An American in Paris

I ordered a taxi in Spanish- I was so excited! After a quick ride and short chat with the taxi driver, I arrived at the airport at 3:30am on Friday. As it was very quiet, I quickly checked in, went through security, and boarded with little difficulty. I even got to board first and pick my own seat (a nice little shoutout to RyanAir's policies!). Slept through the entire flight and arrived in the little airport of Beauvais. There I stuttered through ordering a bus ticket into Paris and awaited my arrival (though 2 hours later!!) Serge, my good friend from Paris, and his brother guided me through the complex metro and around the city... good to have someone who actually spoke French!

Paris was, once again, a delight to spend for a weekend. Friday it was very cold and rainy- but not so cold and rainy that I didn't go sightsee around the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumph, and the Champs-Élysées. So dreamlike to walk around this area!

With Serge!

At the Le Defense station in the metro!

Walking the street to the hotel. One could actually see the Eiffel Tower to the left of that steeple, but it was cloudy that day.

Looking down the Champs-Élysées from the Arc de Triumph

On Saturday, we went to this HUGE market... must have been 20 x 20 blocks... selling clothes, jewelry, Parisian trinkets, bags, shoes, food, anything and everything. Was actually quite warm this day, which made riding the metro uber fun haha. Hung out with some of Serge's friends that night before leaving for the bus station at 4am. Rode the bus back to Beauvais, slept again through the entire flight, and safely got back to Madrid via metro. I had a fabulous time in Paris, but coming back to Madrid was like coming back home... So relieving. Its cleaner, the people are much friendlier, the metro isn't as confusing, and I speak the language. Lordy, made me realize how much I love Madrid! But at least I can say I spent a wonderful weekend in Paris.

Day of Exploring

After a long morning in class, Hayley and I relaxed in an afternoon at the Thyssen. It was also my first metro ride since arriving in Madrid. (Crazy no? Thats how close our flat is to everything; we walk everywhere!) The art was very interesting; kinda a strange mix- but it kept us on our toes! With the new addition, we were only able to get through the first and second floors before its closed...... so I guess we'll just have to go back!

On the metro ride home, I decided to get off at the Plaza de España to find the park Maria is always trying to describe to us. It ended up being a LOT farther away than I thought, so I got some exercise and an interesting walk along Grand Vía (the theater/movie/shopping street). And I didn't get lost! Hizzah!

This week we are busy with homework at night--reading assignments, questions, short presentations, and blogs. Especially since we are all going somwhere this weekend, we won't have the weekend to catch up on homework.

Tried palmeras de chocolate, a popular pastry, this morning.. very interesting. But just going to the pastry shop was an experience in itself! ¡Delicioso!