This weekend we went to Paris, the city of lights and romance, actually the city of graffiti, rude people, and urine smells. Don't get me wrong Paris is really cool, I had a lot of fun, and it is actually very pretty but a few days was definitley enough for me. It doesn't have quite the sparkle the movies show, the people are kind of rude and you get harassed everywhere to buy stupid crap on the side of the road and give money to gypsy women. I did have a good time, and had I had more money the shopping would have been awesome (I kept my souvenir purchases to a watch, a painting and a bottle of wine).
On the first full day in Paris we took in the sites of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and The Church of the Sacred Heart. The Eiffel tower is very impressive, it's really pretty and at night it lights up and sparkles and you can hang out under it drinking wine and champagne. Notre Dame was my favorite place in Paris. It was definitley worth the climb of 400 steps to the very top of the towers. We also climbed a few hundred steps to get to the church which is very pretty and has a large lawn coming down the hill in front of it where you can sit and hang out. That night for dinner we went to a traditional French restaurant. It was very good, and we even got a bottle of wine for the table. Later that night Meggan and I hit the club scene, we ended up at a place that is under the Louvre called Cab which was totally awesome.
On day 2 we visited the museums. First we grabbed crepes on the street for lunch and hit the Louvre. It is massive, the biggest museum I have ever been inside. It's very cool though, we only saw a few things there (like the Mona Lisa) but it was worth going in and looking around. We also went to the Muse D'Orsay, which has the paintings of Van Gough, Renior, Monet, and a really cool replica of the opera house where Phantom is set. That night we ate dinner and took a scenic river cruise at sunset. The river cruise definitley brings out the romantic look of the city, especially in the medieval parts. The bridges are all lit up and people dance and eat along the river bank. We wandered around looking at street vendors after the cruise and I bought a painting of the Eiffel Tower at sunset and tried a waffle. The waffle was awesome, it was covered in sugar and nutella (also a tasty food here!).
Today we took the train back into London and hit Spitalfield market down in the East End of London (where the Jack the Ripper tour was). The market was cool, lots of vendors selling food and clothes and jewelry. I bought a painting of Big Ben and Parliament there and we enjoyed looking at everything else. The area of town is really shady though, not a place I'd want to be after dark but the market was cool. Dinner tonight was the best meal by far from the dorm, burgers, fries, and corn!
And now for a ridiculous amount of photos... (I've taken 1651 on this trip!)
A gypsy woman begging for money, these ladies and the black men trying to sell you stuff are very annoying and will try to grab you and follow you around.
The Statue of Liberty? Not sure why this was at our hotel, but whatever.
At the Eiffel Tower!!
Me in front of the Eiffel Tower, the ground was littered with trash from people drinking out here last night.
We finally got Josh in on one of these pics
Favorite jumping pic of us two
The Eiffel Tower in b/w
Looking out over the city! We rode the elevator up (but not to the very top)
Looking out over the Seine river
My name on the Eiffel Tower!
The Arch of Triumph
A McDonalds menu, yes they have a Royal with cheese, and yes you can get beer and wine here
Notre Dame!
Inside the cathedral
On the way up!
View from the first level
A few gargoyles
More gargoyles looking out over the square in front of the cathedral
A view of Paris
Looking out over the spire
Me and a gargoyle!
Another view from the top. Definitely worth the climb
Looking out over the back
Me and Michael at the very very top tower. The stairs up were tiny and narrow
Some really cool new outfits we thought about buying
The Moulin Rouge!
Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. The church appear out of no where from a shady part of town and it totally white and gorgeous on top of the hill. We climbed a lot of stairs today.
Us at the top of the steps
Inside the crypt
The streets of Paris
Lapin Agile, where Picasso used to hang out! Also from the play Picasso at the Lapin Agile.
At dinner
The wine we drank
The Eiffel Tower after dark
Our group photo
Me and the Eiffel Tower sparkling
At Cab!
With Paul, one of the guys we met who got us into the club for free!
The Louvre, it was originally a palace until Versailles was built
Fun photos with the pyramid
I'm touching the Louvre!
Inside the pyramid
The Mona Lisa, the most crowed piece of art in the whole thing
Pretty stained glass, not sure where it was from though the signs were all in French
The Napoleon apartments. He helped expand the museum and they recreated his home inside. Its so ornate, I can't imagine living in a place like that.
The arch outside the Louvre. If you look through it you can see the other two arches in Paris
Looking back at the museum from the park
Sitting on a statue
Meggan on a statue
The Eiffel tower again. This time before the boat cruise
The Alexander III bridge
Pretty sunset over the Seine (these are all from my iPhone because I left the camera in the hotel)
You can see Notre Dame in the background!
Paris at night
Coming up to the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower all lit up.
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