Lost in Europe: Paris, Je Vous Adore!

Before we arrived in Paris we had a 3 hour train ride, then we were let off of the train into the rain. Finding where we were staying was easy, we took the metro to Place d'Italy and it was about a 10 minute walk from there. After we settled in we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower, ate dinner at a pizza place, and walked around the park. The Eiffel Tower is breathtaking to see in person! It was so hard to believe we were actually there.

On July 8th we took the metro to the catacombs to try and see them, but the line wrapped around the block so we decided to go a different day. Instead we ate our first real French crepes at a place we found in a little alley. They were delicious! After lunch we went to the Champs Elysee to see the Arc du Triomphe and go window shopping. All of the stores are so expensive!! I'm too broke for shopping in Paris.

The next day we started off the day going to Notre Dame. The architecture was gorgeous! There are so many intricate details, its amazing to think about how people actually built all of that. There was a long line but going inside was worth the wait. The high arches, detailed sculptures, and Gothic architecture were absolutely incredible, but what amazed me the most was the stained glass windows.

When we were done admiring the Notre Dame we bought some pasta from a stand across the street and ate down by the river. Later on we walked to the Louvre. On the way there were little shops we looked though, including a lot of pet stores! There were at least 4 pet stores in a row on one street. The Louvre was absolutely gigantic. The building is beautiful and the glass pyramids were pretty fun to see.

We spent about 3 hours at the Louvre, and I swear we saw almost nothing. The place is so big! I could spend the entire day there and not see anywhere close to all of it. I wanted to see the Mona Lisa, the Venus, and a few other big pieces. We hit those first, then walked through the Roman section, the Egyptian section, the Medieval section, and part of the Greek section. I have to say, seeing the Mona Lisa in person was incredible.

After the Louvre we walked back down to the Arc du Triomphe, hitting the stores we missed along the way. This time we actually went to the other side to see the Arc up close. We thought we had to act like frogger and avoid cars in the roundabout to get across, then we found out there is a tunnel! The Arc is a lot bigger than I expected, we just sat underneath it for a while and admired. I really enjoyed seeing The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as well. I wish I knew more of the history behind all of these places.

For dinner we ate at a decent French restaurant. The waiter comes over and asks us, in french, what we would like to eat. I respond with, "Je voudrais le plat du jour, s'il vous plait". The waiter writes it down, then looks over to Evan, who responds with, "And I'll have the cheeseburger!" with a huge grin on his face.
The waiter rolls his eyes, then laughs and walks away. I think he knew we were American...

After dinner we watched the Eiffel Tower's lights turn on, went for a walk, then got on the metro to go home. The next morning we woke up earlier and headed to the catacombs. We got there around 9:50am, thinking there wouldn't be a huge line since they don't open until 10:00am. Unfortunately we were very wrong! The line was absolutely huge! Luckily we met a nice couple from California who kept us company while we waited. We didn't get let into the catacombs until 12:30pm, so it was a long wait. It took us about an hour and 15 minutes to get through, they said it usually takes about 45 minutes so we must have been super slow! It was just so incredible, I kept looking at all of these bones thinking about how they all used to be alive. Each skull came from a different person, who dies in a different way from the next. At first it was creepy, but by the end you are almost desensitized to it.

For lunch we ate at a place across the street. I had this weird cold salmon dish that I had no idea how to eat. It come with toast, lemon, and a baked potato. Evan had yet another cheeseburger. That night, around 11:00pm, we walked up the Eiffel Tower to get a good view of the city. The view was beautiful, I can't believe how large Paris is.

By the time we were done looking at the city it was about 11:40pm, and I wanted to get down to the park to watch the flashing lights on the tower turn on (for 5 minutes) at midnight. You are supposed to take the elevator down, however the line for the elevator was EXTREMELY long and the elevator goes very slowly. After waiting for a few minutes I decided to run down all 700 stairs, past the many "Do Not Enter" signs, and past the security guards (who were too preoccupied with their bottle of wine to care) to get to the bottom. It was so worth it. Seeing the tower in lights is a major highlight of my trip.

I really wanted to take a video of the lights turning on, so I found the perfect spot and started my video at 11:58pm just to be safe. At the EXACT time the lights turn on, a guy walks in from of my camera and stands exactly in the way of the entire tower!! The video is pretty funny, I almost wonder if he did it on purpose! I would post the video but my choice of words for the guy (said under my breath- don't worry I'm not swearing at people in a big city, starting fights at midnight!) were a little... inappropriate, to say the least. I might have overreacted a bit.

The next day we checked out of where we were staying and headed to Versailles. Versailles was unbelievable! I couldn't believe that it started out as a hunting lodge and evolved into this elaborate chateau. In one room there was over 30 chandeliers! Walking through is just whole new experience. You go into the bedroom of the king or of Marie Antoinette and think, the king spelt right there. Marie Antoinette walked on these floors. I just couldn't believe it.

Marie Antoinette Room

There was a really odd art show going on in Versailles when we were there. We didn't really enjoy it, I didn't pay to come see pink feathered helicopters. Yea its really cool... but I was expecting it to be really authentic and this ruined that.

The gardens were my favorite, they might have ruined all other gardens for me! There were huge fountains, perfectly shaped hedges, many different kinds of flowers, grasses planted in patterns, and the list goes on and on. The gardens are huge, we didn't get to see much of them.