Today marked the beginning of our Paris trip! We woke up at (brace yourself) 3:30 a.m. to catch a 4:15 bus to the train station. We then took a train to France! It was a Euro Star that was a 3 hour ride under the English Channel! It was kind of crazy! I'd love to say that I knew exactly when we were going under the water but let's be honest... I slept the entire three hours.
We arrived in France a little after 9 am. It was a bit of a shock seeing all the signs were in and everyone spoke French. I definitely felt a bit like a fish out of water. But thankfully one of our program directors knows French so he taught us a few phrases. Of course the only one I can remember and actually use is the word for "sorry".
We got on a coach with the whole program and went to Chartes. It was this beautiful cathedral we took a tour of!
We arrived in France a little after 9 am. It was a bit of a shock seeing all the signs were in and everyone spoke French. I definitely felt a bit like a fish out of water. But thankfully one of our program directors knows French so he taught us a few phrases. Of course the only one I can remember and actually use is the word for "sorry".
We got on a coach with the whole program and went to Chartes. It was this beautiful cathedral we took a tour of!
Our first selfie in France!!
The outside of Chartres
Stained glass inside
The altar inside
Then we went about an hour away to Fontainebleau. This was a home that at one point was a royal residence for Napoleon.
Our next stop was Paris! This is where we are staying tonight and tomorrow night as well. We got checked into our hotel. From here, we had the rest of the evening for free time. I went with a group of my roommates and friends and we figured out the metro system to get to the Eiffel Tower! Let me just tell you, it is hard to figure out when you don't know any French at all! We relied very heavily on our maps and the assistance of French attendants trying to understand our English! The metro here seems to be a lot slower and the trains don't leave as frequently as they do in London! It took about an hour to get there, but we came right out of the train stop and were greeted by the Eiffel Tower! It was quite the sight to see! We arrived as the sun was beginning to set so it was so beautiful! We had to take a ton of obligatory tourist pictures! We then had dinner--I got a baguette which was yummy!
Seriously, can't beat that view.
Paris holds the key to my heart!
We decided to go on a river cruise on the Seine River after that! It was seriously amazing! We caught the 10 o'clock cruise and started out at the base of the Eiffel Tower, which did a little light show before we left! We then spent an hour on the water, floating by all the wonderful sights. It was amazing because everything was all lit up since it was at night!
On the boat!
Notre Dame from the river
Notre Dame
Lit up like the French flag
The light show on the Tower
It was the perfect way to spend our first night in Paris! Seriously, pictures cannot do the evening any justice. I can't wait for the rest of the trip!
xoxo,
Mallory
xoxo,
Mallory
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