Parents in Paris!

So as soon as I got back from the Loire Valley, I headed to the hotel right across the street to meet my mom, who had flown in that morning! She was exhausted from her trip, but we walked around my neighborhood catching up and then went to dinner. The next few days, we hung out and did some shopping and other little things in between my classes. On Wednesday, my Dad arrived and I had my last day of classes for the week, then the touristy adventure began!

Thursday was a national holiday, so we took advantage of the day off from classes to go to Chartres, about an hour and a half from Paris, where there' s a gorgeous cathedral. My Dad and I climbed to the top of the tower and go a great view of the city and surrounding countryside. Then we all sat by the river to relax and had some dinner before returning to Paris. That night, we wandered around Rue Mouffetard and I took my parents for this delicious gelato served in the shape of roses!

On Friday, we went out for breakfast with one of my roommates and then I took my parents to see my school, so they could see the bane of my existence for themselves. From there, we walked to Les Invalides, a former military hospital that now houses a military museum and Napoleon's tomb. The tomb was really cool. It's absolutely gigantic. The museum was neat too, but I can only look at guns for so long without being bored. That evening, we went to dinner and then went to see "Angels and Demons" to relax. SUCH a good movie. And it was in English, which was great.

Saturday we headed off on another day trip to Versailles, where my dad actually spent some time working last summer. I had already seen the palace, so we went to Marie Antoinette's house and enjoyed a fountain show in the afternoon. All the fountains are absolutely gorgeous. It's definitely worth paying to see them work, because otherwise they're turned off. It was really nice to be outside, but all the walking was exhausting! After dinner at one of my favorite French/Greek restaurants near my apartment, I crashed for the evening.

Sunday we spent in Paris again, going to Notre Dame for mass and then the bird market nearby afterwards. We finally got me some flowers to hang off my balcony...beautiful pink begonias. We brought those back to my apartment and then went to the Orangerie, a museum that has Monet's Waterlillies, as well as a lot of works from different artists. It was nice to go to a museum that wasn't overwhelming. Afterwards, my mom and I walked along Rue de Rivoli to look for some souvenirs. It was SO hot that we didn't last very long and went back to their hotel. We went to a delicious Italian restaurant by my apartment. I hadn't been feeling well since the night before, so I just went back to the hotel to chill with my parents and take care of some random tasks (since we finally realized that the WiFi was not ridiculously expensive).

On Monday, my dad went to the Cluny, which is a medieval museum in Paris while my mom and I did some shopping. We also went to Breakfast in America for lunch where I got a cheeseburger and Dr. Pepper! Dr. Pepper is SO hard to find in France and is so expensive (1E a can at least!). We also got me some groceries and chocolate for her coworkers. Then in the afternoon, we decided to escape the second day of heat by reading in the Jardin de Luxembourg before meeting up with my Dad for dinner at a Chinese restaurant near my apartment. Certainly not the same as at home, but not too bad. After dinner, we headed over to the Seine for a Bateau-Mouche ride. There was an ominous looking cloud as we headed out, but the rain held off for a few hours. It was nice to see Paris at twilight and get a different view of the city. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle, but it was still a lot of fun. We were going to get dessert afterwards, but pretty much everything was closed.

After a great week with my parents, it was really tough to say goodbye. I definitely think it was harder than leaving home in February. At least I'm pretty much in the home stretch now...