Christmas Blog Part 2! France Part 1!

France, Paris

After leaving Prague we took an extra day to get to France stopping in Rothenberg (I think that’s what it was called) and it was a cute LITTLE village. And right when the clock clicked 6 pretty much all the stores closed and the restaurants started to open. We ate at a nice place that was very touristy. And there was a cranky little Asian working that made my dad and I giggle. Rothenberg was nice but I personally was ready to move on. When we left there we were headed for France. We stopped in Metz for a break, coffee and crepes, and then we also walked in what we, my family, have decided to be one of the prettiest churches that we have see the whole trip. Groundbreaking for the cathedral was in 1220 and it was completed in 1550. After leaving there we were on the road again towards Paris. The following day we FINALLY made it! Now I would like to say that I thought I wasn’t going to like Paris and France because I thought it would follow the stereo type of mean people. But I am happy tell everyone that most of that is a dirty lie! Most of the people we met were amazing! One of the days while having a “mid night snack” at a pub one of the waiters came and sat down and talked with us for most of the time that we were there! Then proceeded to give and take a shot of cognac with us. But he told us about his family and how he was going to move to Miami and a little about what he was going to do! But he was really cool! And he was the first French guy to kiss my hand! I stared laughing so hard! But anyways the first day we were in Paris we went to a huge mall, the Arc de Triumph, and the Eifel Tower. We went to a Christmas Market that was right next to the Defense Monument. There I had a very nice talk with one of the vendors about how he was from Nigeria and how he was so excited to go home to where it was warm. He proceeded to ask me on a date and I was laughing so hard!!! He was such a sweet talker that I couldn’t help but just totally laugh and while I walked away he was yelling at me about he was serious. And all his buddies were laughing also! When I left I realized that my parents just left me there to talk to this guy… I think they decided that if I was going to get myself in thee problems that I cold also get myself out of them. J  We also spent a nice amount to time in the DELIGHTFUL underground stations that all had a DELIGHTFUL aroma of piss! Haha But I really liked seeing the Eifel tower. Did you know that it is more then 3,000 feet tall! Yah amazing! And it really makes you feel so small! And after we walked under the Eifel tower we went to another Christmas mart. At this one we tried something called Macaroons and they were SOOO GOOD!!!! They still make me drool just thinking about them. After we made it to the end of the row we turned around and looked at the Eifel tower and it was “sparkling” literally! And that was pretty cool. The rest of the night was pretty normal dinner and walking around. J

The next day was another great day we woke relatively early (9:00 Early for me!) and went to get breakfast! My parents both got coffee and normally I would do the same but everywhere in Paris they were selling hot coco and I was dyeing to try it so I did! It was the BEST hot chocolate I have ever tried in my entire life!!! It was creamy and so chocolaty and so good! I think I may dream about this for maybe the rest of my life! But anyways I also had a croissant and then my dad had eggs and bread and butter!!! And may I just say that the butter on the Baggett was out of this world! And there is probably only one place where I will ever eat something that tastes like that and it will be only in France… Or maybe just Europe, but I think its just France! All the breads and pastries are all just better then America, sorry my fellow Americans but that is just something we are just not nearly as good at! But moving on. This day we went and spend all of our time in the Latin Quarter and also we went to Notre Dame and all the surrounding areas. Getting off the Metro we walked right to the monument of Fountain St. Michael, which was finished in 1860 during the French Second Empire. It was magnificent! Then seeing Notre Dame everything was so amazing! From the outside of the Cathedral there were already so many details, the complete construction for the end result took from 1160 to 1345. I would like to note that it was broken up into different chucks. But still that is a long time! After waiting in line on the outside and walking on the inside for maybe an hour we left and headed toward the Latin Quarter for lunch. On our way we had to walk over a bridge and the whole fence was filled with locks! The locks are called “love Locks” or “Wish Locks” they are attached to the bridge by a couple who puts there names on the lock and then after being attached they “throw away” the key into the river that is passing under the bridge. After doing this it is said that the couple will have ever lasting love. Over the whole trip I think that these photos may be my favorite! And that night we went back and the night photos are just a good! :) Then we continued our journey to the Latin Quarter. This whole area was really cool! It was small streets and full of people. The reason for me that this was cool was because you would walk down the street and all the people working at the restaurants where outside talking to you trying to convince you to eat at there place and how they had the best deal. We would walk by and I would start laughing and one guy and my dad had a very in depth conversation about… I have no clue! But we didn’t even end up eating there! But it was so fun to just see all the people yelling and then walking down the small crowded streets. After we ate at a Doner place (gyros with chicken) we went to a little café and they had all these brightly colored things in the windows and it looked really pretty! And my parents had one of my cameras and were acting like children that you put in a candy store. So while they took pictures I was standing on the side and I was laughing so hard! After they took their little photo shoot we went in and I had my first Napoleon in France… J It was yummy. The flakey was so flakey and the cream was just delightful. And my mom was so excited because the only reason she was happy to go to France was because she wanted to eat all the pastries.

 Your travel crazy Girl,

Natalie Romo

I am not done talking about France. So this is France Part 1! :D I hope you enjoyed! Another will be coming soon.