After spending time with Charlie and his family in Germany, we took our travels back to Paris where we were to meet two frineds. Mike and Bri is a couple that graduated from my university last May, so over Christmas break we all decided to reunite in Paris. The couple had not spent much time in Paris so we made sure to hit all of the important spots.
One day while exploring Paris we used Le’Opentour which is a bus that took us all over the city. We went to go see the Notre Dame, the Lock Bridge (one of the many), the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Arch De Triumph, and saw many other site while riding the bus. It was perfect to sit on the upper level of the bus and see all of the architecure and famous spots all over Paris. I also did a bus tour when I first went to London; if you are ever going to Paris or London for the first time, I highly recommend using a bus tour. Its perfect for seeing everything one wants to see when going to these places and once can pick and choose which spots they want to get on and off at. Its the perfect way to tailor your trip to your exact desires.
One of my favorite things that we did in Paris was to go visit Bri’s extended family. Since I had already been to Paris before, I had already done the touristy thing, now I wanted to emerse myself in the culture. Bri’s family disovered they had family in Paris through facebook. An extended family member of Bri’s messaged her on Facebook, leading them to find out that Bri’s grandmother’s sister lived in France. This was discoverd around five years ago and the family had made its way over to America to finally meet. So once we planned a trip to Paris, Bri suggested we go visit her family that lives there.
We had gone to Versailles for the day, and from there we planned to go see Bri’s family. We took a quick train and arrived in a smal town in France where her family lived. Her great grandmother, aunt and two cousins were there to greet us. We did the common French New Years tradition where we ate a cake and whoever found the coin in the cake had to wear a crown at dinner. I found the coin in the cake. It was amazing to get a deeper look into life in France. There is a difference in going to a foreign country and seeing all the touristy sites, and truly emersing oneself in the culture. After dinner with Bri’s family, I truly felt I got a deeper look into the French culture.
My second trip to Paris with Charlie, Mike and Bri was amazing. I had now gotten to see every famous landmark that I wanted while also getting a deeper look into every day life in France.
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