J'aime Paris!

Ok, seriously, people...if you have never been to Paris then get on a plane right this second and go there. It's the most amazing city in the whole world and I'm so upset that I had to leave. I will most definitely be back there several more times before I die. It's got everything! And...well...it's PARIS! 'nuff said.

I'm having a hard time being back in Dublin and remembering to speak English. However, it was pretty difficult for me to find things to eat in Paris. Ended up eating a lot of bread. (Mmmmm....bread). But nothing quite beats sitting outside a cafe on the streets of Paris, sipping espresso and eating chocolate. *swoon*

I took over 500 pictures, just because there's so much to take pictures of. Obviously I'm not going to try to post all of them, so here are some highlights.

Kalen and I stayed in the Peace & Love Hostel in north-east Paris. It was amazing. It was a hostel - so the rooms were small and awkward, the toilet was down the hall, and there was no lift (and a lot of stairs, unfortunately) but it was the most fun I've ever had at a hostel. It's a youth hotel, so everyone there is under 35, and we met a lot of really cool people. Downstairs there is a bar, which also serves as the reception desk (to give you an idea of what kind of place this is), where they serve cheap drinks and the adorable bartender Julien is very friendly. It was pretty much party central. Awesome.



This was the view from our room at night.



We did a lot of wandering around, even though I was on crutches, and we saw most of the popular sights...

The Opera House



Grand Palais



The Arc de Triomphe





Assemblee Nationale



Notre Dame (during the day)













And at night from across the Siene.





We saw the tower where Marie Antoinette was held before she was beheaded. Spooky!





And did some random wandering. I don't remember what these buildings actually are, but they're beautiful anyways.







The Eiffel Tower (of course!)



We ate crepes there. They had butter in them and made me sick, but it was so worth it.









We went up to the top (thank goodness there was a lift!) and got a breathtaking view of all of Paris. *heart*



























We had to come back at night to see it lit up.





Every hour, they switch on the twinkly lights for a few minutes. I love it.



We got to see the full moon shining underneath the tower.



There's a super sweet double decker carousel in front of the tower. We wanted to go on, but it appeared to be just for small children. It was sad.



On our last day in Paris, we went to the tower and took some goofy glamour shots.







Then we stuck around to watch the lights come on at dusk.

Not yet...



Now!





The we wandered along the Siene to take some more pictures.









We also went to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa! She's much smaller than I thought she would be.



We didn't see everything in the Louvre, and I didn't take pictures of everything, but here are some highlights. Apparently, if you were to spend 1 minute in front of every item in the Louvre, it would take you 4 months to get through the museum. Crazy.















Outside the Louvre is the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel.



We sat in the sunshine in the courtyard for a while and enjoyed the pyramids.











And from there we went to the St. Eustache Cathedral. For something that doesn't even make it onto the tourist maps, it was really impressive.









On Easter Sunday we went over to Sacre Coeur. This was a huge mistake. There was service going on and there were so many people I could hardly breathe.







The view was quite lovely though.



Once we went inside, it took forever to get out again.







Then we went to MOULIN ROUGE!!! eeeeee!









And then we went down to the river to take a little boat cruise. There was a really neat little market on the pier.



And then we boarded "Gavroche", the boat.





Off to see the sights from the Siene!































We took the Metro, which is extremely complicated and confusing, but convenient nonetheless.



We ate some very good food and drank some very good wine.



We looked in some tacky tourist shops.



And also did some serious shopping. I bought this fabulous giant handbag (which is actually more purple than blue, it just doesn't photograph well).



And I also bought these amazing shoes, which (in true Paris fashion) were very expensive. *sigh* But so worth it. I can't wait for my knee to be healed so I can wear these!



We also spent some time wandering the beautiful gardens in front of the Palais Chaillot.













We saw a mama canard and her babies.



Bonjour, petit canard!





Some cool trees.













And then unfortunately, we had to leave.

Au revoir, Paris! I will see you again as soon as I can!