A Dream Come True...PARIS!!! Day 4

Wow, summer is CRAZY!! I have so many things I want to post about this summer but I have to catch up on our amazing trip first.

We got to spend a whole day in Paris. Of course more would have been nice, but I'm not going to be greedy, it was a dream come true to visit this beautiful city. Jeff got to work here a couple of times back when he worked for a company that had him travelling often. I was always so jealous when he got to go places. It was amazing to finally get to visit Paris, it was more than I dreamed it would be.

We actually slept in today, of course, after the day we had before it was inevitable. I was worried we would miss out on so much, but sleep was way too important. When we finally got moving around 12pm, we went to the store and bought Lydia some French formula and hopped on the underground to Paris. We got off at one of the main hubs that took us right to the Arc de Triumph. The underground station was filthy, and I was worried that our whole visit to Paris would be this way, but thankfully once we got up the stairs, it was a lot cleaner.

The details were just amazing

I had read about the Arc, but because everything I looked up to plan for this trip was in French, and if it wasn't it was assumed that the person reading actually knew history (which is so far from the truth when it comes to me), but I had NO idea that it was SO big and SO beautiful! How they built something of that magnitude is absolutely amazing to me. There was the biggest traffic circle ever surrounding the Arc and it was like being in the movies watching the cars drive around it. I couldn't help but feel like I was living a dream. From the cars driving crazy, to the cobblestone like roads, to the sirens on the police cars, it was all just like in the movies. We about halfway around the traffic circle and it took at least 20 minutes to do the half. It was that big.

The traffic circle was at least 4 lanes around, I'm not sure how you determine who has the right of way

The streets were so pretty. We actually watched some cars park and they literally bump into the cars in front and behind while parallel parking to fit into the tiny little spots.

Thankfully Jeff had been to Paris before and knew his way around because I was so lost and it would have been a disaster if I was in charge. We walked until we were at the top of Champs Elysées, one of the most amazing shopping streets in the WORLD! I wanted so badly to go shopping, but we had very little time and what I wanted to see most was the Eifel tower, so we made our way towards the tower, skipping the shopping. We walked down the street and past the hotel that Jeff stayed at when he was there. The architecture is just amazing in this city. The buildings are beautiful, the roads are fascinating and I can't help but love seeing all the little cafes.  I was starving, and it was hard to find a cafe that had space outside for us to sit beside Lydia in the stroller. We did not want to take her out though, so when we found a cafe with the space, we sat down. At this point it didn't even matter what there was to eat. I have to say though, I got a salad. It was hands down the best salad I have ever tasted. It was THAT yummy. I am sure I would be in a lot of trouble if I lived in Paris, I think I would eat way too much.

We continued on our journey to the Eifel tower. On the way we found a cute little shop that had some yummy looking gelato. Of course I had to get some. Of course it was delicious!!! 

It was taking a while to get to the tower and I thought Jeff was lost, I was getting grumpy so we pulled out the map. Turns out, we were just on the other side of a building that was blocking our view of the tower, we weren't far away at all. As soon as we made it to the other side of that building, I saw it, one of the most amazing things ever in all it's glory! I don't know what I was expecting, but I just didn't expect that. It was so large and perfectly situated and it was something I had only seen in the movies, or in pictures. I couldn't believe I was actually seeing it in real life!!! At this point we weren't actually standing at the Eiffel Tower, we were up a little from it so we could get the best view. We got some great pictures.

We walked down the hill towards the tower and stopped along the way to sit in the park and feed Lydia. There were these secret service guys with big guns and scary looking uniforms and they kept stopping right in front of us. I was afraid I was doing something wrong and they were going to arrest me. When we left, Jeff told me they were talking about me, that's why they were standing by us. I have to say, it's so amazing to hear Jeff speak in French, it's a whole new love I have for him. I have no idea what he is saying, but it sounds so cool to hear him say it. 

We made it to the bottom of the tower and from this view, it wasn't as amazing. I'm glad we saw it from high up first. Because we were limited for time, we just didn't have the time to go up it. I knew I wanted to see Notre Dame really bad, so we found a hop on hop off boat to take us there. Unfortunately, we missed going inside the church by a few minutes. That was a sad day, but I felt very lucky that I got to admire it from the outside anyways. 

I couldn't help but think of the Hunchback when he slides down the side when I saw this 

If it's this beautiful from the outside, I can only imagine what it's like on the inside

We took the boat to the Louvre. What a fascinating set up they have there. It's quite interesting. We went inside so I could pump and feed Lydia, but decided against actually going in to see the exhibits. I'm not an art buff, so I probably wouldn't have appreciated it anyways and it was a long day, so I decided to save the energy and stick to wandering around the lobby area, which was fascinating enough. As I was pumping in the corner, all by myself, this group of probably 12 year old girls came and sat right beside me. It didn't take them long to figure out what I was doing and snicker amongst themselves. I'd say I was slightly embarrassed, and so uncomfortable, but there was nothing I could do. They kept sitting, and called even more friends over to tell them (in French of course, which makes it even more uncomfortable for me) what I was doing. It wasn't my favorite moment.

                  

A bridge we went under when we were on the boat, I don't know the significance, but it was amazing to see

We got back on the boat and took it back to a stop where we could wander up Champs Elysées. It was a little later now and a lot of the touristy places were closing, we we figured we would wander up the street and grab some supper and head home. What a neat street. You could see the Arc at the very end of the street and all the shops and people all around made it a great experience. We stopped for dinner at this cafe. If lunch wasn't the best food I ever had, then supper was!! It was SOOOO good!! I got a panini, Orangina and some amazing dessert!! It was a chocolate eclair, and it was so worth the calories. 

Yes, the food was that good that I took a picture of it

This is the view looking each way down Champs Elysées. It was absolutely beautiful.

We wandered a bit more up the street. It was probably close to 10:30pm before we got back to the underground. It was a long day, and it was a bit rushed, and of course we didn't get to see or do everything, but I got to visit such an amazing place, even if it was only for a few hours. I feel very lucky to have had the chance to see what I got to see and if I did the same thing over again, I wouldn't change a thing about the day. (Except maybe woken up a little earlier to make it to Notre Dame on time). 

This was just a cool sign I saw that I had to have a picture of, but Jeff laughed at me for it. I'm happy I took it anyways.

Back to the dirty underground to go back to our hotel