We started out our first day in Paris at the Arc de Triomphe. We climbed the two hundred something steps to the top to get the full and amazing view of Paris. So worth it. From the top you can see the Eiffel Tower and watch the crazy traffic drive around the Arc (there are no traffic lanes!). After the Arc we went to the Musee d’Orsay, Notre Dame, and then to hang out under the Eiffel Tower.
The next day we took the train to Versailles to see the palace and then came back to the city to go to The Louvre. Considering The Louvre is the oldest and biggest museum in Europe, most people spend several hours there. They say that if you would spend just 30 seconds looking at each piece in the Louvre, it would take over 3 months to get through the entire museum. We only spent an hour there and managed to see a few of the most famous and interesting things. We ended the night with a river boat cruise on the Seine with an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower all lit up.
We spent our last couple days in Paris at a much slower pace without such a packed agenda. We walked through a pretty cemetery where Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde are buried and then climbed to the top of Montmartre, an area of Paris on a hill with an awesome look out over the city. We sat and watched a street entertainer perform for over an hour and then went to lunch at an Irish pub…French menus were too hard to read! Paris was actually pretty frustrating for me; there was such a huge language barrier and it seemed that it was a lot harder to deal with than our first days in Italy.
We were hoping to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower during the day and night but only managed to get there at night. After waiting in line for about an hour we got on the elevators and rode to the second platform. After walking around that platform for awhile (which was scary enough), we took the elevator to the very top. Once at the top, you can choose to stay in an enclosed area or go outside. Although we’re both terrified of heights, we decided to be big, brave girls and walk around outside. It was so cold and scary and I’m definitely happy I did it, but I’m not sure that I would do it again! It was by far the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life, but I made myself do it…I mean, how many times will I ever be in Paris?
Saturday was our last day in Paris. We decided we were going to ‘get really French’ and drink French wine and eat a baguette under the Eiffel Tower until we had to leave for the airport. Our friend Mallorie happened to be in Paris on her fall break and decided to meet us…as well as bring two more bottles of wine. To make a very long and embarrassing story short, we consumed too much wine and didn’t make it to the airport on time. Yes, we missed another flight. When we finally got to the airport we were informed that there were no more flights to Italy that night. No flights to Florence, Pisa, Rome, or Milan. SO frustrating. But, on the bright side of things, the airport was opened 24 hours so we were allowed to stay there overnight and then catch a flight to Pisa first thing on Sunday morning. So that’s what we did…we stayed at the Paris airport for over fifteen hours and slept on benches…next to homeless people.
We were not impressed with ourselves for missing two out of three flights during fall break, but at least we can laugh about it now that it’s over. Our flight back to America leaves relatively early in the morning so now we’re super paranoid about missing that flight. But then again, if we did miss it, we could stay in Italy forever...
Sounds like a good plan to me :)
You crack me up, my dear! I sure hope you don't miss your flight home either whenever that may be...
ReplyDeleteJust get home for Christmas, love.