Paris is for lovers... that’s us!

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Matt got back from Romania Wednesday evening at 9pm and by 9am on Thursday, August 24th we were on the train to Paris! He had already missed the whole summer and we didn’t want to waste any more time. This was our first trip just taking the train and, wow, it’s WAY less hassle than flying! The train station is so much closer than the airport, you don’t have to arrive 2 hours early for check-in, you don’t have to put your liquids in baggies, and you don’t have to weigh your luggage. The train to Paris was only 3 hours and we didn’t even have to change trains…VERY easy! It costs a little bit more than flying here, especially since we almost always take RyanAir, but for closer destinations I can see us splurging and taking the train…I think it will be worth it.

We arrived in Paris and immediately went to stand in line for the ticket machine to get our subway tickets so we could head to our hotel and you’ll never guess who we saw…our friends Darryl and Lori and their little girl Shannon! Darryl and Matt were roommates WAAAYYY back in the day when Matt and I first met and he and his wife live about an hour from us. They had decided to take Shannon to Euro Disney for the weekend and we all happened to be on the same train and didn’t realize it! They were only going to spend Friday at Disney and head back Saturday night so we made plans to meet up on Saturday when they got back into Paris.

We made it to our hotel without any major hassles, although it did take us a minute or two to figure out where our hotel was in relation to the subway stop  We stayed at Hotel Crimee, which was only a few blocks from the hostel that Stacie and I stayed at when we went to Paris. This place was nothing special except for the fact that I was already familiar with the area. It was small but clean and the desk was friendly and kept our bags for us even though our room wasn't ready for us yet when we arrived. While we were waiting we went next door to a little Italian restaurant (I know...we should be eating French food in France but it was close and relatively cheap).

We bought our Metro (subway) passes after lunch and were on our way to exploring Paris! This was a very relaxed trip and we spent more time than we usually do taking naps or hanging out. Matt was exhausted from having just arrived the night before and was looking forward to taking it easy. It was cold and actually rained a couple of days and we ended up buying umbrellas at the store around the corner from our hotel (kind of reminded me of KMart actually). The one really rainy day we had we spent in the Louvre...the bad weather was the only reason I was able to convince Matt to go lol. We didn't see everything...there's no way you could, but we saw the Greek statues (my favorites...especially Cupid and Psyche) and some of the paintings and, yes, we got to see the Mona Lisa. There are some shops on the first floor of the Louvre so we checked those out, including a Virgin record store. Matt bought a really cool pen and I bought a new travel wallet 😊

Here's what we got to see during our trip: we went and saw the Eiffel Tower, but didn't go up in it (it's a bit pricey and we're probably going to save that for another trip out) and we also walked the Champs Elysees and went to the Arc de Triomphe. At the opposite end of the Champs Elysees from the Arc de Triomphe is a plaque in the sidewalk marking the spot where the guillotine used to be and where Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI were beheaded. That was pretty cool 😊 We also visited Notre Dame, which Matt loved taking pictures of. There are really cool gargoyles all over the outside of it and the architecture is pretty incredible. We took pictures outside of the Moulin Rouge and debated seeing a show until we saw the price on that...100 Euros per ticket! Yikes!!

We went to the Sacré Coeur on Saturday (which was actually a beautiful day) and met up with Darryl, Lori, and Shannon there. We sat on the lawn for a little while then went looking for artwork and something to eat. There's a really cute little artsy district sort of behind the Sacré Coeur and we ate in a cafe there and then checked out all of the artists set up in the square. Matt was fascinated with the ones that would draw the portraits of people and decided that we should get our picture done with one of them. We actually ended up coming back to that square the next night and having it done but it was terrible! It didn't look anything like me and Matt looked about 12 years old in the portrait! I'm so glad it wasn't my idea to spend the money on it lol. We did end up buying one painting from one of the galleries in that district. It's a really gorgeous oil painting of the Champs Elysees with the Arc de Triomphe at the end.

One of the things that Matt loved best about Paris were the Africans. It seems that Paris, from what we saw anyways, has either a large resident population of native Africans or just a lot of tourists from that area. They were dressed in the brightly colored robes and everything and were really cool to see. I'm not too worried that there were some things we didn't do or see...Paris is only 3 hours by train from here and is a great quick weekend trip so I'm sure I'll be back either with or without Matt to see all the stuff I missed.

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Photos

One of the ceilings at the Louvre
See...I did get Matt inside!

Gargoyles on Notre Dame
I love Matt's new zoom lense!

M&M
There's the Eiffel Tower in the background!

Obelisk of Luxor
This Egyptian obelisk is 3300 years old and is located at the Place de la Concorde

Beheading Site
This is where Marie Antoinette and King Louis XIV were beheaded by the guillotine.

Ms. Mona Lisa
Do you see that teeny tiny painting on the back wall surrounded by all those people? Yep, that's her.

How do they do that?
Make marble look like a veil? I think it's absolutely fascinating.

Cupid and Psyche
My favorite sculpture

The Eiffel Tower
In case you're wondering about the blue lights and the stars, take a look at the European Union flag and you'll understand.