Amelia et Laura à Paris!

This week I am on fall break, and I spent the first weekend in Paris, with my friend Laura from Grinnell, who is studying in Nantes, France. I got there Saturday morning and we met up, then went to the Eiffel Tower (not up it, just saw it, it was too cloudy to see much from the top), the Champs Elysées, and the Arc de Triomphe. Then we picked up a baguette, cheese, wine and chocolate and had a little picnic in a park right next to the Arc de Triomphe. There we met our friend Ria, who graduated from Grinnell this past spring and has spent the past month traveling around Europe.

Laura and me in front of La Tour Eiffel

Ria, me and Laura in front of L'arc de Triomphe

Champs Elysées (notice- no lanes!!)

After our picnic we tried to check into our hostel, but there had been a problem with confirming it, so they set us up in a hotel down the street for the same price and Laura and I got our own room with a sink and a shower! Great deal.


Then the three of us went and got more cheese, bread, wine and chocolate and sat in the park by the Eiffel Tower and ate dinner/talked, and at 8:59 the tower started sparkling! (It is lit up throughout the night but sparkles at a minute before every hour for 5 minutes.) It was beautiful!

We decided to get a better view, so we went to the gardens of Trocadero, which is across the seine but has a great view of the tower. There we heard live music (it was "Nuit Blanche"- a culture festival in Paris), and saw the tower sparkle again!

The sparkling Eiffel Tower from Trocadero

The next day Laura and I had pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant) for breakfast and went to the Musée D'Orsay, which was spectacular because I love impressionist/post-impressionist art. After that we went to the Obelesque, met up with Ria and had lunch at a café near by. Laura and I didn't want to wait in line for the Louvre because it takes hours, but we went there anyway to see the glass pyramid.

We tried to go to the Grand Palais to see their Monet exhibit, but it was 23€ (over 30 dollars), so instead we split a banana and nutella crèpe in the park before we had to leave for the train.

After a 2 hour train ride we were in Nantes (west coast of France). I am staying with Laura's host family here. They have 4 kids (3 girls age 12, 10 and 5 and a 7 year old boy). They are all lots of fun. Last night we made sweet potato turnovers for them, and the kids all helped. Timothé had a clever idea to prevent crying while cutting onions...

I'm looking forward to spending two more days here, then it's off to Amsterdam! 


(p.s. these are all Laura's pictures, because I didn't bring my camera cord. You can read more about her France adventures at www.lockwoodinfrance.blogspot.com)