janvier 15, 2005

3-5 Janvier :: Paris

Well.. I have finally made it to France.. but it was a rough start. Exhibit A: Mary Frances moving clothes, among other things, into my other suitcase because someone over packed....

Exhibit B: In attempts to dispose of my gum out of car window on the way to the airport, it miraculously reentered the car and landed on the back on my new white jacket. Good thing the more you rub gum in attempt to remove it the worse it gets.

After waiting 3 hours to board the plane, and another hour to be served, I finally got my first taste of french airplane food, not to be confused with the crap that Delta makes you pay for. My shrimp, chicken, salad, cake, coffee and bottle of wine, was all oh so free.... and oh so tasty.

After waiting four hours for the group flight from New York City to arrive we were finally making our way around Paris. Here is Vanessa, Jenia, Ted and I on a tour of the Seine River.

Just a random shot from the boat.

A fabulous shot of the Eiffel Tower... if I do say so myself.

We were lucky enough to get the boat tour right as it was getting dark. Here is a shot of Notre Dame from the front.

Notre Dame from the back.

Driving back from the boat tour.. a shot of Le Champs d'Elysee.
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le 4 janviér

We began the next day with our first visit to Les Invalides, which houses Napoleans tomb.
Jenia and Anna outside Les Invalides

When you first enter Les Invalides you see this amazing scene. Les Invalides used to be a church and this is where the King of France would enter from. In front of this alter is a large hole in the ground where Napolean's tomb can be viewed through.

This is a picture of Napolean's tomb from below the floor in which you walk in. His tomb is made out of stone and is absolutely georgeous. Surrounding his tomb are carvings of the great things he did for France.

This is Le Pantheon, our second stop on the 4th. Inside Le Pantheon are tombs of great men and women of French history.

A pictures from inside Le Pantheon.

We had to grab lunch on our own... a shot of Jenia, Me, Vanessa and Anna outside Notre Dame where we sat and ate our baguettes.

At night a bunch of us went to a random café for some beers, etc. Jenia and I with out desparados...

Which lead me to my first problem, the bathroom. All I could think of was mom telling me about her visit to China where you had to go the bathroom in holes in the ground...

.. which actually isn't the case in France. It seems that I just entered the Men's bathroom by mistake. Stoopid french language.
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le 5 janviér

The next day we headed to Le Louvre... the Pyramid outside, which was a huge controversy when it was built, is accepted my the French people. It symbolizes a city within a city.

This monument is infront of Le Louvre. I couldn't tell you what it was but it looks pretty damn cool.

Another picture of Le Louvre.

A shot of the park infront of Le Louvre. You can barely make out L'Arc de Triomphe through all the fog.

The monument that stands at the beginning of the park. Napolean stole it from Egypt. If you look closely you can see the hieroglyphics.

ps: who steals a giant cement monument from Eqypt?

And last but not least... a picture of the horrible room at the hostel we stayed at. The shower turned off every 20 seconds.... stoopid way to help the environment, don't you agree?

Next... Belgium.

Posted by katie at 09:19 PM | Comments (6)