Bonjour Paris!

8.23
Our day started bright and early shortly after 5am, heading out early to catch our train to Paris. Apparently we didn't plan very well though...to make a long story short, we got on the train just 4 minutes before it was left the station. From then on, we left extra early for all of our major traveling!

We found our hostel and got checked in and then took the city by storm! It was nice to have a sense of direction for once (I spent 4 days in Paris 4 years ago, so I had some sense of orientation!). We took the metro (aka Subway) to the Louvre and then walked down the Mall, cut across the River and headed towards the Eiffel Tower.

We headed back to the hostel for dinner, followed by a Metro ride to La Defense, which is essentially the financial/modern district, but features the Grand Arch. Apparently the opening in the arch is so big, all of Notre Dame could fit within it! On our way back to the hostel we also walked along Champs Elysees, and took in Arc de Triomph.

La Defense

Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomph

8.24
We headed to the Gardens of Versailles for the day, with another hefty admission price, we were expecting great things, and while the Chateau was interesting, if I ever make it back, I would simply go to the Gardens which were immaculately kept, and simply gorgeous. Unfortunately, it started raining on us which put a damper on things, and therefore we decided to head back to Paris a bit earlier than expected.

Gardens @ Versailles

This one's for Colin (or maybe Alyssa...)

By the time we made it back to Paris, the weather had cleared up, so we ventured out to Center Pompidou (a weird building with all the pipes on the exterior), Hotel de Ville, Notre Dame, and the Pantheon.

When we returned to the hostel, another friend of ours, Jessica was waiting for us...she joined us for the rest of our travels.

8.25
We started the morning off right with a trip to the Louvre. After all, I had to go visit Mona Lisa again. Other highlights were 'Winged Victory', the 'Venus de Milo', as well as a plethora of Greek and Roman sculptures. After we had our fill of the Louvre, we had some lunch and headed back to Notre Dame, this time going inside. I absolutely love all of the stained glass...it is such a gorgeous cathedral. That evening, we headed back to the Eiffel Tower, this time our goal was the top! Unfortunately while we were standing in line for nearly 1.5 hours, the weather went from sunny and gorgeous, to overcast, so the views were not as great as they could have been.

Louvre

Mona Lisa

Mocking Hermes @ the Louvre

"Hey dumb dumb, want some gum gum?!"

Notre Dame

Stained glass in Notre Dame.

8.26
The morning started off with climbing up the infamous stares to the foot of Sacre Coeur (one of my favorite places in Paris!). We went inside the basilica for a bit and then visited the street markets in the area (I bought a painting from the same artist as the last time I was there!). We also stopped off at Moulin Rouge for a quick photo-op, and headed towards the Louvre area to find a place to sit down for lunch.

Sacre Coeur