Paris: Day 2

What a busy day! The one hour time change from London to Paris seems to have affected me more than the six hour time change from South Dakota to London. I've been so tired all day. 

We started our morning with breakfast at the hotel. I would consider it to be a very French breakfast. It consisted of baguettes, croissants, and tea. 

Breakfast in France

Immediately after breakfast, we left our hotel and took the subway to the Eiffel Tower. We got into the quickly increasing line to go up to the top of the tower. We didn't have to wait in line too long. Luckily, we got the elevator tickets and not the tickets where you have to take the stairs. We've taken so many stairs in the past ten days, the most current example being our hotel room on the fourth floor, I don't think my legs would be very happy if we'd used the stairs to climb the Eiffel Tower.

Waiting in line

From the time we got in at the base of the tower, it only took about fifteen minutes to get to the very top. This included going through lines, and taking two elevators. Once we got up as far as we could go, we took a few photos and then went back down. It's a nice view, but it was really foggy out. I definitely would rather take photos of the Eiffel Tower rather than from it so Laura and I spent the next two hours walking around the Eiffel Tower taking pictures of it. 

Going up

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower

Laura and I at the top of the Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower from across the river

The Eiffel Tower and a blooming tree

Oh yeah, we also took a brief break to eat a crepe and to ride on the carousel.

The carousel

When we left the Eiffel Tower, we headed to the subway again. One thing I've learned about Paris, is that it's always rush hour in Paris. I never truly understood the term "packed like sardines" until I rode the subway in Paris. It's less than enjoyable. 

We took the subway to Arc de Triomphe and took a few photos there before heading to Notre Dame. 

Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe

Notre Dame is a beautiful church. But it did not live up to the expectations I was given by the Disney movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Either way, it was enjoyable and the stained-glass windows were gorgeous. 

One of the rose windows at Notre Dame

Altar at Notre Dame

Carvings inside Notre Dame

Stained-glass window

Stained-glass window with statue shadow

Stained-glass window with statue shadow

Stained-glass window

Inside Notre Dame

Outside of Notre Dame

Front of Notre Dame

Statues on the front of Notre Dame

After we'd gone through the church, we walked around the back to the small park behind the church and took a few more photos. 

Back of Notre Dame

One thing that Laura and I really wanted to do in Paris was find the lock bridge and put locks on it. Lucky for us, the lock bridge is located right behind Notre Dame. For those of you who have not heard of the lock bridge, it's a bridge where couples bring padlocks with their names on them and they put the padlocks on the bridge and throw the key into the river to symbolize a permanent love. Pretty mushy-gushy stuff. Laura and I decided to do a friend version of this so we locked a padlock on the bridge that says, "Mickey and Laura, friends forever" in French. 

The lock bridge

It wasn't hard to spot the bridge

My lock

Me and Laura's lock

Getting ready to throw the keys in the river

"Can't stop lovin' youuuu"

Turtle lock

Lion lock

After we finished putting our locks on the bridge, we went through some tourist shops and then went and met our group in front of Notre Dame. When we got to the area where our hotel is, Laura and I stopped at the grocery store briefly and got something to eat for supper and then we went back to our hotel room. We spent the rest of the evening spying on the chain smoker across the road and singing songs from musicals. Now it's time for bed.

The Paris subway

Michaela