Europe Day FOUR

Today we started off this morning at Versailles.  It was the palace of King Louis the 14- King Louis the 16.  We went and took a guided tour and wore these headsets that we felt like we were in the CIA.  It was so we could hear in the palace.  I didn’t really like the guide because we spent a lot of time in the rooms and we got to the Hall of Mirrors and he rushed right through it.  Like who does that? Ash and I stayed back for awhile and we looked at the hall and took pictures.  We were waiting the whole tour for this and we weren’t just going to be rushed through it.  We couldn’t hear our guide and couldn’t hear where he was.  We figured we would just walk through until we found them.  We caught up towards the end and then they took us outside and gave us about an hour and a half to explore the Versailles Gardens.  Some girls in our group just sat at the top of the stairs.  Me and Ash said, “Deuces suckas.” So we ditched them, and went exploring.  The gardens are the most beautiful things on the planet earth! Like I say that about a lot of things, but this is definitely my real favorite place on earth.  Its away from all the sound and hectic city.  You can think and feel your stress, problems, and fears drop out of care and you can seriously relax there.  I think there is a spell there where its always the good life and nothing can ruin it.  I loved it there! If I could have stayed there forever I wouldn’t have complained.  At certain points in the garden there were fountains, statues, and different theater and colloseums.  They were really pretty.  It is literally indescribable.  The best writer in the world could not put the beauty and perfection of this place into words.  Most beautiful place on planet earth. It was time to head back and I almost felt my heart break.  I did not want to leave.  We met up with our group in the front of the palace and walked down the street to lunch.  It was like a little café where there is tons of options and you pick one. They cook in and then call your number.  I got real pizza. Not American pizza, which is nasty compared to the pizza in Europe.  It had a slice of ham on it and also just some cheese and parsley.  It was really good.  While sitting at lunch Ashy started teaching me French.  I learned the days of the week which are Lundi, Mardi, Mercerde, Judi, Vondradee, Sumdi, and Damach. (Don’t judge me on the spelling.)  Ash was quizzing me and she said, “What’s Friday?” I said, “Vanity!” hahahahahah!!! We died laughing.  Then I learned that jour is day, and nuit is night. So Bonjour means good day, and bonnuit means goodnight! Then I learned the numbers 1-10.  un, du, twa, cat, sank, sies, set, wheat, noof, dis. (again….i’m an American kid sounding out French words.) Ash told me thee single most funniest joke I have ever heard.  Here it is:  There was 2 cats. The first cats name was one, two, three. The other cats name was un, du, twa. They were both on one side of the River.  They had a race, who got to the other side first? **************** One, Two, Three did because un, du, twa cat sank!

BAHAHAHAHAHA End of story, but you know that is the best joke ever.

We left lunch and went to the Arc De Triomphe.  We had to go underground to get there though because it is so crazy at the roundabout.  We met Henson there and decided to go to the top and the bonus? It was FREEEEE!! WHOOOO whOOOO! We hiked 294 stairs up and 294 stairs down.  In Europe it always seems like your on stairs.  The Arc De Triomphe is beautiful on top.  You can see all around Paris! It is so cool! The Eiffel Tower is pretty close.  It is really breathtaking to see the city of Paris from the top of the Arc De Triomphe. We walked around up there for awhile and then we went down and walked the Champs Elysees.  It was wonderful shopping.  We visited the I <3 Paris store and took some pictures.  Then we went and visited the Swarovski Crystal Staircase.  So pretty and probably 100 quadrillion million dollars. (Later learned it was 200 Million)  It is entirely made of Swarovski Crystals.  I felt like a movie star walking on it.  Ash and I were set free to go off by ourselves.  We successfully navigated for the first time on the Metro.  We are pretty much professionals.  We took the Metro from the Arc de Triomphe to the Lock Bridge.  Yeah buddy! The Lock Bridge is also known as the Lovers Bridge.  You lock your love to it and throw the keys in the ocean. It was awesome writing on it and then throwing the keys into the Seine.  So naturally my love is locked.  We also did a friend lock and wrote Ash, Kena, Bay, and Brady. Friend Forever 2013 on it.  The lock bridge is literally cool.  There isn’t one spot on the bridge that is open.  I would say there is 500,000 locks on one side.  It’s amazing and I am so glad I got the opportunity to do it.  A part of me will always be in Paris.  After that we ran to the Metro had to buy a metro ticket for 1,70 Euro on a debit card. So dumb.  We were so worried we were going to be late for dinner.  There was a super sketchy dude who followed us and moved every time we did.  He didn’t get off when we did, so its all good.  We met our grouop for dinner and ate at a place called Flems.  They served us Flemmekuche which is my absolute newest favorite, yummiest food ever.  It is a really thin crust with a weird cheese, onions, and Ham slices on it.  So yummy and really difficult to describe but it is incredible.  We also had a white chocolate and apple cinnamon flemmakuche.  I liked the apple cinnamon one best out of the dessert ones.  Dinner was over and we headed to the Eiffel Tower! We had been waiting our lives for this still…since last night.  We got on the Metro and walked to the beloved tower.  We get there and no one was there, so we are like Sweet! This will go buy really quickly. NOPE. The fetchin workers went on strike. Yup. The one time and only time I get to live my dream and go to the top.  It just wasn’t going to happen.  I was really disappointed but I guess that means I just need to go back and visit again sometime.  Cause it was such depressing news and my dreams were shattered in one moment.  After that we had loads of free time.  Henson let me and Ash go off alone because we proved to her we could use the metro.  First item on the list, since we couldn’t go to the top, I HAD to kiss someone.  We walked through the big park under the Eiffel Tower and I kept saying No, not him, no. Not him either.  Finally a group of boys was spotted.  One was way cute but I wasn’t about to go up and ask.  If I were to get denied it would be in front of so many boys and I just couldn’t let that happen. We were leaving and I was really disappointed I couldn’t get a kiss either cause Ash said, “We have stuff to do, hurry, its just not going to happen.”  So we started leaving and we were standing by the corner of the park.  Then the same boys walked out right by us.  I knew it was now or never, so I worked up the courage and said, “Hey will one of you kiss me under the Eiffel Tower so I can cross it off my bucket list?”  They did what boys do and pushed each other around and kept saying, “Eff it. Eff it.” Finally one who was probably 25 said, “What do you want?” and I said, “A kiss under the Eiffel Tower.” He said, “On the mouth?” and I said yeah then he just went for it, and I said, “wait I have to get a picture.” One of the best, worst, most awkward, and funniest moments in my life all at once. I am so glad it is over cause it was almost a horrible good. Ha! But bucket list item…CHECK.  Then me and Ash were headed to the Moulin Rouge.  On the way we got stopped by a barterer.  These guys are literally everywhere.  We needed a big Eiffel tower anyway.  So we got good this time.  We got 3 big Eiffel towers and 5 little ones for 10 Euros.  We felt pretty good.  Once again, back on the Metro.  We got to the Moulin Rouge in the Red Light District and took pictures really quick because Ms. Henson said not to stay.  We stood on this big platform that blew your hair and clothes everywhere. Makes sense to have in the Red Light District right? We needed an ATM and got directions to this fetchin SKETCHY AS ALL HECK one.  We got out some Euros and went to buy more tickets to the Metro so we could get out of this place.  We bought some and used one to get on Line 2 and Bam its broken. GREEAAAT! We stood there talking to a lady that called herself Crazy Daisy.  We cleared up for her that Mormons don’t have 9 wives, they don’t have to serve a mission and they didn’t come on the Mayflower.  We talked a good 20 minutes to this lady about religion and college.  Then we decided to get off and walk to the montmarne and the Sacre Coeur.  While walking we saw a market.  We went in and bought some candy.  I bought a caramel chocolate bar and “Smarties.” They taste kind of like m&ms in America.  We got to the check out and Ash asks if the lady knew English.  She grumpily says, “yes I know English!” We ask her directions and then ask for some coins so we can finish our collection.  Their 1 cent pieces are TEENY!  We left and headed to Montmarne.  We finally get there and its closed. Dang. The night time view is beautiful though.  We also hiked 650 stairs to get to the Sacre Coeur which is a church still running today.  While there we were walking down the stairs to get a better view and some guy throws beer bottles at us. Jerk. We decided we better get back so we started walking and my bag rips. Awesome. We make it back to the Port De Versaille with 3ish minutes left until the 11:55 curfew.  Then we get lost, have to go back in, look around, and we can’t find it.  So we go and ask the worker for help and they print us a map and point us in the right direction.  We finally made it back to the hotel about 12:10, only 15 minutes late. Oh well! Life Happens even in the perfect city.  Today was my favorite day in Paris. Perfect way to end my dream come true.