Paris Trip's Top Ten Fun Facts

As you might have guessed, or even enjoyed reading, these Top Ten Fun Facts seems to sum things up well. We had quite a few hilarious moments on our Paris trip, and I thought it only seemed fitting to add a Top Ten for them all.

1) Setting one alarm isn't a good idea. Setting two alarms IS a good idea. Setting the alarm for the right time IS a good idea. Having your phone on loud, so to be alerted about alarm issues IS a good idea. Haha - we started off the trip with a slight hiccup, but we ALL learned that it was good to be aware of the above. :)

2) When tired, one will revert to the only languages they naturally speak. I only know two languages, with Spanish being my second. Apparently, when one gets tired, one reverts to using the language they know instead of the language they should be. Example A: asking for a chocolate croissant "por favor" instead of "s'il vous plait". Rather embarrassing.

3) Bring the extra batteries you packed in your PURSE, not back home in your bag. Or, when you're at the top of the Eiffel Tower, you will have no back-up batteries. Fail.

4) Always bring comfortable, warm pants to sleep in. Or, perhaps your roommates, whom you never met, will open the window when they arrive home at 4 AM and create an ice-box feeling in your room. This is not fun, especially when you're not wearing warm clothes. :)

5) Certain cultures will always do the same thing for pictures. You can tell it's a European taking a picture when they simple stand there with a solemn face - no smiling. You can tell it's Americans when they take a jumping shot in front of a monument. And well, when you see the peace signs coming out...well...we all know our Asian tourist friends love the peace sign.

6) Crepes are EVERYWHERE!! The restaurants that sell them are all conveniently located next to all the big sites, so the tourists, weary and hungry, look over and think - YES, CREPES! Like we did. Didn't matter how much they cost - we would eat them. Score for them. Score for our stomachs. Fail for our wallets. :)

7) Pride Points. Pride Points are one of the best things you can do to make a trip more fun. Instead of betting money, or food, you bet pride points. The amount you earn is up to the discretion of your peers that are present. If you lose, you go negative. If you win - well, you get your amount of Pride Points. Example...guessing exactly what time it is on the dot, without any help would be 50 Pride Points. Falling off your chair, for whatever reason would be a -40 Pride Points. If you're having a boring day - start the Pride Point game with your friends. Guarantee to make your life better, and funnier.

8) Booking trains the day of, or two days before a trip = expensive. Booking trains weeks in advance = cheap. Noted.

9) Some of the best things are free. I don't mean the places we saw, though those are OBVIOUSLY cool. I mean the four hour conversation we had amongst the four of us, covering every topic we could think of. Cost nothing, and not only was it great, but it was a wonderful way to really get to know more about the people you're with. One of the best parts of the trip.

10) Nutella makes everything better. If you don't know what this magical substance is...it's like a chocolate spread that you can put on anything you wish. The consistency of creamy peanut-butter. It's AMAZING on crepes. But if you buy yourself some Nutella, know that you'll end up eating it ALL. But, it's worth it. (Note...in the picture above...the crepes have Nutella on top. Glorious.)

**Next trip up on the docket is a Triple Tour...flying out next Monday evening (no school due to Carnaval) to Budapest where we'll be until Thursday morning. Thursday we take the train to Vienna, and we'll be there until Saturday morning. Saturday morning we take the train to Prague, and we'll be there until Monday - when we fly back home. SO very excited, and it's almost the same group as in Paris, just no James this time, as he'll be in Barcelona with a different group. Flights and hostels are booked, only the trains left to take care of. More details to come as it gets closer!!