Paris- ma premiere fois!

l'Arc de Triomphe
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Where can I start??  I had class on Friday from 8am until 7pm...and then our train left at 7:39pm.  Needless to say I was exhausted.  The train ride was only 3 hours (we rode the TGV which in French stands for Train a Grande Vitesse) and was like an airplane.  I must say that I have been extremely impressed with the French train system.  It is great, except sometimes it is unreliable and the food is astronomically priced.  We got off the train and then took the RER (kind of like the metro) to the l'Arc de Triomphe which was where our hotel was located near.

Notice the big stain?? Beautiful.
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We walked around for a while (Mommy Marie consulted the map wrong) and got to the "quaint" Hotel Wagram.  Well I think quaint is an understatement.  To begin with the guy at the front desk looked a little sketchy, but since we already booked the room there was nothing we could do about it.  We were on the 5th floor...without an elevator.  Whoever invented the elevator I would like to give them a big hug.

I think that Paris is definitely one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

The Louvre
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Our room was slightly disasterous.  We had two rooms and Julia and mine was okay...apart from the huge stain in the middle of the floor.  It was kind of dirty and old looking, but the beds were clean (we checked them THOROUGHLY) and our bathroom was clean.  Although our faucet for the shower didn't turn hot.  We got to take cold showers everyday.  What a great way to wake up!  haha.  Other than that our room was decent.  Margot and Marie's room had a hole in the window and their bathroom door didn't close.  Other than that their room was about the same as ours.  It didn't matter too much because we were only staying there to sleep.  But I don't think I would recommend it to anyone unless they are on an extremely tight budget.

Glass pyramids
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We woke up bright and early the next morning and stopped at a little place for breakfast crepes.  They were great (althought overpriced) and then we were ready to go to the Louvre.  The Louvre is HUGE and I don't think I can do it any justice by describing it.  It really is massive and extremely impressive.  Not only the inside, but the outside as well.  The outside is so historical looking and has the huge glass pyramids (like in the Davinci Code) that you go through to get to the inside.  You go through extensive surveillance, but Julia and I were cleared and we went inside.  The price to get into the Louvre I think is really cheap.  Our tickets were only 8.50 euros, so maybe $10USD.  When I think about how when I went to Shedd's Aquarium in Chicago and it was double that, I realize it is so cheap to see the Louvre!  Julia and I decided to take the guided tour, and I was really glad we did.  It was only 5 euros extra and we had a women take us around to all the "well-known" sculptures and paintings and then we were free to wander however.  I would love to go to the Louvre and spend days on end there because there really is so much to see.  Of course there are things like the Mona Lisa (La Joconde in French), Venus de Milo, etc etc... But there are many other things as well that people don't bother to see because they don't know about them.  Our guide explained certain paintings to us, and I thought it was facsinating.  I would highly recommend this tour (it was in English too by the way).  Julia and I saw tons of French paintings and pushed our way through the sea of tourists to get to the Mona Lisa.  In the Louvre there are certain places where you can't take any pictures and you can NEVER use your flash because it is so damaging.  Unfortunately I didn't realize one section was no pictures allowed and I was snapping away when a security guard got angry with me.  Oops.

Venus de Milo
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After the Louvre Julia and I met up with Margot and Marie (who had been shopping this entire time) and we went to the Notre Dame (you know, like the hunchback of Notre Dame??) and it was amazing too.  We didn't spend too much time in it because it was full of people but we walked around enough to see the intricate detail and the beautiful stained glass windows.  I bet the church service is really fantastic, I would like to go there for that sometime.  In the church you aren't allowed to use flash as well (although some people just can't read I guess because many were just using them anyways).  The Notre Dame is huge, and the treasury costs money to get into.  We didn't go into the treasury but someday I would like to.

Notre Dame
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We went into the Latin Quartier for lunch and had some really nice salads and soups.  Again, Paris is an extremely expensive city and it cost an arm and a leg for some soup and salad but what can you do?  You have to eat!  And then Margot found a bagel place.  Margot is jewish so she was SOO excited.  We were all excited because in Grenoble there aren't any bagels and I love them.  Margot wanted to go to the Jewish district but we didn't have enough time.

After lunch we went to the Champs-Elysee and did some shopping (of course!)  Shopping is expensive there, stores like Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Prada, Chanel, etc... are there.  But then we went to Gallerie Lafayette which is an enormous department store.  It is like Macy's or something in New York.  Absolutely huge!!  There was a huge Christmas tree in the middle and lots of lights.  I think there are 5 or 6 floors in Gallerie Lafayette.  We shopped there for a while, and just looked around.  They have so much stuff there you can spend hours.  In the end we were all shopped out and walked around the Champs-E for some dinner.  We found a restaurant called Bistro Romain, there is one in Grenoble as well.  And is was really nice because we sat by a window and could see everyone below on the Champs-E.  We went to bed pretty early after because we had been walking for over 12 hours and we were exhausted.  The next day we had big plans so we had to get some rest.

Beautiful windows!
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The next day, Sunday, we went to Sacre-Coeur and saw the Basiliqua.  The basiliqua is a huge church up on a hill, much like the baslique in Lyon.  Only this is much bigger and has a fantastic view of the city of Paris.  We walked around there a bit and then went to Montmarte which is kind of like an artsy place.  There is a big courtyard where all the artists and people who sketch go and they work out in the open.  People are walking around with clipboards and pencils asking if you want them to sketch you.  We decided to have an "english" breakfast as they call it in France which basically means you get something more substantial than bread and coffee.  We had eggs (what a treat! haha) and that was great.  We got to sit and watch the artists work and just relax.

The Seine
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Then Mommy Marie had us move on to La Tower Eiffel and that was huge as well.  It really is crazy to be standing next to the Eiffel Tower when for so long you have just heard about it, read about it, or looked at pictures of it.  It's amazing to just be standing right next to it and touch it.  The only downside of the Eiffel Tower is the amount of pick pockets.  You really need to be careful in Paris because people will try to scam you.  It sounds bad, but its a fact of life.  There are gypsies that try to either ask you for money or just take it from you.  We took lots of pictures by the Eiffel Tower and walked around there a bit.  The line to go up was huge so we opted just to look.  Then we went souvineer shopping some more and by 5:30 we were ready to go home.

Tree inside of Gallerie Lafayette
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I think that Paris is definitely one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  I am going to Rome this weekend, so I guess I will be able to compare the two.  Paris is so dynamic and historical, I think that everyone should visit there at least once in their lifetime.