Amy goes to Paris

By Amy

Well, I think it is about time I told you guys about when I first came to Spain via Paris since it was quite the adventure.

I left the U.S. Tuesday, 24th of September on a plane from LAX to Paris. For those of you who may not have know, I found a really cheap ticket ($350) on standby and figured it out that it would be cheaper to buy this plus a euro rail pass for 4 days ($250) and take the train from Paris to Madrid, a one day trip, leaving me with three more travel days by train which I could use within the next two months.

So I left the States without Phillip and not knowing when Phil would get his visa and be able to fly out and meet up with me. I arrived in Paris 9am Wednesday and from there the adventure began. I only took two bags, my backpacking backpack and my big blue duffel bag on wheels which I definitely need to replace. It is quite a pain to haul around and is very awkward, especially when it weighs a ton :). Well I didn´t plan my time in Paris very well (booked a hostel a few nights before I left and made a frantic phone call to Eric about sightseeing info) so on arrival to the airport, which is located a little ways outside of Paris, I didn´t know exactly how I was going to get to my hostel. After wandering around for too long I discovered that the taxis where too expensive (thanks to a French couple that spoke english) and that my best bet was to take the train in and then hop on the metro to my hostel.

I successively did all this and arrived on a street in Paris from which I was supposed to find my hostel. The problem was I was standing in front of a traffic circle intersection which probably had about 6 or 7 different streets coming off of it and I had no idea which direction I was supposed to go for my hostel. Thankfully not all the French are rude and hate Americans ;) and a little old man saw me standing there studying my map and looking confused and decided to help me. He didn´t know any english but was nice enough to walk me all the way to my hostel!

After I checked in and dropped off my bags it was time to explore Paris. The plan was to have the rest of Wed. and then all of Thurs. to see the sights and then take a train to Madrid Friday. Well I went to the train station to reserve a ticket and found out that the trains were all booked up until Sunday, but I could get one for the next morning. I decided it would be better to have less time in Paris than 4 more days. I was also kind of anxious to be in Madrid where I knew teh language, town, and some people than in Paris where it is more expensive and I no idea even how to say thank you. So the whirlwind tour of Paris began. I made my first stop at teh Notre Dame cathedral. It had beautiful stainglass windows. I payed to go up to the towers and there learned the story of Quasimodo and had beautiful views of Paris depite it being cold and rainy.


I decided to go to the Sacroceur cathedral next but didn´t take quite the right metro line so I walked around a bit before I found it. It´s on top of a hill so it looks really cool and has good views of Paris although you can´t see the Effiel Tower. Inside the catedral was a massive mosaic over the altar which was really impressive.

It started raining harder so I bought my first souvenier, an umbrella with Paris written on it and I bought a watch since I forgot mine at home and was clueless about the time. I went to the Arch of Triumph and then to the Effiel Tower. I was told it is beautiful when it is lit up but I didn´t feel like waiting around for an hour in the rain to see this so I went back to my hostel and tried to use the internet to get in contact with Michelle, whom I met this summer in Chicago, and is living in Madrid. I had already arranged to stay with her starting Friday night but that was before my plans had changed. Back in my room at the hostel which was a big dorm of 6 beds I met some of my roommates, Sergio and Ivan who are originally from Mexico but have been living in Madrid for a couple of years now. While we were talking two more people showed up, Andrew and Lexi from Australia. They were both backpacking Europe and following the rugby tournament around at the same time. We all went out for dinner at a fondu place. I got herring, potatoes and tomatoes soaked in olive oil which was very delicious. We had a good time getting to know eachother a little and eating good food.


The next morning I got up and used the internet in the hostel but hadn´t received anything from Michelle about staying with her that night. Somehow I was able to work it with the French lady at my hostel who spoke absolutely no english so that I could get my refund for the night I wasn´t going to use in Paris. This took a little more time than planned and when I finally got on the metro to the train station I got a little nervious that I might miss my train since I has 10 minutes util departure and I still was 5 stops away. When I got off I tried to run with all my bags and not hit any of the many people walking. I found my train, asked a lady who didn´t know english where my coach was and she pointed to the way end of the train and said a lot of stuff in French so I just started running and then sprinted as fast as I could to the closest door when the warning buzzer for the train leaving started going off. Well I made the train but I found out that I was only in the fourth car and my seat was in the 18th car. I thought for a second about just staying there but then figured I should find my seat since it was going to be 5 hours until my layover at the border. I proceeded then to make my way carefully through the cars up to car 10 where it stopped and there was no door to the next car. I must have looked ridiculous dripping with sweat from running with all my bags and backing my way down the aisles since my bags were so big. When I was standing in the last car that I could go to, wondering what to do know and if my backing down the aisles of the last 6 cars was in vain, a train officer came through and I showed him my ticket and did the universal body language sign of "I´m confused". He didn´t any english, maybe a few words here and there but I found out that there were 2 trains connected and at Bordeaux, France the one I was in was going to go east in France and the other one was going to go to Spain. I was very thankful to find all this information out and successfully find my seat in the right car at the next stop.

Well, I was able to stay with my friend Michelle and her four other roomates in Madrid and actually ended up staying there until Phillip came the next week. They are a great group of girls and were very kind and generous to accomodate me for such a long period of time. I passed my time going to a youth group some of them are involved in, going to a church fair thingy for churches in Madrid, playing futbol in the park, giving blood, helping set up for a pray event at a local church, watching movies with the roommates, drinking lots of tea (they all drink alot of it, I think it´s cause one is British:), reading, and just by walking around Madrid. Overall, it was a good time.

And that´s the end of my long story of my trip here to Spain. Sorry it´s so long (and so late) and if you´re still reading, hopefully you enjoyed it. :)