SpotTheRedhead | London Travel Blogger

It’s only a 10 hr flight. How could it be that bad? Monica and I have done longer, and with layovers!

Boy, this one was a killer. Ready for a long, insane story of our first day in Paris? Keep reading!

We met at LAX airport, after tearful see-you-laters with all of my family members and the place was PACKED!

Catch flights, not feelings!

We just barely made it onto the airplane, so no time for any snacks or resting before we went on the plane!

I’m pretty sure everyone around us hated us the whole flight because we were giggling all night! We couldn’t sleep a wink, even though we are the kind of people who can sleep through hurricanes. I think we were a mixture of nervous and excited! We watched How to be single (meh), the Danish girl (love), and Deadpool (hilarious).

We didn’t end up sleeping for a little over 24 hours. We were delirious by the time we got from our layover in Germany to Paris. Deciding to UBER to the place we are staying was the best decision we ever made. We did not want to brave the sweaty metros, bags in hand, after barely being able to keep our eyes open. Not so safe. We fell asleep in the Uber like 100 times before we made it to Martine’s apartment.

How cute is her little garden??! Ugh, to be her in Paris 😍

You would think that the smart thing to do would be to shower, relax, and unwind after that insane journey… but no… we hit the ground running.

Deciding to meet a friend of Monica’s, by the Opera, we took the metro.  Monica said this was the Opera from Phantom of the Opera. STUN-NING.

After joining up, we wanted to eat at a little cafe nearby called “Non Coupable” to have some french onion soup.

I’ve never had it before, but it was so good! You learn something new every day!

We split a 4 cheese pizza and damn, the French don’t joke about their cheese. It was ALL cheese!!

After dinner, we decided to walk to the eiffel tower to see it at night, before bed!!

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SPEECHLESS.
When I rounded the corner and saw it for the first time, I blurted out (loudly) “IS THIS REAL LIFE???!!!!!!!”

Here’s where the story takes an even crazier turn.

So, the Euro Cup futbol games are on in Paris at this time. People from all over the globe were in their jerseys at the eiffel tower, which was lit up red because of the winning team (I’m guessing.)

Well, after marveling, taking photos, and saying goodbye to Monica’s friend, we started making our way back home, only to get stuck in the middle of the futbol riots! It was dark, we had no wifi, we couldn’t find the metro in the crazy, loud, honking, throngs of people in the streets.

All of the drunken men were screaming at each other and the cars of people were honking nonstop. We got so lost. It was 1 am and we were lost for an hour, in the dark, and creepy men were trying to talk to us. We finally jumped into the first available taxi we could find. Fuck the expense, we needed to get out  there.

The taxi driver was unspeakably grumpy when we asked if he spoke English. We just flashed him the address and he groaned because it was about a 30-40 min drive.

Moral of the story:

-get home before dark, at least if you’re solo female travelers without any pepper spray or protection.
-stay away from riots and giant crowds of drunk people.
-Safety is more important than money, always have emergency cash.

When we finally got to bed, we kissed the sheets, said “thank you baby Jesus”, and KNOCKED OUT.

PARIS 1, KARINA AND MONICA 0.

Sorry parents, we will be safer tomorrow!

SPOT YOU SOON,
RED

Don’t forget to follow me on twitter @spottheredhead and on instagram @spot_the_redhead!!!