PARIS

So it's quite common that the graduating class takes a trip, and in Spain the usual destination is Italy. My school, I've been told many times, is the best in Pamplona and we also have our trip be to Paris instead. So from March 24th to 29th I was in Paris with my classmates. One hundred and eight students went and six o seven teachers. It was five days of seeing practically everything.

After spending the whole night on the bus, aka not sleeping well and twelve hours worth of back pain, we got of at the Palais Versailles. We had time to see inside a bit and then roam the gardens. I really wanted to see Marie Antoinette's house and we walked almost all the way there but had to turn around to make is back one time, which was a bummer for me. There were a lot of people going for runs or a stroll on their bicycles so I figure when I live in France I too can use the gardens as exercise grounds and see Marie Antoinette's house as many times as I want! I also would make sure I had time to row a boat on the river; it was beautiful there. Then we had free time on Les Champs de Elysée before meeting up to go to the top of L'Arc de Triomphe. That was a whole whack of stairs but worth it, even at night the view was beautiful and the Eiffel Tower was all lit up; very pretty.

The next day we started at Galleries Lafayette, where I personally didn't spend too much time gazing at the designer labeled stuff but going to the top was nice - another great view. More free time where we strolled around and saw different things before meeting up at Notre Dame. We went for a tour of Saint Chapelle cathedral and then entered Notre Dame on our own time. Cathedrals seem to always be on the itinerary for every trip, and I do enjoy seeing them - they're amazing - but I have seen an immense amount of them, however Notre Dame was something special. I don't know if it was because I had "God Help the Outcast" stuck in my head and felt like Esmeralda walking through the church (favourite part of the Hunchback of Notre Dame and one of my favourite prayers), or that a small choir was singing and filling every corner of the enormous place with perfect music, or just it's distinctive look but I think it was my favourite thing I saw in Paris. That evening we went to Montmartre, that then became my favourite zone of Paris. I loved that it was a little hill and that it was so distinctive with its tiny streets decorated with artists and paintings as well as musicians and crêpe shops; it was just so cute and romantic. Even solo you feel good. My friend and I found a string quartet playing that was amazing, we stayed for their whole performance and they played all the classic string songs, starting with Pachabels Cannon, and I couldn't stop thinking about my sister - Anja please don't stop playing the violin! Then we walked down through the sex district (I continue to be surprised by the things my catholic school does) mainly to see Moulin Rouge. We also stopped in a tourist shop where I was told I speak english ver well :).

Saturday we started with a few hours in Le Musée d'Orsay where I roamed around alone. I really liked this museum, I saw some Monet's I've never seen before, Rodin sculptures, Van Gogh's portrait, and there were expositions I really liked too - one on music and another photography one with a sleeping theme. The building itself is an old train station and the layout was very interesting. Also there was un Salon de Fête, that was breathtaking; when I entered it first I was the only one in this huge ballroom all with gold trim, mural ceiling, mirrored walls, gorgeous statues and and baby grand piano. They still hold events there and standing in the middle underneath the largest chandelier I've ever seen felt quite special. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower. Blanca and I had a picnic in the gardens which were very pretty, full of people busy doing different things. The amount of people selling trinkets was a bit overboard but it was interesting, and scary, being in a zone so touristic. We then went up to the top of the tower, half way up it started raining. So the view wasn't super amazing but it was nice to be up there. I actually found myself looking for the Eiffel Tower in the view and then remembered I was standing on it, I really like it more as part of the scene rather than looking from it. After that we had a boat tour. Because it was raining my friends and I sat inside listening to the informative tour which was really interesting. The whole boat tour was a lot of fun.Then we went to eat in the Bastille zone. There were so many japanese and indian restaurants, I've been craving asian food like no bodies business but unfortunately none of my friends like it. So we went to Subway where none of them had been before. Pablo, who spent ten months in the US, and I had to explain how the whole set up works and it was very entertaining for me to see how much fun the whole things was for all my friends - they loved it. Also this led to Pablo and I talking about everything that's different, school (he agrees it sucks here), parties, s'mores, and he comment on the amount of spanish I've learned in six months which meant calling me smart which has not happened while here. Later we had the choice to stay for a while and check out the night life or return to the hotel - I am still a week later recovering sleep, which I knew then so I went back to the hotel.

Sunday was basically a free day except for the three hours we spent in le Louvre. My goodness hole Mona Lisa that place is huge. The art I enjoyed a lot more at Orsay as well as the layout but being in such a special place with the beautiful art was amazing. It was so big though that I found us walking quickly just passing the art instead of really appreciating it, but it is impossible to see everything there in three hours. We did get to see the different things everyone wanted to, I saw the Mona Lisa and was more amazed by the crowd there than the painting itself and got to the zone I always enjoy the most; the African zone. That also had Oceania and the Americas, all aboriginal stuff and I found interesting pieces from British Colombia!

Monday was our last day and was spent at Disneyland! For me at the beginning was what I was most looking forward to when looking at the itinerary for Paris, but a lot of my classmates didn't seem to care about anything but EL DÍA A DISNEYLANDIA!! It was a lot of fun and we did all feel like kids again but I wouldn't plan a trip to Paris just to go to EuroDisney. I rode all the roller coasters and the elevator drop, bigger rides than I've ever been on in my life, and found out I don't scream like the normal people no, I laugh my butt off - it's so fun!