Sunday, September 12, 2010

Day 2: Paris

For the past couple of days Kevin's been on a mission to get on a bicycle and ride around the city. Good news: he's finally got one! So while he's pedaling around, I'll update this.

Yesterday we went to the Palace of Versailles with my mom, dad, cousin Heidi and Aunt Rebecca. They got to Paris a few days ago and so while we were all still at home last week we arranged a time and a place to meet here. Notre Dame at 10am on Saturday.  Well, for some reason 10am morphed into 10:30 in my brain and so yesterday morning as we left the hostel and I glanced at my calender I did a mini-jump upon realizing that we were supposed to be at Notre Dame in 6 minutes.

Half an hour after our scheduled meeting time we rushed out of the subway, ran to the courtyard and saw a big familiar man waving and smiling at us. Hi dad! Insert sigh of relief here.

Versailles was pretty cool. The line to get in was approximately equal to the line for the bathroom. The place was packed, and although there were lots of really extravagant and impressive things to look at (as well as some downright comical ones), it was draining to be hearded like sheep from room to room.

Check out that guy's face!
"I angry! I smash!"
  
We found a quiet spot near Marie Antoinette's private house to rest the feetsies.
Happy Mom
Loving life. Clearly.
The Girls

After getting the full Versailles experience -- we even got to see the fountains running, which is a treat reserved for weekend guests between the hours of 3 and 5pm -- we headed back into the city for dinner with the fam.

So, Kevin and I are staying in a hostel in the north area of Paris while my family is down where all the action is in a hotel. Given the opportunity to check out the better-than-group housing, we made a mad dash to:
1) the bathroom in my parents' room
2) the view from my aunt and cousin's room. Check this out:



I'll take some pictures of the hostel later so you may be able to further appreciate the contrast.

Then it was off for a French dinner with everyone. Bread, wine, and really interesting food. For example, my aunt and father were having a rather in-depth conversation on how the "chicken" couldn't possibly be chicken. "Look at those bones! That's not a chicken! But it's definitely not duck. What is this?? It kindof tastes like chicken." And I'm sitting there trying desperately to cut this culinary masterpiece with a knife (new to a girl who generally eats vegetables and cuts anything necessary with the side of her fork)

Eating technique score: 34%
And then, given the opportunity to talk about chicken, my mom dove into her series of chicken tales gathered from 20 years of farm life after establishing herself in the world as a city girl. Much laughter from our table, many odd glances over from other tables. Perfect :)
My mom, really getting into it.

My parents are getting ready for the second leg of their trip, while Kevin and I hang out in Paris for a few more days. After the dessert course (drool) we hugged goodbye and peaced out.

Kevin and I had been on a mission to get to the top of the Eiffel Tower since arriving in Paris, but when we went to see it on Day 1 the stairs were closed. So, since we were so close and it wasn't too late yet, we made a mad dash to the tower. And then we found out that the elevator going to the summit was closed. BUT we could take the stairs up as far as they went.
We got up (eventually) just in time to see it glitter at 11pm.

Great end to a marvelous day.

6 comments:

  1. Becka, I'm glad you are having a great time, I'm quite jealous. I'll be creeping on this blog quite frequently :D
    Love, Cara.

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  2. me too :) it looks like so much fun!!! post pictures of the hostel please ^^

    ~Michelle~

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  3. Great to see you're having fun! The tower looks great at night. Hope you find the good baguettes and macarons!

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  4. kevin knows how to ride a bike? haha, those statues are so cool!

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  5. the bike ride was awesome! tomorrow I'm going to a motor scooter in Rome! hopefully I don't crash.

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