Hello all! Many of you know that I recently took a trip to Paris! I had an absolute BLAST! But, I did so much and I have so many pictures that I've decided to split it up into three blog posts, one for each day I was there. So, with that being said, here is what I did on Day 1! :)
I woke up on Tuesday, March 6th at 4:40 AM, left for the airport around 5:00 AM, and my flight left Vienna at 7:05 AM.
During the flight it kind of hit me that this was the first time I was really traveling just for leisure. And not only was it my first time doing some serious traveling for something other than volleyball, I was doing it by myself. It was exhilarating just to think about. Such an adventure!
The plane landed in Paris around 9:15 AM. At this point, I'm having trouble concealing my excitement. We were taxiing on the runway for like ten minutes and ANY tall structure I saw I'd freak out and be like "EIFFEL TOWER"! It could've been an abnormally tall light post and I would still get excited. Then I figured out that the tower was nowhere near the airport and I felt a little silly :) Anyways, I picked up my luggage and headed to find the train that will take me into the city.
I hopped on the train around 10:00 AM. Of course, who hopped on right behind me? An accordion player. How perfect! Being serenaded with authentic French music by a French accordionist was the perfect opening act for my trip to Paris! The magic of the city was already upon me and I had only been there about 45 minutes!
First things first, I didn't want to haul around my luggage for the rest of the day. So, I went and found my hotel. It was too early to check in, but they let me leave my luggage there until I could get my room. My hotel was about a fifteen minute walk to the Eiffel Tower and was right next to a Metro Station. Pretty perfect! So, I dropped off my luggage quick and headed back to the Metro.
The first thing I went to see was the Arc de Triomphe! I got there around noon. This is a monument that Napoleon had built to honor all of the soldiers that fought and died in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.
Beneath the Arc is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, with the eternal flame burning next to it. It burns in memory of all the dead who were never identified.
Inside the actual structure of the Arc, there is a small museum. Of course, I had to go inside. But, in order to get to the museum, you had to climb A LOT of steps! Let's just say I got several good workouts in while I was in Paris.
I am here ↓
Even after you go through the museum, the tour lets you go all the way to the top of the Arc!
Heck yes I was going to the top! And when I got there, I literally had my breath taken away! My first view of the entire city of Paris! I was awestruck!
I played around in photoshop with a few different colors :)
This was my first real view of the Eiffel Tower! Amazing! I'm absolutely inspired at this point in time!
The Arc de Triomphe sits right at the end of the Champs Elysees, one of the major shopping streets in Paris. This is also the street France's soldiers would march down to celebrate a victory!
Got to the top. Now I have to get back down! The spiral staircases were super cool! My legs shaking from climbing so many stairs was not as cool :)
I got out of the Arc around 1:00 PM. I started walking down the Champs Elysees and did a little shopping. Not much though because I still wanted to be able to see some other sites that day. I still hadn't eaten either, so I decided to stop for lunch. Now, I know that since I've been in Austria, I've been eating the healthiest I have my entire life (see last post). But, I decided that for this trip, there would be no eating rules. Even though I gave up chocolate and candy and pop, all of that was out the window for these three days. So, where did I go for lunch? McDonald's :) This McDonald's was like a state of the art McDonald's (if that's even possible). It had an Easy Order machine. Basically you order and pay at this machine and then take your ticket to the counter and pick up your food. Brilliant!
They even had employees going through the line to take people's order! Well played, McDonald's.
Okay after I got done eating, I decided to go back to the hotel, check in, and take a quick shower before I continued on with my day. By the time I left the hotel it was 3:30 PM. Next stop: THE EIFFEL TOWER! Since it was so close, I decided to walk there.
Getting closer!
Finally made it! I've been looking forward to this for a very long time!
This thing is HUGE! I mean, absolutely gargantuan! Definitely has to be one of the highlights of my trip!
And of course, I HAD to climb it. You can't come to Paris and see the Eiffel Tower and not go up! But, it was so much scarier than I thought it would be! The worst part was when I was actually climbing the stairs to the top, I could see the stairs in front of me, but because the tower is see through, to the left and right of the stairs, I could see straight down to the ground!
Amazing. And this is only the first floor!
So, keep climbing those steps!
Yeah, all 669 of them.
Not only did I have shaky legs from the stairs, I had shaky legs from the height! But it was simply amazing!
The sun was just getting ready to set over Paris. And guess what, folks. We haven't even made it to the top yet!
But, I was freaking out on the second floor. So, I decided that this would be plenty high for me!
I stayed up here for about ten minutes, took in the city, took in the inspiration, and took a few pictures :)
The building with the golden dome is where Napoleon's grave is.
Okay, one more from the top...Needless to say, I got really good at taking pictures of myself :)
I pretty much ran down the steps of the tower because it was just as scary descending the steps as it was climbing them. I figured I would just get it over with.
I decided to go for a little walk around the base of the tower to see what I would find. Looky what I ran into!
Crepes was a must! Remember people! No eating rules for this trip :) Mmmmm my cinnamon and powdered sugar crepe was delicious!
By this time, it was around 5:00 PM. While I was walking I ran into the Paris aquarium. I figured why not and decided to check it out. But, it was closed. So, I looked back to my list of things I wanted to do while I was here. I decided to head to The Concierge. But, I would have to get there fast, as it would be closing soon. I didn't make it in time. But, that's okay. Lot's of time left for this trip. Near the Concierge, there was a cute little sidewalk cafe that I decided to stop at and have dinner.
Had a cool view of the Justice Building from my table. And this was an excellent spot for some people watching! After dinner, I headed to the nearest Metro station. There were no bad parts of this trip, but the Metro system was kind of sketchy. The stations were dirty and creepy and the trains were small and always crowded. But, oh well. I dealt with it.
For my first night in Paris, I bought myself a ticket to see "Mamma Mia!".
I was so excited for this. I headed to the theater early to make sure I could pick up my ticket and to give myself extra time to get lost on the way there. I didn't, thank God. So, I had some time there to hang out and check out the theater. Pretty cool. And I got a really good seat for the amount of money I paid.
Yes, it was in French. But, that didn't really bother me. Of course, there were a few times where I wasn't really sure what was happening. All I have ever seen is the movie, and we all know how movies most of the time stray from the plot line a bit. But, regardless of the few times I was a bit lost, it was AWESOME! All the leads were fabulous actors and had amazing voices, and the rest of the cast was amazing, as well! I was pretty much mind blown. I wish I could have this cast on CD in English. They were great! I love musical theater!!!
I headed back to my hotel after the show. This was kind of creepy being alone walking the streets of Paris. Needless to say, I was power walking back to my room :) I got back around 11:30 PM and after some internet surfing, I was asleep and dreaming of what Day 2 would bring me!
Thus endeth Day 1! Day 2 blog coming soon! Sending all my love to you! <3
Kayla
P.S. Almost forgot your "The Office" clip!
Here ya go! Enjoy!
