I woke up early because I wanted to make sure I was not going to miss the bus or train for my journey to Paris. Luckily, I made it to Paris on time at about 1pm. The train ride scenery was wonderful, I got to see the yellow/wheat colored foothills and I even saw a few windmills. The view was somewhat tranquil and calming. I did sleep for some of the train ride as well. Grace (a friend from college) met me at the train station and we hopped on the metro and went to the Opera Garnier or place de l’Opera to go see a ballet. Although there are many sites to see, I actually enjoyed seeing a ballet, it was the same opera house where the Phantom of the Opera preformed. The ballet was called La Petite Danseuse de Degas. I have taken ballet since I was 3 and it was very nice to see a ballet in a foreign country, especially a French ballet. After the ballet, we went back home to where Grace lives. She lives in a ‘suburb’ of Paris, so I got to see what a French home looks like. It was small, condensed with many floors. We got a bagette on our way back to the metro stop. The metro system is very big and is probably the dirtiest part of Paris; sometimes the subways smell like urine and if you look around you may find the homeless man producing the odor. There were people playing music in the station, selling fresh fruit, or even women begging for money. It was definitely a city experience. And what I learned on many metro rides is that most Parisians are listening to their Ipod and looking very depressed, unhappy or pissed off. So, to fit in and not look like an American, I did not smile and I just stared at the ground so I would not make any eye contact with any creepers that were lurking about. It was actually kind of fun, Grace and I played along as being ‘French’ people. It was the final match of the world cup!! So in honor to celebrate, we went to the Eiffel tower and sat on the grass to watch the game on a huge big screen. When we switched lines to get on the metro line for the game, there were so many people walking in the station, it was unreal. When we boarded the metro to the park, we were literally stuffed with people, like sardines. We finally got to our destination and there were even more people. There were many people selling flags, blow horns, scarves and random trinkets from Spain and the Netherlands. There were also people selling stuff on the floor, mini Eiffel tower souvenirs, purses, hats and much more. I was flabbergasted as to how many people were already at the park, and we were about an hour early. So we ate dinner on the lawn and enjoyed watching the game from afar. It was a lot of fun because many fans were loud and crazy. Some fans even climbed trees to watch the game. And if I turned around I would at least see a couple making out, and that goes for all of Paris. After the game, we walked along the river and sat and watched the Eiffel Tower light up for the night. It was probably one of my favorite Paris moments. It was still very light outside and it was only 10pm. After it was lit, it then ‘sparkled’ and there was flashing/sparkly lights on the tower. It was very pretty. We celebrated Spains’ victory, we sat in the lawn, watched the Eiffel tower, watched many guests run and scream in celebration with Spanish flags all around. The vendors selling the Eiffel Tower trinkets would walk around and just come up to you and try to sell things. I learned that you have to ignore people to be left alone, because you never know what may happen. We were walking back to the metro and I got picked up by some random guy, thrown over his shoulder and after I screamed he set me down. I was fine, but I think he was very happy about Espanas’ victory. It was an interesting experience, and Grace just said ‘only in Paris.’ My friends Rene and Simone were in Paris and after they were done with dinner we met up to go out for Rene’s birthday. Although it was Sunday, there were still places open. She was staying in the medieval part of Paris. This part is where Paris was born. On our way to the Latin Quarter, we walked by the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was very massive in size and the detail was beautiful. We went to a little café and enjoyed a glass of wine and talked the night away. We were all tired for some reason, so it was nice to sit and chat. I was even given a rose by someone as they were passing by, I never even saw their face. Anyways, we walked back along the Seine. Paris is the city of lights, and the view down the Seine River was very pretty.
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