Paris!

Oh, Paris! Where to begin?
So we left at 2:30 in the morning tuesday night/Wednesday morning. We feared we would have to sleep in the airport again, but we found a taxi willing to take us all the way to the airport for 45 euro, which, between 6 people, would be cheaper than the bus anyway. (the taxi guy and us sort of have a relationship; we hang out in big groups, and he runs a 'maxi-taxi', as Cielito calls it. really just a van-taxi, but he picks us up when we're out late. And by late, i mean after 11:30 when the buses stop running to Limerick). So we got to the airport at like 4 for a 6 am flight, and again, no on was at the ticket window. We kinda went to sleep, and then started talking to this cool guy named jeremy who was studying in Paris and told us all the free things to go to (the louve is free after 6 on fridays, george pompidou was free Wednesday after 7, that sort of thing).
So eventoually we got on the plane. (i got priority boarding for 8 euro...i was so mad. i forgot to uncheck the box). We got there safe and sound, and walked around a little bit. We took a metro to the Champs Elysee, which was really cool. Lots of shops and stuff. We ate at the Pomme and Pain, a baguette store, which was great. We went to L'arc de Triumph, and that was amazing. We walked around, past a few big buildings we couldn't figure out what they were (I think they were museums) and came to Invalides, a place where they used to put disabled and retired war veterans. There was a museum, but we didnt' want to pay so we just walked around a little bit, it was actually kinda cool. We found their hostel (Absolute Paris, which I would highly recommend) and then Dan and I found our hostel (Blue Planet...DO NOT RECOMMEND) Dan wanted to pay for a nice hostel, i still dont' know why. It said it had a bathroom in the room and breakfast served. The bathroom turned out to be a sink, breakfast was from a vending machine, and they tried to put us in a four person room when we payed for a three person room. Not cool. So we kinda got screwed on that one. Anyway, after that, we tried to find George Pompidou, a modern art museum, because it was free. It was actually a lot cooler than i was expecting, i have to admit. Then we had crepes for dinner, which was really nice, and when tot bed.

(a few interesting happenings, before I forget: There were like 3 gaming shops right outside our hostel, and like 5 comic book stores I found. So crazy. Also, A few people came up to me to ask for directions; i guess I look French. Also, I started up a conversation on the subway with some lady, which was really cool)

Then, the next day (Thursday) we spent forever in the mornign getting ready. My partners did not have the same vacation mindset as I. I'm used to 'we are on vacation, get as much as you can, sleep when you're not in PARIS', and they kinda lazed about, took a while getting ready, and were late all the time. so we pretty much wasted a morning. Eventually we went to St. Chappelles, which was really pretty. Then we walked over to Notre Dame, which was AMAZING. So beautiful. Lots of stain glass, lots of statues, beautiful architecture...they didnt' allow cameras, but I wish you all could have seen it. After we ate lunch at Panis, which Devon recommended to me (i had a crocqe monsier, which was really good) the girls just wanted to go to the Musee D'Orsai, but I wanted to go see the Pantheon, which i was expecting would be a cool Greek thing. Not so much. We went off, and it was Chrisitian, which was cool, but no statues or anything. Just graves. It was some cool people, (none of which i can remember at the moment), but overall disappointing. Then we met up with them at the museum, whcih was awesome. Lots of sculpture, which was really cool, and a bunch of Monets and impressionism upstairs. Then we got kidnda lost, but ended up at a fancy dinner at Le Tango D'Chat. It was really nice, we had wine and everything. Then we went to bed.

Next day, Dan and I got up early so we could actually do something in the morning. We went to Le Chateau de Vincennes, but it was kinda closed for renovation, and not much to see inside. But the outside was beautiful, and it was used by a few kings or something, I couldn't' really tell. But it was a nice walk. Then we wanted to go to Jim Morrison's grave (from the Doors), but it was too far away, so we chose a random attraction and went there. It's cool, on the subway maps (which i find much more confusing than London's) they have the spot marked with any attractions and stuff to see. So we went to L'Opera, which, big surprise, was under construction and not open. But it was pretty outside of it. We walked around and ended up at the Ministry of Defence, but didn't go in. Then we met up with the others and went to montmartre, which was beautiful. Lots of shops and stuff. Then we walked up to Sacre-Coeur, which was so pretty you can't imagine it. Huge, on top of a hill, overlooking all of paris, so much nice sculpture and architecture, lots of gargoyles, and its still used as a church, which was cool. Eventually we went down, saw some artists and stuff. I think Mom said this was where she got her picture drawn...i dont' know, but they had some good ones. Then we walked down to the Moulon Rouge, which was cool, I guess...got some pictures in case anyone wanted to see it. Then we hit up a nice pub thing, which had good food.
Then we tried to see the Catacombs, and after we finally figured out how to ask someone where it was (try to convey "Catacombs" without knowing the words for bones, skeleton, buried, dead, or underground. Not that easy), we got there to find, once again, under construction and closed. It was supposed to be littered with bones, and the walls made of bones and stuff like that...ahh, well.
Then we went to a cool garden somewhere, and I got a thing of roasted chestnuts. They were good...kinda meaty, but it was very hard to eat the entire thing...a few would have been plenty. But they had some cool statues in the garden as well. Then we went to the louvre, which was amazing, as expected. We saw the Mona Lisa (which isn't as small as everyone says,) my camera battery died, we say Venus di Milo, Winged Victory, some Botticelli, a lot of really neat italian renaissance paintings...it was great. We ended up loosing one of our party, so while looking for him, i got to see a lot more of the museum, which was cool. Then we went to dinner outside the Eiffel Tower, which is beautiful at night! Oh my God! You can't even Imagine. And we ate at the Castle restaurant which was cool. I had a hamburger with a fried egg on it, which was actually really, really good. Then we went to bed.
This morning we got up, and found that the metro station that stops at the Eiffel Tower was closed for Construction (I didnt' realize how much construction there was until writing this...) So we got off one early, walked in the opposite direction, and eventually got to where we needed to be. You'd think it'd be easy to find the freakin' Eiffel Tower, but it wasn't. So we went up to the top floor, and it was AMAZING. you could see all of pairs, all the things we did, which was really cool. They had a bunch of different floors, and we didn't' have time to stay and look as much as i would have liked. (Dad, you'd like this: They had a thing inside that had a picture of the view you were looking at, and it was numbered, and they told you what the numbers you were looking at were. They also told you what direction and how far away other famous places were, like the statue of liberty is this may miles away, that sort of thing)
Then we got back, metro'd to the airport, flew over, and here we are! all safe and sound! and tired! So now i'm off to put up pictures...hope you enjoyed the recount of my journeys!!