Written Sunday for Thursday and Friday: Back from Paris

Bonjour.

Fast pass: The weekend was largely train-riding, blowing noses, seeing Parisian monuments, and riding the Parisian metro. It was good. Now it's over.

Tonight's feature: The Eiffel Tower. Justin and I paid 3 euros to climb the stairs to the top. The stairs actually weren't that taxing, as we only took them to the second floor. The view was beautiful, and the sun did a great playing-behind-the-clouds thing all the time we were up there, so we have some great pictures. From the second floor, you take an elevator to the top. Since we bought the cheapo tickets, we were going to have to buy another ticket to take the elevator, but some nice cold ladies gave us their tickets because they couldn't stay any longer. So J and I saw the whole thing for 3 euro! When we got to the top, it was even more beautiful. The sun was pretty much down and the city lights were more and more defined. The wind got really really cold, but we stayed up there for a while and got more pictures and stuff. :) Then we got to ride the elevator the whole way down, which was great too.

This weekend Justin and I (and a lot of other people) went to Paris. We left around 10 pm Thursday night and rode trains all night and arrived around 10 am Friday morning. Riding the train overnight was an experience, not necessarily positive. Justin and I were staying at a different hostel from everybody else because theirs was pretty booked. Ours was pretty far away. We got different rooms, and eventually had roommates, which we saw little of as we were gone all day. The hostel had a great free breakfast.

Friday after we got there, we went to the hostel. This took a long time, as it was a long way from the train station and we didn't take the metro. On the way, we stumbled on the very famous cemetary that has actual named streets inside. We stayed there for a while (partly by choice, partly because there aren't many exits through the wall) and finally arrived, exhausted from walking and sleep deprivation, at our hostel. We then sat for quite a while drinking the free water and eating lots of the cheap peanuts we brought. Then we headed out, taking the metro to near the Louvre. When we got to the Louvre, we found out that because it was Friday and we are under 26 years old, we would be able to get in free in another hour, so we walked down along the river and checked out a cathedral with cool gargoyles before going back. When we went back, we immediately checked out the Mona Lisa and then the area with the Code of Hammurabi and the gates of Babylon. Then, after another rest, we went to check out the "crown jewels" display, which was cool, and then the basement of the Louvre, which I think was maybe the old moat for the original building or something. I don't know. After that, Justin and I were ready to collapse, so we headed out and caught a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower doing its sparkling 'thing' and we really liked it and then we took the metro back to the hostel and crashed.

posted by LizC @ 2/18/2005 03:08:00 PM