Bonjour Paris

I'm back again in Bangor.  I was away this weekend so I have more stories to update you with but right now I'm going to continue with my spring break exertion!!

My last stop on spring break was Paris.  I spent a few days in Paris so I saw almost everything!  It was a busy time but well worth it.  Being a student in the UK/Europe, you can get discounted (or even free!) admission to most museums in Paris.  I took advantage of this opportunity even if I wasn't 100% interested since it was worth it.

My first day in Paris I did a hop-on/hop-off tour since I really enjoyed it in Barcelona.  The big difference in Paris was the streets were always busy so the one day ticket wasn't completely worth it.  If you go to Paris I recommend doing a multi-day ticket if you're interested in it.  Anyways, I saw a lot of sights on this trip.  We passed Napoleon's tomb, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, and more!  It was really cool to get the lay of the land and know where everything was located (or at least the general area).

I decided to start my sight-seeing inside some of these places and decided to climb the Arc de Triomphe.  It was a cool climb and the view was pretty cool too.  The steps reminded me of the castles I've climbed except half-way up there was a mini museum and a gift shop with some information about the Arc.

The Arc de Triomphe

In the museum bit

A top the Arc with the Eiffel Tower in the background

After the climb back down I headed over to the Eiffel Tower for another climb.  It wasn't too bad of a wait to get in.  After waiting in line for less than a half hour I got into a crowded elevator to the second floor.  The second floor is filled with gift shops and a snack bar which was convenient since I hadn't eaten since breakfast!  The prices weren't outrageous either so I was extra happy.  I waited in a bit of a longer line to get to the very top of the tower but it was definitely worth it.  The view was AMAZING but it started to rain when I was standing outside.  At least it didn't pour!

The Eiffel Tower

A view of Paris from above

A tad windy

That's better!

Sacre Coeur off in the distance

The last event of the day turned out to be a boat cruise down the Seine river which was pretty.  I didn't seen any real major sights from the boat that I hadn't seen on my bus tour but it came at a discount with the bus so I figured I do it.  It was definitely an interesting way to see Paris.  We even went around the island which Notre Dame sits on!  That was cool.

One of the bridges

Notre Dame with some rain

The smallest house in Paris

This pretty much concluded my fist day in Paris.  However a very funny story came out of me waiting for the bus after my boat tour.  I'm standing there in the pouring rain and this women behind me offers to share her umbrella with me.  She spoke English right away with American accent so I knew she probably wasn't from Paris.  I got to talking with her and found out she is originally from the town over from me in NJ!  Small world?  Anyways I was telling her about my abroad experience and this woman on the other side asks me what someone with an accent like me is doing living in Bangor?  I then found out she is from basically the next town over in Wales!  I was really freaked out!  It really, truly is a small world.

Till next time for some more Paris...