Paris

Okay folks... here it is & I'm sorry it took so long.

We arrived in Paris Friday around 6:30pm, by the time we took the bus into the center of Paris it was almost 8:30. Stepping off the bus was a bit of a culture shock! Neither Katie and I spoke any French so we could tell right away that navigating this huge city was going to be a challenge. Luckily we had our friend Sylvain to help us! We met Sylvain at Stirling, he studied there fall semester and moved back to Paris, his hometown, at the end of February for an internship. Without Sly we would have been totally lost, so thanks again Sly!

Once we met up with him he got us some metro cards for the weekend and took us to the heart of Paris, the Arc de Triomphe. The picture below was the view that we got coming out of the metro station. (Sly made sure to get that particular exit for us) It was completely breathtaking to see our first Parisian monument and all light up too.

After gawking for a bit we walked down the Champs Elysees and got some famous French macaroons. They were delicious. Next it was off to Concorde Square where we were able to get a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower for the first time. It was absolutely magical, we stopped and stared for quite awhile! But we couldn't stop too long because we still had lots more to see, next stop- The Louvre. Seeing this all light up was also beautiful and I still can't believe how big it was!

After The Lourve we walked along the river Seine. We walked past the Pont Neuf bridge and finally made it to the last stop of the night, Notre Dame cathedral. It was so late that it wasn't light up anymore but it was still incredibly beautiful. To get to our hostel we took the public bikes that they have in Paris, which are very handy late at night when the metro isn't running anymore. We got to our hostel and crashed! We had seen a lot already and had even more to see the next day.

Saturday morning we had met Sly at the National Opera. Navigating the metro system by ourselves was a little interesting with a language barrier but we got it eventually. It was of course another beautiful building and seeing Paris for the first time during the day was amazing. We shopped a little in the morning and then made our way to go see the main attraction... the Eiffel Tower! Seeing it up close and in day light was incredible, just how I always imagined it.

After grabbing some lunch we made our way towards the Moulin Rouge. (a must stop for Katie) We did a little shopping but there wasn't much to see there so we headed up to Sacré-Cœur Basilica or the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, which was close by. It is a beautiful white domed church with a view of the city to match. We stayed here for quite a bit also because the views were just so amazing! Sly finally pulled us away and we headed back to our hostel for a power nap. We had been so busy all day that it was much needed. We went out to dinner that night at a great little Chinese place that Sly found us and then headed down towards Notre Dame again. Seeing it all light up was awesome and you could really appreciate how beautiful it was.

We crossed the river Seine, went for drinks at a cute little French piano bistro. The drinks and music was great and the view wasn't bad either! The last stop of the day was back to the Eiffel Tower to see it all light up up close. This was one of my favorite parts of the weekend. It's even more beautiful at night and there was almost nobody around compared to the middle of the day.

After sitting in the park for quite awhile we headed back. We had still had one more day in Paris and it was going to be another busy one. Sunday we took a train to Versailles Palace and did a free walking tour of the gardens and grounds. The guided tour was really nice because they taught us a lot about the history of the Palace and all the the different monarchs who lived their and made it the way it is. After the tour we were able to head into the palace for free! (thanks to a nice student discount) It was VERY crowded and we were very sick of walking by this point but we saw the main attractions in the castle like the King's and Queen's bed chambers and the famous Hall of Mirrors, which separates the two. The pictures below are of the outside gates of the Palace; the fountain of Apollo, the most famous of all the fountains; and the backside of the palace, taken from the gardens.

The weather on Sunday wasn't the greatest, typical Persian weather I guess, so we just decided to catch the train back to Paris and head to the airport. Even though the weather didn't exactly cooperate with us on Sunday we were not ready to leave Paris. It really is as beautiful as everybody says and I hope to be back someday.