Changing from "sí" to "oui" ~ A weekend in Paris

This past weekend I took a trip to Paris by myself to meet up with one of my best friends from high school, Angela, who is studying abroad this semester in Nantes, France. 

Angela & I with our new felt hats

I have been to Paris three years ago on my trip to France and London with my high school French teacher.  Because of this traveling alone there didn't scare me.  Angela came with three of her friends in her program to celebrate the one girl's birthday.  
 When I arrived there I had to wait for them to arrive since they were coming later, so I went to the Champs-Élysées to hang out for a bit.  Then I walked around a little bit and I saw  the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower from afar, the Musée de l'Armée, the Hôtel des Invalides, and walked down some fancy streets.  

L'Arc de Triomphe

Musée de L'Armée Cannons & Eiffel Tower

Hôtel des Invalides

I went back to our apartment that they rented from Airbnb to meet up with them when they arrived.  After they got all settled we went out and had dinner at a crêperie near Sacre Coeur where I had a galette for dinner.  Then we went up the hill to visit to Sacre Coeur. 

Sacre Coeur lit up at night

The next morning we headed out on the town, this time starting with visiting the Louvre.  Unfortunately Angela's friends did not want to go inside but it was fun just being able to visit again.  

Metro stop at the Louvre

Holding up the Louvre Pyramid

From the Louvre we walked through the Tuileries garden and went for a ride on the Ferris Wheel.  That was really cool because I was never on it before and it was a neat view of the city.  
The next stop on the agenda was the Musée l'Orangerie which is a museum that houses impressionism and post-impressionism paintings.  The most important ones are the works of Claude Monet and his Water Lilies.  

One of Claude Monet's Water Lilies Mural

Argenteuil - Claude Monet

 We ate lunch on the Champs-Élysées where I went the day before for some sandwiches.  After that we walked down the street again to visit the Arc again and then went to check out the Eiffel Tower.  

Eiffel Tower from a bridge over the Seine

That night we all got dressed up and went out to celebrate Angela's friend's birthday.  We had reservations at the most famous macaroon restaurant on the Champs-Élysées.  I had a plate of king crab mixed with noodles and some other ingredients.  The best part was dessert.  I had macaroons with ice cream inside of them and then a scoop of ice cream underneath.  I got four macaroons with that and it's the first time I ever had them.  The flavors I had were chocolate, coffee, pistachio, and rose.  I got to choose the flavor of ice cream underneath and I chose caramel.  It was so good!

Menu of the Restaurant

Macaron glacé dessert

 After our dinner where we felt like princesses, we went to see the Eiffel Tower at night and watch it sparkle on the hour.  

 
 The next morning we went to Hillsong, which I did not like at all and was against their ways of doing things and things that they were saying, but I can say it was an experience.  
After that, Angela, her friend, and I went to a restaurant in the Theatre district, which I later realized was a chain restaurant.  The food there was very good.  
The next stop on our agenda was Notre Dame.  It was really neat to experience it again when I didn't have jetlag.  

 We had to then head back to the apartment because their train was leaving that evening.  We all gathered our belongings and then we got on the metro to later split our separate ways again.  They were going to catch their train and I was going to my hostel near the Louvre because my plane wasn't until the next morning.  I was so glad that I got to see Angela again and meet her friends.  
After I checked into my room at the hostel,  I headed back out onto the town to revisit the Bastille monument.  

It was there that I found a McDonald's because I did not want to spend a lot on dinner because I spent a ton the night before.  This is the first time that I had it outside of the US.  Long and behold, it tastes the same and it's not made any neater.  I ordered a drink and a double cheeseburger.  

I went back to the Eiffel Tower one last time that night and I also took the elevator to the top.  The view is more amazing than I had remembered and I went all out because I don't know when I'd be able to come back again and bought rosé champagne in a glow cup.  

It was sad to say good-bye to the Eiffel Tower but I took one last picture and went back to the hostel so I could get some sleep before I had to leave to go to the airport early the next morning.  
Until next time Paris! 

I now have a little less than 4 weeks until I come home from my study abroad.  I've had a wonderful time while I'm abroad, but I also cannot wait to be home again.  My weekends are all booked for the rest of my time here.  This Thursday night I leave for Mallorca, the next one I have a concert on Friday and an excursion with the school on Saturday, then the week after that is the weekend to study for finals, and the last weekend I pack and come home.