SPRING BREAK: Part 2

Paris

Day Four of Spring Break was all about Paris! This was to be our one full day in Paris, so we knew had to make the most of it. We woke up to someone playing “Wagon Wheel” outside our door. Then down at breakfast, “Carolina on my Mind” was playing on the radio. Both of those songs have so many memories of home attached to them, so we unrealistically joked that we should try to meet up with someone from NC. <-- A little foreshadowing for what’s about to come!

We began our “sight seeing jam packed” day by visiting the Arch de Triumph.

 

Then we headed over to the Eiffel Tower! As we were staring and gawking at the dreamy landmark, we asked two ladies if they wouldn’t mind taking a picture of us. They kindly agreed and it wasn’t long before we realized that their accents sounded very familiar. I curiously asked where they were from, and sure enough they  said they were visiting from North Carolina! Where in North Carolina were they from? That’s right…Raleigh!! As we continued to talk, we found at that they both work at NC STATE and were in Paris for Spring Break. What an incredibly small world, in such a large city!

 

This isn’t the first time something like this has happened though. It has happened in three other cities now that I think about it. In each case, I was been minding my own business, just talking with friends when a curious passerby asks me where I am from. In Prague, it was a boy who grew up in Charlotte and actually went to my high school a couple years before I went through Providence. Then in Vienna there was a guy who just graduated from UNC and was now working in Austria. And finally, in Milan a girl began talking to me who was born and raised in Raleigh. Each time I thought it was completely random that these individuals would just stop to ask where I was from. But each one of them said that it was the “y’all” that tipped them off as to where I was from. I always get a kick out of meeting people from home, and it always puts a smile on my face!

 

After being amazed by the Eiffel, we were becoming increasingly less trilled by the nasty, rainy, and cold weather. Once we were soaked, freezing, tired, and hungry we decided to continue on with our challenge, and go find a McDonald’s.

After being replenished, the skies were clearing, and it was time to hit the streets again. We saw the Lourve…

And then wandered our way over to Notre Dame…

 

After mapping out our day, and figuring out the metro system, I am realizing how big of a city Paris really is. Prague only have three metro lines, while Paris has FOURTEEN! Once again, we are hungry so we make one more stop to Basilica du Sacre-Coeur before going to dinner.

 

Dinner consisted of an egg ham and cheese French crepe. Breakfast for dinner is always a good thing! After dinner we HAD to go see the Eiffel Tower at night. Every hour on the hour the Tower twinkles and sparkles, and we weren’t about to miss it! The skies cleared up, and it was the perfect night out as Kimberly and I giddily watched in wonder. We were like two little girls drooling over the shiniest thing in sight. It was definitely a magical moment and another perfect ending to a perfect day!

 

Day Five Things were just going far too smoothly up to this point, so I wasn’t completely shocked when we ran into our first hiccup at the Paris airport. We had a relaxing morning, seeing a few more sights, and had all sorts of time to get to the airport to catch our flight out. To make a long story short, it is a good thing that we left early because we encountered many problems. Many Euros and frustrations later, we finally got everything settled, only to then be evacuated from the airport due to a bomb threat! Everything about that airport was so odd, and I was so relieved when we were finally able to fly out of there.