Days 12-14: Paris! Une baguette s'il vous plaît.

Ah, Paris! What a lovely city. It`s too bad that we`re leaving tomorrow already, because it was so difficult to get here and we only had two full days to spend!

I`ll start by telling you about our journey here from Brugge. The plan was to catch a high-speed train straight from Brugge to Paris, a ride that should have taken about two and a half hours. Instead, it turned into a eight-hour long adventure.

Day 12:

It started when we got to the Brugge train station and tried to reserve seats for the train, but were told that they were fully booked and the only option we had for getting to Paris that day was to take three connecting intercity (slower than the fast trains) trains. Though it would take us about three more hours, at least it cost nothing more (whereas reserving for the high speed would cost us 20 euros). We got on our first train, changed to our next one, and it was all good... but then we were waiting to arrive at our second transfer stop when the train stopped for a really long time and some other passengers told us that the train wasn`t going to Amiens, where we needed to go. Instead, we were stuck at Albert.

This is Mika, being annoyed at Albert. The next train to Amiens wasnt for another hour, so we loitered in the train station and played hackysack.

Finally, at 11:30 pm (we got on our first train at 3 pm, just to put it in perspective) we arrived in Paris! We were picked up by our couchsurfing host, Dominique, and taken home and got to rest after a long day.

Day 13:I`ve been to Paris before but this time around it reminds me so much of New York. They both have the grittiness among its prettiness, different neighborhoods with different vibes, the sprawling subway system, the cultural diversity, and the little bit of attitude.

We saw a bunch of famous sites yesterday, here are a few:

Postcard prettiness? I took this picture.

Mika sharing the power at the Arc de Triomphe

Me cartwheeling at the Louvre (or attempting to)

Mika with the Greek goddess Nike of victory (she loves Nike because it's from Oregon)


Day 14:

We went to Montmartre, to the Sacre Couer, a church at one of the highest points in Paris. There's a nice view, but today it was cloudy and kind of "meh". More pictures will come later.
We also saw the Notre Dame, it was huge!!

See below. Mika is praying and/or sleeping at the Notre Dame. Can you tell which one's which?

We came back, made dinner (garlic baguette, salad, couscous by Lina, wine and cheese <- so French), and are now just chilling with Dominique and another couchsurfer, Lina, from Germany.

Tomorrow, we head down to Toulouse for a night, and then we're off to Spain- our final country!