Friday, July 20- Sunday, July 22, 2012

Bonjour!

We have finally finished up our last week of work! While we were someone sad that it was over, we were ready for it. Now we can relax and enjoy Paris like we've been wanting to. The weather should be pretty ideal for us as well this upcoming week! We aren't really going to venture outside of Paris because there are so many things that we wanted to do that we didn't get the chance to because of working until 530/6 every day and then it being rainy afterwards. So here's the breakdown of our weekend:

Friday, July 20

At work our Sodexo contact treated us to lunch off site. We had great burgers, which are a rarity in Paris from what we've come to know. By the end of the day, she organized a get-together on my floor for a going away party. It was kind of sad to leave thinking that we may never see these people ever again.

After we left, we did not hesitate to get our first night of freedom started. We decided to go back to the Latin District and explore the streets. This is probably our favorite spot in all of Paris. It's so lively and there's so much to do. We walked around a bit and saw several musicians performing. One was a jazz band, which was really awesome. We ended up at a nice restaurant and sat there for two hours. The lifestyle is so relaxed here. We stayed for two hours and there were people who were there longer than us. The slow meals and just being able to sit and relax without feeling rushed is something I will definitely miss about Paris! It was pretty late by that point and we were still tired from the day so we decided to go back so we could sleep and be ready for a day of shopping on the Champs d'Elysees the next day.

Saturday, July 21

Shopping! We spent about four hours shopping on the Champs d'Elysees. We didn't really buy much, but the streets were crowded and lively that we just took it all in and hung out. I did buy my first Swatch watch, and I will absolutely be going back to buy more. They're significantly cheaper here than they are back home. Maybe $25-$30 cheaper depending on the watch. We patronized the Haagen Dasz restaurant. It was cool because they served you your ice cream. An interesting experience at the cost of EUR 3 extra per person, but worth it. 


After we were done on the Champs, we decided to go to the Latin district to finish up our night near the Seine. We bought baguettes, cheese, ham, and some drinks and went down to the river. On our walk down we found a nice looking bakery and purchased some macaroons for dessert. We hung out for about 3 hours and were completely content. Two men came with a guitar and amp and started playing. They were later joined by complete strangers with a drum and harmonica and they just started playing music on the spot together. It's so lively here. This will be something I miss as well: the night life.








Sunday, July 22
The Tour de France!! Such an interesting experience. We got there early and went back to Swatch because we couldn't stop thinking about the watches we left behind. After that we found a spot along the road and set up for the day. I bought a bag that contained all sorts of Tour souvenirs for relatively cheap. I was pretty impressed. We waited about two hours for the cyclists to come through. There was a parade before it which was pretty awesome. I guess they don't show that on TV, so that was pretty cool to see. Right about now should be the time where I add that I'm not a big bike-sport person, so this was all fairly new to me. When they finally came by, I was amazing at how fast they went. I barely had time to snap a photo! I give them so much credit. That has to be extremely hard. Enjoy the photos!