Paris, France

So, we finally arrived...And within 30 minutes all of our fears disappeared. We had heard stories of unhelpful parisians and a metro that takes a day to master, so we came in a bit nervous, especially after the Milan experience. But, the metro is one of the easiest, most efficient things I've seen. Is always on time, running about every 3-5 minutes. You just figure out where youre starting, find your end point, and map a route. You'll never switch trains more than twice, and even then it's number and color coded. I don't know how people have a problem with it. 

Anyways, we got to out hostel, checked in, walked around to explore and find food, and then finally took showers, got ready and headed to The Louvre. My guide book said Friday night was great for first timers, less crowded, and discounted...so we thought it was perfect. Luckily, we got in line to get in with a girl that told us on Friday nights it's free to everyone under 25... Yaaa! So we did the Louvre thing for free... We followed my guide book, hit the highlights (psyche and cupid, ramesses, Venus di Milo, St. Mary Magdalene, Michelangelo's dying slave, the Egyptian rooms, treasures from Mesopotamia, The Wedding Feast at Cana, and so many more.. I have notes in my guide and pictures but am too lazy to get up) saw Mona, and left. We got a good first timers experience, but according to my guide it would take someone 9 months to see the louvre in it's entirety (spending  about 10 seconds at each piece of art....not to mention the building is art itself). We completely skipped the second floor (thanks guidebook for telling me it's for experienced museum goers). 

Our tour guide Sunday said to us "you don't really feel like you're in Paris until you see the Eiffel Tower," and that's completely true. We had just left the Louvre and were walking down a beautiful garden, jardin des tuileries, when I glance over through the trees, tap Courtney, and we both stare in awe at whats in the distance. That was the first sitting. Easily love at first site. But, when you get closer to it, and realize its magnitude...you cant help but love everything about it. The Eiffel Tower has easily been my favorite monument thus far. What it means as the symbol of Paris, and really France as a whole, the history behind it and how hated it was in the beginning.. And just the environment around it (minus the annoying men continuously trying to sell souvenirs, wine, beer, champagne, cigarettes, etc.) we spent the evening there and got to see the spectacular light show twice. Every hour starting at 10 (because it doesn't get dark until 10) for 5 minutes (it was ten before Paris went green) it sparkles like the most amazing Christmas tree you could ever imagine. 

Saturday was Versailles day. it was spectacular. When you read "the grandest and most famous chateau in France" it's not an exaggeration. I'm really curious how mich the whole place weights...so much marble, gold, statues, etc.  We did the whole thing..It took 7 hours..but that's what our day was dedicated to. We got an audio guide tour of the chateau (highly recommend, you go at your own pace and learn so much.. It was really interesting hearing about what all they did there, it was like it's own little town). Favorite parts.. The fact that they had a room for people to watch them eat dinner, and a secret passage from the queens bedroom to the kings (where Mary Antoinette ran during the riots)... 
Point is, the place is spectacular.. The amount of time and money put into it is just outstanding. It's hard to describe, you go from room to room and hear about what went on there and the history behind it all (I took notes, and learned a lot, but again...too lazy). The most interesting part is the stories behind all the stuff. Everything has a reason it's there (mostly henrys selfish, stuck up ways...). And each piece of art has a story. It wouldn't have been nearly as outstanding had I not had a guide..and the audio guides are great because it's at your own pace and you can replay them. 

We spent the afternoon walking around the gardens (if we thought the chateau was big we had no idea..). Luckily we weren't in a rush and just made a day out of it, exploring the gardens and some of the other parts of the area. We made up our own fun stories about what went on and horses running through, and secret rendezvous.. It was quite entertaining... Plus Courtney fed and pet a swan  (and pet it...but I got to pretend to be a statue cause she couldn't get up in her dress). After, we ended the day at McDonalds... I had my first big Mac in probably 2 years... But the cheap "american" food with ICE cold diet coke was like heaven.

Sunday was our free walking tour day. A company called New Europe does these tours out of several major cities in Europe, and they are all free, tips based on how good the guide is. So we went, and will definitely go in Germany. Our tour guide Tyler had a great mix of history and sarcasm. We started at St. Michel, right across from Notre-Dame. Highlights:

-point zero in front of Notre-Dame.. Where all measurements start in Paris...and if you touch the star with your foot you'll be back to Paris within 10 years (of course we went Monday and touched it)! 
-napoleon crowned himself at Notre-Dame...we also saw the painting depicting this in the louvre.. It's fun when things all fall into place and you feel like you're part of it all.
-the clitoris of Paris... Yes, that's what he said it was...right after he said Paris is a female and there is this triangle park at the center. He also said vajay-jay and all I could think about was Greys Anatomy
-we saw a Louis XIV statue and heard all about how he hated Paris and went to his fathers farm to build the most ridiculous place ever, along with all his important people... Also known as Versailles. He also fired his financial advisor in 1789 leading to a riot...aka the revolution. 
-end of Bourne Identity was shot here...when Matt Damon was standing behind the letters in the word Samaritaine..and then meets on the Pont Neuf bridge. We definitely saw the building and walked the bridge...again, feel like I need to re watch the movie.
-The Arts Bridge was next, famous for 2 things...well 3 if you consider it connects The Louvre and the Academy (home of the French language protectors). It is also where in Sex and The City Carrie is swept away by Mr. Big (shout out Caroline and Clara). Finally, it's one of the major bridges where people "lock your love".. Basically you get a lock, can write on it, and lock it to the bridge and toss the key over into the Seine. But...there is a secret lock cutter... So be careful, your love may be cut short (pun intended). 
-there was a statue on the corner of one of these bridges with king Henry IV (I believe, I get them confused a lot...) anyways, he was the cousin of the king that died (20 times removed but still). Point is, I remember learning about some guy that killed some king and got tied up and pulled apart in all 4 directions... Well, it was the guy that killed Mr. Henry here. Cause Henry was Protestant but eventually converted to Catholicism, and the Parisians grew to love him... So this guy that assassinated holm (the 6th attempt) bragged about it and basically turned himself in.. But everyone loved the king by this point so they got a little angry with this killer guy. Also... Even more fun story.. 400 years later (August 10, 2010) they had a star wars themed memory event thing.. Not sure but apparently you can google it.. And they out a blue light saber in the statues hand.
-Apparently if you could take the paintings down in The Louvre, a lot of them would have stamped swastikas on the back from when they were taken during WWII
-Louis XIV was king at 5... Also they guy outside The Louvre... Also the guy who didn't like Paris and build that crazy place called Versailles. 
-Napoleon was a stealer of art and kind of obsessed with his own glory. The obblisque (I think that's how it's spelled...the Egyptian tall thing at the same place (place de la Concorde) heads rolled and the guillotine was law.. Anyways, Napoleon liked it and took it.. It's other half (there are two that are supposed to be on the side of some monument in Egypt I think) is all alone... And it really looks funny in the middle of Paris. Napoleon also is the one that ordered the Arc De Triomphe built so he could ride under it when he returned from battle... But, oh poor guy, he died before it was finished and the first time he saw it he was being carried under at his funeral.

Our walking tour ended by 3 so we took the free tickets we got to Musee d'Orsay from our train station friends and went for free. MO is a lot smaller and easier to handle than a lot of the other ones I've been in. Opinion part starts now.. 
-Van Gogh is weird...his paintings get a little strange. Don't get me wrong, very interesting, but nothing like vie beer seem before. We are looking dlrward to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam to get a better feel for him.
-The Nabis, a group of painters that wanted to break from tradition and all this random stuff I read about... Both of us agree that there stuff is "wack" .. Literally, so,e weird, not aesthetically appealing, just terrible stuff (this is my opinion so I can say what I want)
-I really liked William Bouguereau.. Courtney did as well. His art is a little mythological, and you kind of get lost I'm the paintings. My favorite was L'Assaut and Courtney's was Dante et Virgile
-Monet is spectacular...easily my favorite artist (paintings) thus far. He did have one strange beach scene that really when you looked up close (not how his paintings should be viewed, I know) looks like he did it in 5 minutes and just threw some paint here and there. 

That evening, We were going to go do the Montmartre/red light district tour with Tyler and then go on the pub crawl....but then plans changed. We got there thinking it was 10 euro, and when you're on a budget 2 euro is a lot. So he charges me 12, I ask why and he says 10 is for students...well, since we were going to do the pub crawl we didn't bring our bags, and didn't have our student ids... So we got annoyed, got a refund, went back to the hostel...hung out with ourselves, read, and got in bed before 11. It was nice, actually, we got plenty of sleep and even though I woke up hacking up my left lung and some nastiness along with it... I felt ready for our last day in Paris.

Our last day was kind of do our own thing and get in what we haven't. We started with our own walking tour of Montmartre, which was literally up hill both ways (you get to the top, walk down stairs, and have to climb right back up another hill). Anyways, it was lead by my guidebook so we saw a few random places (where van Gogh lived for a few years with his brother). Highlight was Courtney mooning the people behind us when we were walking up to this statue and she steps on an air vent from the metro.... Dress went about over her head. At the top is also this great little plaza where a ton of artists are selling there paintings (as they paint these beautiful scenes of Paris), or drawing portraits of you on the spot. I fell in love with one painting. I very much like art that leaves just a little up to the imagination (Monet does this a lot), and doesn't necessarily have vivid or distinct lines or features. And, i am a huge fan of scenes over people... Well, this painting was just that. It was all different shades of blue, and when you stood back and looked it was the Paris skyline. had it been cheaper and had I a way to get it home I would have gotten it...but, alas, I did not. 

After that we headed to Notre-Dam to actually walk around and go inside. It was very interesting, obviously gothic, and the stained glass everywhere you turned was just beautiful. There are 3 10 meter in diameter circular stained glass pieces that just steal the show. But, we didn't get a guided tour so didn't really hear any of the stories behind the pieces (as I'm sure there are). We then walked a good 2 miles in 94 degree crazy Paris heat (normally it is not that hot, but apparently we are bringing the heat everywhere we go). We got to Champs-Elysees the famous shopping street leading up to the Arc. And it was just as outrageous as you would think... A line to get in Louis Vatton and Abercrombie, Prada, Dolce, fancy restaurants, Etc... And a 3 story Nike store, Nike Paris...the only store I ventured in. Unfortunately it was just as expensive as you would imagine too. So we just looked, and then went and saw the Arc, up close, and then it was time to finish Paris with a nice little picnic dinner (champagne included) on the grass in front of The Eiffel Tower. 

600ish pictures later, and Paris was a success...minus the fact that I'm getting more sick and now think I have pink eye....not sure what's going on really... I may get to experience first hand dealing with foreign healthcare...luckily I hear Germany has excellent healthcare.