DISCLAIMER: Julie wrote this post.

After our arrival into Paris, we decided we wouldn’t be true tourists if the first thing we saw was not the Eiffel tower.  Therefore, to the Eiffel Tower we went.  We had to open a bottle of champagne under the tower.  This was very important to Julie as she was able to cross it off her bucket list.  It also happened to be night, so we were able to view it with all of the lights on.  Also, every hour it has a light show so we were able to see that as well.

 

Our first full day in Paris proved to be very busy and a lot of walking.  Unfortunately, Justin was not able to gallivant around the city with us because he was hard at work bringing home the strawberries.  Anyway, first we visited Napolean’s tomb, which was located in the army museum (musee d’armee).   This proved to be a very big tomb for a very tiny man.  Also, at this museum we were able to purchase a Paris Museum Pass, which gave us huge discounts on all of the museums and other attractions we visited while in Paris.  (Mother Miller would be very proud!)

After our time at Musee d’armee, we trekked to the Palace of Versailles.  Here we were able to walk through the palace and the gardens.  However, this place was ginormous!!!!  We spent about an hour walking through the palace and only saw about a quarter of it.  The gardens were ginormous and beautiful.  We spent about two hours walking through them and saw not even half of it!  Needless to say, we walked about 12 miles…seriously.  While gallivanting through the gardens we stopped by Marie Antoinette’s summer house, which is just on the other side of the gardens from the palace.

 

 

 

After our adventures through Versailles, we wandered to Saint Chapelle.  This happened to be a church with gorgeous stained glass windows.  Also, we learned how stained glass was made.  This was very intriguing!

 

 

The last adventure of our day was Notre Dame.  We didn’t have a lot of time before it closed, so we were only able to walk through the church itself.  However, later you will learn we were able to go into the bell tower.

Later that night, we went back to the Eiffel Tour to see it lit up.  Also, we ventured to the Louvre to see it at night, which is also beautiful.  That ended our first day in Paris.  Needless to say, our feet almost fell off by the time we reached our hotel.

 

Our second day in Paris started with Notre Dame.  However, instead of just walking through the church we were able to walk up the bajillion stairs and take a tour of the bell tower.  This enabled us to see the gargoyles up close and personal.  Also, we were able to see where Quasimodo lives and the bell that he rings.  And of course the view was spectacular.

 

After Notre Dame, it was time to go to the Louvre.  This happens to be the biggest art museum in the world.  Therefore, we did not have time to see everything in it because we would have been there for days!  First things first, we ventured to Mona Lisa; and, by no surprise, she looks exactly like she does in all the history books we see in school.   After Ms. Lisa, we gallivanted about the museum seeing this and that…some Egyptian art, winged victory, ancient Alaska and Canada, pacific islands, African artwork, and some other cool paintings.

 

The Arc de Triumph was next on the list of things to see.  It is a huge rectangle with a huge arch cut out of it.  It also, happens to be the center of a roundabout of a 12 street intersection.

 

We then ventured down Champs-Elysee which is a street that bisects the city and follows the Seine River.  It also is the site of the most expensive real estate in Paris and perhaps the world.

We ended our day by climbing the Eiffel Tour.  We walked 668 steps, and every step was worth it!  This tower is constructed of 7,300 tons of iron, 2,500,000 rivets, and took two years, two months, and five days to build.  We stayed on the Eiffel tower long enough to witness day, sunset, and night!