Schroeder Eurotrip Part 2

Bonjour! I’m currently on my way back to Wuppertal from glamorous Paris, France!  After a three hour train ride, I met up with my parents and Trevor at Paris Nord on Thursday June 28^th.  My family had spent the past couple of days in Heidelberg with my Uncle Dave who happened to be there on business.  From there, they rented a car and drove to Paris  through and I quote “the most insane traffic my dad has ever experienced in his life”.  We met up at Paris Nord and from there headed up to Sacre Cour church in Montmartre and were treated to a spectacular view of Paris!  My dad had racked up some Marriott points, so we stayed in a nice hotel slightly outside the city. 

Sacre Cour, where the cool kids hang out

My first glimpse of the Eifel Tower!

Friday morning we woke up early and headed outside the city to the palace of Versailles.  We got there early enough that we beat most of the crowds, but the palace was still pretty packed.  I had no idea how truly huge and grandiose Versailles actually is.  Every aspect of the palace is larger than life; the windows, the furniture, the wallpaper, the chandeliers, everything was gilded and beautiful!  Everything was awesome and I had no idea that the bedrooms of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were right on the other side of the Hall of Mirrors!  After we were through the palace, we headed out to the sweeping grounds where we rented a golf cart and drove around.  That was a hilarious experience – driving around these well-pruned grounds honking our little horn and yelling “bonjour!” to other golf carters.    

Excited about Versailles!

Versailles Chapel

Hall of Mirrors!

Where Marie Antoinette slept! Luxury!

Our trusty golf cart!

Joyous in the gardens!

Palace posin'

We headed back to the hotel for a little mid afternoon nap and then picked up Ian at the train station.  After we finally found the train station, the five of us headed to my most favorite restaurant in the entire world – Chipotle!  Chipotle just opened a store in Paris couple of weeks ago!  It’s their first store in France and only their third in all of Europe (the two others are in London!).   It was so fantastic getting to eat a delicious barbacoa burrito!  After dinner we wandered through the beautiful Parisian streets to the Opera house and past the Ritz.  We ended the night walking around the Seine.

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY I WAS.

Chillin' along the Seine, looking at the Eifel Tower.

 Saturday we woke up and headed to Place St. Michael to meet up with another free walking tour.  On the 3.5 hour tour we saw everything; Notre Dame de Paris, The Latin Quarter, Ile-de-la-Cité, Pont Neuf, The Louvre, Palais Royal, Haussmann’s Renovations, Eiffel Tower, Tuileries Gardens, Les Invalides, Académie Française, Opéra Garnier, Musée d’Orsay, Pont Alexandre III, Napoléon’s Tomb, Assemblé Nationale, Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, Grand & Petit Palais, & Place de la Concorde.

Where's the Hunchback?

France stole this from Egypt!

Napoleon's remains are in there!

The building of Napoleon's tomb

After the tour, Ian and I grabbed some food and laid under the Eifel tour for a while before heading back to the hotel.  We quickly changed and then we were off to the Stade de France to see my most favorite band ever the Red Hot Chili Peppers!  After their new album “I’m With You” came out, they went on a huge international tour.  However, they were in Germany before I was in Germany and they were in Ohio after I left Ohio.  About 5 months ago Ian and I bought concert tickets to see the Chili Peppers in Paris, France.  It was because of this concert that our whole trip to Paris came to be! The concert was absolutely awesome – my one complaint was that the stage was pretty low and since we were in the standing section I couldn’t see that much.  They played an excellent mix of new and old stuff.  Another odd thing was that Ian and I seemed to be the only people singing along to most songs!  The Chili Peps are hard enough to understand for a native English speaker, so maybe the French have a really hard time understanding the lyrics.  After a jam packed subway ride back to the hotel, we passed out because of a long day of walking and standing. 

The Eifel Tower! Oui oui!

Before the Chili Peps!

Sunday we all woke up and took advantage of our hotel’s awesome breakfast buffet one last time.  Then, my parents had to head to the airport to catch their flight back to the states.  It was sad to say goodbye but I will see them back home soon enough.  After the goodbye, Ian and I headed to the Arc de Triumph.  There we paid 6 Euro to climb 238 stairs and get arguably the best view of Paris.  From there, we strolled down the Champs d’Elysées to the Louvre.  Sunday also happened to be the first Sunday of the month, so the Louvre was free to enter!  Our tour guide from the day before told us about a “secret entrance” into the Louvre and HOLY COW did it save us a TON of time.  Seeing as the museum was free, it was absolutely packed and the main entrance (the glass pyramid) had a line worthy of Cedar Point.  (If you’re standing at the mini Brandenburg gate looking at the glass pyramid, the “secret entrance”  is through and arch on your right by long greyish navy banners.)  We had literally zero wait, and since the entrance was free, Ian and I didn’t feel bad about bee-lining it to the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and the Sphynx.  After the Louvre, we headed to Chipotle for a second time (had to get my fill!) before finally saying goodbye to the beautiful city of love.  

Taking pictures in the middle of the street by the most dangerous roundabout ever.

:)

I'll miss you Paris!