Paris!

OK, I've been slacking on posting. Trying to catch up, just having too much fun!

My travel partner in Paris, Amy, did such a great job summarizing the time in Paris so far, I thought, why do it myself! I did add a little addendum at the end though.

Bonjour!

Today is my 4th full day in Paris with k. Got in late last Friday after a long journey (although only and hour long flight) from London. Found my hostel, the 3 Ducks, and passed through a happening bar into a courtyard to discover that the bar was also the reception area. Found k, and we went across the street to eat and catch up. Minutes into dinner, we caught a full on physical dispute between a middle-aged woman and man. Don't know exactly what went down, but overheard someone quote the man as saying, "she's my wife and I can put my hands on her if I want" and was choking her. Hmmmmm. Back to the hostel where we had a beer and went to our 4-bed, shared dorm to pass out. (Oh, also found out during dinner that k had hung out with Rick Steve's son in Ireland, cool!)

Saturday we walked to the Eiffel Tower, which was less than 10 minutes from our hostel. Decided to take the ride up top at another time because the line was incredibly long. We continued walking to Rue de Cler, which is just a street, really, but a very "Parisian" street according to Rick Steves. It was actually pretty cool - having Rick's descriptions of all the resturants and stores and getting the history behind everything. We continued walking, crossing the Seine River, up up Avenue Des Champs Elysees to the Arch de Triomphe. This Arch contains the tomb of the unknown soldier. Had lunch back on Rue de Cler. In the evening, we toured a part of Paris called Montmartre, climbing up and up and up stairs to The Sacre-Coeur (sacred heart) basilica. We had a pretty fantastic panoramic view of the city. The inside of the church was pretty grand as well. This church took 44 yrs to complete and supposedly, inside, 24/7, there is someone praying for forgiveness of all the worlds' sins. Next we did Rick Steve's walking tour around the church, touring the neighborhood where Picasso, Van Gogh, and Renior used to work and live. Pretty cool. Finished off with an external view of the Moulin Rouge.

We found many things are closed on Sunday (as well as Monday and some on Tuesday) in Paris so we ate at an okay, over-priced resturant for breakfast. We tried to visit the catacombs, but were too late so we headed across the street for a consolation crepe (with nutella - yum!). We did yet another of Rick's walking tours in the Latin Quarter with the highlight being the St. Michel fountain. Next we found the best garden - Jardin de Luxembourg. It was a great sunny day so we sat by the fountain and soaked up some sun. Made our way to Le Bon Marche (the original!) to get some dinner, but like everything else, it was closed. So we found a no-name little grocery and and picked up some picnic items - bread, cheese, wine, canned salmon, couscous, and chocolate to bring to the Eiffel Tower (yes, very French of us). It was actually a beautiful night and we dined and drank while the sun went down behind the Tower and we watched the lights come on. After dark we rode the elevator the second story for a great night view of the city.

Yesterday, we bought a city exhibit pass and started at Notre Dame. Now, that's a cathedral!! Toured the church first (holds up to 10,000 people!) then climbed up to the top of the towers. This is a great gothic church that took 200 years to complete. We liked that, on the inside, the confessionals were all glass! Next we had pizza for lunch (decided neither of us are huge fans of the French food except the pastries, of course) and found Sainte-Chapelle ("the triumph of Gothic architecture" according to Rick). This church was completed in a mere 5 years and had the most beautiful display of stained-glass windows. Each panel told part of the biblical story. Next we visited the Conciergerie prison, which once housed Marie-Antionette, Louis XVI, and Maximelien de Robespierre before they were put to death by the guillotine!! Finished off our day by walking from the Louvre to the Arch de Triomphe, but this time, climed MORE stairs to the top and got yet another great view of the city and the 12 streets radiating out from the center.

Today! Checked into our hotel (bye bye crazy, party, loud 3 Ducks) and walked back to the catacombs. Got to check it out this time! Underground we saw bones, skulls, and more bones all artfully stacked on both sides of many tunnels. Later we went to the D'Orsay Museum, did Rick's walking tour and saw works by Monet and Van Gogh! Crazy. The paintings were, like, right there . . . Finally we went back near Notre Dame to the Memorial de la Deportation - a tribute to the 200,000 French died in Nazi concentration camps.

Tomorrow, we are taking a day trip to Monet's gardens where we'll see things that inspired his paintings that we saw in the museum today. When we get back to Paris, we'll visit the Louvre - THE musuem housing the Mona Lisa! Thursday, our last full day, we are taking another day trip to Versailles. Friday, k leaves for Prauge and me to Nice, where I'll meet up with Dinah. So goodbye for now - see you in Italy!!

With love,
Amy

** Yesterday we took a day trip to Monet's Gardens. Had it been nice out, we could have taken a bike ride along the river to get there from the train station. But after all the stairs we've climbed recently, the bus was just fine. It was weird to think that he created (by planting) the subjects of some of his most famous paintings.

Napping on the train on the way back (Amy naps as well on moving vehicles I do), we were refreshed and ready to hit the Louvre. It was rather crowded at 7pm, I can only imagine mid-day! Again, we took a Rick Steves' tour of the museum which was really nice as it is so huge and easy to feel completely lost. He gives you a tour of the artwork without completely overwhelming you. I've heard the Mona Lisa is very unimpressive, and while I wasn't captivated by the actual picture, I don't think I was overly disappointed by the experience.

In search of some satisfying food here in Paris, Amy and I finally found a Mexican restaurant and had yummy fajitas. Followed by a crepe with nutella and bananas for me and a hot fudge sundae for her. I think if I stayed in Paris, I'd gain major weight because all I like to eat are the pastries and the cheese!

Today is our last day in Paris :( I'm excited for Prague, but I've had a great time here and I'm sad to lost my traveling partner.