Destination 2 - Paris

Just when we thought things couldn't get any better...we arrived in Paris! Even though I couldn't help but have rather high expectations from such a famous city, Paris didn't fail to impress me. A city with so much to offer, we barely fit in most of what we wanted to do within our two and a half days there!

After buying our Museum passes, figuring out the Metro system (in itself, a challenge), and FINALLY making it to our hostel - "Peace and Love Hostel" - we decided to that it would be best to get a good night's sleep...after some food. We ended up finding a small cafe about ten minute's walk from our hostel. This was our FIRST encounter with the French language...and thank God I could throw together a few awkward phrases in French. We walked in the door and tried talking to the bartender who spoke NO english whatsoever. He disappeared and about a minute later out comes the cook! In broken english he grabbed us a table and whipped out about five menus (all on standing chalk-boards?!?). I ended up asking what he would recommend for dinner, and got some WONDERFUL beef dish with potatoes which he assured me was "VERY French!" AWESOME. The cook even came out after we had started eating to make sure that we enjoyed our meal - oh the joy of eating in a small restaurant!
Probably the most important phrase that I learned was "Check, please!" I feel like in most restaurants, they won't bring it unless you ask for it. Seeing as pretty much NONE of the waiters whom we had spoke English, I feel like we would've been hanging around forever had I not luckily memorized this phrase...
Ok...this is going to be a lot of writing, so I'm going to try to break it down into two days. Day 1.

We started off pretty early - around 8am I believe - in order to get in as much as possible. Our first stop was Arch de Triumphe...that's when it really hit home that we were in Paris. After taking the tunnel (which went underneath all the traffic) that leads to it (a tip which I learned from close family friends who unfortunately were not aware of that fact...haha), we enjoyed our first real taste of Paris!

After that, we walked down Champs Elysees toward the Louvre. A bit longer of a walk than we bargained for, but at least we got to see a good amount of the city, AND we found a Starbucks along the way...crucial. The Louvre itself was absolutely HUGE. I've always heard that you can spend literally DAYS going through the collections, and now I can honestly say that that is NO exaggeration. It was hard enough to make our way from one wing to the other! We set priorities (thank God) and focused on painting and sculpture...didn't narrow it down THAT much, but it definitely helped.

Thoroughly exhausted...by about noon...we made our way to Ponts des Arts, a pedestrian bridge near the louvre. Then after paying WAY too much for a few slices of salami on a baguette, we broke down and took the metro to the Eiffel Tower - the weather was gorgeous, so we were trying to get in all the outdoor sites. The Eiffel Tower was definitely a great stop...not only is it effectively Paris' trademark symbol, but it also offers a GREAT view of the city! Al and I made our way to the top level - there are three separate levels that you can go to.

Following our Eiffel Tower experience, we walked over to Invalides and Napoleon's tomb. Definitely not what I was expecting...the tomb itself was HUGE. It was set down lower than the level that we were walking on, so that there was a sort of an open circle that you had to walk up to the edge of in order to see in the middle. Such a big tomb for such a little man...

To end our night, we walked to Boulevard St. Michel in the Latin Quarter - a district that had been primarily students, who for a while only spoke Latin. Hence, the Latin quarter. (Once again, a longer walk than we bargained for) After making our way past dozens of small book shops, we grabbed dinner at a cafe, and then called it a night - reeeeeelatively early...we even got teased by the bartender at our hostel (yes, the first floor is a bar) - "LAAAAADIES! It's Friday night...you had better be back downstairs!" Haha - not likely.

Our room in the hostel

Arch de Triumphe

and again...

Notice the tops of the cars from all the traffic in the background. Yep - tunnel it is!

Proof that we were up so early...Champs Elysees toward the Louvre

Place de la Concorde area

Venus de Milo!

One of my new favorite sculptures

To give you an idea of the scale of some of these paintings

Rubens room

Kinda want that hairdo...

The Louvre!

and again

At the top of the Eiffel Tower

Al and I at the Eiffel Tower

Napoleon's Tomb

And now...Day 2.

Once again, we had an early start. With our last full day in Paris ahead of us, we didn't want to miss out on ANYTHING! The first area we went to was Ile de la Cite - the island where Notre Dame and Saint Chapelle are located. Saint Chapelle is known for it's gorgeous stained glass windows, depicting over 1,000 scenes from the history of mankind. This turned out to be waaaay more impressive that I expected. Notre Dame was impressive as well, and we actually went up into the bell towers. We were able to see the Great Bell and the several gargoyles that decorate the building.

After the churches, it was museum time once again! We went to the Rodin museum first...even though it was pretty small, there was a lot to take in. Some sculptures included "The Thinker" and "The Kiss." It was definitely a nice change from the Louvre, where you were just completely overwhelmed.

Musee d'Orsay was next. This museum was my favorite, and is located in a renovated train station. Definitely a neat atmosphere. Once again, MUCH smaller than the louvre, and therefore much easier to navigate yourself in. Orsay is home to MANY famous impressionist works by Degas, Renoir and Monet. (Also Whistler's Mother?!?) As I said before, by far my favorite museum.

The last museum which we hit up was the Picasso Museum. In retrospect, it probably wouldn't be on my list had I known how much effort it would take to find it. (That, and I wasn't really a fan of the artwork displayed there) Still, fairly interesting - they DID have an impression of Picasso's right hand...and let me tell you, MUCH smaller than I would've thought. It was about the same size as Al's hand.

Our last stop (phew!) was Sacre Coeur in Monmartre. This is one area of town that I wish we would've planned in a bit more. If you have ANY sort of artsy streak in you, you should definitely plan on spending some quality time in Monmartre. Just walking through the streets around Sacre Coeur was an experience. A mixture of cafes and art vendors gives this area of the city a certain charm. When we made it to Sacre Coeur, people were lounging on the grass, enjoying a bottle of wine, and taking in the sunset...

We ended our last full day in Paris by (you guessed it) eating out, and relaxing over a glass of wine. Definitely the perfect way to end our time in Paris.

Stained glass in Saint Chapelle - not the best pic, but you get the idea

View from bell tower at Notre Dame

Notre Dame...

The Thinker

The Kiss

One of my favorite sculptures at the Rodin Museum

Renoir!!!!!!!!

Musee d'Orsay

Sacre Coeur at sunset

Our last dinner in Paris!

And finally...our hostel. In all its tackiness!