We moved stuff in our bags around to get day necessities into one and then left the other one in the train baggage place to make the day a little easier on our backs--we'd switch on and off. So nice--our backs were REALLY starting to feel all the walking with the heavy backpacks!! Then we got Metro tickets and dominated the Paris Metro system!
We took the Metro to the Arc du Triomphe and looked around
He's jumping too!
Then we walked over to the Eiffel Tower. A little farther than we thought because the Eiffel Tower is a lot bigger than we had expected. We should've known I guess since you can see it from the Louvre! It is really impressive!
We walked around it and down the Champ de Mars (the grounds and paths that stretch southwest).
Then we went down to the Hotel des Invalides and were able to wander around inside a little. The chapel was really beautiful and past the altar the wall was mostly glass so you could see most of Napoleon's tomb that is in a special room on the other side. The tomb was massive and we got to see it without having to pay - always good!
From there we walked down to this beautifully ornate bridge--don't know which one it was right now. But it had lots of iron figures and gold all over. Then we worked our way back to the Louvre to go inside. On the way Steph ran into a girl she went to high school with! How crazy is that?!?! She knew she was studying in Paris, but seriously! What are the odds?!?!
We made it to the Louvre, paid, and then figured out we had a little less time than we thought before closing...45 MINUTES!!!!! We absolutely SPRINTED around the Louvre trying to catch all the highlights we could--not an easy thing to do as it is an incredibly HUGE and complicated building!! But we did it!! We saw the Code of Hammurabi, the Winged Bulls of the palace of Sargon, the capital of Apadana, a bunch of Egyptian sarcophogi that we ran past, the Venus de Milo, and the Mona Lisa! I knew the Mona Lisa was smaller than everyone expects, but I didn't feel disappointed. She was really beautiful--although, I think I liked the Venus de Milo and maybe the capital of Apadana better.
After resting from our crazy trip around the Louvre we decided to have a very Parisian dinner: wine, baguette, and cheese. It was delicious!!
From there we wandered down the Seine and checked out some of the tourist shops, making our way to the Eiffel Tower to check out the night show.
The night show was INCREDIBLE!!! So perfectly choreographed and colorful!! It was really fun to watch. Plus they had this music that would play which totally reminded me of what plays as you watch a magician work.
It was really fun. We watched it twice--even though we had to wait about 45 minutes in between. But luckily the guys who walk around selling keychains and stuff gave us a deal on 3 for 1 so that was slightly closer to what they were worth!
We took the Metro back to the hostel since we are now experts!
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