September 21st
There's always a catch. RyanAir's cheap tickets are partially based on their policy of flying to airports that are not the main airport of a destination but relatively close to the intended city. Our flight to Paris-Beauvais was a good example of this, as our plane had flown into the little airport of Beauvais, France which was about an hour north of Paris. Once we landed, we had to take a charter bus that dropped us off in a somewhat central location in the city. I actually enjoyed taking the bus, as I got to see the French country side before entering the Paris city limits.
I had arrived in Paris with 8 of my friends from my program in Granada. They all had their own plans and we separated at the bus stop but agreed to try and meet up later that afternoon. Here in Paris, I would be staying with my friend Rochelle Emert who I had met freshman year on our Birthright Israel trip and had become close friends with over the past year and a half.
Walking over to the metro station by the bus stop, I called Rochelle. After having a difficult time understanding the pronunciation of the metro stops in French, I was able to write down where I had to go on the metro. I bought a ticket and then followed the signs to the Abbesses stop slightly outside of the center of the city. I transfered find and made it to the right stop in less than half an hour.
Rochelle met me at the metro stop and we walked the block back to her apartment. We climbed a spiral staircase to the second floor. Her apartment is very small (slightly bigger than my room in Granada) with one bedroom, tiny kitchen, and living room. She is living with one other girl, Emily, who was also from UCSD. Emily's bed was in the living room. I dropped off my bag and we went back out to buy a baguette for breakfast. There was a little bakery right by her apartment and we bought a freshly baked baguette.
Back at her apartment, Emily and Rochelle made breakfast while we discussed what we wanted to do that day. I had a few things that I really wanted to see, the Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Elysees, but I really didn't have any set preference nor itinerary. They decided that we should visit the Cathedral of Notre Dame and then work from there.
We took the metro and got off at a stop right by the Seine. We walked along the bridges and pathways along the river bank until we came to the towering Notre-Dame Cathedral, guarded by statues of Saints and gargoyles. We went inside and I was astounded by the beauty and grandeur of the scale and the light streaming through the stained glass. Mass was going on, so we tried to be quiet, but I really enjoyed hearing the chanting while wandering the corridors of the Cathedral.
From Notre-Dame, we walked to the gardens of the Louvre and then walked all the way down the Champs de Elysees. We stopped for ice cream along the way. Paris is beautiful, with an ambiance that grabs you and won't let go.
We stopped at the Arc de Triomphe and I was impressed how large it was. There was the memorial to the soldiers who had died for France and a large French and EU flag draped over the top.
We went back to Rochelle's apartment and decided to have a picnic later that evening. I called my other friend from UCSD, Ella, who was also studying abroad for semester in Paris through a different UC program. I met up with her back at the Louvre gardens. Even the few short hours that I had been in Paris, I was starting to get a hang of the metro and the city.
After saying goodbye to Ella, I received a text message from Rochelle giving me directions to the Sacre Coure. I took the metro and followed the streets until I met up with the girls at the very top of the hill with the Sacre Coure cathedral overlooking all of Paris. They had set up a picnic on the grassy hill and we watched the city of Paris spread out below light up as the sun set. Some of their friends from their university in Paris, Sciences Po, also came to the picnic. Two of my friends from Granada, Ashley and Ryan, also came and I introduced them to Rochelle and Emily. They had had plans to try and find a hostel but hadn't had any luck. Rochelle and Emily invited them to stay at their apartment as well.
From our picnic on the hill, we took the metro to the base of the Eiffel Tower. It was sublime as it was covered in little blue lights with giant yellow stars forming the circle of the EU. It became even more amazing as on the hour there was a fantastic light show causing the entire tower to sparkle against the night sky.
We had crammed a lot in the first day and I was excited for the many adventures to come!
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