Speechies with Wanderlust: Paris: Macaroons, Escargot, and Lots of Walking

Charnelle and Crystal were dropped off at the train station on Thursday afternoon. We arrived about 2 hours early to give ourselves enough time before boarding our night train to Paris! During the wait time we decided to grab a beer. As our departure time came near, we when to our train gate (which changed terminals at the last minute - thanks to Crystal for noticing!), and viola, there as our train! Thankfully, we had two extra seats to ourselves! However, half way through our train ride when the attendants checked train tickets, Crystal had her feet kicked up and relaxed on the seat in front of her. The attendants said something to her in French or German, and she didn't understand what they were saying. They repeated what they said in English, and told her to take her feet down and if she did it again, she would have to pay 15€! Note to everyone: DO NOT KICK HOUR FEET UP ON EUROPEAN TRAINS, or you'll have to pay. After a 3 and a half hour train ride, we finally arrived in Paris, France! We didn't see much at all since it was dark unfortunately. Since Anne and Sarah were arriving the next day, we stayed in a hostel for the night.

We woke up bright and early on Friday morning to eat breakfast and head out to start our Paris boat tour starting at the Louvre museum which was a 35 minute walk. The boat tour allowed you to hop on and off at different historic sites, so we decided to hop off at the Champs Élysées stop to go to Laduree for their delicious macaroons which was a 20 minute walk. After Laduree, we walked another 25 minutes to the Eiffel Tower. Charnelle's GPS took us through a backway path to the Eiffel, and once we turned the corner, BAM, there was the tower. After snapping a few photos, we realized how tired we were from walking with our backpacks, so we made another 25 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower to our AirBnB.

After settling in and with time to spare before Anne and Sarah arrived, Charnelle and Crystal decided to go back on the boat to continue our boat tour. The tour included stops at the Louvre, The d'Orsay museum, Champs Élysées, the Eiffel Tower, Hotel de Ville, Saint Germain Des Pris, and Notre Dame. We decided to get off at Notre Dame and after getting off of the boat where there were huge gaps in between the cobblestoned ground, Charnelle accidentally tripped in between the gaps! Notre Dame is gorgeous by the way! While Charnelle and Crystal headed back to the apartment, Anne and Sarah were very patiently waiting at the apartment for them to get in. After 45 minutes, Charnelle and Crystal finally arrived!

Anne and Sarah's side of the story:

We began our day walking in hour to the Vilseck train in the snow. It was an amazing view and got to watch the sunrise over the hills! We arrived at the train station with 15 minutes to spare and hopped on our train for Nuremberg. We then switched trains in Nuremberg and headed for Stuttgart. At Stuttgart we got off the train and bought coffee at McDonald's while dodging a few birds. It was crazy! From Stuttgart we got on 3:45 hour train ride to Paris. Sarah listened to a book on tape and Anne slept and enjoyed the view out the window. It snowed ALOT on the way there until we reached Paris. Once we reached Paris, we went to buy a metro ticket. This was somewhat intimidating as Anne's credit card was denied and the line became stacked up with frustrated travelers. After trying multiple cards and finally being able to purchase her ticket Anne and Sarah hopped on the metro, however, on the close look out for pick picketers. When we arrived at the air b n b we had no wifi and were unable to reach the girls by our German phones. The landlord got us into the building however did not speak English so did not understand why we were there. Finally, a physician who was visiting a patient in the building came through and spoke English. He helped us out of the building when we thought we were trapped. After his appointment, he saw us standing outside and let us back in so that we could stay warm. We then went down the street looking for wifi. We went into a hotel which allowed us to use their wifi. We got in contact with Charnelle and then returned back to the AirBnB. The renter ended up finding us on the street and gave us a key to the apartment where we met Charnelle and Crystal.

Happy ending to our day, we all got settled in and went out for dinner where Charnelle and Anne tried duck for the first time. It was very tasty!

P.S., after lots of waking around the beautiful city of Paris, Charnelle and Crystal walked a total of 14 miles, 31,000+ steps, and 45 flings of stairs (thanks to Crystal's FitBit). This resulted in a minor sprained ankle and foot blisters.

Day 3 consisted of:

-Went inside Notre Dame (gorgeous architecture!)

-Charnelle and Anne tasted a Nutella crepe!

-Jardin de Luxembourg (Luxembourg Garden)

-Met with Sarah's cousin and ate lunch at La Favorite

-Anne and Sarah's 1st trip to the Eiffel Tower

-A second trip back to the Eiffel Tower because every first 5 minutes of every hour, the tower sparkles and it's amazing!!!

-Dinner and wine at the apartment

Day 4 consisted of:

-An awkward encounter with 2 strange pick pocketers at the Metro

-Arche de Triomphe

-Champ Élysées to go to Laduree for Anne and Sarah to have delicious macaroons!