Paris...I fell in love again.

Quick synopsis of Paris since I"m sure this is going to be a long one: Paris was INCREDIBLE!We did so much in a short period of time and had so much fun. We saw lots of historical sites, beautiful views and ate the best food I've ever had in my life. We spent an evening trying to see as much as we could in the Louvre, climbed up the Eiffel Tower, stood in awe inside Notre Dame, climbed up a hill to the highest point in Paris, walked along the Champs de Elyse to hang out at the Arc de Triumph and finally took a boat cruise along the Seine. If you don't have 7 hours of your life to waste reading all this and want to look at pictures here's a link http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006859&id=1401300102&l=9e6f4 The days were long, we are still sort of recovering from exhaustion, but it was all so worth it. It all started on...

Friday: We (Kinsey, Sam, Katie Mac and Katie) caught the Eurostar train early in the morning. Thats the train that goes under the chunnel and goes really really fast. It only took us a little over 2 hours, just enough time to come up with a game plan. We went with a tour group so when we arrived in Paris we first got on a bus and took a tour of the city. It was great to see lots of different things and get some tips from our tour guide. We checked into our hotel which was pretty nice before heading off on a walking tour of the Latin Quarter. It was a different part of Paris that I would have never thought of going to explore so that was fun. After the tour we rushed over the Louvre because apparently on the first Friday of the month it stays open late and under 26 year olds get in free. Awesome. I'm not a big art person, but I absolutely loved the Louvre. We saw the Mona Lisa, and I don't care what other people say I think it was really cool to see. We saw tons of other pieces of art and history (Hammarabi's code is there...how cool!) but the highlight for me was Napoleon III"s apartments. They were so lavish and beautiful. After the Louvre we went back to the hotel to crash.

Saturday: Another very full day. We got up early, ate a giganticly awesome breakfast and then headed off to the Eiffel Tower. When my family was in Paris a few years ago we climbed up the tower instead of going on the lift, and when we looked at prices we decided that was the best plan for us (it cost us around 4 euro). We hiked up the 668 steps which was a serious workout, but it was so worth it. The view is more amazing than I could ever describe so I won't try....We hiked back down and walked over to the Hospital Invalid where Napoleon is buried. We didn't go in but the architecture of the building was awesome to look at. We then took the metro to Notre Dame (sidenote, I am so proud of us figuring out the metro system so fast and well). It is one of my favorite places in the world I've decided. It is a beautiful building, the inside is so peaceful even with all the people around. We left Notre Dame and headed off to Moulin Rouge for a walking tour of the red light district/art district/highest point in Paris. Again I was really glad we did this because it showed me parts of Paris I had never considered going to but absolutely loved. We ended up at a church at a top of a hill that had an amazing mosaic of Jesus with outstretched arms inside and a fabulous view of the city on the outside. By the time we were done here it was dinner time and we headed back into the city in search of french onion soup. We found a cute little cafe right outside the Eiffel Tower where the soup was ridiculously overpriced, but it was an experience that I think was worth it. After dinner we ran to the Eiffel Tower to be there on the hour so that we could see it sparkle!! It was so cool, almost as cool as the chocolate crepe I ate afterward. Life was good. We went back to the hotel and crashed; it was a great, but very long day.

Sunday: We decided that, since this was our last day and we had class on Monday, we would have a sort of chill day. We started off by walking down the Champs de Elyse. It was fun being on this really famous street and we probably would have spent more time wandering around the gardens but it was raining. A lot. Not like pouring down, but the kind of drizzling mist that gets you soaking wet all the way through. Usually this would have gotten me really down, but I was in Paris!! So there. We went into a couple of shops along the Champs de Elyse and poked around in an attempt to keep sort of dry (we failed). Eventually we reached the Arc de Triumph and hung out there for a bit, taking it all in. Then we headed down to the Siene where we were going to pick up a boat cruise. I was so excited about this because we were going to see more of Paris aaand we had planned on having a picnic with bread and cheese and chocolate. We found real baugettes, the long ones that stick out of the bag and we had cheese from the hotel breakfast and we found some cheap candy bars it was just generally awesome. The cruise was so relaxing and we got to see Paris from a different angle, it was a great way to end the trip.

Wow. If you stuck through reading all this, bravo. It really was an incredible weekend and we did so much and saw so much and came out alive. Now that I've been bit by the travel bug I can't wait for spring break! Italy better look out....