Interlaken, Switzerland (Stop 9: EuroTrip 2008)

INTERLAKEN, SWITZERLAND                                

June 11-13, 2008

DAY 1 (18)

The train ride from Luzerne to Interlaken was absolutely stunning. The city is by far the most magical place I’ve ever been to and it makes me wish I was here during Christmas. The alps outline every mile with cascades of melting ice falling down as waterfalls. The city of Interlaken is located between two enormous, swan filled teal lakes. What a beauty.

We made it to our hostel to meet the boys and it is absolutely PERFECT! EuroCup fever is at full force here, especially since it is being held in Switzerland and Austria this year. The hotel is owned by Dutch (go orange!) and the bar is filled with local Dutch partying the night away watching the games. So fun! (P.S. It was pretty nice to see the boys, actually. Friendly faces in a foreign country is always a nice addition.)

DAY 2 (19)

We spent our first day hiking the alps (thanks sneakers for finally coming in handy!). We took a train to Bernese Oberland where we began a small walk around the town for a couple of hours. Little houses with cows and goats in the midst of ENORMOUS snow filled mountains covered in greenery and cascading waterfalls.

We then decided to take the hour and a half hike up the mountain to the city of Gimmelwald, a small 130 people mountain village with no cars, no TVs, but plenty of cheese and cows. It’s located at an elevation of 4472 feet, and has the most beautiful view you could ever hope to see. You literally feel like you are inches from heaven. It was a tough hike for me, but so worth the effort. You could almost kiss the clouds.

We headed home after that hike (took a 5 minute cable cart ride down the mountain) and walked back to our hostel where after a nice long shower, Lib and I sat at the bar to watch he last game in which Poland and Austria tied. 

The atmosphere of the bar was incredible. There was a group of 11 Dutchmen (dressed in orange pimp costumes- robes and hats with leopard print lining) who were in Switzerland for the cup and to celebrate one of their bachelor parties. The bachelor was dressed in a woman’s costume Bavarian style, and they were so incredibly drunk and hilarious. We danced with them all night to Dutch music (which they brought on a CD and the bar tender (Dutch as well) was happy to play on repeat throughout the night. They kept buying us drinks and talking us up, and we actually really enjoyed all their company- other than Wim (who was 24) all the other men were at least in their 40s and we felt no pressure to invite them up to the hostel after. It was a great night all around (no surprise the boys were no part of it).

DAY 3 (20)

We had the most unbelievable experience of our lives today!! Libby, Arin and Mike were going to go Cannyoning- jumping off cliffs into lakes and rock-climbing, etc this morning, but the weather was bad and the trip was cancelled (Hurray!  No way in hell was I going to do that.) So instead we al decided to go paragliding through the alps together. We took a 15 minute car ride up to the top of a mountain near by , out on our harnesses, got strapped on to our experts (mine was Sebastian, born in Switzerland, but lived in the US for a while), and within 20 minutes of singing up, off we went! It was INCREDIBLE!!! We didn’t jump off a cliff, just stepped off the side of a hill until the short got enough air (all of 10 seconds) and we were flying in the clouds! Above trees and birds and tiny little houses and beautiful twin teal lakes and the tiny city of Interlaken right in the middle where the Dutch were rushing the streets on the way to the train station to catch the train to Bern for the last game tonight. I was literally flying through the alps and what an amazing sight and feeling it was- so freeing, so exciting and clam at the same time, and so absolutely beautiful. Really felt like I was on my way to heaven.

We ended our high of the day by taking an overnight train to Roma where we will be meeting up with Lindsay tomorrow. What a beautiful, magical day.

Luzerne, SWITZERLAND (Stop 8: EuroTrip 2008)

LUZERNE, SWITZERLAND

June 11, 2008 

DAY 1 (17)

Libby and I decided to spend our first day in Switzerland in Luzerne before meeting the boys in Interlaken tomorrow. In all honesty, meeting up with them again is not something I am ready for or looking forward to, but since Interlaken is supposed to be a great outdoor sports city and we’re thinking of going skydiving or some other extreme sport, we decided it would be better to do it with them.

Luzerne is absolutely, picture perfect beautiful. There are swans everywhere and a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains. Heaven as a post-card.

We got here early this morning, around 8 am and after visiting the tourist information center in the train station, we decided to take a self guided walking tour of the city. 

The first half of the day was rainy and gray, but the city was still stunning. It is a very small town in the midst of a beautiful lake and stunning mountains. We walked around the village to see the rivers (heavy current from the pouring rain) carrying clear teal water to the enormous lake below. Did I mention there were white swans everywhere? Like dozens and dozens of them. We crossed the famous covered bridge, on our climb up towards the city walls- a castle-like barrier with 8 watch towers. We were able to climb 5 of them to see different views of the city.

After our walk, we headed back down the mountain to go see a sculpture carved into the side of the mountain of a very sad lion in remembrance of lost soldiers in some battle. It was quite beautiful, and surprisingly, the most beautiful piece of rock I’ve ever seen, haha. 

After sitting by the lake for about an hour to watch the sunset, we made our way back to the train station to move on to Interlaken. 

Berlin, GERMANY (Stop 7: EuroTrip 2008)

BERLIN, GERMANY

June 8-10, 2008

DAY 1 (14)

We met up with the man we met at the bar last night, and he was kind enough to drive us to the Harlem train station this morning. Otherwise, we would have had to leave 4 hours earlier to walk back the same path we had done the night before. But at the end of the day, it wouldn’t have mattered much. Our train from Amsterdam to Berlin was cancelled due to another strike (come on Europe, can’t you wait until the summer is over?), so we took a train to some other city in the Netherlands to wait for our departure of a 4:00 pm train to Berlin.

We made it to our hostel at 10:00pm after our arrival was scheduled at 5:00, but we didn’t have any problems with the staff. The place was actually amazing. It happened to be owned by a Brazilian couple who had been living in Berlin for over a decade and they were extremely welcoming and helpful. We shared a 6 bed room with 2 other girls, and despite the communal shower, it had great water pressure and we had an amazing night of sleep. Much, much needed after our long adventure the day before! Best part was, we got a $8 deal per night. Wish I remembered the name of the hostel. 

DAY 2 (15)

We took it pretty easy today. We officially “hit the wall” and needed a break from the crazy pace. We're exhausted and home sick, and this fight with the boys is keeping us down a bit. In all honesty, all I want right now is to take a two day nap in my own bed. Everyone we meet says this is normal; that the two week mark really hits you. But they also say that if we get through the next couple of days we'll get out pace back and can happily continue on our way. Let's hope they're right. 

We decided to do our last New Europe free tour today (Berlin is the last city of our destinations that this tour is offered). It was longer than any other we have walked (3.5 hours) and overall, I feel like I didn’t get to see too much. We saw part of the Berlin wall which was really neat, and the Holocaust Memorial, the Opera and Theatre Houses, Check Point Chaulie and the Old Palace. The city overall seems under construction, but it’s still in the ruins from the war. It’s incredible to think of how close in time that was, even just the Berlin wall falling only 18 years ago, and how it is still very much a part of everyday life here in Germany.

After the tour we went home for a quick nap and some internet time before signing up for the Berlin pub crawl. It was pretty lame, especially because we didn’t want to spend more than the cover price and drank only the complimentary drinks they gave us- cheap vodka shots and terrible local beer. Yuck. So needless to say, we weren’t drunk and everyone around us was wasted, so we decided to cut out early after catching part of the EuroCup game at a local pub. A waste of a night, but we could still really use the sleep at this point.

DAY 3 (16)

We decided to take a tour to Sansachaanz today, the closest concentration camp to Berlin, before getting on the train to Switzerland. It was amazing to do the tour and learn about the Nazi control over the inmates and all sorts of terrible torture, killing methods and work duties they forced these harmless men to do. Unbelievable experience to be in a place like that and feel the pain of the people who once were forced to work and die there. It’s one thing to learn about it from books, but actually being there is a whole other story. I was very touched, and extremely sensitive throughout the experience. How could you not be?

Lib and I made one last walk to the Berlin wall to check out all the artwork that has been painted throughout the years and the rubble that it now lies as. It was a beautiful experience. The sense of freedom and happiness is overwhelming when seeing the pieces of the wall finally brought down. We had a great dinner and gelato by the side of the canal and made it back to the hostel to pack and get one final good night sleep before we head to Switzerland tomorrow, a day early, to check out Luzerne.

Amsterdam, Zaans Schans and Harlem, THE NETHERLANDS (Stop 4-6: EuroTrip 2008)

AMSTERDAM, ZAANS SCHANS AND HARLEM, THE NETHERLANDS                     

June 6-7, 2008

DAY 1 (12)

We finally made it to Amsterdam! And what an amazing city it is! The Dutch are probably the nicest people in the world, by far the nicest we’ve met during this trip.

We checked into our hostel around 1 am last light because of all our delays etc. The place was DISGUSTING!! So gross. Hans Brinker Hostel- remember the name so you never end up there. They’re motto actually is “It can’t get any worse.” Sadly we didn't realize that until we checked in to the grungy lobby. We were in a room with 6 beds on the seconds story. Sheets with stains (thank God for our fake-me-out sleeping bags!), small lockers filled with graffiti and gross smells. A tiny bathroom with no hot water and terrible water pressure. Overall the worst hostel I could have ever dreamt of. At least there were no bugs or mice. Ugh. Good to know it can’t get any worse from here on out. 


With that said…

We had an amazing time in the city today. We started with another free walking tour, which was a fantastic way to learn the history of The Netherlands (Holland being the region Amsterdam is in) in comparison to the rest of the continent. Basically, the Dutch are all about money- so if you pay your taxes or give the government some money you can get away with pretty much anything. They’ll just look the other way (i.e. Jewish synagogues in the midst of Protestant Persecution, drugs of many kinds, including the “illegal” marijuana sales, and of course the prostitution in the Red Light District. Awesome history and such beautiful architecture and scenery. There are canals and bridges everywhere you look, not to mention a million and three bicycles. They are said to have 3x more bikes than people in the city. Cool huh? Fun way to get green and make your way around the narrow sidewalks are roads.

After the tour, we decided to go see the Anne Frank House. You get to follow her story and go through the rooms of the house where they actually hid out in. It made me much more emotional to go through the house than I anticipated but it was beautiful and a once in a life time experience. I don’t think I could do that again. We then split from the boys and Libby and I decided to take the Red Light District Night Tour with the same tour guide from earlier in the day. I feel like I know so much about Dutch prostitutes now, haha. I love it. There are elite areas where the girls are prettier and sex shows with live porno, and it costs around €50 for 15 minutes “one blowjob and one quick fuck…” it’s all so ridiculous. The best part of the whole thing is the Dutch attitude towards the whole thing. Financially they support it, and they think it’s absolutely normal and moral. The District is actually a really family friendly area, with preschools and churches around every corner.

We had a shot at the bar at the end of our tour, then met up with the boys. We stopped at a coffee shop so I could have a blunt (surprise, surprise, I was alone on this one) and I bought a muffin for the next day. Such good stuff! We had a couple of drinks on the streets, followed by a Belgium waffle and then made our way to a Jazz Club where we ran into the ONE other person we had met in Amsterdam- a boy from South Africa named Francois. Insane! We run into someone we “know” in every city we come to!

DAY 2 (13)

Second day in Amsterdam, and things are changing. The boys have been complaining (our of the blue I might add) that this trip was not going at all how they wanted it to be. We (Lib and I) have been practically leading the trip, making itineraries for the day and taking over maps etc and leading the way. Apparently the boys have no desire to go in as fast of a pace as we’ve been leading and they want to cut their sight seeing in half. I don’t understand why they made no attempt to let us know this before now, but they decided to tell us today that they will be splitting up from the two of us for the rest of the trip, and they are going to Prague before Munich to be a day behind us. How ridiculous! We planned this trip together for a reason, so we wouldn’t be two girls alone in Europe, and we could feel safe. At this point we’re so pissed, that traveling with them will be a bad idea, so we decided to take a few days apart- they’ll go to Prague and Munich and we’ll go to Berlin and Luzerne, and we can all meet back up in Interlaken. New plan, new day.

So Libby and I took off on our own today. We started the day in Amsterdam at the Van Gogh Museum to see how his work was influenced by his environments, illness and how his work has influences future artists. I love the man, I can’t help it. We then decided to spend the rest of the day in a neighboring city. We had seen enough of Amsterdam and we really wanted a relaxing day chilling out on the country side- tulips and windmills ideal. After asking around for some tips, we learned that tulip season had passed, but there was a city nearby that had beautiful windmills on the water side- it was a small town called Zaans Schans. We were hoping to find a hostel to crash in once we got there and make it back to Amsterdam train station in the morning in time to take our train to Berlin, so we dropped off our luggage in a luggage locker in the Amsterdam train station and set off.

Thirty minutes on a train, plus eating my delicious brownie, and we arrived at our destination: Zaans Schans. You could tell from our first conversation with the clerk at the help desk that we were up for a new adventure. When we asked where we could find a hostel, she laughed and suggested we tried the only hotel in town, a few blocks away from the station. We walked over, nervous, but sure we would be lucky, until we heard a loud bass sound coming from an SUV following us. We tried to ignore the slow driving car as it turned with every move we made until the driver (a 5’2’’, small Indian man with Armani Exchange clothing) pulled over and got out of the car to talk to us. He mentioned the hotel might be sold out, and offered to have us stay at his place. He owned an Indian restaurant (which he gave us a flyer for) that had an extra bedroom on the second floor. We thanked him, but laughed it off, scared of what a night in this man’s house might be. When we finally got the “hotel” (after walking past a multitude of wandering goats and smelling the warm scent of chocolate from an old chocolate factory in town) we realized that it was a five star resort on the waterfront, rather than an affordable hostel we could manage to stay yet. 

At this point, it is still early afternoon (around 1:30 pm) and we were ready to see what the town had to offer before hopping to another bigger town nearby to find housing for the night. We took a ferry to a smaller island off the shore where locals dressed in period garb and small shops taught you how to make old clogs, coo-coo clocks and other Amsterdam-y things. It was beautiful, and we even got to see a few windmills of our own, along with some delicious off the farm ice cream, which was only made better by the delicious high I was still on from the brownie that morning. Once we were through seeing all there was to see, we headed back to the train station to catch the next train off to Harlem, the largest city in the Netherlands which we were guaranteed to find a room.

We arrived around 6:30 pm and decided that our first step was to find a room, and settle before it was too late. We found the name and address of a hostel in our guidebook, and felt lucky it had directions on how to get there from the train station on the bus. Once out of the station, we found out the buses were on strike, so we asked a bus driver for walking directions on how to get there. He said it would take about 15 minutes and drew us a path on his map, problem was he wasn’t going to let us keep it. Even bigger problem was that the 15 minutes he was talking about was a 15-minute drive down the highway. We learned the wrong way as we walked for over 3 hours to reach this hostel. When we arrived, we learned that not only was the hostel full, but all of the hotels in town were booked because of a comic book convention was in town. At that point we were ready to pass out and cry. It was 10:00 pm and we had been walking all day without any luck of where to stay the night. After begging the concierge to let us stay on the couches in the lobby, he told us there was another hotel 15 minutes away that had empty rooms. He guaranteed it was a 15 minute walk (not drive) and that he had called ahead and made sure they had rooms available. We walked and upon arrival to this 5 star hotel ($300 a night), we remembered that we had to make it back to the train station in time to take the train back to Amsterdam and then to Berlin. LIFE SHATTERING MOMENT. 

When the guy at the hotel bar heard our story, he offered to have us sleep in and he would drive us to the station the next morning. HALLELUJAH!! When we saw the beautiful shower, and the king size bed and the McDonald’s across the street (we were starving by this point) we thought we were in heaven- but even still, all we managed to do was pass out in our clothes and luckily wake up in the morning to get our ride to the station. Thanks for deserting us boys, this is how adventures get made!

London, ENGLAND (Stop 3: EuroTrip 2008)

LONDON, ENGLAND                                                                                                                      June 1-5, 2008

DAY 1 (7)

We took two different trains out of Paris staring at around 3:00pm to get to Callis (the French “border” with England) and take a ferry over the English Channel to Dover, then a shuttle into London. Overall, it’s been a long day of travel. The ferry looked more like a cruise ship than anything else. It was immense and had a ton of store and restaurants inside. Turned out the shuttle we planned on taking had stopped running by the time we got into Dover, so we had to take another (more expensive, money money, once again) train into London. But now we’re here, in the city of fish and chips, tea, the Queen of England and of course, Mr. Shakespeare and Mr. Potter. Helloooooo London! J

DAY 2 (8)

We made it in. We’re staying at a really neat hostel, The Clink, which used to be a courthouse (the Clash even went to trial here). The hostel now holds 700 beds, it’s enormous, and really well run. Really love it.

On our first day we decided to take it easy in the morning, and make our way down to the Millennium Mile around 11:00am. We started at the Tower of London (which took a dew hours) where we learned all about how the British tortured their prisoners and so on. It was a bit gloom, but really neat. I remember now why I liked it so much when I was a kid- there’s cool armor everywhere, horses, and people dressed up in time period garb.  We then headed over the Tower Bridge to the other side of the Thames River where we made our way to the Globe Theatre (we got tickets for A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Wednesday!) and the outside of the Tate Modern. 

We continued on to the London Bridge and the London Eye, then crossed the Bridge back to the opposite bank to get on the Tube and back to our Hostel at King’s Cross.

After some internet time to send an e-mail home to all our friends and family, we headed to Picadilly Square and Sotho to take a picture of the Pub that Arin’s friend Tom worked at when he studied abroad here. We tried going to the Blues Club after, but the line was too long to wait for a table and we decided to go home and get a good night of sleep instead.

DAY 3 (9)

We started the day with free breakfast at our hostel, then another “free” walking tour of London. We had an amazing tour guide (Beci) who was hilarious and knew everything there was to know about London and it’s historical culture. We saw a small (it was raining and they didn’t want to get their hats wet) changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, stopped by St. James’ Palace, a few parks (Hyde, Green, and St. James), the House of the Prime Minister, Lancaster Square and so on. The House of Parliament (where Big Ben lives), and Westminster Abbey ended our tour and were by far the most beautiful of the sites. We then had a quick bite to each before going to St. Paul’s Cathedral (in the pouring rain) to watch a 5:00pm mass. It was so beautiful and so worth bearing the weather. 

After our day of site seeing, we headed back to King’s Cross to my parent’s hotel and met them there for dinner in the city. It was really good to see them, especially in the middle of such a trip. A nice taste of home in the midst of the adventure. We were planning on going back to the Blues Club that night, but it was still pouring rain so we decided to stay in and relax instead.

DAY 4 (10)

Today was our best day yet in London. The weather was absolutely beautiful for our departure and we spent a few morning hours at Regent’s Park (one of the most beautiful selection of flowers (especially roses) I have ever seen. We then headed to Westminster to see Abbey Road where the Beatles recorded their records and took the picture on the most famous street in music history. We signed the tribute wall, knowing full well that at the end of the month it would be repainted white once again.

After Abbey Road we headed back to the Millennium Mile to have dinner and a few Guinness (Dublin style) at a local pub. I tried my first meat pie, which was surprising delicious. We then headed back to the Globe for Midsummer, which was such an amazing experience. My favorite play in the place where it was staged for the very first time. Beautiful!

DAY 5 (11)

Major travel day!

-       Walk to the Tube from our Hostel

-       Tube ride to Victoria Station

-       Train ride to some city I can’t remember

-       Another train ride from said city to Dover

-       Dover ferry ride 2 hours later to Calais

-       Train from Calais to Lallais

-       Train from Lallais to Brussels

-       Train from Brussels to Amsterdam

-       Walk to hostel

Paris, FRANCE (Stop 2: EuroTrip 2008)

PARIS, FRANCE

May 30- June 1, 2008

DAY 1 (5)

We arrived at the train station at 7:30 this morning. Not quite awake enough to start the new day. It was early and we didn’t sleep well the night before on the train so we knew we had to get our energy up and fast if we weren’t going to waste any time in the city of love. We went to the Hotel de Belfest where we were staying to check our bags in (rooms were not going to be ready until 12:00pm) and then sat down at a nearby café to get some breakfast. Café au lait and some delicious cheesy breads. We looked through our travel bible (aka Let’s Go Europe) to check out what we wanted to see while we were in Paris, and made it back to the hotel to clean up before we headed out for the day.

We took the train to the center of Paris (Place St. Michel) where we took the “free” tour of the city (€10 donation highly encouraged). The tour guide was American and we got to see so many amazing places in a three hour walk around town. I can’t even begin to describe the wonderfulness that is Paris. We started the tour in the Ile-de-la-Cite, where we saw the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Palais de la Justice where the original bullets from the beginning of the French Revolution still mark the façade of the building. We saw the Seine river and the Ponte Neuf which separates and joins the East and West sides of the city. We then made our way over to the Louvre, the Opera Garnier, Palais Royal, Musee D’Orsay and the Tuileries Gardens. The area was stunning and we’re planning on returning to the museums tomorrow. By this point, Arin had started to get sick to his stomach (flu maybe?) and had been throwing up all over the city (including the courtyards at the Louvre), so we sent him back to the Hotel, had lunch (delicious baguettes- again!) and continued on with our tours around the city.

We walked to the Champs-Elysees (the one from the song we had to sing in 7^th grade!) and got a beautiful view of the Arc du Triumph, and a far away peak of another million little places along the way. It was a great way to get a general sense of the city.


We then headed back to the Hotel to check in with Arin before having dinner and stopping by an internet cafe to figure out how we were going to take the next step of our journey to London. We spent the night at the Eiffel tower, sipping wine and watching the lights change. Absolutely speechless!! It was the most amazing sight I’ve ever seen. Almost deja-vu from all the years of waiting to see it in person. Paris really would be the perfect city to fall in love in.

DAY 2 (6)

Arin was still feeling pretty awful today, so Libby, Bisson and I made our way out of Paris to Versailles- the palace that Henry XIV and Marie Antoinette lived in (ah, fond Mr. Thomas memories!). We took a tour of the palace itself, where t is now a preserved replica of some of the important rooms and an art museum. It was great that an audio tour came included because we got to follow along the history of the rooms (like the beautiful hall of mirrors, 17 enormous windows and over 50 chandeliers) as well as the background and importance of all the paintings in the palace. We then headed outside to the Jardin de Versailles where miles upon miles of greenery, lakes and fountains took your breath away. It’s an amazing place to visit, I can’t even imagine what it must have been like to have lived there.

After returning to Paris, Bisson went back to the hotel to meet Arin and take a nap and Libby and I made our way to the Musee d'Orsay where among their spectacular collection they have an enormous display of Impressionism. As we were walking around seeing all the masterpieces we have fallen in love with over books, movies and the internet, I felt honestly star struck to see these pieces in person. We were standing inches away from the most famous Renoirs, Monets, Manets and Van Goghs. We were standing there the artists once stood as they painted these beauties themselves. I left like I had actually stepped into the history of the art, of the creation and imagination behind each painting we saw. Absolutely amazing. Best museum day of my life.

Once we were done in the museum, we decided to take a 30 min walk across town to the Notre Dame. By the time we got there, the dome and towers were closed, but we managed to walk in mid mass. There was a woman singing with a beautiful voice, and a priest leading his sermon. Real life meets tourism- what a treat.

Lib and I stopped to eat some hand and cheese crepes (Nutela for desert, of course) before meeting the boys to go up north to the Sacre Coeur Cathedral in Monmatre. The view of the city was stunning from the church, but just like the Gaudi Park, the weather was still too cloudy and gray to give us the skyline view we deserved. After making our way back down the mountain (and running into one of the boys’ neighbors from UMD) we walked down Blvd. Clichy to see the cabarets, sex shops and peep shows lining the streets towards the Moulin Rouge. I was highly unimpressed with the building- it was much smaller and hidden than I hoped it would be, and has turned into a tourist trap rather than the original jewel it once was (€250 for a ticket? You got to be kidding.) Regardless, the area in itself was pretty neat. Very different from anywhere I’ve been before.

Overall, eventful day! Just how I like them J

DAY 3 (7)

We didn’t get too much time in the city today, but what we did see was amazing! We checked out of the Hotel around 8:30 this morning and made it to the Louvre from 9:15 to around 12:15. We walked mostly through the Italian and French paintings that consisted works from the pre-Renaissance, Renaissance and post. Again, it was so incredibly cool to see works we have spent so much time studying from far away in person in front of you. The Mona Lisa was beautiful, but not half as exciting as people give it credit for. It is much smaller than movies have you believe, And that was it for the Louvre, we had to leave to make it back to the Hotel to get our bags and make it to the station in time for our next journey.

I can’t believe we’re leaving Paris so soon! It is such a beautiful, chic city, full of life and style, charm and personality. Basically, if it was a person I’d marry it. Now, thanks. I’d love to come spend an extensive period of time getting to know the city and it’s people better, and maybe even practicing my French some more. And who would have thought- I actually pulled it off. Til next time, au revoir Paris!