Spring Break (Paris part 2)

So I'm not too good at keeping up with this whole blogging thing but here are a few more pictures and stories from the first leg of our Spring Break trip in Paris....

We woke up well rested and ready to start the next 3.5 days in Paris... We woke up early each day to start our sightseeing and went to bed pretty early (lame I know but it was exhausting walking around all day). I think it is easy to hit up the night life when you are traveling with friends :)

Outside the Louvre with our class moose Marty... he has been on some seriously awesome trips these last 2 years :)

 We hit all the museums and big attractions (with the exception of Versailles) as early as possible in the morning to avoid the crowds and lines. This was especially beneficial for the Eiffel Tower because they only had 1 elevator going that day!

Winged Victory 

Mona Lisa... obviously 

Ecole Militaire/Les Invalides where Napoleon is buried 

Arc de Triomphe 

 I would definitely recommend walking up the stairs to the top of the Arc. It gives a unique view of the city and the Eiffel Tower. One my first visit to Paris in high school I didn't even know that was possible! 

View from the top of the Arc

Opera House lit up at night. 

 Side note on that night... we ate at this place called Patata Cafe if I remember correctly and all of their dishes were served on baked potatoes.... it was awesome and not very expensive at all... I'm thinking it may have been a chain?? It was definitely a great place for a quick little meal.

Notre Dame 

 We did not climb to the bell tower level since there were more stairs than the Arc de Triomphe and I wasn't feeling too well that morning.... I do wish we would have done it though because I love seeing Paris from different perspectives.

Sacre Coeur 

The only picture we have of ourselves taken by someone else

Musee D'Orsay... 

 The museum above is my favorite in Paris... probably in the world because of all of the Impressionist Art... when I was there 7 years ago with KC you could take pictures of the art but not anymore... luckily a few pictures were saved after my hard drive crashed senior year.

View of the Arc way zoomed in from the top of the Eiffel Tower

View of part of the city, along the Seine from the Eiffel Tower

The Palace of Versailles 

Hall of Mirrors 

Behind the Palace 

Some of the gardens 

Statue of Louis XIV

Other than the cold weather that I totally didn't pack well for... Paris was awesome. I could remember my way around really well, everyone was friendly, and the only random thing that I can remember happening is that random people kept asking my if I was Spanish... regardless of whether I was speaking English or French. I did pretty well responding/understanding when people spoke slowly but was at a loss when people assumed I was French after I initially greeted them. The trickiest thing for us on this trip was dining... deciding on places to eat (we don't like it when people are standing outside trying to wave you into their restaurants) and figuring out what to do when we went inside... do we seat ourselves, is a waiter going to come over, do we go order our food at the bar (that happened in London), etc. But all in all it was a stress free first leg of the journey and I'm glad that I got to show Jim around my favorite city! I hope to go back again someday or at the very least send our children. :)

Next up: London