Paris et les garcons vert

ah Paris! 

We left London UK early morning on the 23rd to being our journey to Paris.  We took a ferry from Dover to France - I have decided that I´m not a fan of ferry boats (unlike Dr. McDreamy who loves ferry boats).  The cliffs of Dover were in fact white!  Really high drop offs with no vegetation, which accented the white factor.

From the ferry boat we traveled across the French countryside while our tour manager (JB) told us stories about the battles that were fought along the way.  The  bus driver (Ian) needs a break every few hours so they try to time it with a mini adventure or at least a neat place to walk around.  

We made it to Paris by about 4pm and had dinner at the hotel.  At 9pm we took the coach into the city and had a night tour with all the lights.   They had timed it so that we´d make it to the Eiffle Tower just as it was beginning to sparkle.  I had heard that the lights on the Tower increased the tacky factor but I really liked it.  It was actually far prettier at night than in the morning time.  The whole thing is lit up and every so often the little while lights go on and off to make it look like it´s sparkling.  Fear not, I took loads of pictures and a video too.

Other points of interest were the Arc de Triomphe which led to the Avenue des Champs Elysees - also known as the street of rubies and diamonds at night because of the car lights driving towards the Arc and those driving away.  Funny how they find a way to make car lights romantic in Paris. 

The next day started out at the Eiffle Tower as we did not have time to go up the night before.  (Funny side note: our tour manager had warned us not to call home after drinking as the conversations tend to be quite long, expensive, and embarassing.  There´s a pay phone under the Tower and we noticed multiple beer bottles in the phone booth.  Looks like someone had a ´drunk dial´the night before.  I took a picture.) 

We intended to take the elevator but the line was so long that we climbed up the stairs to the first level and then took the lift from there onwards.  It was really windy that day and the higher we got the more I feared I was going to be picked up and blown away.  Took lots of great pictures of the city skyline then came back down. 

Lauren (my new roommate from Austrailia), Katie (a nice American) and I then began our day of walking.  First stop was the Arc de Triomphe and the 294 spiral stairs to the top.  Again, beautiful panoramic views and lots of history to learn about.  Napolean certainly built a lot of victory bridges and structures in Paris.  He and Louis the XIV seem to have there name or face on most things.

From Arc de Triomphe we continued down Champs Elyees and Rue de Rivoli (long walk) where we had lunch at a really quaint place.  It was Lauren´s birthday so it was only fitting that we had a vin (wine) with lunch.  Next was Musee de Louvre where we saw the Mono Lisa and many more famous works of art.  Katie was great as she had taken many courses in art history.  She was able to help us appreciate and understand what it was we were looking at.

After the Louvre, Lauren went to meet up with the tour group as they went off to Moulin Rouge.  Katie and I stayed behind to explore more of Paris-  Which we did. We made it to Notre Dame just as the church choir was beginning the 6pm service.  I was speachless the entire time.  The church was beautiful and the choir was incredible.  Soloists, duets, and huge voices. 

We met the other american (Claire, who had been visiting her grandparents) at the Centre Georges Pompidoo - a modern art museum.  Some of the works of art were just bizarre and I didn´t understand them.  It seemed that they had an entire room dedicated to Karen Jackson.  It was bright pink with nothing in it but two giant sparkling bangles and a Giant red stilletto with a light focused on it.  So funny. 

The three of us had a great dinner and then went off to see Palais Royal (the opera house) where we had drinks at a jazz bar.  And by drinks I mean a single drink as it was very expensive.  I choose baileys on ice and loved every moment of it.  The Jazz band had a bass, grand piano, and a saxsaphone. 

There are people waiting for the computer now so I´ll get off.  This is also a very long post.  Guess I was exciting.   Since Paris we were in Bordeaux and Barcelona where we have been for the past two days.   I´ve loved Spain! Today we´re off to Nice then Florence. 

All the best,

Laura