I Spy Paris, Part 1

Well............since I fly to Italy in the morning, I should probably blog about Paris two and half weeks ago, right? Sorry!

Three weeks ago now, I was feeling restless. I was sick of just going to work and getting burned out and then spending the weekend sleeping and doing laundry. I decided that regardless of whether my roommates wanted to come, I was going to Paris.

I started planning and looking at prices for buses, planes, trains, hostels, etc. After a couple days, my roommates realized I was serious and decided that even if they didn't care about seeing Paris, they'd rather come with me. So Friday evening, we found some cheap bus tickets for early the next morning, and booked a super sketchy hotel. Elise made a game-plan of places to see, Lindsey downloaded map apps, and by 6 AM the next morning, we were on the bus that would take us to Paris.

We arrived around 11 AM, and using the maps that our super awesome bus-driver Anton gave us for free, we began our trek around the city.

If I went into detail about how it really was, this post would be way too long. Basically, there was a lot of walking, a lot of metros, a lot of getting lost, a lot of very painful feet and joints, and a lot of really incredible, amazing things. :)

Rainy morning bus ride

I spy.....Paris.

I spy...Victor Hugo's house.
We didn't want to pay the money to go inside, but it was still cool to stop by.
Another one of his houses is a block away from me here in Brussels. 

I spy....a random old manor...

...with a pretty courtyard.

I spy....the Church of St. Paul and St. Louis
This is the church that Marius and Cosette are married in in Les Miserables. :)

I spy...the flying buttresses of Notre Dame.
(The corner shop is called Esmeralda...Victor Hugo popping up yet again.)

Cathedrals are my favorite. I've really had some amazing spiritual experiences in them. Notre Dame was amazing. I was tempted to walk through the aisles singing "God Help The Outcasts." :)

For lunch, I grabbed a tomato and mozzarella panini from a street vendor.
Delicious!!!
Elise just ate the waffles and Nutella she brought in her bag...

I spy with my little eye.......
THE one and only Eiffel Tower.
WAY cooler than the Las Vegas replica.

Lindsey and I paid for tickets to go all the way to the top while Elise sat below.
The view was TOTALLY worth it.

I spy.....Napoleon's Arch of Triumph.
I sat on a bench and had a bit of a melt-down, refusing to walk any more without resting my feet.
Worn out ankles, knees, and hips don't do so well after walking miles of cobblestone.

I spy..... Moulin Rouge.
I promise we didn't go in. :) We just swung by for pictures.

I spy......the Paris Opera House.
Like the one in Phantom of the Opera.
I so wish we could have gone inside!

I spy......really tired girls.
And this is what we looked like taking the metro to our hotel.
And then we walked around lost for an hour and a half until I confiscated the map and found our creepy hotel.

We proved that it is, in fact, possible to see Paris in one day.
But I really don't recommend attempting it. ;)