And now on to Paris!
We took the Eurostar (train) from Bordeaux to Paris in the early hours of Friday, Oct 24. Turns out, the Bordeaux train station couldn't connect to the website that we bought our tickets off of so we finally ended up getting them a few minutes, literally minutes, before our train took off. We ran to the train and finally got on at 7:27am. The train took off at 7:28am. Talk about cutting it close.
The French countryside was really pretty - there were beautiful houses and land and since we were in the middle of wine country, there were tons of vineyards. We finally arrived at Gare du Montparnasse around 10:30am and took a taxi to our hotel, as we had no idea how to get to it by any other means. The taxi only ended up costing us €26, split between 6 people and we got to take the scenic route - across the Seine, past the Louvre and seeing our first glimpse at the Eiffel Tower, just like in the movies.
Straight from our hotel we decided to walk past the Opera House and then on to the Louvre, taking in one of the most famous sights in all of Paris!
Me, Heather, Veronica and Mary Kate in front of the pyramid entrance to the Louvre.
We didn't go into the Louvre this day, but we did walk all the way through the Gardens de Tuileries, then through the long stretch of the Champs Elysees and on to the Arc de Triomphe.
Another view of the Louvre and an Arc.
In the Tuileries Gardens, I was a tree hugger. I have a very similar picture next to a tree statue in Dublin, Ireland.
We all hung out around this fountain for awhile. There was an artists' exhibition going on for three days only and we happened to be there during it! So, there were random pieces of artwork all around the Garden, including a revamping of the fountain and tree houses! (Pictured is Andrea, me, Erica, Mary Kate, and Heather.)
The Arc de Triomphe!!!
I'm not sure if you know what that is in the background, but, it is definitely the EIFFEL TOWER. We were all pretty impressed. Here is Heather and me on top of the Arc de Triomphe. We had to climb 284 steps that spiral all the way to the top, but it was worth it once we were there.
After all of this we took a nice long scenic walk back to our hotel, taking in everything that is Paris, including baguettes and crepes. MMmmm. We got ready to go out for the night and made our first stop the Eiffel Tower. It was breathtaking.
Erica, Andrea, Veronica, me, Heather, Mary Kate and the Eiffel Tower. So cool.
We went to eat at a restaurant near the monument and then decided we wanted to go down closer to the area that the Eiffel Tower is in. We were planning on going up the next day, but decided on a whim that we should go up at night! So we did. And it was incredible. They pack you into one elevator like sardines and you shoot up at an angle to get to the first and second viewing areas. Then, you get into another elevator which pushes its way to 905 feet in the air to get to the top. We got off here and looked with awe at Paris.
Erica, Mary Kate, me and Andrea on the top of the Eiffel Tower! It was beautiful, cold, a little scary and just really exciting.
This is how far from home (Etats Unis is United States in French) we are. Andrea, Veronica and Mary Kate are all from Massachusetts, so the NY distance was actually pretty close to their actual distance.
And then, when we decided to head back down to the second level (at around 500 feet) we got off and it started sparkling! Very cool. I am such a tourist.
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