WOW! One week has already passed. I made it to Paris, France safe and sound and this week has been completely amazing. I am so in love with the city.
I flew into Paris-Charles de Gaulle and my flight did not feel like 14 hours. I flew from SF to Chicago and from Chicago to Paris. Since I wanted to avoid being jet-lagged I didn’t sleep at all Friday night and thought sleeping on the plane would help. From SF to Chicago I slept 80% of the flight and from Chicago to Paris I also slept the entire time and read “The Fault In Our Stars” I sat next to this man who probably thought I was a weirdo crying my eyes out at 4am in the morning.
When arriving to Paris, I made the mistake of using my “first free 15 minutes” of wifi too soon. I don’t have service over here and I was supposed to meet a friend and head over to our hotel together. Since we both didn’t have phones we communicated about 3 messages and then had to find each other in a huge airport with no phones. After 15 minutes I could not find my friend so I went into a coffee shop inside the airport and just prayed to God. I was starting to get nervous at this point so I got up and walked outside and boom there she was. I don’t know how we found each other but we did. We went and caught the metro but since there was a strike going on we had to re-route and go a different way.
The metro system in Paris is so amazing and actually quite easy to use.
Our hotel (Ideal Hotel Design) was right by the metro station, but we did manage to get lost finding it. That first moment when you go up the escalator and see the streets is a feeling like no other. It’s exciting but nerve wrecking at the same time.
After enjoying a nice meal we went to check in and took a 3 hour nap, so much for my “staying up all night and sleeping on the plane” idea. I was completely exhausted! We woke up and went to have dinner and just soaked up the fact that we were finally in Paris.
Monday June 16th, 2014
Airport attire: Leggings (super comfy I cannot do jeans while flying) White tee and jacket (airplanes get super cold so a jacket is always recommended) Boots (also because its cold and I didn’t want to make my luggage heavier) & a light scarf
We arrived at the hotel around noon on Sunday and were told we couldn’t check in until 2pm so we dropped off our luggage and hit the town. We went to have lunch at a Creperie around the corner from our hotel. Food in Paris when I visited a few years ago wasn’t the best so I was not expecting much this time around. BUT I have to say my food experiences have been quite delightful! More information on this later 🙂
For many of you asking what in the world am I doing in Paris…the answer is this one. I am taking a class called “Global Leadership/International Public Relations” which counts as elective units for my masters degree. Since I couldn’t study abroad as an undergraduate I thought this class would be the perfect opportunity.
Monday we checked out of the hotel and went to the Cite Universitaire to check in and get our room assignments. As soon as the metro dropped us off in front of the University I was stunned by how beautiful the campus was with all the trees and buildings.
We went through an orientation and unpacked all our luggage into our dorm rooms. Afterwards
we got ready and decided to hit the town for some dinner. We went to a place called “Grazie” for pizza and drinks. We arrived at the restaurant and just sat down and the waiter says “table for 4 not possible we are all booked.” My friends and I looked at each other and were so sad since we were starving! I guess we had really desperate faces since the waiter sat us in the bar and we were able to order without reservations. This restaurant was AMAZING and the drinks were even better, they had a sign in the bar saying, “cocktail first, questions later”…after seeing the tab I understood the sign a bit better.
Tuesday June 17, 2014
Today, we woke up and got ready to head to class. We had a short orientation and had a little break to walk around the city and explore. We went to get some coffee, grabbed a pasty and walked around the farmers market. Warning: if you plan on visiting Paris, also plan to gain a ton of weight lol the pastries here are out of this world!
I’ve heard many people say coffee in Paris isn’t the best but I’ve actually really enjoyed it! (CAPPUCCINO AND CAFE CREME are my go to drinks)
Cutest farmers market!
After our break we went and met near the Seine river for a boat ride and saw the Eiffel Tower up close and personal. Definitely snapped some selfies and enjoyed the serenity of the ride.
SJSU Paris 2014
Of course a selfie with the Eiffel Tower!
Wednesday June 18th, 2014
The Louvre is one of my favorite spots and today we had chance to visit the outside and then went on a walking tour with our class and visited Napoleon’s grave.
After this walking tour my classmates and I decided to go have dinner and treat ourselves to some desert. There’s a reoccurring theme we are seeing and it’s this one; after every meal desert is a must! So I visited this place called Dalloyou a couple years ago and I just remember having the best macaron sundae ever! This time around I had to take my friends there! Guess what? THEY ARE NOW OBSESSED.
After eating this sundae we were in a complete food coma! We went back to the university rested a bit then decided to visit the Eiffel Tower.
Scary Story Alert: We took off to the Eiffel Tower around 10ish pm and in Paris during the summer it gets dark around 10:30pm. We took the metro and as soon as I got inside the car I knew something was wrong. There was a weird guy sitting alone in the back grunting and make some scary noises. Since I took bart for about a year in the bay area I learned to ignore and just not look at the person when you’re in that situation…well here in Paris that did not work! My friends back was towards this man and before you know it he was charging towards us yelling! We were so scared we got up and RAN! He was inches away from attacking us. We sat in the next car and were so freaked out we decided to take a cab home that night after the Eiffel Tower.
BUT we had a lovely time seeing the Eiffel Tower and walking around the streets of Paris despite the mini attack on the metro.
Thursday June 19th, 2014
Before heading off to class we went on a quick stroll down Champs and had some brunch and snapped a picture of the Arc. 🙂
We had a chance to visit a brewery here in Paris called “La Fine Mousse Brewery.” They gave us a tour of the brewery and explained to us the boom that is happening with the beer industry in France. We tasted some beer and took some pictures 🙂
After this we went to visit Montmartre, my favorite place in Paris so far. The streets, people, coffee shops are beyond quaint. Gladis (roommate) decided to take a trip over there and just take pictures and enjoy the evening drinking wine and eating desert, of course.
The infamous cafe that we see all over Pinterest!
Funny story: After going to the Sacre-Coeur Basilica we wanted to visit these cafes and we were completely lost. We asked a couple officers for directions and they said, “you know what we will take you there!” My first instinct was to say no and a bunch of TAKEN movie scenes popped into my head lol BUT we said “OKAY” The officers drove us there and gave us a little tour of the streets. I had my camera and they had a beating stick or whatever they call them in the backseat which were ready to be used in case something went wrong. Thank God it didn’t and we were safe drinking coffee and wine.
Funny story: After going to the Sacre-Coeur Basilica we wanted to visit these cafes and we were completely lost. We asked a couple officers for directions and they said, “you know what we will take you there!” My first instinct was to say no and a bunch of TAKEN movie scenes popped into my head lol BUT we said “OKAY” The officers drove us there and gave us a little tour of the streets. I had my camera and they had a beating stick or whatever they call them in the backseat which were ready to be used in case something went wrong. Thank God it didn’t and we were safe drinking coffee and wine.
Friday June 20th, 2014
SJSU Paris 2014
Time flies when you’re having fun! Friday morning we started bright and early at the Love Lock Bridge. History behind the bridge and why there are so many locks, “typically the sweethearts’ names or initials are inscribed on the padlock, and its key is thrown away to symbolise unbreakable love. Since the 2000s, love locks have proliferated at an increasing number of locations worldwide.”–Paris being one of them.
Right after the love lock bridge we did a small walking tour in the Left Bank.
This is the Hotel where Oscar Wilde passed away.
Oldest Cafe in Paris…still in its original condition.
Notre-Dome
After our morning walking tour we went to the Louvre and paid a visit to the Mona Lisa. I was surprised at how small it was and how you couldn’t get close to admire the painting. I definitely tried to admire it but it was filled with tourists like myself and security.
Quick Selfie!
Cupid!
HOW BEAUTIFUL DOES THIS LOOK?
Next Stop for us…VINTAGE SHOPPING
Didier Ludot, famous vintage store where Rachel Zoe gets her best and reserved finds! Did not find anything I liked BUT I am still on the hunt. I have a few more vintage store up my sleeve so I will keep you posted.
Finished off this long day with a fancy dinner at “Les Philosophes” thank you Claudio for the recommendation! We loved it! 🙂
(Sorry for the bad picture some are from iPhone and others from my canon!)
Saturday June 21st, 2014
Started off our Saturday morning at Shakespeare and Co and had brunch at this restaurant right next to the bookshop. Since they were setting up for the music festival that happens every summer we did not have much time to look around so we decided to head towards Palace of Versailles for the afternoon. Since we are students we receive free entrances to museums and a lot of these places!
Visited the Palace of Versailles!
We also ran into SHAQ while in the Palace! We had no idea who he was until we bumped into him by accident trying to get into the hall of mirrors. My friend asked him for an autograph and he straight up said, “No Not Now!”…#YESDENIED…lol so we took some behind the scenes pictures.
After the palace we went to dinner and hit “Fete de la Musique”
A great way to end the week was with Fete De La Musique!
More to come and thank you for reading 🙂
Besos!
PARIS I LOVE YOU
