Paris (Friday/Saturday/Sunday):
We took an early flight to Paris Friday morning where we caught the train and subway into the city. In NYC and other large cities, you become used to seeing budding musicians in the subway and on the street corners, but in Paris, they climb on the subway trains with you, serenade you until the next stop, and then move on to a different car. If I had been brave enough I would have whipped out my camera.
We got to our hotel where my other sister-in-law, Heidi, was waiting for us. She had flown into a different airport that morning from CA. Heidi spent 4 months in Paris on BYU study abroad 9 years ago so she became our unofficial tour guide, which was great. First item of business after checking into our hotel – crepes. No, I had never had one and was anxious to try it. Everyone else had theirs filled with Nutella or chocolate but not caring for chocolate, I always chose fruit. It was so good!
[mygal=crepes]
Our walking tour that afternoon consisted of seeing the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, and the Paris Opera House (from The Phantom of the Opera).
[mygal=paris_sites]
It had been a full day but Haley and I couldn’t let our trip to Paris go by without going up the Eiffel Tower at night. So after dinner the two of us left the other two to take care of laundry (they were so nice to do that) while we headed off to the Tower to stand in line for over an hour to go up in the elevator. Of course, the line for walking up the stairs of the Tower was non-existent but we had climbed so many stairs with suitcases in the subway that we just couldn’t do it. When we got up the front of the line to purchase our tickets there was more standing in line as we waited for the elevator. As our turn approached I started to feel very panicked as I looked up the elevator’s path. I felt maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Then the elevator came, we piled on, and started to move. I KNEW this wasn’t a good idea. I felt so panicked and didn’t know what to do. Finally I just looked at the floor and didn’t think about where we were. We finally reached the 2nd level of the Tower Observatory Area and I felt very wobbly. But, as soon as I was up there for a minute or two I was fine – I just couldn’t handle the ‘getting there.’ The view from the tower was great and we enjoyed the wind – of course, we had to call our husbands from the top just so they could enjoy it with us.
[mygal=on_eiffel_tower]
We decided to walk down the stairs rather than stand in line for the elevator back down. I found I could do that as I just concentrated on one stair at a time and didn’t look out at the steel pieces that held us all up. Of course, dusk hit as we were going down so we had plenty of lighting from the Tower being lit up. On our way down the park path to our hotel, the Tower lit up with sparkling lights. Everyone who was camped out on the grass started cheering. This must be a nightly ritual, especially on the weekend. So, Haley and I sat down to flash some pictures, only to be greeted by someone offering us champagne. We just took our pictures and left. But, it was an amazing site.
[mygal=eiffel_tower_night]
Saturday was our museum day. We started in the Louvre, which was great because we had already bought our tickets the day before and could go in the back entrance. We were waiting when they opened the doors and were one of the first ones in. We made a bee-line for Mona Lisa so we could see her without the crowds. It was so interesting that she has an entire room all to herself with a ‘line guider’ (or whatever they are called) to make sure everyone takes their appropriate turn. Heidi gave us the whirlwind tour of the Louvre because she had practically lived there, being an art history major. So, she gave us the highlights and we finished in 1 1/2 hours!
[mygal=louvre]
We spent our afternoon touring a different part of the city, across the Seine River. We saw Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, the Hotel de Ville, and the Pompidou.
[mygal=seine_sites]
Then we went in Musee d’ Orsay, another art museum. This one was neat because it is more of the Impressionism. The paintings in here were more of the famous ones that I know and have seen, like Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, and Degas. As we were finishing up in the gift shop, the entire museum was evacuated because of someone’s unclaimed bag. I’m glad we were done with the museum and felt for all those people still waiting in line or who weren’t done inside.
[mygal=impression_museum]
Sunday morning we went out to Versailles, the palace King Louis XIV built. It was fun to walk around all the rooms and peek out the windows at the gardens. I’m anxious to read more about Marie Antoinette after visiting there.
[mygal=versailles]
Afterwards we walked to the chapel to attend church. It is then that we found out it was Mother’s Day in France so we got to hear the Primary children sing in French to their moms – so cute! We were grateful again that someone was translating – this time in headsets. I found singing in French was hard – there are so many letters that aren’t pronounced!
[mygal=church_france]
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