Paris: "We Should Write A Travel Book"

This past weekend was a trip to Paris. Of course, it started and ended with a very long bus ride. The middle was a ride in itself. Trying to see all of Paris in 3 days is no easy feat. But somehow Abi and I managed to concur the city on a student budget.

We got into the city on Friday evening. It took us about 15 minutes just to find the metro station, but after that it was smooth sailing to our accommodation. We stayed in someone's apartment that we found online. That may sound scary to some, but hey, it's cheap and you don't have to worry about grimy hostel beds. Anywho, after we ditched our stuff, we went to find some dinner. We both ordered omelettes  and were surprised by the size of the plate that we were brought. There was a massive omelettes, a huge portion of fries, and some salad. And all that for just 7 euro? Yup. It shocked us too, but ignited our determination to get the best bang for our buck.

Saturday morning, we headed out without much of a plan, but managed to see most of the super-touristy things in one day (with minimal walking thanks to the super-discounted weekend day metro ticket). We saw the Sacre Coeur which turned out to be one of my favorite things in the end. Probably because there's not a lot of hype around it, but it's still beautiful. We then headed down to the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysees, took the obligatory pictures, then pointed ourselves in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. In all honesty, the Champs-Elysees and the Eiffel Tower were very underwhelming. Sure, the Eiffel Tower looks amazing in pictures and is very iconic, but I couldn't help but wonder "Why is this thing so popular?" as I was looking at it up close. 

Despite being let down by the Eiffel Tower, I was pleasantly surprised by the Luxembourg Gardens. It's basically just a giant park with flowers and kiddies galore. But we did go while it was sunny which made it all the more enjoyable. After that we went to more touristy places like the Pantheon, Opera House, and Moulin Rouge. That night we met up with one of Abi's archaeology friends for a very French dinner of cheese and wine at a little cafe.

Sunday, we were ready to tackle the Louvre (free admission on the first Sunday of the month). That is until we saw the massive line. We didn't know exactly what we were getting ourselves into when we got into the line. Little did we know that it would take us an hour and forty minutes before we got to the entrance. We both agreed that we would've been upset if we hadn't stuck it out, so it turned out okay. But yet again, I was less than impressed with the museum. There was just so much stuff! I was on sensory overload and struggling to appreciate any of the art. I also felt like it was haphazardly put together, and spent a good bit of time trying to sort out what was actually important. We did manage to see the Mona Lisa though, so check that one off the bucket list.

For the afternoon we went to the Père Lachaise Cemetery. It was definitely cooler than I thought it would be. It was different from any other cemetery that I had ever seen. And some of the graves were so old that they looked like they were broken into (and possibly were). We also managed to see some famous people's graves like Frederic Chopin. We then walked around the neighborhood Montmartre which is famous for being the artist quarter of the city. I'd highly recommend this to anyone going to Paris.

For our last day in Paris, we decided it was finally time to actually pay to go into something. Little did we know that because we're 18-26 years old and citizens of the European Union we'd get into a bunch of things for free! We went to Notre Dame where the sky decided to open up over our unsuspecting heads and make us look like little wet puppies. It would've been a lot cooler if it hadn't been raining, just so the view from the top of the cathedral was clearer. We also managed to go to the Palace and see where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned. We spent the rest of the day wandering around the city and we managed to track down some awesomely delicious onion soup to warm us up.

We got back to Leiden this morning around 7:30 completely exhausted from the weekend (and the lack of sleep on the bus). It was a fun time overall, and I'm really glad that I went. Yet another place I can check off my list!

Sacre Coeur

Arc de Triomphe

Eiffel Tower

Opera House

Louvre

Père Lachaise Cemetery

Notre Dame

Leve de Koning!

It has been a very busy week on this side of the pond. Last week the new king rose to power, so of course the country was in complete celebration mode, and this past weekend I went to Paris! (Paris recap in a different post)

The celebrations surrounding the new king were far from scarce. Festivities started the night before (aka Queen's Night). I went down to The Hague with a few people and we wandered the city to see what was going on. There were concerts all over the place. There was also an area that was like a carnival, complete with fried food and over-priced rides. Not to mention plenty of people already donning their orange attire. It was definitely a party. I didn't stay too long though, because I knew I'd be getting up early the next morning to head to Dam Square to see the new king and queen presented on the balcony.

And that is just what I did. I was out the door at 7am, which is the earliest I've woken up since I've been here. We ended up getting to the square about 2 hours before the king was scheduled to make his first public appearance. But it didn't seem like that long of a wait, because it was fun to watch all the people and scope out who had the best orange get-up for the day. The crowd went insane when now-Princess Beatrix began her speech from inside the Palace with a large  chorus of "Bea Bedankt!" (translation: Thank you Bea!). That was just the beginning too. Once Beatrix, the new king, Willem-Alexander, and the new queen, Maxima, stepped out on the balcony, voices and cameras were raised. It was insane. I don't even know how I managed to get the pictures I did. I'm writing it off as good luck more than anything else.

After the royal family headed back inside, the square quickly emptied as people headed off to other festivities around the city. I ended up walking around Amsterdam and getting a good bit of free stuff. Eventually we headed down to Museumplein where there was a huge concert/festival going on. We watched some music performances and then the official church component of the day on giant TV screens. We got some poffertjes and fries to curb our hunger and round out the day.

It was definitely awesome to be a part of this. One for the record books!

Queen's Night

That's dedication right there

I was spotted...

Oranje Boven!