When we got to Paris, we got off the train and it was FREEZING. Oh man. It was so cold. And then it took us about 45 minutes to finally get metro tickets.
When we got to our flat, we had some more drama with the man we rented from, so we had to go take care of that. Meanwhile I was taking random pictures, and this bird was staring Caity and I down.
Eventually we walked over to see the Notre Dame. This was probably my favorite thing from the day. It was so, so cool. I was speechless. It is the 850 year anniversary of the cathedral, which is awe inspiring. One of the things I loved in Europe was seeing things that were simply so old and still standing.
We went over to the Louvre and took some pics, then dropped Devin off there to go inside while Caity and I walked around a little bit, going into a couple shops. He ended up running into our friend Adam, which is probably the smallest world thing to ever happen.
We walked down the Rue de Rivoli towards the Champs-Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe. The whole time we were walking around and through the arch I was thinking of all the history that had happened...Hitler and the Nazi army walking through in June 1940 after occupying Paris; American troops walking through in April 1945 after liberating the city. I was getting so emotional! Not weird at all...
Then we walked over to the Eiffel Tower because we had tickets to go up to the top. It was just as amazing as you would expect, although I did get a little afraid of being up so high...I don't know why it freaked me out so much-being at the top of the Shard was fine. Anyway, when we left, we noticed a small part of the tower was on fire and smoking! So intense. Luckily the fire department came. Also, do you like our triple selfie? We were pretty proud of that.
Randoms from Wednesday... Chanel No.5 ad in Paris::enjoying Coke and a burger for dinner::selfie on the metro.
Thursday was all about Versailles! Our train left in the late morning, so we walked around a little bit. We saw the locks at the Pont de l'Archeveche bridge, a statue of our very own TJ, and some cute bathing suits.
Now. Versailles. You guys. It was incredible. I was struck by a couple things: 1) Its sheer size was astounding. Even now looking at pictures, I'm still amazed at just how BIG it truly is. Not only the castle but the size of the gardens as well. It's just so cool. And 2) Gold. There was gold adorning everything. EVERYTHING. I really enjoyed Versailles.
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| the organ in King Louis' personal chapel. |
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| the wallpaper: i was dying! velvet fabric. |
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| the Marquis de Lafayette. a tour guide saw us standing in the room and came over asking "Americans?" we said yes and he pointed over to this painting and smiled saying, "Lafayette". I was so happy, haha. Such a nerd. |
Then we had a midday Thanksgiving meal at McDonalds (guys. it happened a lot on this trip) and headed back to Paris, so we could go to the Sacre Coeur. The walk up to the church was beautiful. I loved the little side streets and buildings we passed. And the church itself was of course breathtaking.
Friday we were in Brussels, so more on that later, but that night we were able to go out one more time before we left on Saturday. So Caity and I went down the Champs-Elysees and got some macarons from Laduree! I was so excited about this. One, there was hardly a line, which was miraculous, and two, these things are the real deal. So delicious.
There you have Paris! It was an unreal experience to finally be here after hearing so much about it. Seeing things that are recognizable around the world and have been apart of so much important history was an experience I thought I may never have in my lifetime. Also, there really is no where like Paris to make you appreciate art and culture. Also everyone here smokes. Literally. Everyone. I commented on it all the time.
I also hope one day that I may be able to come back to Paris and see everything I missed. Because I know there is a lot we missed.
And now Brussels...
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