City of Love, City of Lights

Views from my room- St Martins Canal
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I arrived in Paris on Sunday the 13th after a big night out in London and hadn't slept in awhile. I ended up not doing much excpet going over to the McDonalds across the road. Since I'm a big fan of the movie Pulp Fiction....I had a Royal Cheese!

Day 2 was much more eventfull! I started with a open top bus trip around to the major sights to get my barrings on where things were. Then headed out walking on my own. I started at the Place de la Concorde and walked up the Ave. Des Champs-Elysees to the Arch de Triomphe where i climbed the billion stairs to the top! What a great view! Back down and took the trian to the Jardin des Tuileries to the Louvre. WOW! What a museum! you could spend years in there and I did think I was going to because I kept getting lost. Eventually I got tired of art and was just happy being amazed by the beautiful ceilings!! Then of course I got the Mona Lisa (which was a fake, the real lady is on tour somewhere)and the Venus de Milo. After that I left and walked around the Royal Palais and the jardins, ended up in Les Halles for some window shopping and Banana and Nutella crepes! Yummy! To end the evening instead of paying for a tour, I did my own tour of the lights in Paris and stopped at the major sights to take night pictures! To end a long day I went back to the hostel and met the beautiful bar tender that was working there. Being a slow night we got to talking alot and started a very short lived romance! The next day I was also quite motivated and started with some pan au chocolate (again yum!) and headed to Sainte-Chapelle for a look! What a stunning old church. most of the outside was under renovation, which can be a draw back of travelling in the off season but I didn't have to fight big crowds for the most part. After Ste-Chapelle I stopped at the Conciergerie, which was a prison and where Marie-Antionette was kept before she lost her head. The Palais de Justice was also there but I only saw the outside of the building. I also found out that Paris was under high alert for a terroist attack as well. At the major sight there were many armed guards walking around. Finally to Notre Dame. I started with the crypte Archeologique, which is the ruins of an ancient Roman city under Notre Dame and then went into the church.What a sight! But sometimes you really hate tourists. I think that when a place says please do not photograph in a billion languages and has signs, you shoudn't d it, but there were so many flashes going off in the church I felt really bad for the people there praying that I left and went up the billion strais (there is a pattern here!) to the towers to see the gargoyles and the view. No Quasimoto though. To get away from the crowds I went to Ile-Saint-Louis and walking down the little street there and had some Berthillon ice cream!! yum! And headed back home. I figured that I had seen most of the major sights so decided to have some shorter days. Wednesday I did a tour of the Opera Garnier, what a beautiful building but didn't see the Phantom. I cruised the Seine and climbed the Trillion!! steps to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately the 3rd floor was closed and I didn't have 200euro to have dinner at the Jules Verne restaurante. Thurs was a really quiet day after another late night and I really didn't do much of anything except sleep and hang out talking to various people at the hostel. I was convinced by 2 Aussie girls to go out to a club near the Moulin Rouge. The actual Moulin Rouge was too expensive for me this time. Fri morning after about 3 hrs of sleep I did a walking tour of Monmarte area and saw where all the artists lived and painted, the red light district and the basillique Sacre Couer. For dinner I went to Bastille and saw the monument there and the newer opera house that the Parisians say looks like one of the public toilets.....and it really does! After being convinced by another 2 girls to go out again Sat night I went for a relax at the jardin du Luxembourg! Wow! I can't imagine how beautiful that place would be in the Spring and Summer! Saw the Sorbonne and went up for some more views at the Montparnasse Tower...this time I got to ride in an elevator!! WOW!! Sunday was my last day and I get started late yet again....this tourist at the bar just kept convinceing me to go out with them. We actually got taken out by a local guy who was friends with most the people that worked at the hostel and he knew some good places and also kept a very protective eye on all of us. Even with my late start I made it to Versailles. Amazing. it was the most crowded place that I had been to, but it was still quite spectacular. The only thing wrong with it was that none of the furnishinings could have been original. During the revolution the silver was melted down and then the place was sacked and stuff was burned. but the way its ben put back together is really amazing! no wonder the poor people were not impressed with their leaders overspending!! So I loved Paris. I fell in love and had my heart broken but still had a wonderful time. Its an absolutely beautiful city. Everywhere you look there is something amazing. I didn't have the funds to have a nice French meal but what food I did have was great! I didn't find the people rude at all, some did laugh and help me out by speaking English, but I think the effort is appreciated.

I loved Paris. I fell in love and had my heart broken but still had a wonderful time