I just had the time of my life in Paris. Going into it, I was expecting to enjoy the trip, but I loved the city way more than I thought I would. I think it is tied with Washington D.C. for favorite cities I have visited. A friend, Taylor, and I flew in Friday night. The next day, we walked into the main part of Paris (about 2.5 miles from us) and met Holly at Notre-Dame. We went inside the church, and it was definitely a beautiful building. Next we went across the street to the bookstore Shakespeare and Company. It was closed then, but we went back later and it was a really neat store. I didn't buy anything since it is hard to travel with books, but I got some new read ideas.
On our walk to the Louvre, we saw several of the iconic bridges with the locks on them. Also on the way, I bought a painting of the Eiffel Tower at one of the pop up street vendors they have lining the Seine River. I am excited about my new art piece :)
When we got to the Louvre, the lines were sooo insanely long that we decided to wait until Sunday morning to visit it. We took many pictures including of the famous pyramid (that I guess the Parisians hate). After that, we headed in the direction of the Arc de Triomphe. Along the way, we passed the Obelisk, which is the oldest French monument. Next was the Champs-Élysées. What girl can complain about a mile long street with endless shopping possibilities?
I was impressed at the size of the Arc de Triomphe. It is bigger than I had imagined. I loved how intricate the designs on it were. A lot of buildings in Paris had that real intricate look. I think part of what I liked so much about Paris was the architecture. It wasn't like some cities where the typical Parisian look was just in the heart of the city. It was everywhere. Even where our hostel was, which was quite a bit outside of the main part.
After we were done at the Arc, we made our way to the Eiffel Tower. Not gonna lie, it was pretty awesome. Again I was amazed at the sheer size of it. Something I didn't realize until I saw it in person was there are words right below the first level of the tower. I just looked up what they mean, and they are the names of 72 scientists, engineers, and mathematicians who contributed to the building. We each bought a crepe at a stand near the tower. Mine was Nutella with banana and whipped cream. It was probably the best crepe I have had to date. We continued walking to the L'Hôtel national des Invalides. We were going tour it that day, but all that was still open was Napoleon's Tomb, so we decided to wait until the following day. That was the point where we walked back towards Notre Dame and visited Shakespeare and Company. From there, Taylor and I took the subway back to the hostel (Holly was staying in a different place).
The following morning, Taylor and I visited the Louvre. We were very glad we waited, as the lines were essentially non-existent around the time they opened. We started in the statue section, which was really cool. We then made our way through a bunch of the paintings. By the time we got to the Italian section (which is where Mona Lisa is), the crowds had really started to pick up. To see the Mona Lisa itself was a real struggle, probably the most crowded place I have ever been in my life. But we managed to see it. I had been told so many times, "It's not as big as you think it is." So I have been imagining for the past few years that it was about the size of an 8X10. And I also had the weird notion, I am not sure from where, that it was high up on some wall surrounded by other paintings, not really any different than the others (except in reality none of the walls were super crowded with paintings like I had in my head). Instead, it was in a room off the main hall. There it was, on its own wall roped off at least 10 feet away. And it was bigger than I imagined. More like what I originally had in my head before everyone was saying it was so small.
Next we met Holly at the Invalides. First we went to Napoleon's tomb, which I got to say was quite a large tomb for such a little man. Then we went into the WWI and WWII part of the museum, which was really cool. There were a lot of uniforms, weapons, and many other relics. Then we went to the armory part. There were full body suits, shields, and more weapons. The one I found most interesting was a triple barrel gun. And I don't mean an over-under or a side by side. This thing had three prongs. It was very weird, and I am not sure how it worked.
We then headed back in the direction of the Eiffel tower. Along the way, we stopped at a souvenir shop. I bought a couple of shot glasses for several people, a spoon for Luke's grandma, and a key chain for my sister. Unfortunately, I forgot them where we ate dinner. And being that dinner was the very last thing we did in Paris, I never even had a chance to replace the ones I lost with new ones :(
Any ways, after the souvenir shop, we stopped at a cafe and each had a drink and a crepe. I had a Chocolat Viennoise and a Caramel and whipped cream crepe. Yummm. ( I liked the one the day before better though)
We saw the Eiffel Tower again and were going to climb it, but the lines were even longer that day. We decided to wait until night to see if they would be better since we planned to see the tower at night. We ended up changing plans though and went to Chipotle (which I had never heard of, but people in the CEA group talk about all the time). It was over by the Louvre, so we took the subway to the Louvre stop. That meal was amazing because I sure do miss Mexican food over here since it is non-existent in France. You can't even buy quality Mexican food ingredients at the store.
After that we all went back to our hostels. All three of us were completely exhausted. I wish I had used my running app that tracks the number of miles walked because I can't even fathom how far we went this weekend. But it was a long ways. And definitely worth it.
