Bonjour- we are now on our third language. This past weekend we ventured to Parigi- the city of loveee. It was amazing and we both fell in love with the lights, food, art, and most of all, the men. We woke up bright and early on thursday and set off for the airport. Rachel flew by herself ( BIG accomplishment due to her extreme phobia of flying). We were all on cloud 9 on our cab ride to our hostel, especially when we drove underneath the eiffel tower, but we were quickly brought back down to reality when we pulled up to our hostel. The sign said it all: the 'e' was hanging off the word hostel (we documented this in case you dont believe us). But we didnt let this bring us down and we headed off to discover paris. Of course, the first thing we thought of was food and we all enjoyed a meal of french onion soup, croque madame's, and an omlette for annie. Thursday night we did a night bike tour of paris. We got to wear sweet vests with reflectors and rode on some squeaky bikes, but it was all good. All in all, the tour took 4 hours and it was a blasssstttt. Paris at night is the most amazing thing anyone could ever see- we all were so giddy, like little kiddos. The best part was riding in the Lourve square at night- it was breathtaking. Our tour guide was named blakely (or bakery as he said we could call him) and he was from Florida. He invited us to go drink sangria with him afterwards and of course, we accepted. The bar was quite a sight- very rustic and rachel labeled it 'glamourous grunge' (watchout vogue). The sangria was amazing and there was some dangerously strong fruit floating in it. The parisians in there fit the mold exactly- they thought they were something special. We retired for the night- pooped from bikes and booze and went back to our hostel. In the morn, we set out for a day of sightseeing. We hit the arch de triumphe, champs elysees, the tullerie gardens, and the orangerie, where we saw an exhibit of Monet's water lilies and other French impressionist work. We both fell in loveee with Renoir (other faves are monet, degas, and another guy with a long name). We all could have just died from exhaustion at this point but we took showers and had to constantly hold the button for the shower to stay on= torture. We set off for the Lourve (with wet hair b/c we forgot to back the adapter for the blowdryer AND our electrical outlets didn't work in the room). We all said waddup to Mona- she is much smaller in person but still fantastic. We kinda cut ourself short with the Lourve b/c it is just colossal. We headed to Moulin Rouge to check it out and take the typical tourist pic. That area is quite seedy. Rachel got asked if she wanted to work- she kindly declined the offer. After snapping a few pics, we jetted out of there and headed to a nicer area of Paris for an Italian dinner (we didnt realize it was italian, ironic). However, it was reallly good and the owner gave us a bottle of champagne for free after dinner! After our after-dinner cocktail we all headed to Le duplex, an underground club in Paris. We paid a ridiculous amount to get in but it ended up being worth it. There were 2 levels w/ 3 dancefloors. We realized around 1:40 that we needed to leave so we could make our 2:00 curfew for our hostel. Since we are girls, everything takes about 10 minutes longer than planned so we ended up getting to our hostel at exactly 2:00- close call. Saturday was THE day: we went to Versailles!!!!!!! Words cant explain the grandeur of this palace- it is massive and the gardens are perfect. We saw Marie Antionette's room where she fled through a secret door when people were rioting outside. We walked a long way to see marie's countryside retreat- it looked like disneyland. Rachel's theory is that marie was pretending she was a hobbit- it makes alot of sense if you see the place. Oh and by saturday, all four of us were ready to chop off our feet. The complaining that went on that day was out of control- but it was all warranted. Saturday night we meet our friend, Stodd, in the latin quarter and had drinks, fondue, & crepes. The nutella-banana crepe was bomb. In that area we watched some street dancers and the people watching was superb. There were many attractive french men that tortured us every time they walked by. Lili saw her soulmate but was too afraid to approach- however, fate will bring them together again. At dinner, there was a rugby team from Ireland that had lost their game and decided to drown their sorrows.....in beer and song. They sang the entire time in really deep Irish voices- quite entertaining. One of the men was so cute and sat down with us to talk obama and organics. We didnt go out, seeing as our feet forbid it. Sunday we awoke and headed to Museum D'Orsay (sp?) and saw more French impressionist art on the top floor of the converted train station. We all enjoyed it- there are soooo many famous paintings in this museum. It seemed like every time we turned the corner, we were saying, " I studied this in art history!". Then annie harassed everyone to get a jumping picture in front of the eiffel tower-- I know everyone looks happy in that pic, but we weren't. After bidding au revior to Paris we headed back home to roma. Rachel wouldn't leave France without buying a French Vogue, and that she did in the airport. Overall, we had a blast and saw more than we ever expected. But no matter how much fun we had, we all missed italy and were happy to be back in roma, our homa. One 'ciao' from our crazy cab driver and we felt at home again. But not for long, Barcelona awaits us on Thursday. Until next week, arrivederci!!!!!