For my last week abroad I took a train from Osnabruck to Amsterdam and then to Paris. This is what ended up happening next.
Monday July 20, Day 22: Left Germany for an obnoxiously long train ride with a connecting train ride in Amsterdam, and then another six hour train ride to Paris. After waking up about five minutes before actually arriving in Paris, I was super tired and sad because I already missed my friends who were still in Germany. Anyway, my Mom met me in the train station and we went to the hotel and got ready to go to the Moulin Rouge
(at which I almost fell asleep during). Before that though we went to see Basilique du Sacre Coeur, which was gigantic and amazingly beautiful.
 |
| The view from outside the Basilica |
Tuesday July 21, Day 23: This morning we got up relatively early, and made our way down a half block to the tour company across the street from the Louvre and started our venture toward Mont Saint Michel, the island fortress that I had been wanting to visit for a good 3 years. It took about 4 hours to get to, and it just so happens that the one day I want to see Mont Saint Michel, is the day that the farmers are blocking of the roads in protest for their businesses bottoming out because of cheaper, lesser quality imported goods. Basically, they blocked the tour buses from being able to get close to the island so we had to walk like 2 kilometers to a shuttle bus, which wasn't as bad but we were not expecting it. (Also on the way to the shuttle bus, it was drizzling, and super smart Karin didn't bring a jacket) Fortunately, the weather cleared up and led to an amazing day exploring all of the ancient buildings and living something out of a fairytale.
 |
| This place literally looked like Hogwarts |
Wednesday July 22, Day 24: We didn't really do too much today, but we did do a lot of walking. We walked through the Champs de Mars, walked under the Eiffel Tower, walked down the Seine to the Statue of Liberty, walked up to a shopping district, walked over the the Jardins du Trocadero, took a selfie with the Eiffel Tower, walked all the way over to Champs-Elysees, walked down that street until we got to the Jardins du Tuileries, where we walked through that, and went on the Ferris Wheel where we could see almost all the sites, and then went back to the hotel. See, a lot of walking.
Thursday July 23, Day 25: We had gotten the Paris Pass for the next two days which got us in to a bunch of museums and monuments either for free, a discounted price and/or skip the line, making it a super helpful tool especially in the summer when the lines are super long. We started the day off going to the Chocolate Museum
(personal favorite). We then stopped by the Vertical Garden, and walked through Montorgueil Street and also through the Jardin du Palais Royal. We stopped by the hotel to drop off the bags of chocolate and gifts, and started back on our way to the Galeries Lafayette, then the Picasso Museum, Place des Vosges, Bastille Square, and a park that was a story above the ground and gave great views of the city.
Friday July 24, Day 26: This was the day that we literally went all out with all of the main sites of Paris. Get ready for this list: Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe
(all 700 steps), Notre Dame, Shakespeare & Company
(personal favorite), a bus tour around the city, a 1 hour river cruise, and lastly the Louvre. Not only did we summit the Eiffel Tower, but also the Arc de Triomphe
(unfortunately not Notre Dame). The reason why we crammed everything into one day was because that was technically our last day in Paris and we didn't just want to have walked by the monuments, we wanted to see the entire thing. And thus, we ended our day very tired, yet very fulfilled.
 |
| It started raining at one point on the bus tour |
 |
| Lisa herself |
Saturday July 25, Day 27: Today we went to Giverny - the town where Claude Monet lived and painted, and Versailles. I'm not sure where I'd rather live more, Monet's super cute house or Versailles Palace.
(too bad I can't live in either) We spent the day in those two places and then when we got back to Paris, we got a taxi to Disneyland Paris
(mostly because I'm actually 8 years old and not 18)
Sunday July 26, Day 28: Out of the 2 parks to choose from, today we did the Walt Disney Studios. I was a pretty chill day, but kinda rainy here and there, which made the lines shorten up. I made my Mom go on every single ride there was and I can truthfully say it was well worth it.
Monday July 27, Day 29: Today was the most tiring of the two days. We went to the main park and stayed from opening until closing. Unfortunately we did miss some rides in an effort to get a picture with Minnie (which happened) , but I think that for the two days spent in Disneyland, I conquered pretty much all of it.
And that was the finale to my month abroad. If you think that these are a lot of pictures, you haven't even seen a quarter of them, along with my polaroids...
Talk to you later,
-Karin xx
