The first day in Paris was extremely long. The group literally got drug into the ground by two seventy year old men.We saw so many beautiful sites, but by the end of the night we were all so tired and sore.
We were all supposed to meet to leave the hotel by 9am, so Taylor and I got up early and showered and went down for breakfast. The Holiday Inn Express had an awesome breakfast. We finally got some yogurt and real fruit, and bread of course. We headed out at 9 sharp to get on the Metro and the RER (another train that is more regional in their destinations) and head to the Palace of Versailles. On the ride some accordian players came on...it was perfect, it was like the soundtrack to France. It was gorgeous. All the Gold around the palace and the gates. It was what I always thought it would be. The huge statue of Louis XIV was out front. I could imagine other kings and nobles coming to the palace and being so intimated by the Sun King. We went inside and got our audio tour guides and then walked from room to room. It went on for ever. Every room was more elaborately decorated than the last. It was kind of a tight squeeze in some rooms as more and more people were touring. The gardens outside were beautiful. Dr. Brantz said it was one of the prettiest days they had ever had for Versailles. My favorite part was the Hall of Mirrors. It was so cool to be standing in that room where so many important treaties were signed.
After Versailles, we went to go find lunch. A group of us ate with Dr. Brawder and Brantz at a pizza place. We all got our own pizzas we were so hungry. Then we headed back on the RER and Metro to the Eiffel Tower!
I was really excited to see the Eiffel Tower again. Some people wanted to go up to the top of it. I have never been after 2 times of seeing it, so I decided to pay the fee and go to the top. The line wasn't too long and it really wasn't that expensive. We got in the elevator and it started going up to the 2nd floor. I got a little nervous! Its a loooong way down and looks so much higher up there. We had to change elevators to go all the way to the top at the 2nd floor. The view was already gorgeous. Once we got to the top we slowly made our way around to take pictures. It was really crowded, but the view was spectacular. I could see Notre Dame, Sacre-Coeur, the Louvre, etc. It was awesome. We walked back down and by the time I was at the bottom my legs were shaking. I realized I hadn't drank any water that day so I was probably dehydrated. Not smart, but everyone was exhausted by that point. BUT our day was not over.
Next we were heading to the Arc d'triomphe (thats in the picture I took from the Eiffel Tower above). There was a military ceremony going on. They actually stopped traffic at like 5:30pm and had all these older military people walk across the round about. It was cool, we were just all tired from standing. After that we headed to Montmartre to see Saucre-Coure and eat dinner. The church looked beautiful, we got to walk through it. Then we went to eat. We were allowed the night free so we ate separately and got ourselves home on the Metro. The metro system really isn't difficult so it was a piece of cake.
For dinner we sat in the square. Taylor and I had a duck, and everyone else had steak and fries. It was really good duck. Then we walked around the touristy shops and found some stuff for friends and family. We got some gelato at the same place mom and I got some last year and then went and sat on the steps in front of the church. There was a fire guy putting on a show in front of us.
It was so nice to just hang out with a few people instead of the whole big group.. traveling on the metro with 17 people is extremely stressful.We all headed back to the hotel and hung out watching Rugby in French. Finally we headed to bed.
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