^^ Some details from the apartment we stayed at ^^
^^ A park five minutes from our apartment that we sat and watched these boys play soccer on our first night ^^
^^ A Patisserie by our apartment where we got our fresh baguettes! P.S. That blurry hand in the right hand corner is me getting told off for taking this picture! "No, No, No, No, NO!!" ^^
^^ Our walk to the Eiffel Tower from our apartment! ^^
^^ Beautiful gardens outside L'Hôtel des Invalides ^^
^^ One of my favourite parts of Paris, the Musée Rodin ^^
^^ We walked to the Eiffel Tower around 10 o'clock to catch the light show at 11, totally worth it! ^^
^^ Our final destination, The Louvre ^^
When we stepped out of the train station and took our first glance at Paris, it was a little overwhelming. Paris is beautiful it's so alive and filled with artistic expression, conveyed through it's buildings and people. Not knowing a lick of French besides the basic, "Bonjour! Comme ça va?" "Ça va bien!" ect. ect. it was quite intimidating. Throughout our time in Paris (a full two days), you couldn't help but feel low whenever your were to interact with someone who potentially couldn't speak a lick of English either! Despite the language barrier, we were generally able to get by.
On our first day we walked to the Eiffel Tower. If you were to say to me at that moment, that the landscape was imagined and that I was really just staring at the small version in Las Vegas, I probably would have believed you more than if you were to say we were in Paris, France! It seemed so surreal. We sat on the steps just above the fountains looking out at the Eiffel Tower and the rest of Paris; the hustle and bustle of tour buses, taxi drivers and pedestrians, kept us occupied as we took it all in.
We made our way down and through the gardens beyond, making our way to the Musée Rodin. We stopped along the way at a café and had Eggs Benedict for Grandpa's Father's Day gift.
The Musée Rodin is set in an old house that I believe was rented out, our someway housed by artists like Rodin "back in the day" but is now turned into a museum. The house is beautiful and the grounds are spectacular. It was so nice just to walk around enjoy everything that was so immaculately preserved and maintained.
We enjoyed some sorbet, there as well -- I would recommend Violet, it's pretty colour was enough for me to try it! We made our way back to our apartment, quite early, grabbing a baguette along the way, rested our weary feet, and braved the walk down to the Eiffel Tower at 10 o'clock to see it all lit up and sparkly. I grabbed a crepe with nutella, and Grandpa got some popcorn, as we waited on the steps for the show to begin. It lasted all of probably 5 mins, but was soo..worth the wait and the walk. Paris is as beautiful at night as it is in the day!
On our second day we braved the metro -- which may I say was quite disgusting, I would not have been surprised if I had seen a rat crawling along the benches, it was dirty and dingy and felt like you were on set of a horror movie and soon the lights were going to start flickering and we would be plunged into total darkness! Not to mention it was hard to follow after the London Tube -- anyway we made our way to the Louvre and spent our time wondering around the sculptures. It was so beautiful I was glad that we had picked to go there first. Somehow on our way to see the Mona Lisa -- you know just to say that you had seen it -- we got lost in Napoleon's quarters which were so extravagant and gaudy, but quite awe-some. Finally made our way through the palace, snapped a blurry, half-hearted picture of Mona Lisa -- more because everyone else was, walked to the other side of the room to see if she really does follow you with her eyes -- she does! -- and got out of there after a Starbucks break of course. We made our way home with the help of an American because the train had suddenly decided to stop, grabbed some supper at a restaurant and called it a day. Up early the next morning to meet our landlord and catch the train to back to England!
Au Revoir!!
