Last Day In Paris

Our last day in Paris was supposed to be a leisure bike tour around the city followed by a free afternoon and evening. Most of today was not leisurely and relaxing to say the least. This morning, a small group of us decided to get up really early and try to go day one of the French Open! We were all super excited to see some great tennis! We met down at breakfast at 6:30am and left for Roland Garros at about 7am. Once we got there, we were nearly first in line (or the queue as it is known in Europe) to buy tickets. We were expecting that tickets opened up for sale at 8am because that is what Courtney had been told when she went to the Charity Day of the French Open yesterday. That didn’t turn out to be the case however. We definitely got the run-around by the French security guards, and it was obvious that no one really knew what they were talking about so we decided to wait it out. Who knows, maybe they’d change their minds?! A French lady who also spoke excellent English told us that she has gone to the French Open the past 5 years, and every year it’s the same old thing; saying they don’t have tickets and opening up the queue at about 9:30am or 10. That alone gave us loads of hope that we would get to see what we came for!


Unfortunately for us, the one of the directors of ticketing for the whole tournament came over to our line and was very polite when he told us that they really were not selling tickets at the venue today. Apparently all the tickets were sold online this year and nothing would be available at the venue because all the days were already sold out. The French lady then informed our little American grouping that this was a political move by the French tennis federation, because the French lady then informed our little American grouping that this was a political move by the French tennis federation, because for years they have been trying to get the French Open moved to a bigger venue but have faced tough opposition. They figured if they could post all their tickets for sale online and then sell out in advance, they would have people waiting at the gate (just like we were), who get locked out. This way they can go to the board and say, “Look! There were all these people that couldn’t get in this year that wanted to. We need a bigger venue.” It’s all very political and not something I wanted to be a part of. Basically, our group became involuntary martyrs in this situation for the French tennis federation.

We finally gave up and left at about 10:15am. By this time everyone else was already on their Fat Tire Bike Tour around Paris. I’m really bummed that I didn’t get to go, especially since the French Open thing turned out to be a wash. So I just went back to the hotel room for about 3 hours or so, journaled some, relaxed, and uploaded facebook photos. I tried to meet up with a few groups of people, but I didn’t want to ride the Metro by myself and try to meet up with them using only the limited cell phone service between us.
Instead I went down to the lobby and happened to see Lindsey, and we decided to head to the Champs Elysess, because I hadn’t been yet. The arch was pretty, but honestly it was kind of ruined by the fact that boulevard itself was closed down and became a pedestrian madhouse due to some farmers protest thing. At last estimate I heard that there was somewhere near 2 MILLION people on the Champs Elysess boulevard this afternoon. It took us nearly 20 minutes from when we exited the Metro car underground to get up the stairs and reach ground level. We were packed in like sardines, and honestly I felt very uncomfortable and claustrophobic. We walked down the shops along the street for an hour or two, but I didn’t buy anything. After my Longchamp bag yesterday, I’m set for the rest of Paris.  haha.

We came back to the hotel at around 5:45, ate a snack for dinner, and then I left to go to Mont Parnasse with a large group of people from our trip. Mont Parnasse is the tallest skyscraper in France, and you’re allowed to go to the top and view the city for only 8 Euros. I liked this idea better than going up the Eiffel Tower, because I want the Eiffel Tower in my view, not me on it. We went up to the top, although they wouldn’t let us bring our wine, and admired the city at dusk. Paris is a gorgeous city when you soak it all in through one view.


Tomorrow morning is going to come way too soon. We board the coaches at 7:15am and start driving towards Avignon where we stay for the night. Then it’s onto Nice, and oh man will that be nice. ;)

Versailles, River Cruise

Our first (and only) free day to explore Paris! We wanted to get out of the city a little bit and see the palace and the gardens at Versailles. WOW, it was absolutely breathtaking! We rode a commuter rail line about 45 minutes outside of Paris to the town of Versailles and tried to beat the crowds. Lots of students from our marketing trip went out to Versailles then, but I’m pretty sure we had the earliest party leaving at about 8:30am. CJ, Kinsey, Caitlin, Jen, Ashley, Laura, Sam, and I all went together. Although the palace is huge, somehow I still think it was the most crowded place I have visited on the trip thus far. People were wall to wall walking through the state rooms inside the building. Some of the paintings on the ceiling were ridiculous! I couldn’t believe that someone actually painted those such a long time ago… upside down nonetheless!

We then went out into the gardens and explored a bit around there. I videotaped Laura and Sam running through the gardens to get a picture, which I’m pretty sure is frowned upon, but it was seriously entertaining to watch happen haha! Our feet were aching from all this walking that we’re doing, so we didn’t explore too deep into the gardens, but we got the general feel. However, I was very much expecting there to be flowers in the gardens, but I never saw any. I don’t know if they’re in between planting seasons or if its normally just all shrubbery. We really enjoyed the gardens either way though. Versailles, the palace and the gardens together, is one of the prettiest things I think that I’ve ever seen!


Finding our way home from Versailles turned out to be more of an adventure than we bargained for though. The train station that we arrived at was suddenly closed when we wanted to leave, so they directed us about a mile to a mile and half away, through city streets with barely any signage. While we were walking towards this mysterious train station, you’ll never believe who I saw! Logan Beall from FUMC Hurst back home! It was SO crazy random I couldn’t believe it. He was with his study abroad group from the OU Accounting Department, and they were going to be in Paris for a month. It’s crazy how it really is such a small world!
Once we got back into the city of Paris itself, we realized we had no idea where we were. We had to find a Metro station, which wasn’t the easiest thing ever when it seemed like everyone we spoke to did not speak English. Finally, Laura and I split off from our big group and went back to Galeris de Lafayette because we both decided to purchase a Longchamp bag. They’re getting to be pretty popular back in the states, but are about 50 more Euros over there than they are here. Longchamp (pronounced LONG-chomp with a French accent) is manufactured in France, so they’re prices are cheaper over here. I got a cross body purse/messenger bag for 98 Euros. It was my big Parisian purchase! Everyone has got to have one! Word of advice though: never EVER go to Galeris on a Saturday afternoon… biggest madhouse I have ever seen in my entire life!
We then headed back to the hotel for a little rest break and dinner at a café down the block before our group Seine River Cruise at 8:45pm that evening. It was really nice to just sit down on the boat for an hour and relax while we got to take in the sites from the City of Lights. Our cruise was during the hour of dusk here in Paris, so we got to view a beautiful sunset as well. Most of the sites from the river cruise I had already seen before just from walking around Paris, but it was still nice to get a different perspective on it all.


Finally, I came back to the hotel after the cruise and went almost immediately to bed. The plan is to wake up tomorrow and head down to Roland Garros for day one of French Open play! I’m super excited and hope we get tickets!

Busy, Busy Day Around Paris

This morning, we got to have our first French breakfast buffet, and it was so delicious!! It was most definitely about a million times better than the English breakfasts we were eating in London. At our breakfast today, there were croissants, baguettes, orange juice, omelets, hash browns, toast, cheese, and the list goes on. The waiter even came up to me and asked me if I would like hot chocolate, and of course I said “oui! Sei vue play” (meaning ‘yes, if you please’). To this he asked if I wanted more milk or more chocolate! Wow, what great service! It was delicious! Although I was a little rushed during breakfast because I panicked a little bit when I realized I had forgotten my nametag that is to be worn on our business suits in the hotel room somewhere. Luckily, I found it, because I didn’t want to get points knocked off my grade for something so minor.
We then departed via the Metro (Parisian subway system) for our company meeting with Galeris de Lafayette, the oldest department store in the world. Galeris de Lafayette could be compared to Harrods in London because the both tend to specialize in high fashion brands and luxury items. One of the biggest differences between the two companies however is that Galeris has many locations all over France, while Harrods has remained steadfast to their one location throughout the entire world.
We shopped around Galeris for a bit before going upstairs to where they were going to put on a fashion show just for our group, complete with runway, lights, models, and designer clothes! The show was good, although I’m not that into high fashion, so it sort of just all looked the same after a while to me. When the show was done, we went upstairs to Galeris rooftop terrace and had a great view of the city of Paris! We took another group picture in our suits (we look so official!) and snapped a few pictures of friends as well.

Then we were on our own for about 5 hours until we had to meet back together at 5:40 for our presentation from Apple. A group of us decided to check out The Louvre. We were expecting long lines, but were pleasantly surprised to see no lines at all! It was wonderful! A hugely famous attraction with no lines to speak of! We walked most of the museum actually and were there for a couple of hours. We saw the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, Hammurabi’s Code, Winged Victory, and many other famous works of art. It was such a cool thing to be in the presence of such deep, rich cultural history! I even got my picture in front of the Mona Lisa! I’m so glad I went there, and would have seriously regretted it if I didn’t have time to.


After The Louvre we still had more time to kill, so we walked to Notre Dame. The French man at the museum told us it was a 10 minute walk. I have learned to never trust a Frenchman because it was definitely more like a 45 minute walk. Once we got there we were so tired from walking that we just took pictures of the outside, and then walked down the street to get a crepe. It was so delicious! I chose the nutella and banana kind, because I have heard those are the best, and even though I don’t normally like bananas it was very, very good!

We headed towards Apple via the Metro next, and arrived at our meeting place nearly an hour early. Our little group decided it would be the perfect time to try to find someone to interview for my marketing report I have to turn in at the end of the summer. We spotted this young woman standing near us who looked like she was waiting on someone. We interviewed her and found out she was 21 years old and a business college student like us. She was easy to talk to because we related to her so well since we were the same age.
Finally, it was time for our visit with Apple. Now, being a part of the Apple cult myself, I was eagerly anticipating this business meeting and had high hopes for it. I have to admit I was a little disappointed. The presentation itself was a little boring simply because most of the time they were simply stating growth numbers to try and impress us. Afterwards however, they let us go into their showroom and play with all the Apple technology, much like you can do in an Apple store. The best part of the entire business visit though was walking out onto their rooftop terrace that overlooks the Eiffel Tower. Their office is actually quite close to the tower, so we got a great, up-close view of it. Of course, everyone was taking pictures so I joined in the mayhem. At this point on the trip, everyone just immediately knows how to get into formation for a picture, who kneels, who is on the back row, etc. It’s actually quite amusing how efficient we are with it, haha!

Once we left Apple, 3 of us went to a little café that specialized in pizza near our metro station. The food was alright, but the pepperonis are different over here. They are thicker and more spicy, so that was an interesting change on my pizza. I have to say I prefer the American pepperoni pizza more. The service wasn’t very good though. Typical French rudeness though, just not waiting on us well because we don’t speak their language and are from the United States. It doesn’t faze me though, everyone has their own opinions about cultures and people. I can’t say that I love the French way of life more than my way of life back in Texas because that’d be a lie. Everyone sees things differently, and I’m constantly being reminded of that on this trip. It’s keeping me humble and making me grateful for those things I normally take from granted back in the States.

Goodbye London, Hello Paris!

Waking up this morning was a little bittersweet. I was just starting to really get adjusted to London, the tube, the food, etc and now we were having to leave it already! However, I know that we still have so much left to see on our trip, so we have to move on. This morning we loaded the coaches (“Buses” are not buses over here. Buses are city transportation you pay for. Coaches are the nice charter buses that we think of in the States) and headed off for Paris. I tried to sleep, very uncomfortably I might add, on the 2-hour drive to the English Channel.
Once we got to the Channel, our coach drove into an open train that would take us across the Channel, 90 feet under the sea floor! It was very claustrophobic, and I’m very glad that doesn’t bother me too much or else I would have been really freaking out! The Chunnel ride only took about 35 minutes, and then we were in France! We drove for about an hour before we stopped at a rest stop in France. I ate some pizza, kiwi, and strawberries ;) and it was good… at the time. I started feeling bad on the bus ride right when we departed again though, so I resorted to taking 2 ibuprofens and one Dramamine. Let’s just say I got super tired super fast. I think I was able to sleep for about 2 hours on the bus ride which was greatly needed and much appreciated. It made the time fly by so much quicker. Once I awoke we were driving into the outskirts of Paris!
We finally made it to our hotel, the Marriott Paris Rive Gauche Hotel. Its SO NICE!!!!!! SO MUCH NICER THAN THE HOTEL IN LONDON! Apparently we lucked out too, because last night our trip advisor got a call that our original hotel that we were planning to stay at in Paris, the Paris Republique Plaza Hotel, was going on strike so we would have to find somewhere else to stay! Who does that?!?! Anyways, luckily the Marriott had enough rooms to accommodate our large group. AND… bonus! It has fabulous wifi signal with Boingo! LIFESAVER!!!
We got settled into our rooms and then met back downstairs in a conference rooms for our Paris orientation meeting and group presentations from Paris (the city), Galleries de Lafayette, and Apple Inc, France. They were all very entertaining with cute skits! I hope we do as well as they did when we have our presentation in five days!
After presentations, we met Dan in the lobby and he showed a large group of us how to use the metro system, and took us to the Eiffel Tower. We got there just at dusk, so we had a wonderful view! The tower was so much bigger than I imagined it to be! It’s so grand… and also so masculine looking with all the steel. I feel like I was expecting a more dainty looking tower, although I don’t know why. It was absolutely breathtaking nonetheless. We walked up to Trocadero’s Plaza and took lots of pictures. We waited around until about 10pm when the light show on the tower started! It wasn’t as intricate as I thought it was going to be… there were no patterns to the lights, it was just a constant sparkling, but it was beautiful. I videotaped a minute or two of the ten minute show to show mom and dad when I get home ;). We then left the tower, bought a few souvenirs, and headed back to the hotel to make it a night. A long day of travel is tiring, and I have a lot of journal entries and blogging to catch up on! Night!