Paris

Well, i went to paris this past weekend. I have to say it is by far one of my favorite cities in the world. Its in a very close competition with barcelona and malaga. I have yet to see rome (1.5 weeks) but i believe asof now it was my favorite. I flew to zurich switzerland first for a layover and that was quite extraordinary in itself because i flew over the swiss alps. It was simply breath taking. I regret not taking many pictures from up there because i thought i would on the way back, but the weather wasnt as nice on the way back. But i got to fly right over them. I never thought i would see a mountain range that could rival the rockies, but the swiss alps are more majestic and grand in scale. It was a privelage. I got to paris in the evening around 630 and had to ride a bus for an hour into the main city to opera square. As soon as i got off the bus, paris began to amaze me with its architecture and liveliness everywhere possible.
I hung out around that part of town for a little bit and ate mcdonalds because i heard food is extremely expensive and i was and am on a very right budget. So i ate and walked to try and find my hostel. It was an amazing walk as i seen so many things. And about an hour later, i found it. It was a nice hostel especially for being my first one and i luckily ended up being alone in my 2 bed bedroom. I was kindly greeted by 2 friends i knew from the ISA program and hung out downstairs most of the night. We planned to do some things the next day and made a pact not to be back until midnight after sightseeing.
I woke up in the morning and was ready for a day full of adventure in paris, especially sine it was pretty much my only one because my flight left @ 7am sunday morning. We started at a soveneir market close to our hostel that was right by the sacre cour cethedral. I bought some souveneirs for a few family members i have and some for myself and a few for another person that may ot even want them, but i was and have been thinking od her alot lately. Anyhow, after that, we caught the metro train from gare du nord to close to the catacombs in southern old paris. It was supposed to be our beginning point. I right away got to start using the french i knew and was asking for directions and talking to locals, in french! I was excited to put my kowledge of a basic lamguage of something other than spanish in action. Im very proud to say i was able to practice french in paris. But ya, we found the catacombs but we would have been waiting in line for hours so we decided to skip it and see the more important parts, given the time we had. So we went and ate at a kind of nice restaurant and planned the rest of the day. We then made made it to the notre dame cathedral, where the movie hunchback took place. It was soooooo beautiful outside and equally inside. I got to light a candle inside and make a wish, like when i was an ultar boy as a kid. It is surely one of the grandest cathedrals in the world for catholics. I bought a rosary and did a tour inside and we proceeded to our next destination. The river that runs through paris is beautiful and all the bridges. On our way walking to the louvre museum,where the mona lisa is, we saw the royal palace of france. It was my 2nd royal palace after seeing the spanish one in madrid. They are simply marvelous structures and pictures dont do them justice. You have to be there to feel them. So we wqlked alongside the river, seeing paris, and made it to the luvre museum. That place was huge. The architecture here in europe is just amazing. I love the old style and you can just see the history and culture in all of them. Another thing i love is the saints and angels and figures looking down upon you from all these buildings. Its intricate and it makes me feel like the angels are constantly watching me here in europe, they are everywhere! I didnt go to see the mona lisa because there was only 20 min before it closed soi waited for my friends and we went on afyer that. Our next destination was la defance. It was basically downtown paris, the new part, with massive skyscrapers everywhere and a crazy square building that i really wanted to see called le grand arc. I couldnt even get a whole picture of it, it was so big but i got what i could. So then we went from there to the eiffel tower. That was simply amazing. Words or pictures cant begin to describe it. It also started sparkling randomly when we got there, it was breathtaking. We didnt go up because i had to catch a boat ride down the river and see paris from a boat and the line was huge. But its something you have to do in life to really appreciate. Movies dont do it justice. So i took this amazing boat ride down the river and saw most of paris at night. It was cool. I remember being onit alone wishing someone would be there with me, and thought about it more thani should have, but none the less relished the moment and appreciated the life god had granted me with up to that point. But its paris! City of love! Haha, o well. Ill be back, i can assure you that. So our last destination was le arc du triumph, an amazing and beautiful arc which many paris streets run off. We ate on the street that is close to it and known as one of the oldest and most expensive but nicest streets in all of europe. I had some pasta and a glass of french wine. It was great. So we went and seen the arc du triumph for awhile and caut the metro back to the hostel and that was pretty much my trip. By the time we had gotten back to the hostel it was 1 and i had to leave to the airport at 5. So i slept what i could and got up and went to the airport, flew back to zurick and back here to my home away from home, malaga españa. And thats that! Hope you have enjoyed this post as much as i enjoyed experiencing it and writing about it! Until next time, which will be cordoba next week sometime,see ya later!