When we woke up we headed to the metro and made our way to the Louvre. It was a 3 hour wait! We decided to come back and headed to the Eiffel Tower. Up, up and away we went. It took two cars to make it to the top. When we made it half way I looked out and decided that we had gone far enough and could stop here. Micah insisted we should go the rest of the way, I looked up to see how much farther we had and tried my best to convince him we were far enough. He won and we made it the rest of the way up. It took me a second to compose myself to walk away from the wall that I had a death grab on to get a better view. Impressive? Amazing? Intimidating? It was SCARY! This crazy lady was letting her kid, who was maybe 14 months old hang on to the gate and shake! That gate was the only thing keeping him from falling! I actually asked her to please not let him do that because it was scaring me to death. They were from Australia, she smiled, and told me that it was okay, he wasn't scared. At this point I had to walk away because it took everything I had not to pick him up and hug him and explain to him how very dangerous that was.
After the Eiffel we grabbed a hop on hop off bus and went back to the Louvre where we waited for 45 minutes and got it. It was impressive to say the least. I actually found it quite overwhelming. We saw most of it, I think. There were so many turns and so many levels to go up and down and it was just huge! On a side note, I didn't know the Louvre used to be a palace. Napoleon III apartments were inside and still in tact. In the late 1800's the Louvre was opened up to the public, obviously it was no longer a residence. It was absolutely amazing.
After spending a few hours in the Louvre, allowing ourselves to get lost in art, we made it back to the hop on hop off and our next stop was the Notre Dame Cathedral. Actually, we were both starving and some friends of ours told us of a little cafe across the river called Cafe Panis, so we took their advice and had an early dinner. The food was great and the resting was even better. Did I mention earlier that we walked from the Louvre to the Eiffel? It took about an hour.
After lunch we headed back over the water to Notre Dame. We went inside, only to realize, they were having mass! There were probably 200 people walking around inside during the service taking pictures. We felt a little rude. We took zero pictures while inside because it didn't seem right and after about 5 minutes of watching the service decided to leave. I was astounded by the people taking pictures of the service. They offer tours of the cathedral and we would have loved to have done that, but it wasn't in the cards for us. Taking pictures from the top would have been incredible, but since we left the next day we will have a reason to return.
After touring the cathedral we decided to ride the hop on hop off and see the rest of Paris. It quits running at 7:00 pm. When we got off we made our way back to the metro and to our hotel. It was a very amazing, very LONG day. It didn't matter how hard that bed was I couldn't wait to get in it.
Here I am holding my (Tucker's) Spiderman umbrella, did I mention it drizzled the whole time? I was so glad it was in the car!
Standing on one of the many bridges throughout Paris.
I forget what the bridge is called, but all along this railing are locks. While taking pictures another American couple began talking to us and explained that these are locks of love. You're supposed to kiss and put your locks on the fence. So we kissed, but had no lock to donate, maybe next time.
The Louvre from across the water. This was after we decided not to wait for 3 hours and headed to the Eiffel. Looks like a palace right?
There it is. In all its impressive glory. Who wants to go up? I wouldn't blame you if you said no.
This is the view from half way up! Micah had to lean back to get this photo. You know how when you are climbing up high everyone says not to look down? Not only should you not look down, but I don't recommend looking up either. Just close your eyes until you make it to the top!
The view from half the way up.
Okay, take it from the top. Yes this is the top. NO, I did not look down at this angle. I had a hard enough time getting close to the edge for a photo.
Micah didn't find it difficult at all to hang out by the ledge. Remember the kid I was talking about earlier? The one who was shaking the fence and trying to climb up it? There is the fence, you see the view, am I crazy for wanting him to stop?
The Arc de Triomphe. This is a zoomed photo, it was pretty far away. Napoleon had it built and along the shields that are around the top of it are the names of the battles he won. He had it made to resemble to triumphant arches in ancient Rome, he loved Roman architecture. We were in Rome in October and those arches, that are over 2,000 years old, are incredible and look a lot like this one. I actually upon first seeing it expected it to be much older than it was. The arch dates to early 19th century.
Just another view from the Eiffel. This one is from half way up and shame on me because I have already forgotten what the picture is of.
Me and Micah from the top. Actually I had no problem here. You can see there is a window behind us, from the top you go through a door and down about 10 steps and you are in an enclosed area. There was a cafe for lunch, a gift shop, and restrooms. Who knew? And up those ten steps to the top was a small "apartment." Not a place to sleep, but an enclosed area where Mr. Eiffel entertained guests, where he took meetings. Really. There were fake people in there! One was Mr. Eiffel, one was Thomas Edison and third was the daughter of Mr. Eiffel watching them talk. This scene apparently took place before the worlds fair. All in all going to the top of the Eiffel is a MUST DO if you go to Paris.
This is inside the square, I guess is what you'd call it, while waiting in the line to enter the Louvre. Do you like the Cars umbrella? It's Luke's.
The first time we arrived the line went from where we are standing, around to the right, around to the wall you see there, out that entrance and wrapped around the outside. To the left that you don't see is the entrance to another courtyard.
This is inside the second courtyard, the nicest couple from South Africa took this picture for us. I was unaware of this, but the pyramid behind us...it's the entrance to the Louvre.
Here is The Winged Victory of Samothrace. It was amazing! I wish I could have gotten a better picture. There were so many people.
And there she is. Mona Lisa. She has a piece of glass covering her, a rope keeping you from getting too close, guards keeping you from crossing that rope, and about 100 people trying to take her picture all at once. I wish I could have stood directly in front of her and gotten a picture, and believe me I tried, but it was about impossible. Every time I took her photo someone bumped me! This is the best I could get.
Aphrodite, known as the "Venus de Milo." Again, amazing!
A mini Sphinx. I forgot exactly what this was, I think it was a sarcophagus.
Micah with a statue on the wall.
One of Napoleon III apartments.
The cafe we ate at.
Notre Dame Cathedral. It's impossible to get the whole thing in one pic. It is absolutely massive from the side. I got a post card of a shot from the air.
Here we are again.
And finally the Arc de Triomphe. This photo was taken from the hop on hop off bus. The bus, is, by far the best way to see Paris.
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