All About Me, Maura!: Exploring More of Paris

Here a continuation of my adventures in Paris! Check out the first one here!

For my second day in Paris I decided I was going to climb things! Well not literally climb things but I was planning on climbing to Sacre Coeur and the Notre Dame towers. I'll let you in on a secret - I climbed both! Anyways, I ventured out to Sacre Coeur early in the morning since it was the farthest from my hostel but it was easy to get to on the tube. It was a beautiful day so the view was amazing from the steps let alone the top of the dome! The church itself was beautiful, not elaborate beautiful but simple beautiful. I recommend making your way out there to check it out!

Sacre Coeur

A top the dome

A view

After my lovely visit to Sacre Coeur, I decided to head out to see some famous places. My first stop was the Moulin Rouge. I didn't see a show since they were expensive but I thought the building was really cool. I was just wandering down the street it was on and all of a sunden the building popped out because of the windmill on top!

After seeing Moulin Rouge, I headed over to the Opera House. Growing up with a poster of Romeo and Juliet from the Paris Opera House hanging in our house I always wandered what the building was like. It was cool to see the building but unfortunately there was a rehearsal going on so I couldn't see inside the actual Opera House.

After the Opera House I went to Notre Dame and I was starving! I found a nice little Crepe shop nearby and got a delicious Nutella and Banana Crepe! It is the best thing ever! After, I toured around inside Notre Dame and it was beautiful! I then went and stood in a half hour line to climb the towers! I have to say even though I already saw so many views of Paris climbing the tower was really cool! I was even up at the top on an hour to hear the bells go off which was startling at first!

Notre Dame

Inside

Atop the towers

The next day I decided to make it a museum day. I was debating between this and a bus trip but decided on this because I could get in for free with my student ID where as my bus trip would have cost me money. I started my day off at Napoleon's tomb which was really cool. The museum itself dealt with a lot of World War I and II. It was interesting to see another country's perspective on these wars when I only grew up learning the American point of view. I definitely learned a lot. I also saw Napoleon's tomb which was cool and a lot bigger then I had expected.

Napoleon's Tomb

Outside the Museum

After checking out the museum I headed over to the Louvre to check out the Mona Lisa and other famous artwork. The Louvre is huge! I wasn't able to see everything but I did see a lot just by wandering around.

Mona Lisa - it is a lot smaller than you think!

Over my two days of traveling in Paris I saw a lot that I was completely exhausted but it was worth it! Here are some other places I saw along my travels: