PARIS!

The first 2 days that we were in Paris we went on one of those double decker buses that has the top wide open.  It was FREEZING!  But it was such a good way to see all the sights and see the city.  The 2nd day we went and bought hats, scarves, and gloves to help us stay warmer on our ride.

 That first day that we were there, I was seriously so amazed at how beautiful the whole city was.  After a couple days I realized that even though it was incredibly beautiful it was really confusing because most everything looks the same, so I couldn't tell one thing apart from another.  It's a good thing that they have a good metro and I had Curtis-the amazing map reader, otherwise I would have been lost the whole time we were there!

 The really neat thing about the bus tour was that it drove right by all the famous sights and so you got to see them up close in a fast way without having to worry about driving or how to get there yourself.

That second day we also went to Saint Chapelle.  It was AMAZING!  I couldn't believe the intricacy of all the beautiful stained glass windows.  AND the windows were pictures that told stories from the bible.  It was one of my very favorite places to visit.  

Our 3rd day in Paris was by far our favorite.  We were able to do a lot of things, but didn't seem to be in a rush either.  We went to the Louve first.  The whole Louve palace could be a museum all by itself-let alone all the art inside it.  

We also saw the Mona Lisa and I have to say that I was kind of disappointed at how small the picture was!  I couldn't even get close to it to get a good picture because of the hoards of people and it was tiny!  

Then we went to Notre Dame.  It was incredible!  Pictures just don't do most of these things justice.  

After we saw the inside we took a hike up to the top of the towers.  The view was incredible!  Paris is a beautiful city!

Then we decided to look at our map and see what was close to go and visit.  So we went to the Pantheon, Saint Sulpice, the Luxembourg Gardens, and Saint Germain.

One really cool thing about the Pantheon that I thought I took a picture of, but I didn't, was a long string that hung from the dome in the ceiling that kept track of time depending on the rotation of the earth.  It was pretty neat.  It is also amazing to think that these buildings have withstood so much time despite all the revolutions, wars, etc.

After that we went to the Arch de Triomphe.  It was an amazing view from there.  We hiked a ton of stairs this day...but it was all so worth it!  

The other thing that was amazing here was the traffic!  It was amazing that there were like 12 streets leading into a roundabout that go around the arch.  It was incredible just to watch traffic for a little while.  

After that we went out to the modern arch modeled after the Arch de Triomphe.  It was such a difference going into that part of the city.  Everything was SUPER modern, in contrast to the old part of Paris where all the touristy things are at.  

After we got done seeing the modern arch we went back near the Arch de Triomphe and were trying to find something to eat for dinner on the Champs de Elysees Avenue.  We ended up walking a long ways and deciding that we wanted a crepe for dinner.  It started POURING, but we had the best crepe that night!  It was ham and cheese--I don't know if it was because we were so hungry or if it was that it was the fact that the man made it right in front of us, but it was DELICIOUS.  It was by far the best crepe we had while we were there-and we had quite a few of them.  

The next day we went to Disneyland Paris.  We had a good time with some other people that went with us, but I did not get any pictures of anyone else that went with us.  I also thought it was awesome that I found a red barn in Paris.  

On day 5 we went out to see the Palace of Versailles.  It was incredible.  I think that even if you lived there you would still not be able to figure out where everything was.  The palace itself is HUGE, but the gardens are so much bigger!  They are so beautiful and well cared for too.  

The other thing that was incredible to me about Versailles and the Louve was the incredible artwork that was on the really high ceilings.  All the artwork is so intricate and you can tell it would have taken forever to do.

The gardens at Versailles.  They were so incredible!  I wish that it had been a little warmer so that we would have walked around a little bit more.  As it was, we were freezing so we didn't explore the gardens very much.  

The last day that we were there we went to Sacre Coeur.  It was an incredible view and was beautiful inside.  We were going to hike to the top, but it was so hazy that we couldn't even see the Eiffel Tower, so we decided to save our money since we wouldn't be able to have that great of view anyway.

After that we went to the Eiffel Tower.  We had lunch on the 2nd floor, and got to enjoy the view for an hour or two. 

The last thing that we did in Paris was take a boat cruise.  It was super cold and it rained on us, but it was still really pretty.  It was so cool to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night!  The city looks beautiful at night and from the river.  Some of my pictures look like it was snowing, but it was just really raining.

After the Eiffel tower, I LOVED seeing Notre Dame lit up at night.  It was so beautiful!  The best part of the whole trip was being able to spend so much time with each other!