Where in the world...

is Clair?!


Hey guys!! So I know it's been a while, but that's because two weeks ago I finished up my first tutorial and left for a week long travel break! How blest am I? We went to Paris and Munich, and the entire experience was completely irreplaceable. Let me share (as best as I can remember...)


Night/Day 1: On a midnight bus to London


Day 1 was really night 1 as it started at 1am Friday night (Saturday morning).  With no more than a normal sized backpack a piece, my travel companions Torey, Kathryn, and Mickey, and I made the short trek into Oxford in order to grab a shuttle to Luton airport.  We were sleepy.  We got there around 3am, grabbed some hot chocolate from Starbucks, and waited for our 6am flight to Paris.  We tried to nap during this time, but with armrests between every seat, on a sleepability scale of 1-impossible, Luton comes in dead last.


Around 5:30 we boarded our EasyJet flight and headed for the wild blue yonder!  **Travel tip:  EasyJet and RyanAir aren't as sketchy as they seem like they should be, so I do recommend them, HOWEVER, they don't give free water, and for some reason flying really dehydrates people, SO tip: if you're traveling discount airlines, buy a waterbottle before you board. It's less expensive that way. (sorry, Mom for the runon sentence)


We landed about an hour and a half later in Paris, took a train into the city, and this is what we first saw:

It was a beautiful, sunny, *warm* day in Paris, and the weather stayed that way all week. We could not have dreamed up better weather.  From the train station, we walked to the hostel to drop our things off. It was in Montmartre right near the church of Sacré Coeur  (Sacred Heart).

After successfully dropping our bags off, these 4 bleary-eyed travelers found a cafe faster than you can say "pain au chocolat".  There, we caught a bit of the New Zealand/France Rugby match and had the most delicious cappuccinos and nutella & banana crepes that have ever crossed any of our lips. Seriously, so good.

MMMMMM!!!!

After the rejuvenation, we decided to go to Sacré Coeur.  It was way WAY up the hill, but the trek was definitely worth it.  The Church itself is beautiful inside and out, and the view from the top of the hill was breathtaking.  

At the bottom of the hill

 On the way up!

Woah-oh! We're halfway there! 

View from the top 

The Church in all its magnificence.

After walking around the Church and saying a prayer or two (the inside was beautiful! Sadly, pictures weren't allowed), we journeyed into Paris and stumbled upon the wall surrounding the cemetery where many famous people are buried.  I say the wall because we walked around the wall for a good 15 minutes at least before we found a way in.  The cemetery was pretty cool.  We didn't end up finding any famous people, but there were some very old tombstones and mausoleums.  

Shortly after that we started a tradition that we kept going the entire trip - nap time. SO GOOD.  This first nap was (as Torey pointed out), the very lawn where MaryKate and Ashley sword fight in "Passport to Paris" (we think).  Legit!  SUCH a good nap. The grass was so comfy and the sun was glorious.  On a scale of 1-10, this was at least a 7.5.  Wonderous.

After resting up, we took a visit to the Musée d'Orsay, home of many impressionists, as well as my favorite painter, Vincent VanGogh!  The impressionist section was under renovation, sadly, but we still saw a few Degas and much of VanGogh's work, so it was well worth it.  

The outside of the Museum.  It used to be a train station, and the inside is still pretty open, similar to Grand Central in NY or 30th Street in Philly. Pretty cool!

After the museum, we grabbed dinner (at this point I don't remember where, but I do know we didn't eat a single bad meal while we were there, so I'm sure it was delicious), headed back to the hostel, and were asleep by 11pm.  Exciting, I know =P  We had traveled all day! Who could blame us!

The hostel was nice, especially since they gave us a 4-person room.  It was basically a very simple hotel room with bunkbeds reminiscent of Girl Scout camp.  Loved it.

Kathryn sitting on my bed chronicling the day, and Torey chilling out.

Note the glowing orange walls haha

That's all for now, and our LONG first day!  Stay tuned for days 2-5 (i'll try to be briefer, I promise).  Love and miss you all, and hope all is well! 

~ Clair


ps. sorry for the strange blue highlighting... still trying to figure out some things out. Until then, let me know if it's too difficult to read. =)