Thursday, July 1, 2010
France it is!
6:38 PM | 
Posted by
Wendy |
I had a six month old baby and an ass of a boyfriend for my 30th birthday, so although I will be 36 (ack!!) I consider this trip a redo for me. I had the luxury of going to France in the spring of 1992 on one of those educational tour thingamabobs. It was 7 days of french culture shoved down your throat on a tour bus with a group of about 25 kids from New Jersey who had never been out of the city (and were from rival high schools, no less) and us 5 from Ohio. Did I mention the English tour guide? no? well. Without looking at pictures to remind me, the highlights are as follows: scary two engine flight from PA to NY JFK. 12 hour layover. Scary flight in slightly bigger plane to Charles Degal in Paris. (At this point I discover that I have an issue with my inner ears, as I am deaf most of day 1.) Escalators out of Charles Degal (first panic attack). Make it to this kinda old world semi youth hostel looking hotel. Are we having fun yet? Thank God above my sensible mother made me bring tennis shoes. Because we then hiked all over Paris day two. Go to the Louvre, closed for massive remodeling. Got to see the basement, which was cool, but no Mona Lisa. Finally, at dusk, get to La Tour Eiffel. Go up in scary elevator with about 10 drunk Italians. Now my french teacher is also fluent in Spanish. Italians tend to know spanish. So she's talking away, followed by 5 lost teenagers. The sight was gorgeous. I'll never forget being in the top of the tower at night. It moves, by the way, which was scary. After being pried away from the railing back down the elevator with, you guessed it, drunk Italians. Go on night time riverboat ride on the Seine with, yes, the drunk Italians. who sing. a lot. made it interesting and luckily they actually sounded pretty good! So, in the city of love, on a boat being serenaded by italian love songs, my partner in crime and soul mate (not the love kind, the friend kind) Erica falls in love with fellow trip mate Chris. They last a year. Sigh.
Day 3. Off to the country side to the castles. Versailles. I was bored. I had the distinct feeling it was much prettier at night with all the candles lit. And the only thing I really found interesting was the king's bedchamber. At age 16 I had no idea why this was but now I know I was probably there in a past life, and remember it at night lit up for a soiree or ball or something. The gardens were gorgeous though. Going in spring I think is a really good idea because it's still cool enough that other tourists aren't really there yet, but we get to see the spring flowers. :)
Day 4. Up to the north end, Mont St. Michel. And the English channel. All I really remember about MSM is a bazillion steps. Somehow we missed the formal tour. Oh, and the Jersey kids freaking out about sheep in the road. They took pictures. lol. That night we all starved because dinner was some odd peachy pink soup that niether I nor most of the rest of us was going to touch. Lecture from Madame about trying new things. We ordered pizza. And drank some of the wine we were legally allowed to buy. :)
Day 5. Off to where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake. This place gave me the creeps. Again, looking back now, possibility I lived there at that time or something, or I was aware of "people" still hanging around, but at that time I just know it freaked me out. Very cool wall where it happened. It's a memorial, built next to the river where they threw her heart. And people say the french are wimps. Funny things happened here but without knowing the people involved it's kinda one of those you had to be there things. :)
Day 6. Back to Paris. This was a free day, i.e. no tours. I picked this day to not wear the tennis shoes. Very dumb idea. I had no skin left on the heals of my feet by the end of this day. lol. We hicked ALL OVER. The Jersey kids went to Disney. Except for the bomb threats they may have had the right idea, EuroDisney had just opened I think. But we got to see a lot of cool things, including Notre Dame, L'arc de Triumph, the minature lady liberty in the Seine (yep, they have a mini version of Liberty. She's I think like 5 feet tall, on a big pedestal in the middle of the freaking river.) So many things that I still have to look at pictures to remember. Somewhere at my moms is a giant photo book full.
Day 7. Fly out. I think we left for the airport around 10 am. the flight back was like 9 hours, but with time change we landed around 5. Sprinted through JFK to try to make our connecting flight, because we got bumped up to an earlier one. Then waited in PA for our luggage, which did not get bumped with us. Which was fine, because I once again couldn't hear a darn thing anyway!
So that's my trip to France. I think it has lots of room for improvement. Obviously, I am not leaving Paris without seeing Mona. I will only wear comfortable, non-blister forming shoes. I will also wear something other than neon leggings (And no, I'm not posting THAT picture...). I love that I got to go, don't get me wrong. I find humor in the not-so-fun parts. Although I'm sure Erica and I could have done without the mutual concussion- lesson learned- don't try to lay your head on your friends shoulder the exact moment she tries to do the same. OW. We almost knocked each other out. Also, don't put the 20 lb video camera in the overhead compartment, because it will attempt to attack you when the crazy french bus driver does a sharp turn at 50 KPH. I think poor Burt DID get a concussion from that. But what I really learned is to have memories you have to have the experience with people that make you want to remember. Thank God Erica and I got that oppurtunity. And I'm so thankful to get to go again with a bunch of girls I love. I can't wait!!! :)
Wendy
Day 3. Off to the country side to the castles. Versailles. I was bored. I had the distinct feeling it was much prettier at night with all the candles lit. And the only thing I really found interesting was the king's bedchamber. At age 16 I had no idea why this was but now I know I was probably there in a past life, and remember it at night lit up for a soiree or ball or something. The gardens were gorgeous though. Going in spring I think is a really good idea because it's still cool enough that other tourists aren't really there yet, but we get to see the spring flowers. :)
Day 4. Up to the north end, Mont St. Michel. And the English channel. All I really remember about MSM is a bazillion steps. Somehow we missed the formal tour. Oh, and the Jersey kids freaking out about sheep in the road. They took pictures. lol. That night we all starved because dinner was some odd peachy pink soup that niether I nor most of the rest of us was going to touch. Lecture from Madame about trying new things. We ordered pizza. And drank some of the wine we were legally allowed to buy. :)
Day 5. Off to where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake. This place gave me the creeps. Again, looking back now, possibility I lived there at that time or something, or I was aware of "people" still hanging around, but at that time I just know it freaked me out. Very cool wall where it happened. It's a memorial, built next to the river where they threw her heart. And people say the french are wimps. Funny things happened here but without knowing the people involved it's kinda one of those you had to be there things. :)
Day 6. Back to Paris. This was a free day, i.e. no tours. I picked this day to not wear the tennis shoes. Very dumb idea. I had no skin left on the heals of my feet by the end of this day. lol. We hicked ALL OVER. The Jersey kids went to Disney. Except for the bomb threats they may have had the right idea, EuroDisney had just opened I think. But we got to see a lot of cool things, including Notre Dame, L'arc de Triumph, the minature lady liberty in the Seine (yep, they have a mini version of Liberty. She's I think like 5 feet tall, on a big pedestal in the middle of the freaking river.) So many things that I still have to look at pictures to remember. Somewhere at my moms is a giant photo book full.
Day 7. Fly out. I think we left for the airport around 10 am. the flight back was like 9 hours, but with time change we landed around 5. Sprinted through JFK to try to make our connecting flight, because we got bumped up to an earlier one. Then waited in PA for our luggage, which did not get bumped with us. Which was fine, because I once again couldn't hear a darn thing anyway!
So that's my trip to France. I think it has lots of room for improvement. Obviously, I am not leaving Paris without seeing Mona. I will only wear comfortable, non-blister forming shoes. I will also wear something other than neon leggings (And no, I'm not posting THAT picture...). I love that I got to go, don't get me wrong. I find humor in the not-so-fun parts. Although I'm sure Erica and I could have done without the mutual concussion- lesson learned- don't try to lay your head on your friends shoulder the exact moment she tries to do the same. OW. We almost knocked each other out. Also, don't put the 20 lb video camera in the overhead compartment, because it will attempt to attack you when the crazy french bus driver does a sharp turn at 50 KPH. I think poor Burt DID get a concussion from that. But what I really learned is to have memories you have to have the experience with people that make you want to remember. Thank God Erica and I got that oppurtunity. And I'm so thankful to get to go again with a bunch of girls I love. I can't wait!!! :)
Wendy
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