Aquarium La Rochelle (Day 6) (Ecosystems)

"RISE AND SHINE BOYS," Connor screamed to wake all of us up. It was day 6 in France and it has been an eventful trip so far. Everyone started to do their normal morning routine: shower, get dressed and get ready to go down to the lobby for breakfast. I had to, "wash my flow," so I took a, "fat," minute to get ready because, the French ladies are kind of cute. We all went down to the lobby and took the elevator. Little did they know I got stuck in one when I was young so I'm scared to go on them. I usually take the stairs, but I didn't feel like it this morning, because I didn't drink my G-fuel, Gene started to shake the elevator, and I freaked out, they all laughed at me, but when we get stuck, its gonna be a long day. We finished breakfast and got ready to leave.

 We stumbled into our 9 a.m. uber. Gene proceeds to ask Connor about where we are going, connor recits the La Rochelle Aquarium. It is a family-owned public aquarium in La Rochelle France. It has a surface area of over 90,901 square feet, with 3 million litres of seawater. It has 73 display aquaria and 150 quarantine aquaria exhibiting more than 12,000 animals of 600 different species. It has an average of 800,000 visitors per year. The La Rochelle Aquarium is ranked the number one aquarium in France by Tripadvisor, which is why we decided to go there, along with the experience. We've had the same uber driver all trip, and he's pretty nice and he gives us an aux cord. The uber rides are great except for when Connor gets the aux. Me, being the skinny one, always takes the middle seat, which I hate because I have Gene and Connor on my sides. I'm so uncomfortable and have no room. Our uber driver doesn't even speak English that fluently, so we had to guess what he's saying after the five minute hassle to give him our destination. Connor's about had it with Gene, because he got the aux cord and is playing trash songs, such as Matt Ox- Overwhelming. Connors ripped the aux cord out of Gene's phone, plugs it into his cracked iPhone 6 and starts playing his annoying, weird 19th century Irish music. I don't know how people like Connor's music. I'd honestly rather listen to jazz than that. Ethan and Evan sing along, while Gene and I just look at each other shaking our heads and saying, "vote to kick." Car rides are either good or bad because everyone has different tastes in music.

When we pulled up to our destination, I was not thinking this was a aquarium. It looked like a science lab from the outside. We walked inside, and we had about 15 minutes until our tour started. Gene walked over to the Aquarium store, and got some merchandise. Honestly it looked really good. The tour started and the first thing we see are these huge sharks. Evan tells us his back story of sharks, about how when he was in Hawaii. He was swimming with the sharks, and then he got caught by a rock and started bleeding and almost got attacked. The tour guide told us, sharks have a supernatural sense of smell and they hate the smell of blood. Our tour guide was really good and I actually enjoyed him. I didn't get bored even though it was two hours. Next up was the jellyfish exhibit. I don't really know why, but Ethan hates jellyfish, because he apparently got stung by one when he was little. It was kind of like me and elevators. Ethan told us about how he freaked out and how much it hurt.

While we finished up our tour, and tipped our tour guide, he didn't bore us with facts about the animals. He did a good job on the tour. None of us were really in the mood for the aquarium food after looking at the menu, so we just stopped at Mcdonald's and ate there. We have a good relationship with our uber driver, so we got him a iced tea. When we got to the hotel, I felt like I was dead. I walked over to my bed and crashed. I think it was because I didn't have my G-fuel in the morning. Our day came to a close by taking showers and then eating a hotel dinner. After dinner, we went up to the room and all got in bed, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

The Louvre (Day 5) (Culture)

It was day 5 in France and already I felt a bit homesick. Last night was rough, because of all the walking in the Palace of Versailles. I was sound asleep, and having dreams of our different expeditions in France thus-far, and different scenarios kept occurring in my dreams. Eventually my dreams ended by Connor yelling, "RISE AND SHINE BOYS," which I thought I was still dreaming, but I wasn't, which made me sad. Everyone started to get up and begin their daily morning cycles. Since Connor already showered, and cleaned up, everyone else took their time getting cleaned up as well. Everyone took short, 10 minute showers, all except Will who needed to, "wash the flow." Ethan grabbed his phone, and looked at the time. "Umm guys it's 10:30, and breakfast is gonna be over soon." When Ethan mentioned breakfast, he managed to get everyone's attention. Breakfast at the hotel was so amazing, so everyone perked up, and put their clothes on for the day, and ran out of the room to the lobby.
Whilst we were running to the lobby, Will and Gene both stopped in whole hearted fear and exclaimed trembling, "We left our phones in the room!" This was very unfortunate because our room was on the sixth floor, and the lobby was on the first. Connor chimed in and said, "hehe haha, you guys don't get a good snapchat story." Will and Gene both started to walk back towards the elevator to get their things from the room. The plan was to meet up in the lobby when they got their items, and eat breakfast together, but we couldn't resist. The hotel food was a big step-up from McDonalds. Ethan, Connor and I ate our breakfast together, and as we finished, Will and Gene both just got their food. They looked a little bit infuriated, but all we responded with was a chime of belches, and, excuse me's. When everyone was finished and satisfied, it was noon, and almost time for us to leave to our next destination.

Connor was the one who liked to do research on the places we went to, so we were going to The Louvre because it was a very famous art museum. "The Louvre is a museum that looks like a giant glass pyramid, and was at first a fortress, but eventually became an art museum with 537 paintings." Everyone was started to get annoyed with Connor's random spit facts, but reluctantly, the uber pulled up right on time at 1:00 PM. We used that as an excuse for Connor to be quiet, and we all piled in. The drive took an hour and thirty minutes, and we passed that time by hearing Connor's fact's and listening to Lil Pump, and listening to the driver try to sing it in his French accent. We eventually arrived at The Louvre at 2:45 due to traffic.

The Louvre was absolutely stunning. We walked to admission, and already the glass pyramid was amazing enough to make Gene walk into a pole and scuff his NMD's. We walked up to admission, and paid nine euros each, and joined a tour group. When we entered the Louvre, I got my breath taken away. I thought the outside was amazing, but the inside of it was even greater. There was a vast amount of different famous artworks, that I didn't know of, but they still looked amazing. Connor was so stunned by the decor, that he walked into a lady, causing that lady to bump into the tour guide. Connor blamed it on the lady, which angered her, and caused her to curse at Connor in French. The tour guide broke up the argument, and we went along with the tour.
The tour of the Louvre took a very long time. It took nearly four hours, but we saw some of the best and most famous artworks known all over the world. I was stunned at how protected the Mona Lisa was. It was known as one of the most guarded and famous pieces of art in the world, behind bullet-proof glass and with guards around it. We also saw famous art works, such as Hammurabi's code, which Will thought was Harambe's Code. We all proceeded to. "neck," Will, and move on. The many rooms in the Louvre were covered in art, from the walls to the ceiling, and the main room had glass overhead, shaped like a pyramid. When we were leaving the Louvre, there was music playing, and people dancing all around. Ethan went up to some dancers, and tried to start a whip circle, but the French people were not pleased, and spat on him. Ethan ran away, and didn't dance anymore that day and night.

It was 7:00 when the uber pulled up, and we all got in. Instead of doing what we normally do in an uber, everyone took a nap. Connor was the only one awake on the car ride back to the hotel, and was telling the driver about Irish history. The driver only spoke French, but was nodding and acting like he understood, but really Connor was basically talking to himself. We arrived back at the hotel at 8:30, and went straight up to our hotel room. Instead of taking nightly showers, we all just brushed our teeth, and crashed in bed. Whilst the night progressed, I became more and more weary, and eventually drifted off to sleep, thinking about what was happening at home.

The Palace of Versailles (Day 4) (Historical)

After we had all gotten back to the hotel from celebrating Bastille Day, I immediately fell asleep in my chair. I slept like a log, having good dreams about what adventures we were going to have in the many days that we were in France. They were immediately interrupted, though, by Connor's infamous wake-up call. "RISE AND SHINE BOYS!" Gene groaned from his bed and rolled over. Will, to my surprise, was already up and in the shower. Evan rose reluctantly and glared at Connor, then grabbed his phone and checked the time. "Connor, it's only six-thirty, why did you wake us up so early?" Connor looked at Evan with a grin. "It's all-you-can-eat breakfast down in the lobby, and it's free of charge." Connor now had Gene's full attention. "Breakfast starts right now, and I want to be the first one down there." Connor continued. We all began rushing to get our clothes on and get down into the lobby.
Will was the only one that had gotten a shower, so we all looked like a bunch of homeless guys looking for a meal. We ate like homeless people too. The McDonalds that we ate last night was not exactly a fulfilling meal. It took about an hour for all of us to finish stuffing our faces with free, unlimited food. "That was amazing!" Gene exclaimed. It really was. The food at this hotel was excellent.
We all took the elevator back to our room to get showered and ready for the day. Our next destination was the Palace of Versailles. Connor did some research on the palace while the rest of us were getting ready. "The palace was first actually a hunting lodge built by King Louis XIII, and designed by Jacques Lemercier. It was only enlarged into a royal palace when King Louis XIV came into power." he said. "It's twenty dollars to get in, and twenty-seven if we want to see a show at the palace." "Spend the seven dollars!" Connor exclaimed. It was decided; we were going to the palace of Versailles and seeing the show.



The Uber arrived, and we piled in. We passed the time in the van by listening to French music, listening to the French driver talk about his life and taking more pictures. The drive wasn't long, only 10 miles from our hotel. Eventually, we arrived at the palace. Even the front gate was amazing. "It's called the gate of honour." Connor said. It was massive and made completely out of gold. We exited the van and collectively walked over to the gate. A tour guide greeted us and motioned for the guards to open the front gate. It opened with a slow and majestic creak, and we were hustled inside.

The palace estate was full of the most beautiful pieces of architecture I had ever seen. We started the tour by visiting a huge ballroom. The ballroom was called "The Hall of Mirrors" It was full of columns holding up 60 foot high ceilings with many glass chandeliers, with each chandelier being the size of a small car.
After the hall, we visited the main building of the whole estate. Instead of the ground being grass, dirt or concrete, the ground was made of marble tiles. The tiles were black and white, making the ground look like a giant disfigured checkerboard. It was a little bit damp outside, so the tile in front of the main building was still wet. This gave Gene a grand idea. He took a running start and stopped abruptly, one foot in front of the other, and slid across the marble floor. The rest of us looked at each other with grins. While the tour guide droned on about how "Everything in the Palace of Versailles had a symbolic meaning to King Louis," we began to slide around the marble floors like ice skaters. This was a much more fun alternative to listening to the tour guide. Eventually though, we were stopped and asked to please be still. They only stopped us because Evan slammed into another person on the tour and proceeded to be scolded in French.

We visited other buildings with amazing architecture and colors, but soon the tour came to an end. It was dark now, and the tour guide brought us to the central garden. "I think it's time for the show!" I exclaimed. I was right. Soon enough, fireworks began to go off and cool, festive music began to play. The grand fountain and the lights were turned on next. The fireworks, the music and the lights made life feel like a movie. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, and the finale, with the final fireworks setting colors into the night sky and the fountain making one final burst of water before shutting off.
Soon after, we were headed back to the grand front gate where we had originally started the tour. The Uber was there waiting for us, and we piled back into the van. The ride was fast, only because I fell asleep. We arrived at the hotel and I was awoken by a splash of water from Connor, and before I knew it, we were all back in bed. I slept harder than I had ever slept on this trip.

The Celebration of Bastille Day (Day 3) (Cultural)

I woke up feeling like I got hit by a bus. I felt a sore pain in my neck, but I was still ready for the day. I walked over to the balcony, and as I walked past Ethan, sound asleep in his, "super comfortable chair," and he fell over with a thud, but was still sound asleep. I caught a glimpse of the Eiffel tower and thought back to yesterday, and started chuckling to myself slyly. I still couldn't get over how we got kicked out of the tower, and I started dying laughing. While looking out over the balcony, I saw a very vast, and beautiful terrain, along with beautiful canals, and many decorations. I wondered to myself why there were decorations, but then I realized it was Bastille day. Bastille day is a great holiday in France that celebrated for the public storming the Bastille prison and armory. This occurred in 1789, and it celebrates a turning point in the French Revolution, where the public took matters into their own hands for unity. I looked at the analog alarm clock, and it was 10:00 AM. We slept away almost half of the day. I realized swiftly that we had an uber to catch at 10:20, but no one was up yet. I inhaled sharply, and bellowed a wake up call, "IF YOU GUYS DON'T GET UP I'M GONNA GET ON YOUR HEAD," instant, everyone perked up confused, and realised the time, and started getting dressed. I realised Will was still asleep, and I got a nice full, icy cold water bottle, and dumped it on him. "What the heck, why did you do that!" he shouted. Now everyone was awake, and we all got dressed, and ran out of our hotel room. We were in the lobby, when Gene yelled frightened, "I dropped my Supreme stickers and I can't find them!" No one really cared so we grabbed him, and ran out the door.

It was 10:20 when we got outside, and the uber was waiting for us to get in. We were going to the actual Bastille, so we could celebrate an authentic Bastille day. It took an hour to get there, so we spent our time listening to music, and talking with the uber driver about nice places to go in France. The uber driver only spoke French, so we just acted like we knew what he was saying, and threw in a few, "boobedie bobbedies," and he just laughed. We arrived at the Bastille at 11:40, because traffic was bad, but it was fine because the celebration didn't start until 12. There was a massive crowd waiting for the celebration to commence. We decided to eat lunch before the celebration, so we went to McDonalds. The only thing we've eaten the entire trip is McDonald's, and already Ethan's had to loosen a few buttons on his button down, plaid long sleeve shirt. When we walked out of McDonald's, the celebration was starting, so we ran to get some chairs, but a lot of them were taken. After 15 minutes of walking, we found 4 chairs, and we raced for them. Connor didn't get a seat, but didn't mind, because of his, "jacked vegan body," which made everyone cringe a little. There was a large military parade, that went on for almost 4 hours, which was very boring, but we wanted to stay and get the full experience. There was music playing, concerts, dances and jets that flew overhead, with different colored smoke, to make the French flag in the sky. It was a sight to see, and a good, authentic French celebration of Bastille day. It was 5:30, and we were hungry, so we went back to McDonald's, and all got burgers to go, except Connor, because he's vegan, and could only eat the salad. The sun started setting, and then fireworks were shot off. The amazing light show, of a variety of vibrant and bright colors, exploding throughout the sky. Everyone was taking pictures, but I was standing there in the middle of it, taking it all in.
When the fireworks subsided, we got into another uber to go back to the hotel. This uber driver also only spoke French, but we didn't mess with him this time, and instead just listened to music and took pictures of the scenery. We took a few stops in the uber to use the restroom, and see some nice scenery that the uber driver wanted to see, but we didn't mind. We got back to the hotel at 8:30, and we got into our room, and got ready for bed. Everyone took a shower, and brushed teeth, which took about an hour since there are 5 of us. We all got into bed at 10:15, and it was exactly what we needed, a good rest and clean up. I eventually drifted to sleep, thinking about what crazy adventures would come next.

The Eiffel Tower (Day 2) (Historical)

After a lofty night at our hotel, I rose from my slumber intrinsically. My neck was slightly craned from the previous flight, but other than that, I was more than excited to take on the day. I briskly paced out onto our balcony, where I perceived a perfect view of our future excursion: The Eiffel Tower. It could be no more than a mile and a half away from our hotel. Due to our elevation in the hotel, not only could I see the incredible monument, I gaped at the beautiful canal in which it bordered. The solemn blue provided a magnificent contrast to the shining creme-colored boats as the vessels shimmered by.

 As I glanced back, I came to the realization that I was the only one awake. Evan was balled-out on a pull out mattress. Ethan lie perpendicular to Evan, sleeping on the velvet chair for which he insisted was "extremely comfortable". Gene and Will were both curled up in their beds. I checked the analog clock next to Gene's shoulder. It was 9:14 A.M. My heart dropped. We had a tour set for 9:30. Rising from my diaphragm, I bellowed my mother's infamous wake up call, "RISE AND SHINE BOYS". All four of their heads perked up, and I quickly shouted "OUR TOUR LEAVES IN 15 MINUTES". All of rushed to put clothes on, then I grabbed my wallet, hotel key, and tickets and we were out the door. We had no time to waste, and sprinting through the hotel hallways made me feel faster than ever before. "How far away is it?" Evan anxiously asked as we opened the hotel doors to be greeted by the temperate warmth of a Paris morning. "A mile, maybe a mile and a half" I proposed to him. Our original intent was to simply walk there, but now with twelve minutes until the tour started, we had no choice but to run. The pattering of our feet against the masonry of the Paris streets was abruptly interrupted by a banshee-like screech. I whipped around, but it turned out to only be Gene gripping his shoe with such force it turned his knuckles white. "I TRIPPED AND SCUFFED MY NEW ULTRABOOSTS" he exasperated. I genuinely did not care, so I grabbed his wrist and proceeded to run through the streets of Paris.

 "THERE IT IS" shouted Will, who was just turning the street corner. We headed toward the Tower where we were greeted by a small gray haired woman in a kiosk. I reached into my pocket and handed her our tickets. The time was precisely 9:30 and the lady directed us towards a group of around 20 other people for our tour. The tower was massive. It was 1,000 feet of intimidating, yet elegant iron architecture. We hopped on the elevator which provided us with a scenic panoramic view of the city of Paris. The city was beautiful, the buildings, the flora, and canals all tied together to produce a city unlike any other. Our tour guide took us through the three levels of the Tower, each one more majestic a view. When the elevator finally opened at the pinnacle of the tower, Gene rushed to the railing and spit over it. "Wow look at it go!" he exclaimed. We all watched intently as Gene swished the saliva his mouth, stuck his head over the railing and launched a gob of slobber onto the spectators below.






 The way in which the slobber manipulated itself as it fell was nothing short of astonishing. It was as if the hand of God were pushing it this way and that, curving it throughout the air and eventually landing splat on the crown of a tourist. Exclamations of glee were prevalent as we rained proceeded down the maelstrom on the spectators. We all continued to launch more balls of spit over the railing until the tour guide called "Securite!". At the time it was unknown, but "securtie" is the French word for security. We were briskly escorted from the Eiffel Tower. We were all told to never come back. We solemnly trotted back through the streets of Paris back to our hotel.

The Flight to France and the Hotel du Cadran Tower Eiffel (Day 1) (Cultural)

It was July 12th, 2017 and we begin our journey by catching an Uber to RDU Airport in Raleigh. We had to wake up at 4:00 a.m., grab our stuff and be out the door as fast as possible. The car ride took 45 minutes, so we passed the time by playing music and talking with the Uber driver. When we arrived at the airport, we hustled over to the baggage checking line and began to wait. It took about 45 minutes for all of our bags to be checked, but after that, we were on our way.
It was now 5:30 a.m., and our flight was leaving at 6. The flight was leaving from gate #8 and we were only in gate #1, so we had a long way to walk. On the way to the gate, we stopped at a McDonalds for breakfast. We each got a sausage and cheese biscuits with water, except for Connor, who only got a biscuit because he is a proud vegan. We had to eat as we walked, or we wouldn't make the flight in time. Time was going by fast, so we had to pick up the pace.  Gate 8 was near, but it was already 6:00. By the time we made it to the gate, everyone was boarded, and we were the last ones to get on the plane. All of us found our seats near the back and sat down.
We had a little bit of a wait before we took off, so we passed the time by taking pictures of us inside the plane and and planning our first adventures. Before we knew it, the plane was taking off. The liftoff was easy for most of us, except for Gene, who had a surprise fear of flying. While Evan was trying to calm Gene down, the rest of us acquired peanuts and pretzels from the flight attendants. We were all tired from waking up so early, so we all fell asleep pretty soon.
I woke up to the sound of a baby crying. It didn't stop crying for what felt an hour. I checked the clock on my phone. I had been sleeping for almost six hours. With the six hours left that we had in the flight, I watched some movies that I downloaded on Netflix. They were some low-budget, three-star movies that were somewhat enjoyable, but only if you were really bored. In this case, though, I was.
Finally, the pilot came on the intercom and announced that we will landing shortly. I was excited, and I could tell that everyone else was too. The plane started to descend and began to level out. We were finally landing. The plane soon did land, and we prepared to depart from the flight. All of the passengers slowly began to move off of the plane. We all got off, walked down the tunnel, and into the airport. We were finally here; Paris Airport-Le Bourget.
Our next move was to go get some food. We were all starving from not being able to eat anything but a bag of peanuts and pretzels for the last twelve hours. A french smoothie cafe was looking rather appetizing, so we decided to stop by. We all got strawberry smoothies with veggie wraps and we were on our way. Next thing we had to do was get our bags. This didn't take too long. All of us got the things that we needed and then we were out of the airport. The Uber that Connor called was waiting for us outside.
We packed our bags into the trunk of the van and piled in. Next stop: Hotel du Cadran Tour Eiffel. The hotel was an hour away, so we passed the time again by playing music and taking pictures. We also planned more of our trip for the rest of the week. The Uber driver spoke only French, so listening to him speak was also pretty entertaining. We got stuck in traffic too, which was unfortunate, but we eventually arrived at the hotel.
The hotel was really nice, it had big rooms, free breakfast and a huge lobby. Not to mention it was also pretty close to the Eiffel Tower. The room had two queen beds and a pull-out couch, so it was perfect for all five of us. The lady at the front desk gave us our room key; 336. We packed our bags onto the cart in the lobby and crammed into the elevator. More people tried to get in, but they couldn't because of the load of things we had in the small elevator box. Two weeks of stuff can be a giant load, too.
We finally made it to our room and dropped our bags onto the floor. Will and Connor took one bed and Gene and Evan took the other. I got the pull-out couch all to myself.  By this time, it was 10:45, and we were all tired, so we decided to just go to sleep. Our adventure started tomorrow, and we needed all the rest we could get. I actually ended up in a super comfortable chair next to the beds, while Evan took the pull-out couch. I soon fell asleep while fantasizing our adventures ahead.

Budget        Itinerary