Maurice! The baguettes! Hurry up!

Hello... or should I say, Bonjour!

I'm back in action in London after a fabulous weekend in Paris. I have never seen such a beautiful city.

Our trip started VERY early on Friday morning. Ashley, Katie, Steph, and I decided to take the first train out of St. Pancras Station (sadly, no Harry Potter sightings at King's Cross, right across the road), so we could have a full day in Paris on Friday. As a consequence we were up at about 5:00 a.m. to make our 7:20 train. Fortunately, the Euro Star is very comfortable, and I think we all got a solid nap in before arriving in Paris later that morning.

After dropping our bags at the hostel, we immediately headed into the heart of Paris. We started out our day at Notre Dame, yet another beautiful, Gothic church bursting at the seams with history. Apparently, Notre Dame is famed for possessing three holy relics: a piece of the cross on which Jesus was crucified, a nail from the Crucifixion, and Jesus' crown of thorns. These were not on display, so unfortunately, I didn't have my DaVinci Code moment.

After Notre Dame we walked over to the other side of the Seine, where we found the Shakespeare and Company Bookstore-- the one place in Paris Steph had been dying to go. The tables and walls overflowed with books, contemporary and classic, new and used. There were books on every topic, stunning works of fiction and beautiful words of truth strung along each and every shelf. The entire shop is bursting with the written word. Needless to say, I was in heaven. Although I wanted to take the entire shop home with me (as is the case any time I walk into a bookstore), I settled on buying an old favorite, and classic that my flatmates and I have been referencing constantly since we got here, Pride and Prejudice.

On top of being the coolest bookstore in existence, it also provides housing for aspiring writers and authors. In return for a free bed, all you have to do is work in the bookstore, and you get to actually sleep in the bookstore. The second floor is called the Tumble Weed Hotel, and there are beds set up amongst the books. Hello, my dream come true. Mom and Dad, I may at some point be compelled to do this... Just to give you a heads up.

After the bookstore we started to wander through the Latin Quarter. There are so many crêpe stands and souvenir shops, and hole-in-the-wall restaurants that you could walk for days and not get bored.

After that we went to Sainte-Chappelle, another church. The second floor is basically all stained glass. It was so beautiful. We were there in the early afternoon, so light was streaming in through the windows and casting sparkling pools of light on the floor. After that we were a little church-ed out, so we beat feet over to the Musee D'Orsay. We got there around five, an hour before closing, so we got in for free. Unfortunately we didn't have as much time to explore, but we saw a very interesting Picasso exhibit. The exhibit featured Picasso's many interpretations of a Manet work. It was a little confusing at first to see the same picture over and over again in various styles, but once I put my very limited français to work, we figured out that they were all imitations of the large Manet, hanging on the main wall.

After we left Musee D'Orsay, we had a quick dinner at a cafe. French food is awesome. The people truly appreciate a good baguette or pastry, and they know how to make the best. Several times during the weekend we would duck into a boulangerie and grab a couple baguettes to split while we walked.

The louvre is free after seven on Friday nights, so we headed over there. It was an overwhelming amount of beautiful art. There was SO much to take in and see that it was slightly overwhelming. After the Louvre we were pretty much exhausted, so we went back to the hostel, and planned out day two.

Versaille.

I cannot even begin to describe how absolutely decadent the entire complex is. From the gates to the Hall of Mirrors, to the Queens Hamlet, everything is so ornate and over-the-top. I really want to go back when everything is in bloom and the fountains are turned on. I think that I would absolutely cry from the beauty of it all. You can also understand, however, why the French people rebelled against Louis and Marie Antoinette. These two had absolutely everything that they could want, and ignored their dissatisfied people... If I was extremely poor and had no hope of a better life and my monarch were building Versaille... I would be pretty angry too.

A quick side note-- if you ever feel the urge to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Marie Antoinette had a miniature town constructed on the grounds, and I swear it is the inspiration for Belle's town in the movie, except there were some very creepy fish in the pond.

That night we headed over to the Tour Eiffel to see it sparkle. Walking out of the metro and seeing the top of the tower was a thrilling moment. The four of us were dancing around with excitement, and when it sparkled... well, my only complaint was that Prince Harry and I have yet to start dating, so he couldn't pop the question beneath those dazzling lights. (Don't worry mom, I'm working on it.)

We got up Sunday morning, all charged up for another full day in Paris, which we would start off by visiting the Bastille. So the Bastille... we were a little confused. For some reason we thought it was a prison. I had this distorted Dickensian, A Tale of Two Cities, reference in my head, that Steph had too. Not a prison. Or at the very least, we couldn't find it. I think it was a large memorial in the middle of a traffic circle, but we are still none-the-wiser about what we should have been looking for. Don't worry though, Flat Four rallied, and we grabbed a quick crêpe before doing some shopping.

The majority of the day consisted of us wandering, and enjoying the atmosphere of the city. My personal highlight was when, freezing cold and wind burnt, we wandered into one of the many crêperies. I got the crêpe du arts. And believe me, it was a work of art. A crêpe topped with banana, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and two gelattos (strawberry and chocolate) all sprinkled with nuts. Fantastic.

We arrived back in London to a snowstorm, and were very happy that we had taken the train rather than flown. Our classes were canceled today because, apparently, four inches of snow is an epidemic in London. People were playing in the streets and taking pictures. It was a great way to top off the weekend.