Anyway, we did find our hostel, which had the narrowest rooms I've ever seen and bathrooms outside in the courtyard (both odd and cold), and from there we started our walk to the Eiffel Tower. And proceeded to get caught in the rain. Without umbrellas. So we ran back to the hostel, grabbed umbrellas (at which point it stopped raining, of course), and tried again. The Eiffel Tower was amazing to see in person--it's huge! So we took some pictures. And, because when one thing goes wrong everything goes wrong, my camera batteries died. I had just changed them a week and a half ago, so I didn't bring any extras with me. So, camera-less, I trekked through the cold and blustery wind, with wet feet, complaining every block until we got to the Louvre.
We didn't have time to actually go inside the Louvre, but we walked around the outside, and it was beautiful enough to lift my unpleasant mood. The famous pyramid from the Da Vinci Code is interestingly incongruous with the rest of the old architecture, which, because my art history class is taking over my life, I was able to identify as Renaissance-era. We continued our walk toward the cathedral of Notre Dame, and on the way, I found batteries for one euro! Freshly armed with my camera, I went picture-crazy at Notre Dame. Thanks to art history, I could easily tell that Notre Dame is Gothic (my favorite style of architecture). It's a very cool building, and we got to walk around inside as well.
For dinner we had crepes, and they were delicious. Then we got some wine and cheese and sat in front of the Eiffel Tower at night, when it was all lit up. There we discovered that every hour there is a light show where the Eiffel Tower sparkles for a few minutes with flashing lights. The next day we actually went up the Eiffel Tower, climbing 668 steps to the second level before taking an elevator all the way to the top. It was amazing to see Paris stretched out below you from way up there.
So even though our trip started with a string of setbacks, it turned out to be a great whirlwind weekend in Paris, and I'm so glad I went.
Me in front of Notre Dame.
The Eiffel Tower.
The Eiffel Tower at night.
Next weekend: studying for midterms. (What, were you expecting something cool?)
midterms? REALLY?!? LAME!!!!!!!! also- paris looks so cool and do any of your friends have pics from when your camera died? (c'mon batteries barely last a week if your in another country! i coulda told you that! mine are rechargable tho haha) but yes i am quite jealous of you. cant wait to see spain! just wish i could travel around too!
ReplyDeleteI love reading about your adventures. I hope with the dinner crepes you had some chocolate dessert crepes to!
ReplyDeleteMom
Except that my batteries lasted a whole month the first time around, and I took a ton of pictures that month! They were the same batteries so I figured it'd be the same. And yeah, I'm stealing the pictures they took in front of the Louvre, so you can see those too :)
ReplyDeleteMom, we actually had nutella crepes for lunch that day... yum
Funny how European weather decides it will rain at the most inconvienient times. It's the same thing in London when you go there, always be ready with an umbrella because the weather changes every fifteen minutes.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you had a good time. The architecture is gorgeous and good thing you can put your vast amounts of knowledge to practical uses.
Good luck on the midterms. We're hitting midpoint of the year here too, so you're not alone.
<3
Jennie