Bonne année from Paris

So first off, this is like over a week late. I'm not very good at this blog stuff yet. Second off, I'm now in London doing London stuff which I will eventually speak of.. BUT.. PARIS. It deserves a blog post. I feel like ringing in the New Year in Paris is something you only see on people's bucket list page on Pinterest but never actually do.. BUT GUESS WHAT YA'LL. BIG CHECK MARK THERE CUZ I DID IT! Don't pack your bags too soon though- it wasn't the big show we expected it to be. As I stood under the La Tour Eiffel at about 10 P.M. I felt like it was all just to good to be true. And sadly enough, it was. A French policeman walked by with a microphone telling everyone that there was "NO EVENT HERE TONIGHT" but we're all just stupid tourists & waited around hoping that some fireworks hero would swoop in and make that tower shine brighter than Rihanna's diamond. Well... midnight rolled around and there was literally NOTHING. Just the usual glowing lights for the five minutes after the hour. No countdown, no lasers, no fireworks. Like WTF Paris? It is your obligation as the city of lights to fulfill this title.. ESPECIALLY on NYE right? Nonetheless I loved it because I AM IN FREAKING PARIS. The funny part is they totally led people astray as they advertised "Bonne année" (Happy New Year in French) with pictures of the Eiffel Tower and the most spectacular fireworks. How Parisian of them to go and lead millions of people astray. The aftermath was more interesting than the new year itself as millions of people flooded the streets. It was madness and I got my butt touched by men of all shapes and sizes. I was throwing elbows like a single mom on Jerry Springer. We got caught up in a straight mob trying to get back onto the Metro. Like riot status- they brought out the Po-Po and then some more reinforcement, and they literally were pushing the crowd back. I wish I could have gotten a picture but my hands were just trying to protect all of my pockets as strangers incessantly tried to stick their grubby hands in them. More elbows were thrown, and I was on the brink of being pushed into another dimension when an EXTREMELY SEXY French policeman spotted me and saved our lives. He rescued me from the sea of fishy men and even humorously asked me, "Enjoying your stay in France?" As I got shoved from left to right. We eventually made it home two hours later with all of our limbs still attached. 

FALSE ADVERTISING! Isn't that a load of crap!

DAY ONE- NYE under the La Tour Eiffel. 

The man himself at midnight on NYE.

LIKE COME ON PARIS 

DAY TWO-  Arce De Triumph, Sacre Couer, Latin District, "Love" Bridge, Wanderlosting our way to the Champs Elysses. 

This is the Arce De Triumph. Someone gave it to the French &
 it's big and amazing. I wish someone would give me presents like this. 

The Sacre Couer, or the White Church on the hill. It has the most beautiful view of the city. 

ALWAYS ask Asians to take the picture for you. They are nice and snap the best pics. 

LIKE LOOK AT THAT BEAUTIFUL VIEW! (OF MY FACE DUH)

Inside the church-look at Jesus up on that ceiling! 

The Latin District- DANK CHEAP FOOD JUST MY STYLE 

Shupe's favorite crepe place. Extra nutella please. 

Next stop- LOVE BRIDGE. You're supposed to lock a lock on the bridge with your significant other marked on to it. SO since I'm in love with myself I just wrote me on it. #TYBG won't make since to most of you. I don't care to explain it because my mother would be disappointed. In all seriousness this was a really cool way to kick off the new year. I wrote WANDERLOST on the other side of my lock, which is my own play on wanderlust. By definition, wanderlust is the strong desire to wander or travel the world. Well I have a strong desire to travel and to just get straight up lost in these places, because that's often when you find the most memorable and precious gems. I'm going to wanderlost my way through Europe, and pray that I don't get myself into any Taken-like situations. I'm ecstatic to be spending the next 5 months in England and Europe just wandering around and losing myself in the culture and cities. 

Just me- further committing in a Parisian vow to myself and traveling. Good life. 

This was probably my favorite day in Paris. Such a great way to spend January 1st. 

Day THREE: The Louvre, shopping, and avid people watching. 

Napoleon's "Apartment"- yeah freaking right. I loved every second of the Louvre. I have a secret fetish for museums. And this is like the mothership of all museums. You could literally spend daaaaaays in that shizzle. 

The courtyard of the Louvre. Can you believe people actually used to live here? Shwaaaank-eeee. 

So this is the marble room. Like what? Have you ever seen something so magnificent?

So THIS was hilarious. This is the crowd around the infamous Mona Lisa. I mean it was absolutely incredible to see something so iconic upfront and in person. Huge check off of my bucket list, but in all honesty, I wasn't that impressed. It would have been way cooler if Mona shot water out of her eyeballs or something. It's pretty ordinary looking, and pretty average in my opinion. But the best part is the people pushing their way to get a pic of Mona, or of course a dude trying to snap the selfie of all selfies with Mona.

I WIN DUDE. 

Also, on this day we had Pizza Hut- they dip their breadsticks in BBQ sauce and not marinara, which is surprisingly good. And we people watched by playing "guess the country by the shoes" it's a scarily accurate way to determine human's place of origin, or just horrific choice in shoe. Both of which I enjoy immensely. 

DAY FOUR- Notre Dame, Angelina's, photoshoot at the Eiffel Tower, Musee de Orsay, Laduree. 

Notre Dame is absolutely breathtaking. It's something I think everyone needs to see in their life. Every detail is so exact, so perfect. I could have spent hours and hours there. 

Just a man praying in Notre Dame. I really loved this. And I'm really glad that I got to see this. 

GETTIN' MY HUNCHBACK ON AT NOTRE DAME OBVIOUSLY WHAT UP QUASIMOTO.

For lunch we went to Angelina's, which is well known for their Hot Chocolat and pastries. Seeing that I had been living on crepes and croissants all week, I decided to indulge in a Parisian meal. And it was definitely very Parisian. So rich. But so glad we went if not just for the adorable bathrooms and teacups. 

They really emphasize the chocolat part of hot chocolat here (yes I am purposely leaving off the e because when in Paris).

We had a massive photoshoot in front of the Eiffel Tower. So I naturally had to pull a playboy pose, which led to me tripping a small girl and her dad on her scooter with my sprawled out sexy pose. Like she crashed and burned hard, right next to me laying on the ground like this. And to make matters worse, she started bawling like I had just run over her small puppy. Did I feel bad? Slightly. But it was totally worth the picture.

Action shots of the fatal accident and my reactions. You can see the reflections of the scooter if you look close. I was like, "yo are you okay? and then started to LOL because I made a small child cry. Okay that's not really how it happened but that's how it looks here. Don't believe everything you see ok kids? 

Like I said, major photoshoot with this beaut. And everything surrounding it. I love Paris. 

The Musee De Orsay- I was obsessed with this museum. I love art. I love to try and interpret and depict little details of these masterpieces. I want to go back to this over and over again. It was amazing seeing some classics like Picasso, Monet, Van Gough, etc. AND my own personal favorite, Gustave Courbet. This is one of his pieces above. And me.. just in awe at it's utter perfection. Can I take it home or?

THE MOMENT MY LIFE CHANGED. GOD BLESS YOU LADUREE. If you want to be enlightened make sure you have a salted caramel macaroon from Laduree before you die. If Laduree isn't in heaven, then I don't want to go. 

Like if it gets any sweeter than this, I don't wanna know. 

Paris was unreal. I'm so glad that I got to spend a few days in this amazing city. It is just the beginning of many many journeys (and unfortunately many blog posts). Also HUGE THANKS to Shupe and her superior knowledge of Paris. She made it all possible. 

The going is too good. 

AND JET LAG IS STILL SO REAL. 

STAY GOLDEN. 

Maddi 

xx