Paris Continued...

I've been doing so much the past few days, so it is time for an update!

Sunday was a very full day. After breakfast and a long meeting with the group, me and several other students went to the Louve! Sundays are free museum days, so it was really nice to not have to pay to get in. However, this meant that it was also very, very busy! I didn't know that the Louve was so huge! But I did get to see the Mona Lisa, and that was really neat. It was hard to see her because there were so many people crowding around, but I did get close enough to see her and get a nice picture :)

There are so many paintings, sculptures, and other various forms of art there, and its from all over the world. It was really cool to see that, and also be surrounded by people from all over the world too. It got pretty overwhelming and exhausting after a while, so we were there for about 4 hours, and maybe got to see half of what was there. That just goes to show how big it is! That night a large group of us went to the Eiffel Tower to see it light up and sparkle. It was so much fun!  We had wine, cheese and crackers, and some dessert to share. An authentic French evening :) 

Monday was much more laid back. After yet again, another long meeting, me and three other girls went shopping! There are lots of stores, restaurants, and cafes in the area so it was easy to find a place for lunch and good stores to shop in. I had to refrain from buying too much, and limited myself to one shirt which I look forward to wearing and always remembering Paris. We got an assignment earlier that morning to get into groups and go explore a market. So that afternoon my group and I went to check out a market on the north side of Paris. When we got there, we saw that it was closed, just some misinformation but thats okay. But when we got back on the metro train to head back to the hostel, it was packed! There was so many people there, I think it might have been rush hour. We were so squished on the train, and it was really hot. Not a very good experience, but an interesting one, that is for sure! 

Today was also pretty laid back, but there's always so much to do and see. Since we didn't get to the market yesterday, we had to go this morning. There's a transportation strike going on, just for today, so all of the metro stations were closed which us to limited where we were able to go. It was suppose to be just a 15 minute walk from the hostel, but it ended up being a little longer than that. But once we got there, it was really great. Lots of food, and I bought some kind of roll that had like a jelly fixing in the center with raisins wrapped in it, it was really good, but then again, I love any kind of pastry. Later that afternoon I went for a run across the street around the Luxembourg Gardens. That's one thing I've noticed here- there are so many runners, its great!  It was a perfect day for a run, and the gardens is a great place to run around.  After that I went to Notre Dame. It is very beautiful inside, and there were many tourists there. I wanted to climb up to the top, but it was closed. So I think we're going to try to go again tomorrow, or I hope so! I also really want to go up the Eiffel Tower, so I hope to get there again tomorrow too. I also found my way around a very beautiful area of Paris, where there were so many gelato/ice cream shops,  I just had to get some. It was probably some of the best ice cream I've ever had! 

Only one full day left in Paris, and then I'm off to my next destination: Frankfurt, Germany! I'm so excited and can't wait to be with the Mehlitz's, my host family. This has already been quite the adventure, but I'm really looking forward to what is to come! 

"Go forth seeking adventure. Open your eyes, your ears, your mind, your heart, your spirit, and you'll find adventure everywhere." -Wilferd A. Peterson