The Coslett Nose Would Never Survive Paris.

I will explain later.

First let me catch you all up on what's been going on in my life the last few days.

(**side note. 90% of this post was written IN paris, i just hadnt had a chance to finish it.... i'll step in and let you know when the date of writing changes)

Patrick took Lance and I to the train station where we rode the almost 2 hour ride from Brussels, Belgium to Paris, France… which is where the real backpacking began. Lance has a huge backpack he threw on his back that weighed a solid 50+ lbs with our clothes: enough to last us 4 days (for our 8 day expected trip). I had a backpack with lance's laptop, ipad, our toiletries, my makeup bag, all chargers for said electronics, and in a separate bag, our large camera. My bag wasn't as heavy as Lance's, but it came in at a close second. SO, keep in mind this is what we had to travel with everywhere we went from leaving Patrick's on...

There was one transfer train in-between with a 30 minute layover, so Lance decided it would be a good idea to try and find a SIM card that would work in Europe so he could have a working GPS and phone in case we needed to get ahold of the people who lived where we were staying in Paris.

I can't really explain the train stations very well, (probably because I am seriously exhausted at this point and my brain is functioning at half-capacity) but i can say that there is a LOT of walking, running, pushing, stairs, and uneven walkways. That's just inside the train station. Then outside there's more stairs, and at this particular stop there were a LOT of relatively steep hills (lined with shops and bakeries, i might add!)-which is where Lance was sure he'd find a place to offer him a SIM card.



While lance went walking up the hills, he let me wander into H&M  and look around. (Paige this is the part that made me think of you the entire time!) I LOVED IT. I seriously loved it. I felt like I had just walked into the most amazing department store with the most gorgeous clothes at FOREVER TWENTY ONE PRICES. seriously…the only problem was i looked similar to a homeless person with a huge backpack on my back, which in turn, caused me to bump into racks of clothes and other people and it was just overall embarrassing…but i didn't exactly care - There were so many things i wanted…and they were made out of fine materials - there was this one tunic i cant stop thinking about that was a pale pink made out of 100% silk  with a ribbon belt and quarterlength sleeves for 14 Euros! I'm hoping that on the way back to Brussels i can con my way into buying a few things.

anyway, so eventually we met back up and went back to the translation (lance still hadn't found a sim card)  and made it into Paris.  The excitement of being in one of the most amazing cities hadn't set in yet. I was still jetlagged and hungry and ready to get the heavy pack off my back. We got off of the train and walked down to…the metro… oh the metro (which is equivalent to the subway). I have a lot to say about this thing. First, (i don't know how totally accurate this is so please feel free to correct me if my information is wrong) let me say this about the metro. Apparently some of the underground tunnels where the metro currently exists in Paris are made of cleared out catacombs (how eerie is that?), which i found pretty cool. Next, the metro map is your bff. With out it, it is VERY easy to get mixed up and end up on the other end of town. Good thing Lance is already experienced with reading metro maps because it would have been miserable to get lost. Anyway, we found our right metro route to take us to the place we were staying- which was about 15 miles outside of the heart of paris. Overall it took us about 40 minutes to take the several metros and then hop onto the bus. We arrived relatively late (this is new years eve, so i was stressing a little) - around 6:45. Lance stayed in his denim and jacket, but I was sure i wanted to change into my darling lace dress, tights, and flats (i wanted to curl my hair too but i knew realistically there wasn't enough time). So we backtracked the exact way we came and toward the Eiffel Tower. I don't understand French yet, so i was just sort of following Lance around like a lost puppy and didn't realize we were there yet, so once we walked up the metro steps and onto the street Lance made me close my eyes and held my hand… then told me to open them and BAM! The Eiffel Tower was RIGHT in front of me, all lit up and HUGE! It LITERALLY took my breath away. I haven't seen something so incredible in a really long time. It was beautiful and the streets were relatively clear, so i was able to enjoy it (...i loathe crowds).

It was VERY cold. I mean like my knees started become numb…and shortly after my feet followed suit. Lance, at the end of the night, called my shoes "pieces of paper wrapped around my feet", which is actually pretty accurate. The stone streets and the cold Paris weather did not agree with my attire. a lace dress, cardigan, tights, and flats. REAL SMART. I just thought we were going to go somewhere nice, but by the time we got to the Eiffel Tower everything nice was closed. Luckily there were a few bakeries open on the side streets - so before we decided to venture closer to the Eiffel Tower, we got some yummy sandwiches and eclairs - okay seriously SO AMAZING and delicious. We went back to the Eiffel Tower to explore and to buy a few souvenirs, waiting for the "ball to drop" - or some sort of equivalent. we eventually ended up where we started and saw a huge crowd start to form, so we climbed up on the ledges overlooking the courtyard….which ended up being a really smart idea. basically the courtyard ended up looking like a moshpit with people drinking, smoking, yelling and even fighting (great holiday cheer, eh?). The experience was pretty amazing in general - there was a group of Brazillians to my right, some super cute girls from Spain to my left, french/belgian people all around… so multicultural. Eventually when the it turned midnight there were a few small fireworks that came from the crowd - apparently fireworks are illegal in Paris because too many accidents have happened and the ban is their attempt at avoiding terrorist attacks... - but the tower twinkled like it does on every hour, and it was beautiful. I will never forget this new year's eve. So breathtaking.

The adventure that followed was..interesting. We waited about an hour before we started to head back to the metro - there were too many people pushing and getting trampled (and wayyyy too many drunk people who were a little out of control). so we froze, and then started walking. We walked along the riverbank with the Eiffel Tower to our left, it's light reflected on the water, and headed toward the metro station. By the time we pushed through the crowds and made it underground, it was around 1:45 am. Apparently, normally the metro doesn't run past midnight, but i guess for NYE the city made an exception, AND decided they'd make the metro FREE- thus explaining the excessive amount of people...this proved to be a slight problem. Once our metro finally arrived, we were pushed back and people shoved themselves into the train. it was so full that when the doors were shutting peoples backs were literally pressed up against the windows - FACES literally pressed up against the GLASS. Seriously, SO funny. luckily, there was one more metro that we knew was coming....it arrived... people started pushing and shoving to get in... then a fight broke out! Luckily it was at the far end, but like 1st graders, one fight ruins recess for the whole class... in other words, because of the fight, they SHUT the last metro ride down.... COOL.

Normally this wouldn't ahve been such a big deal, but i really couldn't feel my feet. But our only choice was to walk. To walk the 6-7 miles back to the house we were staying at... needless to say, we arrived at home around 4:30 am.... and woke up at 3 pm on accident that afternoon. whoops!

(...here i am now, in belgium... weeks later....so forgive my lack of remembering)
What I can recall is that the next few days we went sight seeing. We saw the moulin rouge, which gave me the creeps. but it was bright and colorful.


then we walked to the Paris Opera House and were able to pay something like $3 each to take a self guided tour through out. Apparently, when lance was in high school, he read The Phantom Of The Opera and ever since has wanted to explore the place... I am pretty sure he was interested in exploring what was UNDERNEATH the building - i think it is some underground city or something - but we got to explore the private viewing rooms, the grand staircase, the hallways.... it was so intricate and elaborately designed... i loved it.

we also quickly visited the outside of the Louvre - which was just neat to be there....

on sunday we were able to go to church in paris!! which i LOVED!

we also went to Notre Dame. I've been so fascinated by this cathedral, ever since i was introduced to it in the disney movie, The Hunchback... i've studied it a few times, and the stained glass, the history...everything about it has always been so interesting to me. I've day dreamed about it even, ha ha. I am so happy to inform you that it lived up to everything i've ever thought about. it was so incredible. beautiful. gothic (in the historical sense)....which in its own way was beautiful. the intricate history. we walked in while a sermon was taking place, so that added to the way i was feeling.

we explored more of paris, which meant we spent a LOT of time in the metro. Please let me explain what the metro is like (especially the day after NYE).

1. There are no public bathrooms anywhere. ESPECIALLY the metro.

2. Homeless people set up permanent shop inside the metro. (I guess that makes them technically not homeless).

3. Due to 1 and 2, the metro is a permanent toilet....the walls, the benches, any surface, really. It is a toilet that has no prejudice - it doesn't discriminate against animals, people, vomit, feces, vomit...all are welcome.

4. Due to 3, the aroma of the ENTIRE METRO SYSTEM smells like a mix of said items.

5. Due to 4, YOU, in turn, carry the aroma WITH you if you're down there too long.

yummy.

on that note, i will end my paris blog.

it was beautiful, interesting, dreamy, stinky. ha. i loved this experience.