I've been home 3 weeks already (how the time flies eh?). The weekend before coming home we went to Paris for two days. Which was nothing less than amazing to tell you the truth. It was a very productive weekend. While there I overcame two of my fears, that I've been wanting to overcome for many years now; I climbed the Eiffel Tower and went on my very first roller coaster (it wasn't very big but ya gotta start small right?). On Saturday we spent the day sightseeing (and eating) in Paris city. It involved plenty of walking and many a metro trip. It all started with a three hour odd train journey. Then we went for lunch with my housemate who also happened to be in Paris at the time, and we all know how much I appreciate food. Then we took a stroll along the Seine towards Notre Dame, there were some lovely stalls with various Parisien merchandise. I bought some really pretty paintings. Here's a picture of the Notre Dame (and some random people who happened to be lurking around):
Paris is really pretty at Christmas time. All the lights make it really magical! OH! and we found a love lock bridge...
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| Looking sad because I know I'm goin' to grow old with my cats.. |
After the Notre Dame we made our way back down along the Seine towards the Eiffel Tower (or so I thought). But after a few minutes of walking my friends started running and shouted to me that if I wanted my Christmas present I may start running towards the boat. Me, being the daft yolk that I am was thinking 'Why the bloody hell did they put my present on the boat? That must've been a bit hassleful'. I was oh so very wrong, my present was the boat itself. Well okay, obviously they didn't actually buy me the boat. That would be a bit ridiculous. But they got me a boat tour along the Seine, I couldn't stop smiling. I probably looked like a right oul eejit on the boat. I was mesmerized. The lights were reflected onto the water creating a beautiful hue to the river. Everything was lit up as the evening became close. It was everything I thought and more. It was the best Christmas present to date (no offence to the other present buyers...but come on, you understand right?), completely incredible and I am so lucky to have been afforded the opportunity. Sure I'll throw ya a couple of photo's so you can get an idea..
After the boat ride, we hopped off at the Louvre with the intention of seeing the Mona Lisa. We took some hilarious photos of us which seemed like we were holding the pyramid of the Louvre by our fingers. It was good craic! Then we entered the museum only to find that it had just closed. (but hey, it just gives us a reason to return to Paris doesn't it?). Instead we browsed the shops (which we could never afford as ya know, we're mere college students) and got a hot chocolate and a cinnamon roll. (NOM).
We then proceeded to walk along the Champs d'Elysees (which takes FOREVER) so that in the end we'd reach the Arc de Triomphe (which is pretty cool I guess). During which we went to THE BUSIEST McDonalds I have ever ever seen in my entire life. Worse than Dublin on Halloween, or Arthur's day...or any of those mad nights. It was ridiculous...there were people hovering around with their food waiting for people to leave so that they could take their seats. It. was. cray.
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| Despite what this picture might suggest I promise I did not lean on an occupied car, this is an illusion. |
Finally, we went to the Eiffel Tower, with the sole intention to get to the top. We decided we were goin' to be very active and take the stairs to the second floor from where we could take the lift to the very top. Now. At first I was being enthusiastic about taking the stairs, being adventurous and whatnot. But by the time I got to the third flight I was like SWEET JESUS WHY ARE THERE SO MANY STAIRS? I honest to god thought they were never goin' to end. I'd never been so grateful to reach the top of stairs in.my.life. I'm not even jokin' when I say the French love stairs. They're EVERYWHERE. Enough exercise for anyone. We had to pay extra to take the lift the rest of the way up but I thought, why stop now? Best go the whole way while I'm there. How many times will this opportunity come around again? The journey up in the lift was adventurous in itself. It lasted less than a minute but it was packed like a sardine can. There was myself, my friend, and my housemate (who is also my friend of course). I've always had a sort of fear of heights so when we could see ourselves getting higher and higher I started to think maybe it was a bad idea after all! And my housemate really wasn't any help at all. She decided this was the perfect time to declare she 'had a feeling we were gonna die' and that she 'thought the person operating the lift might be suicidal'. GREAT. THANKS. It was okay though, clearly we didn't die. obviously. I'm still here to tell the tale. It was ridiculously windy at the top of the tower. It'd blow ya away so it would. But in the end it was all worth it when we saw the view, it was breathtaking. And this was at night time. Paris by lights.
This was the exact moment I decided that this is what I'd be happy doing for the rest of my life. (obviously not standing on the top of the Eiffel Tower, that would be cold. and lonely. and dangerous. nope .not that.) What I mean is, travel. I would be completely content with visiting different places and the famous landmarks for the rest of my life. I've never been one to want a desk job. I'd get awfully bored. It's just not me. All I need now is a way to fund these dreams. Where there's a will there's a way.
You know the irony of it all? I nearly got killed by an umbrella after my adventure to the top of the tower. Imagine that headline 'Girl dies by umbrella after descending the Eiffel Tower' Ha! What a story that'd be!
Sunday was the day we went to Disneyland and also the day we returned home. If I could live in Disneyland I would (let's put aside how unbelievably expensive this would be and dream a little). I felt like a child all over again. It's magical. And it never gets old. I had been there before but it was like I was seeing it all for the first time again. There was a MASSIVE Christmas tree which was very colourful (and I love colours). Here:
I was in awe of everything, I spent the whole time taking mental pictures that I could keep forever. It was like we had walked into another universe and entered a dreamlike adventure. I LOVED IT. We started in the Magic Kingdom Park, which had many different worlds included....there were Alice in Wonderland themed things, we did the maze which was quite hilarious because we kept getting lost (this attraction is aimed at like three year olds). We saw the Christmas Parade (unbelievably amazing!), visited Cinderellas castle, the Robinson's tree house. and Davy Jones cave.
Then the time came, the moment I had been trying to put off for as long as possible...I was going to embark a roller coaster (Thunder Mountain)...I was determined to do it. It was the one thing I had been telling myself that I was definitely going to do while at Paris. I was the picture of utter ridiculousness. The waiting time was estimated at forty five minutes, which was a lot of time to freak oneself out. My friends were laughing at me, as one can imagine, I mean, there were youngsters queuing up. I think I spent a good half an hour just freaking out, I would have turned around and ran back but the absolute effort of moving through all the people was just overwhelming (that and I knew I'd be so mad at myself if I didn't do it). By the time we got to the front I was very very hungry and at that stage my fear had subsided and I just wanted to get on. And guess what? I loved it. I spent the whole time in stitches laughing (partly at myself for being so stupid and also because it's a hilarious ride). When I got off I just wanted to go again...here's the aftermath:
Then we decided we'd go to Planet Hollywood for lunch (when in Disneyland and whatnot). However, when we got there I began to question if it was really worth it...we had to wait for forty five minutes before we were even seated, then they had to take our order and deliver it and what not. But when the food came, oh my god it was like heaven in my mouth, if I go to heaven I'm pretty sure that's what it would be like. I really should start a food appreciation page don't you think? I just think food is the best thing ever...it's also essential. jeez, I have problems. Anyway, after that we went to the Walt Disney Studios Park, which was also pretty cool, we were going to go on this new roller coaster ride but the waiting time was too long and we didn't have THAT much time left before we had to leave for our train to the airport. I'm not goin' to lie, I was kind of relieved, I think one roller coaster was enough for one day, baby steps, us oldies can't handle too much excitement in one day ya know? We did go on this special effects train which was awesome to say the least, it stopped at various movie sets at manifested fire (yes, real fire) and water. It was way cool. Again, I was mesmerized (this seems to be a common sentiment throughout the trip doesn't it?). The wait for that one wasn't too bad, but the wait never feels long in good company, we had some...interesting...conversations. We learned that our friend is glad he's not a camel. Good to know for future reference I guess. And there was this man doing weird things with his clothes to entertain his kids, but also provided some laughs for us. It was funny! After this amusement we went to get some hot chocolate (which came with a free travel mug, bonus methinks) while we waited to go see a short movie.( which was also cool, I'm not gonna bother explaining what happens cause I've already said 'cool' far too much in this post).
Afterwards we did some shopping and got our train to the airport, and then boarded our flight to the lovely land of green! Despite there being a delay on our flight it was one of the best trips I've had to date, and what made it even better was seeing some members of my family at the airport. Being away from them for so long makes you appreciate them even more, and my Dad was wearing a Christmas Tie, brought me some taytos, and a can of club orange, what a man!
