Paris!

Okay so I know I promised a post about my trip to Paris a few posts back. Well, here it is...

Phil and I had a lot of fun in Paris. BUT before the festivities could begin I found myself stranded in Paris BY MYSELF for an ENTIRE DAY!!!!!

Let me just preface this story with the fact that my biggest fear for this vacation would be that I couldn't find Phil in the Paris airport once I got there. You see, we were meeting in the airport as I was flying from the US and he was flying in from Africa.

I showed up in baggage claim to meet Phil and couldn't find him. So I patiently paced around the nearby areas and still couldn't find him. This is when I began to panic a bit. So I decided to start plan B. That was to eat the costs and use my cell to call Phil. So I turned on my cell phone and what do I see? A text message from Phil stating that his flight was delayed by 24 (yes, 24) hours and he was still in Africa. After peeing my pants a little bit I decided the best plan of action would be to get to the hotel, take a nap, and then find food. So this is what I did on day one in Paris. I hid in my hotel.

What a world traveler I am.

Phil got to the hotel the next morning though so we extended our stay by a day (which involved angry phone calls to the airlines to push our flights back) and we got to do everything that we planned!

Day 1 together:

First we visited the Catacombs. This is where you walk for miles under Paris and looks at thousands of neatly stacked skeletons lining the walls. I think they said they is something like 5 million bodies buried here. It's a result of the discovery that dead bodies can cause disease, and their overflowing cemetaries were getting people sick...aka the black plague. So they threw them all into the mining tunnels beneath the city. After awhile they decided to decoratively line up the bones.

The downside to the catacombs? Being dripped on by cold anonymous fluids. I'm going to pretend its' water that hasn't sifted through lots of bones and earth. 

Next we headed the Auguste Rodin Garden. It showcases his famous statues and works such as "The Thinker" and "Gateway to Hell". That is Phil's thinking face.

The last stop of the day was the Eiffel Tower. We thought we'd save money and line time and walk the stairs up. But in retrospect, I think the elevators looking continuously more enticing with each stair I climbed. There were a lot of stairs.

Day 2:

Our first and only stop of day 2 was the Louvre. We dedicated the whole day to this place and still only saw maybe 20% of the stuff.

We first hit up the famous works like the Mona Lisa, Venus De Milo, and that winged statue thing from the Da Vinci Code (although really we saw that on the way to the Mona Lisa).

The best thing we did here is we rented the audio tour guides for 7euros. They had little videos and taught us tons about the Louvre! My favorite tour taught us about the building itself. Little does everyone seem to know but they're literally walking around the homes of the King Louis' and Napoleons! It stared being built in the 1300's!

To finish off day 2 we took a night time river cruise up and down the Seine River. It was pretty to see everything lit up at night! Our boat also looked like a wedding boat. It was complete with an aisle and fake flower arch. 

Day 3:

                             

This day started off with a trip to the Notre Dame Cathedral! We waited in line (for awhile) and climbed all the way to the top around the gargoyles! That's me being a gargoyle. I think I need practice. 

                              

We even got to go into the bell tower with the famous bell that Quasimodo rings! It was quite large and weighed 13 tons...I think. It was cool walking around a building that started being built in 1100! 

                                           

For lunch we had a traditional french 3 course meal. It was freakishly expensive. Everything there is about 3 times the cost. But it was good. We both even enjoyed the escargo...even though it was creepy digging them out of the shells. 

                                           

Next stop was the Pantheon. This building was built by one of the King Louis'. Maybe the XVI? He built it to honor Saint Genevieve after he believed that she healed him. It was gorgeous on the inside. Definitely not expense spared. So now, in seemingly true French Tradition they house famous dead french people in the bottom of it. We saw Marie Curie, Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas' graves. 

                                      

After that we headed to the Hotel De Invalides. There's probably a spelling error there. Anyways, it's Napoleon III's place where he nursed his soldiers after his wars. Of course the main building is where Napoleon I, II, and III are now buried. Keeping in the theme of moving dead French people around. 

                                      

The inside was gorgeous though. It's too bad my bad photography can't do it justice.

                                    

Our final stop of the trip was the Arc De Triomphe. It was pretty cool to look at. But by then we were exhausted...and I was definitely getting sick. 

The good news is that I got to fly business class home, thanks to Phil yelling at the airlines about his flight. So we got to sit next to each other and watch movies all the way back. Needless to say it was much nicer than my flight there in coach. And they have ice cream, and a place to take your shoes off, and socks to keep your feet warm. mmmmm and a lounge in the airport. I'm a fan. 

And that's it! My suggestions to anyone headed to Paris. Get the Paris Sight Seeing Pass. You pay for the pass for a certain number of days, and it gets you into all of the sights without having to wait in line. You also save quite a bit of money. 

I applaud you if you've read this far. I'm not sure I'd have the heart!