Actually the Louve in general was quite impression...all of the rooms and ceilings were art in themselves
So, Mona was a bit of a let down...they keep her completely roped off and you can't get very close...but the other exhibits were just as good I thought...we only really hit the popular ones
we decided to get creative with our pictures
Outside the Louve
Notre Dame
One of the original copies of Darwin's Origin of Species
for my fellow Zoo friends :)
The tree was covered in bumble bees like the one above
Natural History Museum
On the metro
OU #1
so...my face was a fish face...we look a little distorted in our funny faces though
but we finally managed
So it took us a few tries to get everyone in the picture!
wine and baguettes!
Bonaparte's tomb is inside
the Invalides
OH NO!!
Very tired under the Arc de Triomphe
From the first level...I didn't stay at the top level long enough to get any so this is all I got haha and you could see Sacre Couer again
Below: the line to the Eiffel Tower and above is us in the line
From Montmontre
Moulin Rouge
Opera House
the Sacre Coeur from the street
Look familiar?? The french love to make statues like this :)
Below is just a pretty cathedral
The very small elevator in our hotel...supposedly three could fit, not so sure though?
After visiting Ireland Megan, Kyle, Kaitlyn, and I flew to Paris bright and early on Monday, April 5. We arrived at our hotel around 1 or 2 pm and then set out to explore the city. We managed to make it to the Opera House and see a few other things around our hotel not really anything well known though. We ventured up to see the Moulin Rouge and the Sacre-Coeur (Basilica of the Sacred Heart). The basilica sits on top of a large hill called Montmartre and there is a beautiful view of the city of Paris from there. On our way back to our hotel for the night we stopped at a french restaurant and had a traditional three course meal which the french are very fond of and wine. Tuesday was a rather ambitious day beginning with visiting the Eiffel Tower. We went up all the way to the top where I stayed for oh...about 2 minutes before being really scared and coming back down! haha At least I can say I did it though, right? We waited in line for about an hour to do that and so by the time we got finished we grabbed lunch at a crepe stand before heading to see the Arc de Triomphe and walked down the Champs-Elysees. Then we walked to the Invalides where Bonaparte's tomb is located. Finally, we ended the day eating baguettes and drinking wine on the lawn of the Eiffel Tower and watched the lights come on! We got sweet crepes with nutella and bananas for dessert which were so so good! It was a great ending to the day! Wednesday morning we began by visiting the Natural History Museum in Paris. For any and all science nerds...it was amazing! Besides the fact that everything was in French and somewhat hard to understand...it was the best natural history museum I've been in. It had a whole building dedicated to Evolution and Darwin's theories. The other building was a huge collection of paleontology works and skeletons of countless animals. I have never seen a collection that large! After the museum we grabbed a baguette for lunch and went to visit Notre Dame. The cathedral was huge and really stunning. We did some shopping down St. Germaine and then went to the Louve to end the day. By the time we got to the Louve I was utterly exhausted but managed to see the Mona Lisa and a few other well known pieces of art before heading back to the hotel for the night. I tried a Kebab for dinner (recommended by Ashley as well as the dinner on the Eiffel Tower lawn)! It was really good just like she said too! I was so tired when we got back I passed out as soon as I hit the bed!
Although I had already been to Paris when we last visited Europe when Ashley studied abroad, it was just as awesome this time. Paris is one of my favorite cities and one that I could go back to over and over. A lot of the sights I saw the first time, but last time we did not actually go up in the Eiffel Tower or go to the Louve. Also, it was really nice because we got into all of the museums for free since we were an EU student and so the only thing we really had to pay for was the Eiffel Tower which was surprisingly cheap. After Paris we were pretty exhausted though. We walked A LOT! We saw a lot in just three days and still had time to enjoy ourselves though which was really nice! So...next stop...Amsterdam!
Pictures in Paris...
