, it was almost 9 p.m., but we went out to dinner at a small French restaurant. The menu was all in French, but our waitress (who could obviously tell we were Americans) was nice enough to translate the menu for us. The food was amazing, but the bread was to die for. I think I ate a whole loaf just by myself. It was the perfect way to spend the first night in Paris.
Topics: Paris, France, Gina McKlveen, Louvre, Love Lock Bridge, Notre Dame
Hey everyone! This is my last week in London and I can barely believe it until I realize how much I have done during my stay. My internship has been amazing and I have been able to learn so much while I’ve been here. Quite a lot has happened since my last post, so I will try to fill you in on the highlights of these past two weeks. First off, my friends and I were able to travel to Paris, which is a city I have always wanted to visit. To my surprise, however, I did not like the city very much and I was glad that we were only there for a weekend. I don’t want to bash Paris too much, but the overall environment did not feel welcoming and they have an awful metro system. In spite of this, I am glad that I went on the trip, and seeing the iconic destinations in this city was still a great experience. My favorite part was climbing 300 steps to the top of Montmartre and seeing the view of the city.
Topics: study abroad, Paris, London, England, Natalie Ambrozic
"Imagine this town in the '20s. Paris in the '20s, in the rain. The artists and writers!"
My second stop took me to the lovely city of Paris. I was looking forward to this city because one of my favorite movies from the past 4 years happened to be "Midnight in Paris" by Woody Allen. If you haven't seen it and want to experience Paris in one of the most romantic, historical, and funny ways possible, I would suggest looking into that movie.
I hadn't seen it for a while before heading over (I meant to, but I never got back around to watching it again), but I planned to try to see as many thing from that movie as possible while I was over in Paris. I didn't see too much due to crazy business, but I was able to sit on the same exact steps that Owen Wilson sits every night in Paris to catch the yellow car that takes him away.
Aside trying to find all the beautiful B Roll spots from "Midnight in Paris,"Paris was a fun city to be in. In all honesty, I wasn't able to enjoy it the way that I wanted to due to the location of the group's hotel and the poor metro system they have there. Yet, although I have told many of you that I wouldn't go back (Sorry, I've been back from my trip for a week but have fallen behind on the blog here), I think, if I could change some things and knew what to expect I would probably revisit it. I would certainly have to watch "Midnight in Paris" again before heading over.
Here are all my pictures of Paris anyways. I don't have a cool song that makes them super romantic, but watch the second video if you want to have that Paris longing.
Talk to everyone next week when I parlay my travels in Milan.
Topics: study abroad, Austin Summers, Paris