City of Lights

Got up uber early, 3am, to get to Girona on time for our flight…surprisingly enough we had no problem making our way through Barcelona but that was probably because Tom was charging all night long. When we arrived at the airport and got checked in, we headed to our gate where we waited in line to board the plane. To get to the gate, they check your ticket and allow you into a holding area…we got through this just fine and again, stood in line. However, after 

standing in line for a bit listening to the annoucements we realized that the line we were in was for a flight headed to London and had we not realized that, we probably could have jumped on and gone there instead of Paris. We did make it on the correct flight and both Jody and I slept the 2 hours until the landing gear struck the runway with a rather rough jolt waking us up. Took a bus into the city, about a 2 hour ride, where I met three people who hail from White Bear Lake, MN and were studying in Spain for 3 months. We talked about their time in Spain, a few place they’ve been in Italy and a few things we must try while there. Finally made it into downtown Paris, got off the bus and once again, the lucky travel troll visited as our hotel is a mere 500m away from the bus stop, which is perfect since we have to make it back there in a few days for our flight out to Rome. Did I mention yet that it is clear skies and about 60*? No?Well I should. 

It’s freakin’ gorgeous outside! So after checking into our hotel, we immediately set out into downtown to see what we could see…first thing we did see was the Arc De Triomphe, built for Nepolean, which is an amazing structure. At it’s base, traffic uses it

 as a rotary and from where we were, we could see people both walking around the base of it as well as on top of it (a good 10 stories)! Not seeing any other way across, we witnessed another couple sprint across the road, dodging traffic as they did. I looked at Jody with a knowing glance and said, “One. Two. Three!” and we started to run across the road at what appeared to be a clearing of traffic…it was…kind of. Just as we got close to the other side a wall of cars beared down on us but we made it across safely. After snapping a few pictures, we decided to pay the fee to climb the stairway inside one of the legs to the top…it was then that we discovered why there had been no deaths that day crossing traffic…because we didn’t have to, there was an

 underground passageway to go to and from the monument. Oops. Oh well what can you do right? So there we were, climbing up what seemed like a never ending stair case in the middle of a hugh stone structure when we made it to the top. The sight was incredible! We could make out all of Paris, the Eiffel Tower, La Defense and so much more!
Once we made it back to street level, we started on our way towards the Eiffel Tower. Let me tell you something, when you’re high up like we were when we spoted the Eiffel Tower, things seem to be closer than they really are, and after a good 30 min of weaving through streets, we finally made it to the Tower…and the longest line I have ever seen to get to the top! We decided to hold off on heading up there until tomorrow night and instead, we walked a few minutes to a floating resturant on the Siene River and had a little lunch…I say a little only because 15 feet away from the resturant was a crepe shop and both Jody and I were dying to have one…so after a quick meal on the boat, we walked over to the crepe shop and Jody got a strawberry crepe while I got a Nutella filled crepe…WOW I think we might be living off crepes for the next 3 days because they were phenominal! So there we were, sitting down near the base of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France enjoying two very delicious crepes in the warm sun. Nothing better! On our LONG walk back to the hotel, we came across street preformers who were doing freestyle break dancing. Jody offered her dancing expertise in the matter and named a few of the ‘moves’ they did, flares, poping-and-locking, and stalls.

Tonight we went on a Siene River Cruise that took us around to see the Louve, Notre Dame, and other places lit up under the night sky. We got a small show while on the boat…it seems that it is a popular thing to drop pants and that is exactly what we got to see. Jody and I have decided that the stereotypical “the Frence are rude” has yet to be present, instead, a small group of Spanish girls took the lead on this. Sitting behind us on the boat, not only could they not keep their voices at a low level, I’m pretty sure that every four seconds a knee was in our backs….aside from all that, the trip was spectacular…probably the best part was when we went under “Paris’ most romantic bridge”…and as it is customary, a kiss under it brings good luck...