C'est Paris!

R and I have taken some pretty amazing trips together - Venice Beach, Brussels, the Peace Palace and de Meern - and our recent time in Paris definitely belongs in that list and deserves a shiny gold star for an excellent performance (well, except for the freezing weather ... and the train delays, but that was not Paris' fault).

Our trip started at 5:30am on New Year's Eve. Robert and I biked to the train station. Or, to be more precise, Robert biked and I balanced on the back of the bike with all our luggage. No small feat, for either of us. We took the train to Rotterdam ... just to hear that our Thalys train to Paris had been CANCELLED! After a good hour of confusion we figure out we can take the next train. We wait another hour and - somehow - two trains worth of people stuff onto one Thalys. Fun times. We did happen to run into a friend of mine from UCU, so I guess something good came from it.

After arriving in Paris 3 hours late, we figured out the metro system and went to St. Michel where we see the Notre Dam and le Centre Pompidou. We walked back up le Rue St. Michel, visited le Jardin du Luxembourg and decided its time for a warm coffee at a nearby café. By the way, tip for doing Paris on the cheap - don't snub McDonalds (at least not for coffee).

Later that night (after visiting the Pantheon, a beautiful church, and the Sorbonne, we found our way to Audrey's place for her fabulous New Year's Eve party. The menu was typically French: fois gras, pork roast with cheese, green beans, potatoes, and lots of wine and bread. To top that all off, we ended with a salad. After having dined for a good two hours, the ice-cream cake and other New Year's treats were brought out (including "Oliebollen" = New Year's cookies). Dancing to 80s music followed dinner and 2010 began with a bang!
On the first day of 2010, we decided to climb the Eiffel Tower. On our way, we stopped to buy lunch (a loaf of French bread for less than 2 euro) at a little French bakery. Our plan to climb the Eiffel tower unfortunately entailed standing in line in sub-zero temperatures for an hour. The only thing that kept us going was knowing we would see Servane and Charles and Victor in a few hours and eat wonderful French food. We were frozen solid by the time we were able to go up - but the view was breathtaking!


After seeing the view though, I was ready to run to the warmth of the train station. Servane and Charles welcomed us at their house with Raclette for dinner! If you're Dutch, I can explain this as being 'gourmetten' with cheese. Everyone got a little pan, put slices of cheese in the pan, and put the pan on a grill. The cheese would melt and you would drench meat and potatoes in it.

On Saturday, we enjoyed a long and delicious breakfast and lunch with Charles and Servane and then got to see the Palace of Versailles (you know, where the Treaty of Versailles was signed!!). It was free for all EU residents under 26 ... lucky us! We spent the evening at some of their friends house, playing games, practicing French, and drinking lots of wine :) I found out that I like Wii boxing.

Sunday was our last day in Paris. We were really sad to say goodbye to Servane, Charles, and Victor. They had made sure our time there was unforgettable. But - we still had to see the Louvre! We found a day that it was free to go (the first Sunday of each month) and so we got in for free! We started with the Dutch painters (yes, we're slightly proud), seeing Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Steen. Next on our list was the Code of Hammurabi. As a student of the law - especially a student of the civil law - this is a must see! We ended with a battle to get somewhere relatively close to the Mona Lisa.

From the Louvre, we walked up the Champs d'Élisee to the Arc de Triomphe. From there we found a spot where we had a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower and we watched the hourly light show. By this time, warmth and a hotel reservation were calling, so we took the subway to where our hotel was. We used our last subway tickets for this ... and felt quite proud that we had managed to ration them so well. Our hotel was quite modest; small and plain, but located right next to the train station. We checked in and went out to see if we could find a relatively cheap restaurant. Fun fact: they don't exist in France. We found a little Italian restaurant that was doable but then were stupid Americans and agreed to order water. We should have known water is never free in Europe. Ever. But, the meal was good and the portions were surprisingly not French size. The wine was good and each other's company even better. We dined like the French, enjoying our meal for hours, only leaving in fact when we remembered we would have to wake up at 5am the next morning.

Back in the hotel, we tried to fall asleep, but thoughts of the past days' adventures as well as of what getting back home would bring kept us awake. It was then that Robert proposed to me. Me, in my pajamas with no make-up on and my hair a mess. It was perfect.