Paris - Day 1

Hmmm how are you supposed to start your first morning in Paris again? Oh yah, a croissant?

And a trip to the Louvre?

Done and done. We've already started to befriend the friendly man who has a cafe across the street and beat the lines at the Louvre. We chose to enter the Denon wing because it hosted the Mona Lisa and the Crown Jewels. We knew it was the most visited museum in the world, but jeez it was huge and crowded. I am so happy we went early or it would have been way to overwhelming. The Louvre itself was a piece of art.

From the columns to the floor...

And especially the ceilings!

It also gave me some ideas for new riding attire, like a leopard skin saddle pads?

 When we finally got to the Mona Lisa it was completely empty and we could get super close!

Haha just kidding! But I waited my turn and got to see her.

It's fun to say I saw her, but I was more impressed with other pieces of art. Including this girl power piece.

As we made our way out of the most beautiful room that housed the Crown Jewels we heard an announcement that said something along the lines of "For your safety we'd like you to please exit the building immediately." They said it in about 5 languages, however we seemed to be the only people who thought that it sounded important... Even the guards didn't seem phased. We decided better safe than sorry and followed the signs for the exit... Which got us lost. We ended up in another wing (we later found out it was the Sully wing) of beautiful art were we could no longer here the announcement. So we decided that it must have just been for the previous wing we were in (which was the most popular area) and that'd we just return to the main entrance. I saw this awesome Egyptian exhibit along the way.

Anyways, we finally made it to the main entrance and they were still allowing people in, so we're not sure what the announcement was about, but it was getting too crowded for our tastes anyways.

It was such a beautiful day out we were happy to walk through the Louvre's accompanying gardens.

Next we did some window shopping on our way to Plac Vendome, which had more window shopping and a big column that Napoleon made famous.

We were starving and found a cute cafe for lunch.

More delicious bread, ham and cheese and now butter! It hit the spot! What's the best thing after a meal? Dessert!! On our way to the famous Laduree at its original location to get their world famous macaroons we passed the Madeleine, a beautiful big building fronted with two grassy areas covered in flowers.

There were so many types of macaroons we had trouble deciding, so we all got two and split them in thirds.

We ended up with red berries, pistachio, chocolate, salted caramel, vanilla and lemon.

They were all out of this world, but I think my favorite was pistachio. Feeling refueled and ready for more art we went to l'Orangerie to indulge in Monet, Cezanne, Matisse and Picasso. Including two reflecting rooms containing 360 degrees of Monet's water lilies (which we weren't allow to take pictures of). I also enjoyed this picture which I spent at least 5 minutes staring at the hay convinced it was real.

And this simply beautiful impressionist painting.

This Derrain painting with a gorgeous frame.

Finally, this painting of the Notre Dame that got me excited about tomorrow!

We left the museum to a beautiful view and I admittedly gave a little squeal when I saw the top of the Eiffel Tower for the first time!

We went through the Place de la Concorde and down the Champs Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe.

It started to rain right when we got there so we took some quick pictures and ran to a cafe for an afternoon snack...

BOOM! This little beauty is called escargot (don't worry no snails here just chocolate and pastry, but Maddy if you're reading this you should figure out how to make these before I get back)! It was prefect to hold me over until a late dinner (since they eat around 9pm here. And now the moment you've been waiting for... Drum roll please.... 

The Eiffel Tower! No explanation needed. I even took some photography inspiration from my dad.

And luckily my friends didn't think I was too much of a dork! (This is us under it). We also alternated taking some photos in the grass out front and I asked Arin for a very specific angle that lead to this....

They turned out awesome! But you have to wait for me to get back to download them off my camera. We went back home tired and sore to drop off our things before dinner. We ended losing Paige in the hotel room but Arin and I went on an adventure to favorite local restaurant called Chez Gladines known for their American portions of French food. We waited 45 minutes and everyone shares tables there. We asked the waiter for his two favorite dishes (since it was all in French) and just went out of a limb and ordered them.

Liver that tasted like bacon on the salad and a duck entree. Proud right? They were both really good and even better because we were being adventurous! We were also sharing a table with some older French men who after dissing America and implying women can't read maps spent 30 minutes circling all the best sights to see according to a Parisain. Luckily, we had most of them in our plans for the next day anyways but it was awesome to hear his input. I passed out immediately upon returning to the hotel.

 

Travel Day - Amsterdam to Paris

It was really sad to leave Amsterdam this morning. It was a beautiful sunny day and I just wanted to go rent a bike again and have a picnic in the park! We loaded up with a big Dutch breakfast in our hostel before heading to the train station.

It was so big wasn't able to finish it all. We took in our last little time in Amsterdam.

And went off to the train station. The train went smoothly only a 30 minute delay, but I didn't really notice because we took turns switching off who got to sleep and who was awake keeping an eye on our bags. Once we arrived in Paris we bought passes for the metro and navigated our route to our hotel. We got turned around a little, but arrived at our first hotel of the trip (a quality inn) just a little before dinner. It is funny that while this is our first hotel I almost thought our last hostel was nicer. We set all our stuff down and went off in search of Pho 14, a resturant that my guide book recommended and said had the biggest bang for your buck.

I got a crazy drink that had some sort of green noodles, rice mash and coconut milk. Everything was really good and hit the spot for us hunger travelers. I was ready for bed by 8pm, but managed to stall till about 10:30pm. However, if you think it's staying light at home in the US let me show you what it looked like out my window after 10pm. 

Crazy right?! Unfortunately the wifi only works in the lobby and is still pretty nonexistent. So, while I may be writing my posts everyday I don't think I'll be able to post them everyday.

Amsterdam - Day 2

Sun sun sun!! We got up and saw the beautiful sunshine coming through our window.

And looked out on our private little canal.

We decided that it would be a lovely day to do what the cool kids are doing and rent some bikes! Along the way we decided to get waffles for breakfast.

These waffles are much denser and much more gooey in the center. Not to mention absolutely yummy. At the bike rental place I was all nervous to get a pedal break bike instead of a hand break, but in a way I almost liked it more.

We set off for the Rukj museum. The weather, fresh air and exercise was such a lovely combination. When we got to the museum we were surprised by the line and the 15 euro ticket prices. We decided to just look around the gift shop to get a feel for the type of art that was there. We ended up seeing all the most famous art... Just on post cards. I feel a little bit like a fake because I purchased some gifts there even though I never went in the actual museum. By the time we left they had 3 separate lines some controlling how many people could even go in the building. I guess we had come in good time. We were all really excited to just keep biking around. We went to Vondelpark. Best decision ever. It was absolutely gorgeous!! So green with lots of water and happy people and their dogs.

We biked the outside path twice then stopped for some lunch. I got the daily special, but I can't tell you the name because it was in Dutch. What I can tell you is that I enjoyed every second of it.

We biked past a cool play structure that had a raised path that traveled on for a while.

Yes, of course we stopped and played on it. Next we found a place to "settle down" which actually became us trying to learn how to become biking pros and climbing trees.

Not too bad a spot right?

I decided I could be an Amsterdam local because I can bike with a passenger on the back! Well I don't know how they do it on the streets, but I can do it in the park.

Paige ended up in a tree and Arin almost got drenched by a dog shaking off after a dip in the stream. Our next destination was the Heineken Experience. It was the old brewery turned into a museum. While it was by far our least educational museum it was still interesting and a lot of fun. 

We saw all the different processes used to brew the beer. Here is the barley getting cooked.

 And... Best of all... They had horsies!! But we weren't allowed to go pet them.

(Notice the new shirt I got in London.) We also got a taste testing (and Arin got two because she answered a trivia question correctly). The most interesting thing they told us about was that they always make sure there is a thick layer of foam on top, not to rip us off, but to keep the beer fresh underneath. So you're not supposed to blow it away or remove it.

They had a couple rooms of interactive games and Heineken adds/commercials.

And space looking stuff...

Finally, everyone gets two beers included at the end of the tour.

The Dutch word for cheers is Proost! We returned out bikes and started looking for dinner. We found a falafel place that had unlimited toppings. Perfect. 

We get to add our own... You could say we got our money's worth.

It was so good! And I finally gave in and tried the paprika lays chips, which pretty much taste like BBQ.

One of Arin and Paige's roommates was also in Amsterdam yesterday and met up with us. As we were surveying prospective places to go out Arin recognized a guy walking down the street. It turns out a group of UVA guys were also in Amsterdam. We joined their pub crawl, which honestly was a little bit of a rip off, but luckily we got it for 50% off so it wasn't too bad.

(Check the other new necklace!) Overall we had a good night, but we were ready to get to bed!