Beautiful Paris

We spent 3 nights in Paris. Our hostel was on the outskirts of the city, but the metro made it easy to see all the sites. The first day we got settled in around 3pm, so it didn't leave any time for exploring. The next morning we headed out early to explore the Louvre. It's sheer size is stunning -- we spent 5 hours in those walls and still probably missed something (because it's easy to get lost). Some of our favorite parts were the Venus de Milo, the Napoleon Exhibit, the Eqyptian displays, and the sculptures. It was tiring going through everything, so we headed back to the hostel to rest up for the next day.

In the morning we took the metro to see the Eiffel Tower. We rode the elevator to the top and took pictures of the city from above (though it was misty due to rain). There were tons of merchants trying to sell us various sized statues of the Eiffel Tower.... it got a little annoying after the first 20 minutes. Once we returned back to the ground, we headed to the Starbucks at the Louvre to warm up over hot chocolate. Then we made our way to the Arc de Triomphe. It is in the middle of a giant traffic circle, and you have to buy tickets to get close to it -- unless you dash across the traffic circle; I think that means you earned the right to see it! We just took pictures from a distance.

Next, we headed to the Notre Dame Cathedral. We got a little distracted by people hand-feeding a bush full of birds. We attempted to crush up some of Chad's cereal and do it ourselves, but one girl told us we did it wrong and gave us some of her bread crumbs. The cathedral itself was gorgeous :) Bought a few souvenirs from a nearby shop, then caught the metro back to the Eiffel Tower. We were determined to see it lit up at night. We wandered around it in every direction waiting for the lights to come on. At 5pm, the light-beams came on. Ashley had heard there was more of a show, so we stuck around until 6pm to see it sparkle. Well worth the wait! We finally headed back to our hostel (where the heat was broken), and tried to warm up.

Next stop -- London! We'll keep you posted.
~ Ash & Chad