Paris, part 2 (AKA, the end)

the last day. Paris. wow.

it was a full day, but oh so fun. started out at a perfumerie for a demonstration and a chance to buy some. it was too smelly for me, and the lady talking to us talked entirely too fast with a really thick accent, most of the words i didn't comprehend at all, so i basically sat that hour out.

next, the Eiffel Tower for our optional excursion of going to the top. had to stand in the group line for a little while, then up to the second level to change lifts to go to the top. great views, but so many people. we had to wait in another line for a good while to get in the lift to go to the third level. oh, by the way, "lift" for us Americans is elevator. :-) finally we get to the top, fight the crowds for pictures, and then make our way down. by this time we'd been at the Eiffel Tower for about two and a half hours. it was now lunch time. *L* our group at this point consisted of about ten of us. we went to the snack bar to get a quick bite to eat, then took our food to the grass to eat with the Tower looming overhead. very cool.

after lunch we split off and our group of six took off for the metro to ride to Notre Dame. after a bit of a detour because of repairs on the tracks, we finally arrive and get in line to go inside. there were always lines. i guess that's the problem with touring in the summer. oh well. once inside it was always worth it and Notre Dame was no exception. big, beautiful, the most awesome stained glass ... we all just sat down for a while and took it all in. two of the girls wanted to climb up to the top of the dome, so they went to investigate it. they were told the wait in the line to go up would be about two hours, so they chose not to go up since they were staying a few extra days after the tour was over.

so we made our way over to St. Chapelle, a chapel with stunning stained glass windows, 15 in total, that all had pictures inside of each window that told the story of mankind. it cost 7.50 euros to get in. you enter the lower chapel first, which really is UNimpressive. the low, painted ceilings are unique, but overall there isn't much to see. thankfully there's an upper chapel. we climbed up the small, circular staircase. this section of the chapel is beautiful, but not worth the 7.50 euros, to be honest. the windows are beautiful, but contains so much detail it's hard to grasp what even one is trying to relay. the sun was on the right side of the chapel at this point, so those windows displayed all the beautiful colors with ease. the left side windows, however, were dark and looked dirty and unkept. there was no light shining through, so they looked like there was thick dirt covering them up, blocking the beauty that lie beneath. i'm not sure if maybe that was true, or if it really was just the sun's fault.

throughout the chapel, upper and lower, was scratched paint, dirt, and little windows that had been scratched apart. it was strange, because every other church i'd been in was so well kept and never a flaw. this was unique and interesting, but not worth the cost nor the line we had to wait in to see it.

we strolled over to the Louvre to take pictures of the outside and the pyramid, along the river, stopping at the boutiques along the way to buy a magnet and look at the art. we took our time and enjoyed the scenery along the way. and when we got to the Louvre we sat on the fountain surrounding the pyramid and rested for about 10 minutes. then we took funny pictures and formed our next game plan.

next stop, Arc de Triumph to take pictures up close and personal. while there we witnessed an odd ceremony. don't know what it was for, but it was entertaining in an humorous way. old men with flags who didn't know where to stand and couldn't even hold the flag upright. *L* army guys who didn't march very militarily. a family of tourists allowed to be in the middle of it and a tourist guy walking around taking pictures with his little digital camera. it was funny and odd, but i guess they were taking it serious. *L*

we left there and went to Sacre Couer. on the corner of the metro stop was a restaurant/bar that looked good, so we decided to eat dinner there. very pleasant atmosphere containing live music for the last half of our time there, nice staff, great food. i had sirloin steak (asked for well done, but got medium) and green beans. had a Coke to drink and a nutella & banana crepe for dessert. it was all really good, and $30 (for my meal alone) later we left.

we started walking up the hill to Sacre Couer, the church, but the girls had to stop along the way in this shop to buy a purse with Paris written on it (and i think the Eiffel Tower was on it too). that ended up taking much longer than i desired, but we finally all got on the funicular to take us up to the top where the church is (when mom and i went 15 years ago we climbed all the stairs and saw the funicular on our way down ... i didn't want to make that mistake again). by this time it was dusk. there were people, mostly locals, hanging out on the steps, just drinking and listening to live music, looking out over the city from a perfect high point. it would have been cool to join them for a while, but we didn't have time. it was dark and the girls were starting to get nervous about the area and were wanting to get to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up.

so we went inside the church and sat for a while. beautiful, somewhat simple, probably my most favorite of all. the only major thing in there was a mural of Jesus with his arms spread out wide, bright blue and white colors, really big at the front of the church, round. it's just really amazing. we left and tried to find the "i love you wall", but couldn't find it, but found a store selling wine and an ATM, and finally just got on the metro and made our way to the Eiffel Tower.

some of the group was feeling a bit tired and ready to just go home, but when we got off the metro and saw the Tower all lit up, they were re-energized and ready to go sit in the grass and drink the wine. and so we did. and at midnight twinkly lights started and went off for about 10 minutes. there were lots of people, most locals again, in the grass, eating and drinking and playing games. and there were guys walking around trying to sell wine to everyone, coming to us like twenty different times, at least. but it was worth it. the Tower is gorgeous at night. romantic at night, touristy during the day.

and now it was about 12:30 a.m. we had a full day, but it wasn't over. the group was meeting at a bar after the cabaret show (optional excursion only ten people chose to do) to have final night drinks and dancing together. so three of us six decided to go home and the other three (me included) went to the bar. when we arrived everyone was there. we got a drink and started dancing. Eelco was supposed to be there to have one last drink with me and to dance a little, but when i showed up, he was leaving. and he wouldn't stay. i was disappointed.

we danced and drank until after 3 a.m., then said goodbye to people and got a cab to the hotel. i was tired and tispy and had to get up in about two hours to start my journey home. i said goodbye to the girls i was with and went to my room to pack and rest for a couple of hours.

today was fun. it was the most relaxed, touristy day on the trip. i've had a blast, but i'm ready to go home. :-)