Paris, France February 2006

We had only been in Europe for a few months when Barry told me that he wanted to take me to Paris for Valentine's Day weekend. I was so excited, especially when he told me that we could stay at the Hilton right at the base of the Eifel Tower. I had always dreamed of waking up to the view of the Eifel Tower right outside my window.

We rented a car to drive to Paris. We certainly weren't going to drive the Magnum to Paris and after we were there, we were so glad that we didn't. Trying to get to the hotel was no easy task. This was all before we bought the GPS and all we had to go on were maps from the internet. It was crazy, but we finally got to the hotel. I had been kind of freaked out because we kept going through the tunnels near where Princess Diana was killed. We parked the car at the hotel and started off to see Paris. I think we had to come back and check in later (been so long, don't remember). It was awesome to see how close we were to the Eifel Tower. The view was amazing. We found that we were really close to the Metro Station, so we went there and bought a bunch of tickets to be able to ride everywhere.

First stop was the Arch de' Triomphe. It was huge! I could not believe how tall it is. And to see the traffic there at the "uninsurable traffic circle" was insane. Then we decided to go to the top of the Arch. Holy cow! There were so many stairs. It was a spiral staircase up the leg of the arch. We had to stop so many times (so did tons of others). When we finally got close to the top, there was a museum and then you walked to the outside on top. It was so windy up there! And way up high! If it had been a prettier day, you would have been able to see a long ways from there. The going down was much easier, lol.

Then we decided to make our way to the Notre Dame Cathedral. It would have been much easier if we had just taken the metro, but we decided to walk the Champs Elysee. It was a long walk. We saw some beautiful and very expensive stores along the way. Barry ran out in the middle of the road to take pictures of the Arch. There were some fountains and statues as well.

We finally came to the cathedral after wandering around for awhile. It was raining outside as we came to the front of the cathedral. It was beautiful. The inside was just as magnificent. Statues, carvings, stained glass, etc. When we exited the cathedral, the sky was beautiful! My mom said it was because God was happy because we went to church! The backside of the cathedral is even prettier.
We then walked through the park towards the Eifel Tower. And we saw the Hotel Des Invalids (I think that is what it is called) which hold the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte. We tried to get in, but it was closed. Grrrr.

We decided that we would go find the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. That was an adventure, but we made it and it was yummy. We got off at the wrong metro station and walked a long way back to our hotel. But we knew that we could keep walking toward the Eifel Tower and we would make it eventually. And in a way, I am glad we walked. The pictures of the Tower that night were my absolute favorite.

Once we were back in the hotel, were enjoyed sitting on the balcony and watching the blinking lights on the Eifel Tower. It was beautiful to just sit there and take in the lights of downtown Paris.

The next morning we had a French breakfast (fresh squeezed oj was the best, french toast in France not the same, lol). And we were off to the Louvre. It was an amazing museum. The Mona Lisa was kind of disappointing for being so famous. Some of the other painting were AMAZING!!! our favorite was by a man name Antonio Campi and it was off the life of Christ. We were just disappointed that you could not take pictures of the paintings. The Louvre was huge and we did not have anywhere near enough time to see everything.

And then....THE EIFEL TOWER!!!! The day was yucky so the view was not that great. The elevator to the top was pretty scary, but it was awesome to be there.

So, the trip to Paris was amazing! I can not wait to take my mom and dad there. I loved the city. Most people talk so horrible about the French and about Paris, but I thought everything about it was amazing.