I really couldn’t have enjoyed my weekend in Paris more. I met my friend from my home town in Paris. She was studying abroad in Italy, and had decided to come to Paris with her roommates my first weekend there. So, I made the commute from my small town into Paris and met up with Meg, and her roommates. We stayed at Opps Hostel, which was actually a lot nicer than I was expecting for a hostel. The first night in town, we decided to go to the Moulin Rouge. So, I had made reservations for the four of us to enjoy the show with each having a 1/2 bottle of wine/champagne to ourselves.

We arrived in front of the Moulin Rouge, and decided to quickly eat a crepe before the show. We were all starving! After waiting in line for what seems like 5 minutes now, it was probably more like 20 minutes, we were brought inside, and since we had reservations we were sat at a table right away upstairs. When I say it’s the best show in town, I really mean it. Meg and I were dancers when we were younger, and we both agreed that it was not the best dancing we had seen. However, it was an amazing show, the best show I have ever seen. I loved it more than the rockettes christmas spectacular. The show is called Ferie, and it has comedy, romance, and fun. I loved each act that performed! Again, I think some of it has to do with the fact that it’s the Moulin Rouge, and we were in Paris, at a table drinking french wine! How surreal!

There are some suggestions that I have for you if you are planning on going to see the show. The first being that I would suggest to dress up, and I mean dress up! I had a rough day of watching les enfants and I had my hair thrown in a pony tail, no make-up, and I was wearing semi dressy black pants, and a nice blue top. If I could do it over, I would wear a beautiful dress with heels, and had my hair straighten, and make-up on. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to do my make-up or hair at the hostel before we had to take off for our reservations.

My next suggestion, MAKE A RESERVATION! It makes it so much easier than just showing up. I think when traveling there are some things that you know you want to see, if the Moulin Rouge is one of them, save your self the trouble and make a reservation. Prior to and after the show, no picture-taking is allowed. If you want a memorabilia I would suggest visiting the gift shop after the show. I bought the DVD of the show, and my whole family has enjoyed it!

If you are going to the 11 show, be prepared to have to stop a taxi after. The show is long enough to miss the cut off time for the last metro. We ended up missing the last transfer to get back to our hostel, we stopped a taxi. Luckily, it was the best cab driver I’ve ever had. He blared english music, we were all familiar with and started singing with us.

The Moulin Rouge is the best show in town, and if you’re going to Paris, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Thanks for reading,
DreamTravelerJess

When I first found out I was going to France, there were so many things that I wanted to do and see that I made a list. My Official French Challenge was quite ambitious.  Unfortunately, since my trip was cut short, 10 days was not enough to do everything I had wanted to do! But, that only means that my next trip I know what I’m doing next, and I’ll be better equipped with the knowledge on how to get it done.

• Find a beret, and wear it with style.

The very first thing on my list was to find a beret, and wear it with style. For those of you who know me, I’m stylistically challenged. My mother, little sister, and friend Vanessa can dress me better than I dress myself. So the first thing on my list, was already a challenge. With that being said, I did find a beret. If anyone has any tips on how to wear these things, let me know. I think I failed at this challenge, but, you can decide for yourself. On the top of the beret, it has a picture of the Eiffel Tower, and it says Paris. By far, my favorite souvenir.

• Learn some french!

My grandmother was born in Montreal, QC, Canada. Her first language is French, and only learned English later in life when TVs first came on the scene, and the only programs were in English. Most of my family today, still resides in Montreal, and all speak french, some with little to no English.  My summer’s as a child I lived in Canada with my chere grandmere and my Aunt from Montreal. I have taken French classes since I was a young school girl going to elementary at my private catholic school where French was a requirement. After that, I entered into high school where I took French, and even took IB French. I was not anywhere near to thinking I was fluent in this language, and was hoping to improve. It was funny, that I don’t think my french improved as much as I thought it would. I just got over my fear of making a mistake while speaking it. That was a big plus for me.

• Eat at a cafe

I ate at plenty of cafes while in Paris. They line the streets of Paris, with often the option of sitting outside and enjoying the ambiance of the city.

• Eat crepes until I can’t take it

I can easily say, I conquered this challenge! I’ve had crepes many times, as they are  becoming more and more popular, and are one of the main courses at my favorite restaurant in Montreal Chez Cora. This is a picture of me eating my first crepe in Paris! The best crepe I have ever had my entire life was filled with a very generous amount of nutella, and bananas. It is located on Avenue des Gobelins and is called Croq’Cine. I visited it early in the night, and the line was packed to get in and order. I highly highly recommend that anyone who wants a crepe, go here and order one.

• Go to the Moulin Rouge

Going to the Moulin Rouge was perhaps a highlight on my trip, and it something that I will never forget for the rest of my life. My trip to the Moulin Rouge kicked off one of the best weekends of my life! I am so happy that I went, and spent the money, because not only is it the ‘the best show in town’ it’s the best show I’ve ever seen.

• Visit the Eiffel Tower

My favorite movie growing up was and still to this day is Gigi, with the beloved Maurice Chevalier. Through out my entire trip I was pretending to be Gigi in the scene where she drinks too much wine, or gets excited by the chocolates. I could hear Maurice Chevalier’s voice as he says: “Don’t you marvel at the power, of the mighty Eiffel Tower. knowing there it will remain evermore?  Climbing up to the sky , over ninety stories high!” My visit to the Eiffel Tower is one of the most memorable moments I have of Paris, and one that I will carry with me the rest of my life.

• Arc de Triomphe

I did see the Arc de Triomphe, and it is spectacular. And once I saw it, I decided that I have to see it at night-time, which I never did. So there is my next challenge for the my next visit to Paris.

• Go wine tasting

While, I never officially went to a wine tasting class. I did taste lots of different wine. My friend Megan (from my hometown) was in Paris for a weekend trip, as she was studying abroad in Florence. One of her classes is wine tasting! So of course, we had to sit down at a cafe and drink some wine, where she shared a few tips with me on what to look for in a wine, and how to drink it. I can’t wait till she comes home and we can have a wine night, where she can really teach me all she’s learned. Here are our glasses from our mini session, we had wine from bordeaux, which is the wine capital of France- maybe the world?! All I can say is, after sharing this pitcher I was definitely feeling the wine!

As for all of the other challenges I set for myself, they will all have to wait until my next trip to France.  

Thanks for reading,
DreamTravelerJess

I arrived in Paris without a single hiccup in my travel plans. Which is always nice. The long lines at customs at CDG was a little tiresome, however, once it was my time to go through customs not a single question was asked of me. On the same day, outside of CDG there was a bomb threat!? …. the customs agents seemed a little laxed, even to get back into the States from Canada more questions are asked of me. My host father picked me up at the airport, and we started our journey to the house. I was overly exhausted, and couldn’t wait to sleep. By the time we arrived, I went straight to my own chalet and slept for the rest of the day.

My first week, flew by pretty quickly as I was watching the children some days, and doing my homework online for classes. On Wednesday I went into Paris all by myself, and I didn’t get lost once! How exciting! In order to get into Paris from my chalet, I had to walk about three blocks, and through a forest path, where I would arrive at the train station. From the train station I would arrive at Saint Lazare in Paris, where I would have to take the Metro to wherever I was going. I went to the Wine museum on Wednesday, and took the tour. I learned a little bit about wine, mostly I just looked at a bunch of the tools used to make wine. They have student prices which is always nice, and a glass of wine is included! Something that you should note, if you go to the Wine museum and want to eat, eat first then the tour is free. I took the tour first because I wasn’t even sure if I really wanted to eat. I’m not sure if it is entirely true about the French being (not rude) we will say straightforward. But, this was my first encounter where I experienced some of that french culture. When I had wanted to eat, it was about 3:00 pm and I still hadn’t eaten after the tour, I said ‘okay, I might as well eat here, I’m not going to get lost looking for something else.’ When I asked the waitress if they were still serving, she said yes. But, she acted like she didn’t want to serve me. I thought it was interesting, maybe it was because she knew I was an American student….. Needless to say, she had me look at the menu and prices before she would sit me down at a table.

But after seeing the menu, I decided I was hungry enough to sit down and fork out some cash. And I am so glad I did! This was one of the best meals I’ve ever had.

The one great thing about the Wine museum, besides the food, is that it is so close to the Eiffel Tower. After the amazing meal, I went and decided that I had to wander around a bit. I strolled down Avenue du Kennedy in the rain. Where I finally got my first look at the Eiffel Tower. I was so excited, I whipped out my iPhone, started to take pictures, and ALMOST started to jump up and down, just like an excited American child tourist.

But, I kept my composure. After taking in this magnificent landmark, I decided that the Eiffel Tower is the only landmark that I could probably be okay to waking up every morning, and still being amazed by it.

For the rest of the afternoon, I just waked the streets near the Eiffel Tower and took in the brilliant view. I don’t think I have ever felt so amazed by one landmark. In D.C. the Vietnam Wall is the only other landmark I’ve ever seen that evoked this strong of an emotion from me. Even though, at this time the children were not getting along with me, the trip would be worth it just to see the Eiffel Tower.

All the while, I was asking for directions, ordering, and asking for help in French. I was quite surprised at how well my french speaking was going. Later that week, I explored some of the small town I was staying in, went to play in the forest with the boy L, ordered a very raw steak -not on purpose- the waiter suggested and I said OUI! I met a very nice Italian who spoke English, French, and Italian, and helped translate a bit for me, went to the boulangerie to get a baguette twice, and had wine with almost every meal.

Though I am back from Paris now- my trip was cut very short (I’ll explain later) my highlight of the entire trip was my amazing weekend in Paris, that will be my next post.

Thank for reading,
DreamTravelerJess

Is it possible to create a bucket list for France, to be completed in 3 months? I guess the key challenge is to finish it all in 3 months, and if I don’t I guess there is just an excuse for me to re-visit.

Let’s see if I can do this:

• Find a beret, and wear it with style
• Take a cooking lesson
• Visit Nice
• Visit Rouen
• Visit Mont St. Michel
• Learn some french!
• See the Mona Lisa
• Eat at a cafe
• Eat crepes until I can’t take it
• Go to the market to shop
• Make a friend
• Go to the Moulin Rouge
• Visit the Eiffel Tower
• Attend a mass at the Notre Dame
• Versailles and Chambord
• Arc de Triomphe
• Musee d’Orsay
• Go wine tasting
• Manger beacoup de fromage!
• Take 90 photos- a photo to describe each day I’m there.

Too ambitious? I will still have homework to do, and taking care of P and L 30 hours a week, and I still need to fit at least one trip to Italy in there too, it’s a must if I’m so close, I have to eat some real Italian gelato! Any other suggestions?

Thanks for reading,
DreamTravelerJess