Paris- The final day!

Okay, I can finally finish my Paris experience! I just returned from my 9 day vacation to Scotland, Germany and Holland so those posts are soon to come but for now we'll stick with France! After visiting the Moulin Rouge late Saturday night we went to sleep early and were up at 8 am on Sunday (our final day in Paris :( ) and on our way to L'arc de Triumph, Le tour Eiffel (for a day time viewing), to climb the towers of the Notre Dame and to go to Le Louvre! We ate a quick breakfast and checked out of our room at 9 am, leaving our bags at the hostel so we didn't have to drag them around all day. We jumped on the metro and headed towards L'arc de Triumph (our first stop). L'arc de Triumph was much larger than I had thought and it was amazing the way it was situated in the center of the crossing of 12 roads! When we came out of the metro we were on the outside of the circle, with the arc on the inside so we needed to figure out a way to get to the island in the middle of the busy "round-a-bout".  After a little confusion and wandering around, we realized that there is a tunnel that goes UNDER the street and come back up in the middle of the circle.  after figuring that out, we had to find the correct set of stairs that lead to the Arc and not just to another metro line- and it was more complicated than it sounds!

After finally finding the proper set of stairs we made our way underground and ten back up again to find ourselves right underneath the Arc itself! At this point, Molly and Lauren were "too tired" to do anything else so they sat on a bench as Michelle and I took photos and wandered around underneath the Arc.  Then Michelle and I decided we wanted to climb to the top- so we did! It was a pretty easy climb- not too long or hard.  The only hard part was how windy and small the staircase was, it definitely made for a slow and careful walk! In the middle of the climb there was a large room with some old artifacts and old pieces of the arc that had been damaged and replaced over the years. It was really cool to be standing inside L'arc de Triumph!

After our climb we soaked up the beautiful view that we had of Paris! The cool thing about climbing L'arc de Triumph as opposed to le Tour Eiffel is that when you climb the Arc you get to see Le Tour Eiffel as part of the view of Paris- which is very important because Le Tour Eiffel is such an iconic symbol of Paris and even France as a whole. From the top of the Arc we had a panoramic view of Paris and it was gorgeous! I was able to see my 2 favorite things from afar- Le Sacre Coeur et Le Tour Eiffel!

Le Sacre Coeur!

 After our photo shoot atop L'Arc de Triumph we headed back underground and to Le Tour Eiffel to see it up close during the day! We weren't very far from Le Tour Eiffel (about 10 minutes via metro) so we got off the metro and walked a few blocks before ending up on the grass in front of Le Tour Eiffel- just as magnificent as I remembered from 2 nights before!

Pong underneath the tower

marvelous

After leaving the tower, we were back on the metro towards Notre Dame-this time to climb the towers! We had heard that it was going to be free to climb to the top this Sunday so we waited in line fro about 35 minutes and luckily it was free! We had to wait inside a gift shop for awhile before we were able to climb up (maybe they want to tempt you to buy overpriced souvenirs!). While waiting we read a bit about the history of the cathedral and also about why Victor Hugo chose to write such an influential novel (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) about the place.  After a few minutes we were herded up some more windy, small staircases before ending up in one of the two towers of Notre Dame!! How magnificent it was to be in such ancient bell towers that are known all over the world! Once more, we were exposed to an incredible view of Paris- this time it was especially amazing because we were right about La Seine (the river running through Paris) so we got to see Paris for all that it's worth!

We climbed down the towers and grabbed sandwiches at a shop next to the Notre Dame and ate them while sitting on a bench next to La Seine and staring up, for one last time, at the Notre Dame.

our lunchtime view :)

 After eating and enjoying some rest we were back on the metro on our way to Le Louvre! This time we were going to go inside. When we got off the metro i really needed to use the bathroom and of course the first one we came across (located underneath Le Louvre) cost 1.50 euro!! Pretty obscene to charge that much (or anything at all if you ask me!) to use a bathroom but i was desperate so I bit the bullet and it ended up being a really cool bathroom! There were at least 5 people working in it, and it had a very classy interior- the workers would clean each toilet room in between people and the toilet papers were all different colors! It was actually quite cool for a bathroom so afterward I wasn't too upset that I had to pay to use it- but I still think it's ridiculous to charge for a public restroom! Anyway, we headed up from the metro station below Le Louvre and into the museum.

below the pyramid that is outside of Le Louvre

The first thing we set out to find was The Mona Lisa, of course. And find it we did indeed, along with about 100 other people, a glass case and a rope keeping everyone about 8 feet from where it hung- pretty anticlimactic if you ask me! It's pretty unfortunate that the painting has been so hyped up that now no one can even get close enough to really look at and enjoy it.

After rushing to the Mona Lisa we were able to relax for a couple hours and wander the museum.  Although, you would need about 3 days to actually see the entire thing- I mean, i had heard this place was big but big is an understatement- HUGE is more like it- impossible to grasp in less than 2 or 3 days, I believe.  We chose to head towards the Egyptian Exhibit and on our way we saw a room of Michelangelo statues, some very famous paintings, and the famous athena nike statue! Overall it was a great visit.

Overall, Paris was an amazing trip and I wish I could go back every weekend and do it again! We walked along La Seine to get back to our hostel and pick up our bags so we could head to the train station!

At about 7 pm that night it was time to say Au revoir Paris et Bonjour Bordeaux (again). We also had to say goodbye to Michelle in the train station which was really hard and felt like a scene from a movie (train station in Paris, i mean, come on?). I'm so glad we all got to go to Paris together  and I can't wait to go back with Mom and Elizabeth in December! A Bientot mes amis!