Well, we’re back home, but I’ve been textually instructed by my life manager Taylor to write another post.
Fete De La Musique:
This one started off nicely. The Paris music festival! Bands swarm Paris and set up wherever they like and play to their heart’s content. We had a group play right under our balcony and they were awesome! We ended up battling the metro crowds and going to the Eiffel Tower where we puttered around listening to Arabic electro-pop before being repeatedly harrowed by keychain salesmen (typical).
Ile De La Cite:
We left the apartment around 3pm and got a really nice lunch (including a violin street musician) followed by some of the best ice cream around. Then we made our way over to Notre Dame and took some pictures and hung out in the park behind it. I guess we waited too long though because the entrance was closed and people were flooding out the exit. After that we tried to see the catacombs (also closed) and ended up at the Montparnasse cemetery. We’re not morbid at all.
Versailles:
Longest metro ride of the trip, but well worth it. We had a really yummy lunch there too and then walked over to the palace WITH MORE KEYCHAIN SALESMEN SELLING EIFFEL TOWER KEYCHAINS WHICH MAKES NO SENSE BECAUSE WE’RE AT VERSAILLES. I have never heard Taylor yell at a stranger so loudly. We walked through the gates, purchased our tickets, made our way through security, and into the wave of tourists. I basically had a full fledged relationship with an elderly asian woman by the time we exited. Thats how packed it was. So pretty though! It’s so strange to think people actually lived there. We raided the gift shop, headed back to the metro stop, and of course Tay got more ice cream.
Pride!:
Best way to end a trip. Pride festival! Taylor doubted how much fun this would be, but it ended up being one of the best things we did the entire trip! Everyone met for the parade with an endless number of floats blasting music and getting the crowd dancing. We made our way through the streets for about two hours before reaching our destination in a square where the real party began. We were pretty tired so we went home to eat and rest and then headed back out to dance. We even made some new friends! Justin Bieber is apparently a big thing in France too. Go figure.
Heathrow:
After pride we only had a couple days left so we finally went and visited the catacombs (longest, hottest line ever) which was dark, cold, and interesting. The next day we packed, cleaned, and lugged our ENORMOUS bags down 5 flights of stairs, down two blocks to a taxi stand and had the scariest commute of our lives. THE DRIVER KNOWINGLY DIDNT SHUT THE TRUNK BECAUSE OUR BAGS WERE TOO BIG AND HE WAS LIKE NO ITS FINE WE GO! And then he sped to the train station where we were promptly attacked by gypsies. (side-note: while I refuse to buy keychains or put money into cups, I always give money to gypsies because I am afraid they will curse me. Seriously.)
I am always hot. ALWAYS. So after lugging all that baggage around I made a bee-line for the restroom (which you have to pay to use…) and took a hobo shower. Then we got on our train and made our way to london where we took a taxi ALL THE WAY to Heathrow. We checked into our lovely hotel (AN ACTUAL HOTEL THIS TIME) and immediately got room service and a movie. We lived like movie stars for 2 nights. Then we headed to the airport and checked in. First class seats on the way home made the trip not bad at all.
Home :)
Thanks for reading and checking in with us, I hope you all enjoyed our adventure as much as we did!
Peace,
Taylor & Brandon
