Parlez-vous Anglais?

I'm not going to lie, the Irish are pretty loud, and I know their reputation for excessive drinking precedes them, but I was taken aback when I arrived at the Dublin airport to young women shrieking Katy Perry songs and a bar FULL of people. It was 6 p.m. when I arrived at my gate and I felt silly buying a salad (pictured below) instead of a pint.

A legit vegetarian meal - a rarity in Ireland.

The plane ride wasn't much different, only this time I was surrounded by a bunch of French students who insisted on singing "happy birthday" when the cabin lights dimmed and screaming during take off and landing.  Luckily, the rest of my trip was far more similar to what I had initially expected.

After two buses and a plane ride, I arrived in Paris.  My friend Raphael, who I met at Chapman last semester (before he transferred back to Paris for the spring), was nice enough to let me crash with him at his childhood flat.  After staying in hostels, this felt like heaven!  That night, Raph and I caught up on each other's lives and then went to bed so I could wake up early to meet up with my cousin Suzy.

I made my way to the Louvre the next morning courtesy of Suzy's instructions on how to take the metro.  When we met up, I was pleased to find that museums are free for students! Suzy led me through two sections of the museum, which I was very grateful for because without her I would have wandered around aimlessly and known nothing about anything I was looking at.

The Mona Lisa... Way smaller than I expected!

Suzy

Outside of the Louvre

After a couple of hours at the Louvre, we went to a cute cafe for yummy, somewhat bland, French cuisine.

Then we walked through boutiques-galore, a French (and therefore really expensive) version of Ikea, and over toward the Notre Dame.  The line to get inside the cathedral was ridiculous so we enjoyed the outer architecture, then walked to a cool, old bookstore and finally ended at a cafe where we sat and people-watched with glasses of wine.

No sign of Quasimodo outside of The Notre Dame

I got stuck in a freakish downpour after Suzy and I said goodbye but made it back safely to Raphael's looking like a drowned rat.  Hey, I didn't think it rained outside of Ireland...

That night, Raph took me out to his favorite italian restaurant then we walked around the Eiffel Tower.  It is crazy how many vendors station themselves underneath the Eiffle Tower! It was almost impossible to walk around without being offered a touristy key chain or having a rose shoved into my hand!

On Sunday, Raphael and I tried to find a restaurant my friend Lea had recommended called Eggs & Co. but when we finally made it there, it was too full and they sent us out.  We were enjoying our walk, so we continued strolling around the area and finally sat down at a place called Cafe Louise.  Our lunch was amazing!! We left the restaurant as happy campers and walked over to the Musee D'Orsay, which I ended up enjoying a lot more than the Louvre. I recognized a lot more of the paintings and saw some of of my favorite artists' works, such as Van Gogh, Monet and Degas.

Once we were done at the museum, we met up with our mutual friend Hunter, who is studying abroad in Cannes, and one of Raphael's friends from the States.  The four of us went to a cafe and ate crepes that were to dieeee for, mine was filled with nutella and banana, and then walked over to see the Eiffel Tower in the daylight.

Hunter, Raphael and I made dinner at Raph's house that night then ventured into the city for a night out.  Unfortunately, a lot of places close on Sunday's so we ended up spending a majority of our night in a total American-style bar.

Hunter, Raphael and I

I left the next morning with a belly full of chocolate croissant and cappuccino.  It was definitely a weekend to remember!