I think it really hit Landon and I that we were going on vacation to Europe about the time that we were getting on the plane to head to Paris. While we had been planning the vacation for over a year and had booked all kinds of hotel rooms and train tickets and excursions and things of that nature, the weeks leading up to the trip were much more focused on Landon's Ironman than Europe because it was the more pressing need, and more stressful and attention requiring. And then, we had about 36 hours between arriving in Houston and leaving for Paris to unpack, do laundry, repack, pick up the dogs, drop the dogs off again and jump on another plane. Which is right about when it hit us that we were going to Europe--and we got really excited about it!
The plane ride to Paris was pretty uneventful--we left around 330pm and arrived at 8am the next day, Paris time (which was about 2am, Houston time). I read my book and Landon typed out his Ironman race report until dinner time and night time (where they turned out all the lights on the plane, even though it was only about 7pm, our time). Then, I managed to sleep a little and Landon played games on his Ipod (and possibly slept a little) until the lights came back on and breakfast was served--because we were almost in Paris and it was breakfast time in Paris. :) We were counting our blessings though, because it was a non-stop flight--having a layover I think would have made it a lot harder.
When we got to Paris it was kinda crazy--we had no idea where to go and couldn't read any of the signs and everyone was speaking in French! And it was hot, which I wasn't expecting! We managed to make it through the customs line though and find out bags and eventually found the train that took us from the airport to the city. Where the airport was located was not at all what I pictured Paris looking like--it was out in the country. It was pretty, but just not what we were expecting.
Anyway, we made it to our stop soon enough and managed to find out hotel from what Landon remembered the area looking like on Google maps--which I find SO impressive, because I was looking on Google maps with him one night and could not have used what I remembered to get us to the hotel if my life depended on it. Thank goodness I wasn't by myself!
We were so excited when we got to our hotel--Hotel Duquesne Eiffel--and saw that it looked exactly like what we had expected! And then got even more pumped when we saw Blake and Morgan come down the elevator--because now it felt like our trip was beginning, that the trip we'd been planning for over a year was actually happening! We dropped our bags off in their room, because ours wasn't quite ready yet, changed into cooler clothes and went to grab some lunch and walk around Paris.
We ate at a cute little outdoor sandwich and pastry shop, which pretty much tasted amazing and marveled in the fact that we were actually in Paris, and then headed off in the direction of Notre Dame, stopping to see some fountains and things along the way.
Notre Dame was really cool--the inside of the church was BEAUTIFUL, especially all of the old stained glass windows. We just walked around and looked around and then decided to get in line to go up to the top, which I would totally recommend if you are ever there. It's a lot of stairs to reach the top, and they're small and windy and, if you're like me they make you dizzy, but it's totally worth it. The view was gorgeous and it fun seeing the architecture and the gargoyles and the details of the building up close.
From there we walked over the Louvre, which we thought was a shorter walk than it ended up being. :)--but at least it was scenic! We took some pictures in front of the actual building, because it was just that cool to look at, and then ventured down and inside. We opted not to pay for any audio guides, but a woman handed us a map and told us where the most famous works were, so we set off to see those. It really was in impressive place--and it was a lot bigger than I had expected for some reason. While none of us are huge art people, we enjoyed walking around and seeing everything, especially the really famous ones, like the Mona Lisa (which was so much smaller than you would think and so guarded that you can't get within 10 feet of it) and some other less famous ones that were just so impressive because of their size. We walked around for about an hour and a half or so and saw everything that was on our list, plus some. At this point though, I was barely awake it felt like, and stepping into the Louvre, where it was so hot, I felt like I could barely keep my eyes open even as I was walking. When Landon and I had a little chat and I realized he was feeling about the same way, we decided a nap was a necessity if we were going to be able to stay awake to see the Eiffel tower that night. Blake and Morgan decided to head back to the hotel with us and just chill for a little while (they had gotten in town a day before us and were much more rested than we were!), so we jumped on a train and headed back home.
Around 730pm--even though we just wanted to sleep until morning!--we got up and headed over the the Eiffel Tower, where we stayed until about midnight. We walked all around the 2nd story and then rode all the way to the top just as it was getting dark, which was so cool. The building is just so huge and so impressive and the view from the top is stunning. I especially loved seeing it all lit up at night. We took some pictures and walked around and just enjoyed the view. Thanks Landon, for standing in line all that time to buy us tickets to go up to the top--it was definitely worth it!
Around midnight (we had no idea how it got so late!) we left the Eiffel Tower with about a million pictures and ate dinner at a little cafe with a view of the Eiffel Tower, which is the only reason we chose to eat there. The food was not that great and the soda cost $5 per cup!!, but the view was worth it. And I guess other people must have thought so too, or else got suckered in like we did :), because the place was packed at midnight! Although, we soon found out, eating late like that is kind of a normal thing in Paris.
We'd been saying all afternoon that we wanted ice cream and right next door to the restaurant was a little ice cream shop that was still open, so we stopped in to end the night with an ice cream cone. The woman told us what all the flavors were and we ordered. Blake was the last to order and he order "limon" (said in a spanish accent that I think was supposed to be French :)) and the woman looked at him and said "do you mean lemon?" in a perfect English accent. It was pretty funny.
The reason we chose our hotel was that it had a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower from our bedrooms, so when we got into our rooms around 1am we hung out on our balconies and watched it as it sparkled one last time (the lights twinkled blue and white for a few minutes every hour on the hour) and then all the lights turned off. It was a nice, romantical way to end the night. :)
The next day we had to check out of our hotel in the morning so we packed everything and left it at the front desk and then headed out for a full day in Paris--feeling at least slightly more rested than the day before, haha! We grabbed some fruit and croissants and then jumped on a train that took us to Versailles. It was pretty impressive--HUGE and absolutely gorgeous with all the gold plated everything on the outside. I would definitely recommend going if you're in the area. We got free audio guides with our tickets so we took those and walked through all the rooms--it was neat to hear the background and to think about the people that lived there through the years and how they lived. Then, we took a little trolley through the gardens, which were just as beautiful as you would think they would be, and toured the house that Marie Antoinette lived in. Morgan is fascinated by Marie Antoinette, so it was fun seeing the place through her eyes--I walked around with her and it was like I had my own personal tour guide of the house because she knew so much about it and her life. It was pretty cool--and made me want to go read some history books!
After spending the morning in Versailles and grabbing a quick bite to eat, we jumped back on the train and decided we had time to stop at the Arc de Triomphe before grabbing our bags and heading out of town. When we got back into town and were switching trains to the one that would take us to the Arc, something happened with our train and it couldn't leave the station. The driver told us that there was one other one that could take us to where we wanted to go, so we jumped out and headed that way. As we were going a huge storm was rolling in, complete with huge claps of thunder honestly louder than I've ever heard and lightening bolts and big, pelting rain drops. We could tell that in a matter of minutes the storm would be on us, so we ran all the way to the other station, which was not a short distance away. Boy were we glad we did though, because about a minute after we stepped inside the station, the rain was POURING down outside. It was actually a welcome change though, because it had been so hot and the rain had definitely cooled it down a little.
By the time we got to the Arc it was grey and cloudy, but not raining much anymore, which was nice. We walked around it and then walked up to the top and enjoyed the view. It was an impressive view--and it was cool to be able to see the Eiffel Tower from the Arc, just like we'd seen the Arc from the Eiffel Tower the night before!
At this point we felt like we'd seen everything in Paris that we'd wanted to, which was a fun feeling. And, while we really did enjoy our stay in Paris and a lot of the things we saw were really cool, neither Landon or I left feeling like we needed to come back to any time soon, which surprised us. It also surprised us which places on the trip we do want to do back to sometime, but that's another story for another day.
Anyway, after seeing the Arc de Triomphe we still had more than enough time to make it back to the hotel and then to our night train--which we knew was going to be a memory for sure, from what we'd heard! The women at the hotel were nice enough to loan us some towels/washcloths (we were SO gross from walking around in the 90 degree weather all day and then getting caught in the rain and didn't have a place to take a shower!!) and we freshened up a little in their downstairs bathrooms. Then, we loaded up our bags to take the night train to Barcelona, with really we really no idea what to expect (Morgan and I were just praying there would be a/c!!),but excited to continue the adventure!
Coming next: Barcelona!
No comments:
Post a Comment