My Journey to Paris

WARNING:  there are a lot of pictures coming your way and some may make you jealous.

Ok, now that we got that out of the way... let me tell you about my extended weekend in Paris.  To start... it was AMAZING! Paris is even more beautiful than all the pictures you have ever seen.  It really is a place to travel to in your lifetime (this being said, I am going back in two weeks for another weekend getaway).  There was a group of 7 of us traveling together, and by together, I mean not at all due to taxis not showing up and missed trains.  But I am the only one out of the whole group who did not miss a train at some point this weekend.  My half of the group was the first to arrive in Paris.  Sense the other 3 missed their train, we walked around town (after realizing that there is a "Chinatown" of Paris and it was where our hotel is) and we came across this amazing little park.  It was filled with little fountains and a hot air balloon ride.  It stayed attached to the ground, but we got to see the whole city...

And of course... we were being silly!

Look what we see!!!! 

Ok, here are a bunch of other pictures from the park...

After the park... we continue walking around for a while and oh my... look what we found... the Cathedral of Notre Dame!  We decided to wait for everyone else to go in, but the architecture of this building is incredible!

Of course I took on in front of it!!!

More picture of Notre Dame later.  We actually did go in, but not until the last day.  So you have to wait till the end of this post to see those pics. Or if you're impatient, go there now (but if you do, I will find out who you are and come kick your butt for making me put in all these pictures for you to skip to the end!)

Then we took a river cruise down the Seine River.  We did this at dusk and it was beautiful... and EXTREMELY cold.  It took us all night to thaw out.  Seriously.

This flame statue is a tribute to Princess Diana.  It is a replica of the flame of the Statue of Liberty.  This is where she died in her tragic accident.

This next photo is of a statue called "The Perfect Woman".  You make your own judgements about it... but we all had a good laugh about it on the ship.

The next photo is perhaps one of my favorites from this trip...

The Eiffel Tower light show at the end of the cruise :)

Easter Sunday we went to the Louvre.. and by went to, I mean we walked around outside, saw how the line circled around the building and decided to go elsewhere.  Next time I go I will buy my tickets ahead of time!  But we still squeezed in some photos!

We also got to go shopping on Avenue des Champs-Élysées and see the world famous Arch de Triomphe. 

Shopping was awesome... left me explain why.  There were very few things in Paris that were "must do's" for me.  As in I must do them while being here or I would forever regret it.  One was to see the lock bridge, which you will see photos of later :), and the other was to get pastry from a famous pastry shop called Laduree and are very famous for their macaroons.  Well, Laduree is located on Champs-Elysees, and I pretty much had a panic attack when I saw it.  Now pictures aren't allowed, there is security there and everything, but my motto was is if I can get a snapshot or two in, then screw them!  

Below are the smiling faces of two people who just paid 40 euros for 20 macaroons :)  Money well spent in my opinion!

We got one of each flavor!

We then grabbed lunch at a place that the waiters were dressed like sailors.  Seriously, it is the only reason we ate at this place.

We each ordered a bottle of water and this is how much it costs...

WHAT?!?!?!  OVER 30 EUROS FOR FOUR BOTTLES OF WATER!!!! WHAT THE HELL WAS IT?  HOLY WATER?!?!?

Then on to the Arch!  Funny thing about getting to the actual Arch is that it is in the middle of a huge rotary.  At least 4 lanes of traffic, if not 5.  After lots of pondering on how to go see it, we finally saw signs for an underground tunnel to the Arch... Perfect!  We walk around the Arch to the tunnel, go down the stairs underneath the tunnel and see the stairs to go up to the Arch.  We walk up the stairs and realized we ended up on the other side of the Arch.  Screw it.  We weren't going back.  We did get a good chuckle out of our stupidity though.

This bus was literally in my picture forever.  All I wanted was a nice picture of me and the Arch.

It did finally move...

That was about the end of day two.  For day three, we decided to get up really, and I mean REALLY, early to get to the Eiffel Tower.  What you don't hear about until you get here is that there is usually a 2 1/2 hours wait minimum to go up.  We decided the smart thing to do was to get there way before it opened.  It opens at 9:30, so we got there at 8.  Thank god we did.  There was already people in line, about 200 or so, and the line instantly grew after we got there.  After a couple of security checkpoints, and a lot of disorganization among the people who worked there... we were being lifted to the top!

Here is one of the security checkpoints.  I don't know why this amuses me so much, but look at the items security had to take from people.  I didn't realize spoons were the weapon of choice in France.  What is even more amusing is how many spoons there are compared to everything else!

Ok fine, I will post some pics of the Eiffel Tower!

Now back to Notre Dame before we leave...

After Notre Dame we sadly went home.  We almost missed the train... well some of us did, but not me.  Thankfully!  There are a few things I didn't get to see that I will go back to.  We have a weekend planned to see the Moulin Rouge and to also actually get inside the Louvre!

Oh and I almost forgot the lock bridge!  I love the lock bridge.  So the story behind this bridge is that people write the name of a loved on a lock.  They lock it to the fence and throw the key into the river.  It is supposed to symbolize a couples neverending love since the lock can no longer be opened.  Here are a few pics...

Au Revior for now!!!