Paris!

Wayyy back in the middle of November, a few friends and I took a long weekend trip to Paris, France. I had never been to France before, with the exception of a few dock stops on a Switzerland boat tour, and I was so excited to adventure around the city.  We left early on a Friday morning because we did not have class that day, and Lauren and I made it to our cute, old Parisian hotel in the area of Montmarte with plenty of time left in the day.  The worst "welcome-to-our-city" present I have ever received, and the only bad thing about the entire weekend trip, happened as we tried to get out of the metro station at the Arc of Triumph stop.  There was a random security check going on, and one of the French metro policemen stopped us to ask for our metro pass.  As we had just arrived in Paris, and did not see ANY purchasing machines or counters at the metro station where we got on (and as we were able to get on without a pass), we were considered to be stupid, ignorant, American thieves.  I was on the verge of tears, and Lauren was a spitfire, especially when this guy told us we'd each have to pay 50 euros as a penalty.  When we tried to explain ourselves, he yelled and pretended our English was too fast, but we eventually we got the fine down to 40 euros each (still ridiculous).  This fiasco started us off on a not so happy note, but everything from there on only got better and better.  Being Veteran's Day, there were flags, flowers, and soldiers, as well as special ceremonies at the Arc of Triumph.  It was also cool to see this original monument, since we have seen replicas all throughout Europe, even in Barcelona.

My French ticket. I hate that man.

Arc of Triumph on Veteran's Day.

We stopped for a delicious lunch of salads and coffees in a cute cafe and met up with our other friends for a walk down the famous Champs-Élysées, which is the beautiful main shopping and eating street in Paris.  With lights on the trees and beautiful flowers, just walking along was a fun thing to do, and at the very end we arrived at the Louvre.  It was getting pretty late to take on the huge feat of the Louvre, so we decided to go back and rest and tackle the huge museum the following morning.  So, we napped, had a romantic dinner with wine, and hit the hay to wake up on time to beat the lines.
The next morning we grabbed a quick breakfast, equipped with croissants and cappuccinos of course, and headed on the metro (with tickets) to the Louvre.  We only waited a few minutes before we could get in, then we spent a good 3 or 4 hours exploring the biggest, best, most amazing museum I have ever seen.  Not only were the paintings, sculptures, and works of art fascinating, but the building decorations and architecture were extraordinary in themselves!

Sphinx in the Egyptian exhibit

Venus. I remember getting the miniature sculpture for Christmas when I was little...

Athena.  My sister got this sculpture, obviously.

Mona!! It was surrounded by a weird casing, so the pictures didn't come out well.  Also, it is a lot smaller than you would think.

Orthodox icons

Funny sculptures in the African section

View from the front.  There are two long buildings that come out towards you from either side.

One of the long sides. There are sculptures in every window area!

After the Louvre, we walked to the Notre Dame cathedral, which was amazing.  The stained glass windows were absolutely beautiful, and it was really cool to think about all the history behind the church.  From there, we met with our other group of friends again to have a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower! We bough baguettes, cheese, turkey, champagne, and croissants, and spread out on the lawn to people watch, look at the tower, and be cultured. I was happy to relax and take in the site with my friends - this part was definitely one of the highlights of my Paris trip.  From our picnic, we wandered down to the river to take a nighttime river cruise.  It was cold on top of the boat, but as we pulled away from the dock the Eiffel tower lit up along with lights all around the town, so our tour up and down the river was absolutely stunning.  After that, we headed home to catch some more sleep before we had to climb the Eiffel tower on Sunday.

Notre Dame from afar

Inside the cathedral

Some of my friends at our Eiffel tower picnic. Lauren would kill me if she saw this picture.

So heavy!

About to take off on the river cruise.

The next morning, before we met our friends to climb the tower, Lauren and I went up the hill in Montmarte to visit the Sacré Coeur, or the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.  It is a majestic white building that sits atop a high hill, and we climbed a bunch of steps to get to the top.  As luck would have it, there was a mass going on as we toured the church, I was so excited to be in there during the service, but unfortunately could not take any pictures inside the building.  After we left the church we stayed on the hill and walked around the artist district before we climbed back down and hopped on the metro for the Eiffel.  The square of artists painting live was adorable, and the shops were too: I bought my mom's birthday presents there in Montmarte!

So glorious!

Montmarte artists

Next came my summit of the Eiffel Tower.  Words cannot describe how it felt to make it to the top, so I will show you in pictures.  Making it up there was hard, even though I've kept up exercizing over here, but the adrenaline helped me make it up there.  Once we got to the second platform, we had to take a lift to the very top...and the view was stunning! This was also a great highlight of my Paris trip.  Aside from the delicious croque monsieur with chicken I ate at lunch and the delicious crepes Lauren and I bought before bed on Sunday night, there wasn't much left to our Paris trip.  Every moment I discovered something new, and there was not one dull moment.  I loved Paris, and really hope to go back with my family one day!

Gazing up as I power up the stairs.

At the top!

Picture of the lawn from the top

YUMMM it was great!

Au revoir!