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Published: August 4th 2005
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Notre Dame
This is from the square On Monday night, Nick and I were haning out in our lobby bar, having a few beers and shuffling some Uno cards when a group of British girls sitting next to us recognized the cards and wanted to play. We obliged and ended up playing late into the night and getting to know the girls. They had just gotten into Paris and didn't know their way around, so we told them we'd take them sight seeing in the morning. Nick and I had already set a list of sights to see.
We woke up pretty early in hopes of beating the other tourists to Notre Dame and actually succeded, in a sense. We were able to get into the cathedral with no problems, but the line to get into the towers still took a wile, but it was nowhere near the two hour wait that accumulated while we were up there. The architecture of the cathedral is impressive to say the least. The facade in the front is very intricate, with sculptures and scenes covering every section. And with its very flat entrance, it seemed to tower over the square in front of it and the buildings that surround it.
After strolling around the inside, Nick and I went up into the tower, which is noteworthy both for the infamous gargoyles perched atop and the bell tower immortalized by Victor Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame. It was an interesting sight all things considered, but the spiral staircases nearly made us sick.
From there, we headed south to the catacombs, which is a series of tunnels originally used to mine stone for Paris' buildings, which now houses the bones of literally hundreds of thousands of dead Parisians. We didn't know quite what to expect, but were shocked to find out that the walls were constructed, almost floor to ceiling, with legs, arms, and skulls. To top that off, the walkway stretches 1.7 km. It was crazy to think about all the lives lived through those bones, just thrown together in piles and designs for us to see. I almost felt like I shouldn't look any of the skulls in the face.
After a quick lunch of French bread pizza (delicious) and a Gothic beer (delicious), we hopped on a RER trian and went our to the Palace at Versaille - home to Louis XIV, the Hall of Mirrors, and
Tower gargoyle
The Eiffel Tower is in the background the signing of the Treaty of Versaille. The palace was absolutely amazing. If the size of the place wasn't enough to reach this conclusion, then the enormous, geometrically designed gardens behind the palace definitely accomplished the task. It was interesting to be in the palace and think about all the visitiors it could have housed and all the events that took place. The real treat, thought, was the gardens. To get from one end of the area to the other is said to take an hour, and there is a long, cross-shaped canal running directly through it. We spent about an hour walking around the different pathways and weren't even able to scratch the surface as far as all there was to see. The weather had been sunny and hot all day, which I loved, but it managed to drain us all pretty well of energy, so we decided to call it an early day.
After showering up and resting a bit, we all went out to dinner, finally settling on Indian food. Of course, this wasn't until after wandering through the Boulevard de Clichy, Paris' cabaret district, and stubling upon The Moulin Rouge (not pictured because of my
The Catacombs
Me - mildly creeped out... hatred for the movie and the overplayed song that accompanied it). The district was crazy though, with some pretty graphic pictures of people having sex all over the front entraces. It wouldn't have bothered me much, but there were kids everywhere and I couldn't help but think that there was something wrong with that. Totally a cultural difference - I understand.
After dinner, we hit some bars on the Boulevard de Rochechouart, having a blast with the girls. A highlight of the evening was comparing pronunciations of words, along with some impressions of each other's accents which made for some great laughs. From there we headed back to the hostel to continue our evening, even trying to sneak the whole group into the two separate hostels (unsuccessfully) in a feeble attempt to sidestep the curfew policies at our respective accomodations.
The girls were really great, and Nick and I agreed that there presence on our last day in Paris was a breath of fresh air. We awoke the next day, said our goodbyes, and made our way to the train station, and ultimately Brussels.
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Van
non-member comment
Guinness 4 degrees
Danny Boy- I'm very jealous of your travels. Sounds like an awesome time. Have you found yourself a pint of Guinness 4 degrees yet? Let me know. In the meantime, keep the exploits lively and know that we are all missing you back home. Love and laughter, Van