After a tearful goodbye to everyone heading back home at the Paris airport, I set out for baggage claim and began my second leg of life abroad. I gathered my two near-50 lbs bags with surprisingly little trouble (thanks, Dad, for teaching me that handy dandy putting-one-suitcase-on-top-of-the-other-and-buckling-them-together trick!) and went outside to the main terminal to wait for Amy.
I landed in terminal 2F and she was due to land in 2B. I figured I would walk down to 2B and wait for her there. Talk about a walk... it took probably 15 minutes to get all the way down there. And after I met up with Amy, we had to walk all the way back anyways to catch a train to Paris.
It was a little confusing at first but we ended up navigating the RER system just fine. About a half hour to 45 minutes later, we were in Paris at the Chatelet Les Halles station, which is huge and mighty confusing. By some stroke of luck we ended up taking an exit that was pretty close to our hotel, though we didn't know it at first.
Amy looked at the map outside the metro station and said our hotel was in the opposite direction of the Louvre. I said the Louvre was *points* that way, which would mean we would have to go *points* that way. And I was right. Score!
Our hotel was really nice. Much better than my previous Paris home, the FIAP. But I digress. We couldn't check in for another half hour, so we ventured outside in search of food nearby. We found Pizza Hut and I had a Pepsi for like the 3rd time in 4 months! It was glorious.
After that we went back to the hotel to check in and put our stuff in our room. Then it was onto the Louvre and more specifically, the Mona Lisa. Before heading inside, I led Amy to the interior courtyard where there is a huge fountain. The perfect place for a photo op. But as Amy sat down to pose for the picture, her sunglasses fell off her head and into the fountain. She tried to grab for them but it was too far down. The fountain was surprisingly deep. Then I tried to unsuccessfully get them. Which led to Amy holding my waist as I practically dove into the fountain to retrieve them. Good stuff.
After rescuing Amy's sunglasses, we went to see the famous pyramid and entered from there. We headed for the Mona Lisa and walked around that wing of the musuem for a bit. We left soon after and walked from the Louvre to Notre Dame. It was a pretty long walk along the river but it was a nice day.
Once we reached Notre Dame, we saw that there was a long line to get inside, but decided to get in line anyways. The line moved fairly fast so it wasn't too long of a wait. There was mass going on inside but visitors are still allowed to walk along the perimeter of the church. I guess this wasn't as surprising for me as it was for Amy because I've been to mass there twice and know how it goes. Also, Notre Dame being such a famous church, I guess it just seems practical that that's how it would be set up...
Right across the river from Notre Dame is the Latin Quarter. It's a funky little section of Paris whose streets I've walked many a time with my friends. We passed restaurants we had been to, places where we had grabbed a drink, and so on...
After that, I suggested that we go to Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur. We took the metro there and walked the millions of steps up to the highest point in Paris. Then we walked to a little square where all the artists hang out and back. It was still pretty early in the evening and there was still a lot of day left. So we decided to head to the Eiffel Tower.
The Eiffel Tower was as gorgeous as I had remembered it. Amy was impressed with its size... it is pretty massive in person.
By this time it was probably about 8:00 and we had been going strong since 3pm without any food. We thought it was as good a time as any to head back to the hotel and grab a late dinner.
The next morning, we ventured out in search of breakfast...but since it was Sunday a lot of places were still closed. We found a little bakery inside the metro station and I had what will probably be my last apple tart... :(
After that, we headed for the Arc de Triomphe. We decided to go up it and the view was as pretty as it had been the last time I was there. Then we went back to the Latin Quarter so Amy could pick up a few souvenirs. We had lunch at a place on the way back to the hotel, then it was time to catch the RER again back to the airport.
The flight to Newcastle was not too long and we were here in no time. We took the metro from the airport to Amy's home station. There seems to be a lot to explore around here (and there's an H&M, which is just what I need within walking distance...). My new digs are pretty nice and I have no complaints. We are going to Ireland this weekend, so I'm looking forward to that. :)
