Paris...

Okay, so, now for the Paris Post.

Paris was lovely, and I was really happy to spend time there with mom... I just didn't enjoy it as much as London. There's many reasons for this.
-I was dead-tired from all the walking around London we did. My back and legs were in a constant state of pain.
-It was cloudy most of the time, I think if I'd seen it in summer I'd find it more beautiful
-I don't know as much French as I used to, so I felt really dumb whenever I tried to converse with a French person
-I missed our usual travel group (though I love Heather and Jill dearly I kept thinking how much fun we'd have if John, Jenna, Eric, Shanagh, etc. were there)
-By the time we left for Paris all my clothes were dirty and gross because I only packed like four shirts and two pants into a single backpack, plus my hair was frizzy and disgusting since I didn't have my vast assortment of curl-tamers with me and I'd left my straightener at the castle.
-I built Paris up so much in my mind I couldn't help but be a little dissapointed.

This isn't to say I didn't have fun there. And it was really pretty. I don't know, I just wasn't completely in love with it like I thought I would be. But I did have a fun birthday. Mom took us out to an Italian restaurant and we had spaghetti and this wonderful wine, then we trekked on up to Sacre Coeur, where you can see all of Paris. It was this cute little section of Paris that was really old and rustic looking. Jill and Heather went back the next day, while I went to the Musee D'Orsay with my Mom and Val. I wish I'd seen Sacre Coeur in the day, but The museam was wonderful. It had some of my favorite artists, Monet and Van Gogh, plus a lot of works that I'd studied last year in Art History. Mom cried when she saw Monet's painting of the bridge, it was her favorite painting ever. She said it was one of those "once in a lifetime moments." I'm hoping my favorite painting, Starry Night, will be in the Van Gogh museam in Amsterdam, I wonder if I'll have the same reaction.

We also went to The Louvre. Saw the Mona Lisa and many other wonderful works of art. That place was just far too massive. I had to sit and take a break in like, every room. It was cool though, definately a must-see in Paris. We also saw Notre Dame, but I'm not totally into churches and religious stuff. I just kept thinking of the Disney movie, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and kept trying to remember if the movie showed the church accurately.

Two nights we had dinner in our room (not allowed for whatever reason, which is weird... but they allow you to have food and chips you buy AT the hotel) and it was adorable, because it was fresh bread, cheese, crackers, fruit, and wine. And chocolate! It was so much fun, we felt very French. I liked this almost as much as the nights we ate out :)

At the hotel there was one really nice desk clerk, and one really mean one. The mean one was this woman who yelled at me about the internet and was giving my mom a hard time about calling a cab. Plus, she accused me and Heather and Jill of staying in my mom's room an extra night after we'd checked out and gone to the hostel. I'm sure my mom complained about her to the manager or whatnot, she was quite rude. The nice desk clerk was this guy named Dipesh from Nepal. We stayed up late and talked with him about America, it was cool to get an outside perspective of our culture. He also asked us to correct an essay in English for him, and talked about all the places he'd traveled and such. I feel bad we didn't meet up with him again, but we're facebook friends so hopefully he'll keep in touch.

Jill's birthday was a day before mine, and Heather and I had bought Jill a dress she had wanted in London. While she was in the shower, we hung it up over her bed, next to the window, with a sign that said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" I told Heather I bet Jill wouldn't even notice it. Which she didn't. It was hilarious. Heather and I were cracking up laughing because she was just sitting on her bed complaining about how the razor she bought gave too many knicks. Finally I asked her if she could tell if it was still raining outside, and she pushed the dress aside with the curtains, stopped, realized what it was, and was like "ooooh!" since she thought we were laughing because we poisoned her chips or something. She seemed to enjoy it, and it fit! :) For my birthday they got me a shot glass and bag that I'd wanted that said Paris on it. Two things I had wanted since I got there :)

After two nights in the hotel we went to the Aloha Hostel. I got us lost because I'd brought us to the wrong street. But when we finally found it, it wasn't too bad. Free breakfast, and there was a bar. It was a bit of a change, going from comfy beds and a nice big shower to bunk beds and a shower that we couldn't figure out how to turn on. Our last night in Paris we split a plastic bottle of wine and Heather drank a bit too much. Then Jill and I chilled in the bar for a bit. The next day we hopped on the train and came back to the castle.

I missed the castle a lot, I'm very happy to be back. I'm happy to feel clean and wear different clothes. I am running a little low on conditioner for my hair, which is scary because they don't seem to have Pantene Pro-V Sleek and Smooth here, which is the only stuff that gets my hair the way I like it. I don't ever want my hair to be how it was last week. Yuck. Next two-week trip I am definately taking two bags, I don't care how inconvienent it'll be or if it's 12 Euro to check it on Ryanair.

Now, back to the endless amounts of homework! Hurrah!

Oh, my Brussels trip is finally on Flickr. I may be changing image hosting sites soon though since I'm running out of space. http://www.flickr.com/photos/internationalashley/ click the box on the side that says "Brussels"
If you have facebook, the London and Paris pics are there. For those of you without facebook, I'll figure out some way to post them when I have time.

Love and miss you all like always... comments? <3