Je ne parle pas Francais

Versailles

This post is written with the combined effort of Whitney and Kelsey.

Kelsey and me being super bored while Karri looked at EVERY plant in the Garden of Versailles.

Oh Paris. Let’s be honest, we weren’t that excited to see you. Nearly everyone (expect the French) turn up their noses when P

aris is mentioned. Getting here was quite an adventure, because I (Kelsey) booked our flight into an airport that is actually more than 50 miles away from Paris. Oops. The reservation said Paris, I thought that was good enough. Clearly, I was wrong. We worried all day in Dublin, actually, just Karri worried. We were more interested in the three B’s: beer, boys, and bathroom. We figured if we could say these three words in each country’s language we’d be set.

Well, we were right.

Correction: Je ne parle pas Francais has been a very helpful phrase, especially when you follow it in English with “Will you marry me?” Maybe we will learn how to say it in French tomorrow. Anyway, we went to the train station to buy tickets from Paris to Rome. This has proven much more difficult than one might think (never buy a eurail pass, EVER). Karri decided it would be a good idea for us to learn to say “I don’t speak French”. We walked through the train station repeating “Je ne parle pas Francais” over and over. I (Whitney) pointed out that this is the equivalent of hearing someone in a U.S airport proclaiming “I don’t speak English! I don’t speak English!” Oops. Clearly, we are enjoying ourselves. I’m not sure if it’s Paris, or it’s just ourselves we are enjoying. We can have a good time anywhere. Just add the three b’s.

Back up to the beginning of the vacation. We started with a family friend, Clare, where we were spoiled beyond belief. We all had our own bedrooms with queen beds and down comforters. We woke up every morning to breakfast on the table with endless coffee. We knew when we left for Ireland we would be roughing it. As it turns out it, we were. In fact, each place we’ve stayed has been a step down from the last.

Galway:

We didn’t like it much at first because it was kind of small and too frat house-y, but this turned out to be the reason we loved it. We had our own room, so we didn’t have to worry about sharing space with creepers yet. No one slept much, but we met fun people and had a great time.

On the Coast is Galway

Dublin:

You’d think in a co-ed dorm with 12 beds there would be more than one toilet, or maybe a shower curtain, but no. To think that would be incorrect. Let’s just say we forewent our showers, and stupid people prevented sleeping.

Paris:

By far, the worst of them all. We arrived at 1:30am, only to be directed to read a list of rules before we paid. Is this summer camp? No. Next, we were put in different rooms. Karri and I(Kelsey) got a double room, which wasn’t too bad- but when we saw my (Whitney) prison tower, we knew this would be an unfortunate few days. Pablo told us to go upstairs after we shelled out over 300 euro. We didn’t realize that up meant over 55 spiral stairs. Since we skipped showers in Dublin, they were necessary. The shower wasn’t too bad, if you don’t mind being attacked by angry birds. Oh and don’t mind the water only runs for 30 seconds, and you have to push a button each time and wait for the impending attack. Other than that, it was quite pleasant.

Back to Paris

We met a new friend, Karolyn. She was one of my (Whitney’s) roommates. We were afraid to speak at first because neither of us was certain of the other’s ability to converse in English. Oh man.

We all decided to go to Eiffel Tower and watch it light up. Obviously, this requires a bottle of wine. Unlike the States, you can drink in the streets of Paris. We wandered until we found a store that sold wine (the offie, as they say in Ireland). We chose a bottle and Karolyn tried to pay with British pounds. The man working disliked this very much. We quickly fixed the situation with Euros.

We watched the tower light up, finished our bottle of wine, and watched cute French children playing in a field. There was one in particular (we named him John Luke- with a heavy French accent),that we really considered taking home. In fact, Karolyn tried to ask his friends what his name was, but apparently French children know about stranger danger.

We waited for it to get dark enough (late) to see the tower sparkle (video to come). After we saw the tower sparkle, we packed up and went home. I mean, to the dungeon hostel.

At the Palace of Versailles (details to come)--one of the few pictures of the 3 of us.