Paris

so, we did pretty much all of the touristy things in Paris while Paul was here. We did some touring when he first got here and then around Christmas and then after New Years. We spent Christmas and New Years in Paris and then we went to the south of France the week before Christmas and then to Germany the week between Christmas and New Years.

While in Paris, we went up the eiffel tower which, of course, was awesome. We went up to the top level at night and it was incredible seeing all the sights that we had toured and to see all the lights around the city as well. It was really pretty. There is a skating rink up there on the first level but we didnt go skating. It actually didnt take us that long to get up there-I thought we were going to be in line for a long time, but we werent.

One day we went to the Moulin Rouge and the red light district. We walked into the Moulin Rouge but didnt see a show. Apparently the shows are very expensive and just a money grab so we werent planning on doing that. We also went to Sacre Coeur which is a really nice church on a huge hill in Paris where you can see all of Paris. It was nice.. but, not as impressive as Notre Dame. While we were at Sacre Coeur, two guys came up to us and started making bracelets on our wrists and then convinced Paul to pay for them. What a sucker.

We went to the louvre a few times, which, Im sure was Paul's favorite. Ill tell you about my louve experience in a later post. We saw the Monna Lisa and other famous paintings. We saw a collection from Hogarth as well at the Louvre and that was really interesting. We also went to another museum called Musee d'Orsay that has a great collection of Van Gogh, Monet and tons of other painters in it. Very impressive.

We walked around Paris a lot and saw a few parks like the Luxembourg Gardens. We also went to the Pantheon where Victor Hugo and others are burried. Paul really enjoyed this because he got to hang out with Victor for a little while. It was interesting because they had a write-up about each person that was burried there so you could read a little bit about what they did and why they have the privledge of being burried there. I found the cript a little creepy because you're in a cave-like almost way under ground and you're walking around looking at coffins. I didnt want to be left alone down there and I kept following Paul around everywhere he went. There were a lot of other people down there looking at the coffins but it was really creeping me out.

We ate out a lot in the Latin Quarter. You can get a pretty good meal for about 10 euro and they were in pretty nice restaurants. I pretty much just ate French Onion Soup. I now LOVE french onion soup oh, and french fries and mayonnaise. Oh wow- that is SO good.. you dont even have to ask for mayo.. they automatically give you mayo with your french fries and you dont pay any extra for it. At home, I know Leanne always gets mayo with her fries (which I always thought was gross) but it would always cost her a little bit extra but here, they give it to you. I dont know why french people arent really fat.

We also went to Versailles which is a castle just outside of Paris where Louis XIV and Louis XVI lived (and I think other royalty..) we took a tour inside the castle and saw where Marie Antoinette slept and where the kings did all of their entertaining and also their chapel and their theatre.. we also saw the hallways of mirrors which was really cool. The tour was expensive but I think it was well worth it. We also toured the grounds (the back yard) that has a pool in it and tons of trees. Apparently the grounds are 3K long or something like that. It was incredible.

We went on a ferris wheel one day in Paris. It was awesome. We could see all of Paris and we were up there right at 5pm so the eiffel tower was sparkling. It was really cool. We could see Champs Elysees, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, the eiffel tower and the Louvre. It was great.

We went to the market one day to buy some souvenirs. Paul bought a blanket and I dont think I bought anything. It was funny seeing Paul barder.

We went on a boat ride around Paris which was really fun but very cold and rainy. In Paris it rains quite a bit but not for very long at a time. It rains at least once a day but only for about 10 mins at a time unless its a huge downpour. But, you can pretty much count on at least one rain a day. And, of course, the rain that day happened while we were on the boat, sitting out on the front of the boat trying to keep warm. We saw all of the sights from the water and they taught us about the different bridges (there are tons!).

We went to Christmas eve midnight mass at Notre Dame. What a mess. We got there at about 11pm to stand in line to get into the church. I have never had to stand in line to go to church and Im sure most people would say they have never stood in line to go to church. Well, now I have.. We waited for about a half hour and we finally got in. Now, just because we got into the church doesnt mean we had a seat. The church was already packed when we got there. This church is huge. To this day, I still cant believe it was as full as it was when we got there. There were SO many people. They had tvs set up on the sides of the church because they had set up extra chairs and from those extra chairs you couldnt see the altar, so they had tvs. It was nuts. There were people talking, laughing, taking pictures and not paying attention to the mass at all. We ended up standing off to one side and watching a screen. A guy passed out while he was walking by Paul and Paul had to catch him before he fell. We were getting in line to receive the host at communion time and then all of a sudden, the priests walked back up to the front of the church and communion time was over. We missed it. The whole experience was really crazy and nuts. Im glad I was there on Christmas Eve but I wouldnt do it again. It was too nuts for the both of us.