J'Arrive a Paris!

Ok I know you have been waiting for my Paris blog entry.  This really should have been written on Sunday night when I got home but sadly I have been feeling a little under the weather since returning to London.  So now as I lay sick in bed, I figured it would be the best time to fill you all in on my amazing weekend in the city of lights.  Let's just start off with a bang shall we:

Yes I took that picture....it is not a postcard....it is not from google.  That is the view from the very top of the Effel Tower.  But that is getting a little ahead of my self because my trip in Paris started at night.

When we arrived in Paris after taking the Eurostar from London, that's the Chunnel for those of you who are not familiar, we got settled into our hotel and then were immediately taken by our tour guides to the river for a boat cruise.  Let me tell you, you have not seen Paris until you have seen it by night.  We saw the Effel Tower all lit up and beautiful, the Notre Dame, and just about everything in between.  One of the coolest things that we saw was the Effel Tower when it sparkles.  Apparently this is a relatively new addition to this amazing structure but ever hour on the hour it sparkles for 5 minutes.  It was so beautiful. After the boat tour we were starving and looking for some food.  Luckily we found a cafe and I had some pretty good steak frites.  I promised myself I would only eat French food on this trip and that's what I did.  I also documented everything I ate just so you all could share in the happiness with me.  A nice glass of wine later and we were all tired and ready for bed.

The next day we were up bright and early for a bus tour around the city.  We saw so many things, some of which I should have written down because looking back through my pictures I don't really know what  all of them are.  Oops!  Well the highlights were the Opera House that inspired the Phantom of the Opera, The Notre Dame cathedral, the Champs Elysees, and of course the Effel Tower.  We were actually able to get off the bus at Notre Dame and spend about 30 minutes or so exploring the cathedral.  This apparently is against the rules because large coach busses are not supposed to stop right by the cathedral but our driver was cool and risked major fines for us to be able to jump off, explore, and then quickly jump back on again.  This was kind of a big deal considering their police officers walk around with huge machine guns.  Yeah they were scary.  Anyways....Notre Dame was beautiful.  Many of you will know that I have a soft spot for huge cathedrals so I was a very happy camper.  After a bit of wandering around and some time just sitting enjoying the atmosphere and thinking, I decided to light a candle in memory of my uncle Scott Johnson.  It was a very touching moment and definitely made the visit that much more special.

Our tour ended right at the Effel Tower and as we already had tickets we didn't have to wait in the huge lines!  Up to the second floor we went and then paid 5 more euros to go all the way to the top.  We were very lucky because the top floor has been closed recently because of maintenance.  The view from the top was absolutely jaw dropping.  Pictures do not do it justice and I am glad I got to see one of the most beautiful cities in the world from one of the most beautiful spots in the world.  Then we had to huff it all the way down from the second floor by the stairs because the elevators were not working properly.  Good thing we got up when we did otherwise we would have been very upset.

Having no other planned activities for the day my friends Ashley and Maggie and I set off on a walk down the Saine River to the Musee D'Orsay.  First, however, we had to stop for our daily hour of just sitting and being French.  We were told by our tour guide that for one hour of every day we had to just sit and watch the world go by.  Having also been told this by Michelle I figured we should listen.  So with baguette sandwiches in hand we sat on a bridge over the river and enjoyed an amazing lunch.  After that we wen into the museum which is right across the river from the Louvre and usually has an amazing collection.  However, they are currently undergoing construction and a lot of their best work is out traveling around the world on display.  But we did get to see Van Gogh's self portrait and this amazing ball room that they had reconstructed.  I have no idea where it is supposed to be from but it was bright and gold with mirrors....I could have stayed in that room all day.

We grabbed a little bubbly on our way back to the hotel where we met up with our friend Kristen who had been visiting some family friends who live in Paris.  The four of us had a little champagne and chocolate party just to celebrate being in Paris before we went out for dinner.  It was fun just chatting and relaxing after a lot of walking that day.  We went back to the area around the Notre Dame, called the Latin Quarter, for dinner.  As you walk down these really busy streets, people are yelling at you trying to get you to come into their restaurant.  We finally decided on one with this very cute old French man.  They sat us on the second floor right in the window overlooking the street.  It was so pretty.  The food was absolutely indescribable.  I had escargot, which I had tried before but never in France so I figured it was only appropriate.  Then I had the most amazing beef stew that I have ever eaten in my life.  I never say that things are better than my mom's and this was better.  I don't think she will be upset though as she loves French food more than I do.  And finally I finished with Chocolate Mousse.  Great food. Great friends. Great night.

Sunday morning came and that meant only one thing....LOUVRE!  Yes the time had come for us to venture into the vast abyss that is The Louvre to see beautiful works of art like the Mona Lisa and the Venus di Milo.  It really is one of the most amazing museums in the entire world and lives up to it's hype I will tell you that.  Aside from the Mona Lisa, which was actually bigger than I remember her being, the highlight was the Napoleon Apartments.  These are full replicas of rooms in Napoleon and Josephine's palace.  Ornate gold leaf everywhere, plush red velvet, and some of the biggest chandeliers I have ever seen.  They were so pretty.  But after a lot of walking, we needed to once again just sit.  So we had a great lunch at a cafe nearby.  I had quiche lorraine which was fantastic as expected.  Then we walked the entire length of the Champs Elysees.  This is the major shopping street in Paris that starts at the Louvre and ends at the Arc de Triomphe.  Every major store is here including the first Louis Vuitton store.  We of course went in and I had to leave quickly before I spent all of my travel money on this purse that I fell in love with.  It was a girl moment.

So, that is basically the end of my trip.  We just went back to the hotel and caught the bus back to the train.  It was a really fun trip and I learned a few things about myself and about Paris.

1) I actually know enough French to get myself around France.  The only problem is when I open with the French I can never understand the response because they talk so fast.  Oh well...I'm working on it.

2) Paris is much dirtier than London.  I would not have expected that but especially their Metro system.  I never realized how spotless the Tube is.

3) When in Paris you much have one crepe per day.  Of course I complied with this rule.

4)  You really do need to just sit for awhile.  The French know how to sit better than anybody I know.  They are just content to not do anything for a while and enjoy the city that they live in.  We should do that in America more.

Thanks for sticking through this incredibly long post.  I just wanted to make it as detailed as possible.  Instead of picking which pictures to add I will just include this link to my album.  I am told that you do not have to be on facebook for this link to work.  If anybody has a problem viewing them let me know.  Au Revoir!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2076109&id=1005390138&l=5babbd0bd3