ok, i finally got off of my lazy butt and created a blog displaying the hilarity and beauty of the trip to france and spain. i wasn't really sure how to do this because there are A LOT OF PICTURES. in this blog, i managed to cut the number of pictures down to 36, highlighting the most important landmarks and moments, etc.
i have links to more pictures that haven't been resized in my photobucket, so just follow the links there. please note that i still have yet to put all of the france pictures into that account, so i apologize about that. all of the spain ones are uploaded, however.
LET'S BEGIN!
France - from Paris to St. Jean de Luz.
Day 1 - We arrive in Paris at the Charles de Gaulle airport at about 7 in the morning. We linger around the airport for two hours until our tour guide, Sandra, arrives. Sandra is a Spanish woman currently living in Madrid, although she grew up near Barcelona. She was gorgeous and she had a deep voice and her accent was really heavy. Her sense of humor was also very dry, and a lot of people didn't get it except for me and a few others. xD
Anyway, this pretty much goes without saying, but we were tired as hell and we just wanted to get on the bus and go to sleep. At that point, we'd been on a plane ride from Charlotte NC to New York, and the flight time from New York to Paris was roughly 6 hours. Not bad, but when you're so excited that you're about to piss yourself, the lack of sleep on the plane begins to bite you in the ass.
Our tour begins with a bus ride around Paris, and we arrive at our hotel in Montmartre, the 'rebel' region of Paris, riddled with art, music, and cafe's. It's the epitome of city life and I adore it.
... However, small hotel is RLY RLY SMALL, OK. You have never seen sidewalks so small in your life. Imagine 50 kids and adults getting off a bus, clogging up the sidewalks with our luggage, trying to squeeze into the hallway slash lobby of this tiny, tiny hotel. It was chaotic, really, but we did it in a timely fashion as we didn't want to piss off the locals since we were in their house. |D
We all think this is the end of day one - we were sorely, sorely mistaken. Hot, tired, aggravated and starving, Sandra gave us one hour to freshen up so that we could come back, ready to walk around Paris for the remainder of the day.
Yeah.
The remainder of the day.
It's 10:30 AM at this point.
We were in for a long, long, LONG day.
We went to a number of parks and such along the way, and we got to experience the metro system. Yeah. Also hilarious. Imagine trying to squeeze 50 people onto a metro car in 10 seconds. You made friends with a lot of people in the metro - I mean, it's kind of hard not to when you're rubbing asses with people and you have dudes in your personal space all of the time. It was awesome, though, seriously. And FAST. VERY FAST. The metro trains in Spain didn't have shit on the ones in Paris.
Two things I noticed about France from the get-go: everything is tiny, and everything is FAST. I fit right in with the people there - they walk ridiculously fast to nowhere. XD
So, yes. Lots of walking in Paris, that day. My feet were so sore, and we all wanted to go back to our shoddy hotel as quickly as possible. Our final destination was Notre Dame. It was impressive, but the amount of tourists just take away from its beauty, a little.
Best conversation happened here, though;
"Sandra, why are there nets and ropes all over the entrance of the Notre Dame?!"
"So de birds wun't sheet on eet, that's why."
XD;; After Notre Dame, we go to eat some weird pizza at a restaurant called Flam's. It wasn't the greatest thing. In fact, I ate a slice and just went to sleep on my plate. I had a plate mark across my face when I woke up. It was epic.
End of day one.
Day 2 - Our plans for the day included going to the magnificent Louvre and the Eiffel Tower. We were up by 7 and out of there by 8, and we hopped on a bus to the Louvre for a bit of sightseeing, and free time.
This day was one of my favorite days on the whole trip.
Our local tour guide for the day was Pierre, a little French man from outside of Paris I think. He was really nice and provided a lot of information. On the way to the Louvre, we saw Napoleon's palace, and the grand opera theatre. We also rode by the Eiffel tower for picture opportunities, and we were dropped off at the Louvre between noon and 1pm.
Sandra left us with recommendations as to what we should look for in the Louvre. I didn't stay long because I wanted to explore on my own, but I did see the Mona Lisa and some of Rembrandt's artwork, among a few others. I was with a small group; Relse, Debbie, my Mom, and two of the younger boys, Alejandro and Alex. We headed out after about 45 minutes for something to eat - I ate the best croque monsieur I've ever had in my life. Seriously. Every croque monsieur I had after that didn't have crap on the one I had in this little hole in the wall cafe next to the Louvre.
We had 4 hours to do whatever we wanted, so Relse and I, shopping maniacs, went into every store to look around. We came across one dress store with these gorgeous dresses that were handmade. There was a little black woman inside who I don't think was originally from Paris, because her accent was very different, but she was so, so nice. She was measuring me up on all sides and was handing dresses to me left and right. I finally tried on one dress that fit the best, and I bought it. I noticed that some of the handywork was falling apart, so I asked her if it could be fixed with the intention of my Mom hopefully being able to do it later.
She took it back from me and said "Je peux pour toi, bien sur! C'est un plaisir aider une bonne fille." [She basically said "I can fix it for you; It's such a pleasure to help a nice girl visiting Paris."] That made my day. She just sat there sewing and sewing for 20 minutes straight until everything was perfect, and she had a smile on her face the whole time. She even gave us free stuff. xD I can't get over how nice she was. Little things like that just make your day in a foreign country where everything is so huge and different.
After that, we just had a good time looking in stores and expensive boutiques, and $28,000 Rolex watches. It was amusing. xD
When the free time was up, we all got on a bus to go eat dinner at a gorgeous restaurant - we had chicken and a type of potatoes that was so delicious. <3 I also shared an AppleTini with Relse. OM NOM!
Soon after, we were on our way to the Eiffel Tower to go to the very TOP. :D It was amazing, to put it shortly. I loved every second of it. We ended the night with a boat ride around the city. By then, I didn't much care for sightseeing so I slept on the boat because I was so tired. It was really nice though. |D
I wake up and we have to take the metro back to Montmartre; when we get back, it's close to 12AM . I'm starving like a crazy person, so I decide to order my food from a crazy man in this tiny little kebab shop. God, he was so funny. I was sitting there translating for everyone, so when people ordered their food, they were speaking all slowly like "JUUUUH VOOUUUDRAIIIIIS AAA KEBAB PLZ." I was the last to order my food, so when I ordered with fluent French, he asks "How come you don't speak like them?" and I go "Because I'm in your house now, I gotta speak your language properly if I want respect!" He just laughed and winked at me while he was making my kebab.
Btw, BEST FUCKING KEBAB WITH FRIES COVERED IN GLOOPY MAYONNAISE I'VE EVER HAD. <3
End of day 2.
Day 3 - Today, we leave the city of Paris and we embark on a journey by bus to the following locations; Chambord and Chenonceau. Our final destination would be a hotel just outside of the Cognac winery.
This day was very relaxing in comparison to previous days. We stayed on a quiet bus for a few hours catching up on sleep until we arrived to Chambord, a private estate that doubles as a gorgeous castle in a rural area of France. We could not go into this magnificent castle since people actually live there, but we did get some beautiful pictures.
Soon after this, we were on our way to Chenonceau, a HUGE castle reminiscent of that of Sleeping Beauty's castle. It was so gorgeous. Unfortunately, I could not take photos inside, but I do have some videos that I can upload if people are interested.
That place was amazing. ; ; Home of Catherine de Medici and others.
I also got more thumbs up from the ladies behind the counter at the local restaurant for being able to translate for everyone. XD YAY.
We arrive at a very nice hotel later that evening for free time before dinner; Sandra recommended a shopping center near a roundabout down the street... well, being the adventurers that we are, myself, Kristina, Thomas, Kristina's family, and a few others decided to talk this long walk to the centers for nothing. xD We got caught in the rain and we hid under a gas station for shelter like a bunch of idiots. It was absolutely hilarious.
This isn't a very good picture because it was from Kristina's camera and not mine. Lol, sorry Kris! On the bottom row, there's Relse, Carol, Dabney and myself. Then there's Ellen, Judy and I think Jasmine on the second row, and there's Kristina [lmao at that face], Nancy, James, and a pissed looking Jillian. HA. xD
Then we all walk back and pass out in our beds. LOL.
End of day 3.
Day 4 - THE DAY OF THE COGNAC. This day was somewhat relaxing, if not extremely interesting.
We hop on a bus around 9 or so to go to the Cognac winery facility. Admittedly, the tour was deathly boring, and I'm not even going to lie, I was just waiting to try some freakin' liquor.
Ha. Ha. HA. *ded*
Here's me and Kristina before trying the Cognac [btw, she's so pretty. ; ;]:
Ok, and here's my face after tasting it.
ROFL. And it gets worse. Let's take note of a couple of things. I am a female. I am 4'11. I am 93 pounds. My alcohol tolerance is... well, guys, I DON'T HAVE ANY. I take one shot of Cognac, and I'm alright... then everyone's like "HEY JEN, COME TRY IT WITH GINGERALE, YOU'LL ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO DRINK IT LULULUL."
Yeeeeah. The second shot put me over the mark, I was in the place stumbling and Kristina helped walk me outside so that I wouldn't embarrass myself too badly. I think that was my first time drinking straight liquor, and alcohol in France has a particularly HIGH AS FUCK alcohol percentage. Lmao. I even made a video of myself because I was a tad disoriented, but I'm not gonna share that with you guys. XD TOO BAD.
Unfortunately, I felt miserable for the rest of the day. When you drink alcohol and you're pissed drunk, it helps to always be moving. Yeah. Can't really do too much moving on a bus ride. So I had to sleep it off as much as possible.
Later we arrive in Saint, and gorgeous little town with Roman ruins that we stopped to look at. I also had A DELICIOUS AS HELL baguette sandwich with ham and butter and cheese. Had to translate for everyone again. It was chaos, and I had to order my food last again with Kristina so we could help everyone. BUT GOD. SO GOOD. ;3; I want one right now.
Here's a picture of the ruins;
Pretty sweet.
After lots of picture taking and walking around, we hop back on the bus for more sleep until we arrive in Biarritz, a nice little town on the coast of the Atlantic.
We arrive and Sandra recommends that we walk to the city center, which is a 3 mile walk. Again, being stupid and adventurous, I briskly walk with Kristina, Thomas, and Kris' family in my flip flops.
WRONG.
I get a huge blister midway and I endure it for the rest of the walk there, but I ended up having to go barefoot on the walk back.
Which was longer than the way we came.
So about four miles.
Barefoot.
Stepping on rocks and dodging poop along the way.
Much pissitivity and angst. But I didn't cry. I wanted to, and I had to bite my lip and my fist, but I didn't cry. We were 30 minutes late for dinner, and we had spaghetti.
You will never see me eat spaghetti in large amounts SO QUICKLY ever, ever, ever again. I needed it after that walk. There was also a funny conversation at the table again.
Rebeckkah: "I wanna go to a night club in Spain."
Sandra: "Yuu shuld do eet. Lots off options and such."
Rebeckkah: "Are there any drugs?"
Sandra: "HAHAHAHA Oh mai Gohd, why? You want some? 3 Euro a piece in most places for pills. I can surely get chu some."
Jen: *laughing ass off*
Rebeckkah: ".............."
Ha. It was pretty, crappy experience and all.
End of day four.
Day 5 - Out of Biarritz and onto St. Jean de Luz. [I loved St. Jean de Luz btw, it was a neat little town and it has my last name in it. XD] That morning, Sandra took everyone to the city center if they wanted to go and allowed others to sleep in if they wanted to.
Yeah. You bet that my ass slept in that morning. And it was so nice. I slept in until 10:30. No waking up at 7am, for once. SO NICE. I was in a good mood, that day. |D
Lots of bus riding today as well. Our first stop of the day was in St. Jean de Luz, our last time in France. I was extremely sad to leave a country where I didn't feel lost because I could ask people questions and just talk to them. St. Jean de Luz was so pretty, and there was also a beach there. I bought a bikini there from a nice lady in a local shop there, too. <3 We also had lunch.
There were a lot of nice people in France. If people bumped into you, they always said 'pardon.' If you tried to speak to them in French no matter how crappy it sounded, they treated you with respect. The food was amazing, the fashion was amazing, the people were interesting and usually kind. I was incredibly sad to leave. :C
That's all for now; I'll have part 2 with Spain up later on. : D Enjoy the pictures.
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