PARIS!!!

There is absolutely no word that can describe Paris. The words that come to mind would include, incredible, insane, unbelievable, beautiful, shocking etc. Even those words combined don't amout up to what it actually is like. The pictures I took are nothing compared to what it looks like when you stand there. Paris is the best place I've been to in my entire life so far. Rome has A LOT of competition. I took 388 pictures/videos. I wish I would have been there for a week because it really felt like we were there for 2 hours. It went by way too fast. I'm going to try to tell you what happened before I forget.

I was planning on waking up at 5:40am on Friday so I could take my time and pack, shower, eat a good breakfast, but that night we were up till 3:00am talking and hanging out. I ended up turning off my alarm and not waking back up. It was my job to call the taxi for all of us to the train station and have the cab waiting for us at 6:40am, but my friend Christina (who leant me a bigger memory card otherwise I would have had hardly any pictures) called me at 6:39am, and I was still sleeping. So I didn't get to take a shower or eat breakfast, but somehow I managed to pack and get downstairs in 10 minutes...a miracle. I also almost forgot to bring my camera, but luckily Amber reminded me and ran upstairs to get it while I was running around the kitchen. I would have cried and bought a new one if I forgot it haha.

We took a bus to a ferry to a bus and arrived at the Eiffel Tower around 6pm. The traffic was horrible. So it did take quite awhile to get there. The ferry made me sea sick, but I didn't throw up thank goodness.

When we arrived, we walked out of our bus to the sight of the amazing Eiffel Tower. I took so many pictures of it, and I still feel like it wasn't enough. We then took a boat tour down a river that lead us through basically most of Paris and all the sights. We then got to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower by elevator. It was an amazing sight to see all of Paris. Words literally don't exist to describe what I saw; I become silent and stutter on words that could attempt to amount what it was like. Lily, Angie, and I took the stairs down from the second level. I felt like I lost control of my legs because they seemed to start going at their own pace. The lights were also shining in ours eyes so it felt like I was going to fall. After that, we waited for the tower to light up and sparkle. I took a video of it so you can all see. We then had a bus tour around Paris then went to our hotel. The hotel room was very nice. I forgot to take a picture of it though :(. We had the opportunity to go out to eat (and this was around midnight) so we ate near the Bastille. I thought I ordered a burger for 3 euros, but it ended up actually being 13 euros! I also got a margharita and a shot of tequila so my bill was 28 euros!!! INSANE! I couldn't believe it. On our way back, Jen, Shannon, Brenden, and I went to a sex shop for a little bit, and it was weird. We were only there for like 5 minutes because it was kind of creepy. On our way back, Brenden and I imitated the Rocky scene where he runs up all those stairs to the top, but we ran up Palais Omnisports of Bercy. Then we finally passed out by 2 in the morning.

Saturday, we started our day out by going to a church called Sacre Coeur of Montmartre. There were SO many stairs! My legs were killing me, but the view and church was absolutely incredible. AH! Amazing. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside of the church, but I bought a post card of what it looked like when you walk in. It was a HUGE mosaic of Jesus and angels etc. I also lit a candle for my dad there because it seemed like the right place at the right time. From there we went down a street with a bunch of shops, and I bought some goodies; from there we went to Notre Dame. It kind of reminded me of the cathedral in Washing D.C, but the back of it was so beautiful. We studied the Notre Dame in a Freshman art class I took, so it was amazing to see the actualy architecture of the flying buttresses etc. in front of my own eyes. We also had the opportunity of driving through the tunnel where Princess Diana had her tragic accident. It was a really short tunnel so they had to be going so fast for that to happen. We made our way to the Palace of Versailles. OH MY GOSH...I just sat here at the computer for like 2 minutes because I can't think of what to say about it. Ummmm...unbelievable, incredible, beautiful and more. The gardens stretch over 2,000+ acres. It was sooooo pretty. The pictures give it absolutely no justice. I can't believe people lived there. Obviously we didn't get to see the whole place since there are more than 700 rooms, but we went on a tour of a main part. The ceilings were amazing. It looked fake almost. The only thing I was upset about that day was that they had a bunch of art work by Jeffrey Koon, and I hate him now. His art it SO stupid. It made me REALLY upset that his work was there while there was so much history and insanely beautiful masterpieces surrounding us. When we went into the gardens, Amy, Mandy, and I got some of the best ice cream I ever tasted, and we walked around the gardens. It was so pretty. There were some areas with these huge hedges, and it reminded me of the Tri-Wizard tournament in Harry Potter haha. Anyway, after Versailles we were dropped off in the middle of the city. I just want to say that I am so proud of me, Jen, Nina, Brenden, and Christina because we navigated our way around Paris like professionals. We walked to the Opera House and Church of Mary Magdalyn (I also had the opportunity to "step into our map" like Joey does on FRIENDS while they are in London to find out which way to go haha...by the way it worked); then we walked to the Arc de Triomphe and climbed the spiral staircase of hundreds of stairs to get to the top. I think I enjoyed that view more than the Eiffel Tower because we were lower to the ground and got a closer view of things but seemed to see just as far off into the distance. Then we ate crepes and baquettes in front of the Moulin Rouge. It wasn't as big as I thought to be honest, but still very cool. There were a lot of sex shops around there, but we didn't bother going into any of them. We then took the metro back to our hotel until we heard the the Louvre was lit up, and Nina wanted to see Pompidou (which is a building where the architect designed it so the plumbing and parts of a building that are hidden in walls are actually shown on the outside so it's kind of inside out). This was after midnight, but I got this huge adrenaline rush, and Nina, Jen, Brenden, and I ran to the metro and took it to the Louvre. I felt like I was in the DaVinci Code. The pyramids lit up were unbelievably cool. AH! So amazing. Then we made our way to the Pompidou and took some pictures then walked all the way back to our hotel which was like 45 minutes away. We made really good time though, and it was absolutely worth it.

Today (Sunday), we had our last breakfast in Paris then made our way to the Louvre. We only had a little less that 3 hours in there, but we saw the Mona Lisa (I took a video), and other random art. The ceilings in there were incredible. I was walking around with my head turning in all these directions; I'm surprised it didn't snap off. Nina, Jen, and I went back to the Pompidou to get a picture of it during the day, and then we made our way back and took more pictures of the Louvre during the day. We then made our way back to the coach and drove back to the ferry. Before that though we stopped at a wine shop, and I got 2 bottles of wine and some chocolates. Hopefully I won't open them and will save them for when I get back home :). The drive took FOREVER though; I was getting so pissed off. The ride back to England on the Ferry was so windy and wobbly that I felt like I was drunk. We finally made it back home around 8pm, and we ate dinner together then rushed to the computers so I could tell you guys all about it before I forgot.

I think that might be it. We saw SO much, but I think those are the highlights. I can't wait to show you all my pictures!

I love Paris. Best city yet by far. I have to go back.

p.s. I took that picture by the way; my camera is amazing. If you don't know what it is you need to be slapped.