Oooh la la! Mon blog Parisienne!

I looked at my calendar last Tuesday and realized- I'm running out of time to travel Europe, and really quickly! There were so many places I wanted to see and didn't get around to like Liverpool, Glascow, York, Amsterdam and a bajillion other places, but one place leapt out at me when I was going over places I absolutely HAD to see- Paris. I mean, seriously- what's the point in speaking nearly perfect French and never using it? So I booked the first train out for Wednesday morning. Got to Paris, wandered around with my bags for an hour or two looking for the hotel, found it, grabbed my backpack and was off! My first destination was the Catacombs, which are a series of underground tunnels decorated with the overflowing bones of Paris graveyards. Attractive, eh? Anyhoo, by the time I found them they had closed for the night. Went to the perfume museum, Paris Opera house, and les Galleries Lafayette, and then the Moulin Rouge to check it out, had a glass of wine outside the Moulin Rouge in a cafe and wrote postcards, got flirted with (French men are relentless. I can't tell you how many guys got smacked after they grabbed my skirt after I refused to give them my name/number. Pervs.) Then took myself out to dinner and called it an early night. My hotel wasn't in the best area in Paris (but it was cheap!) so I didn't want to find me way back after dark. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip, but the rest can be found on facebook if you've got me as a friend. Enjoy!

Next day: Went back to Catacombs. Sign on the door said closed for French holiday. Guess I won't be seeing those. Went to the Pantheon, where all these famous French people are buried including Victor Hugo, Marie and Pierre Curie (she was Polish but we'll let it slide) Marat, Descartes, Voltaire (oh how I hate you, Voltaire!) and lots of other people. Marie Curie was my favorite though. From there I walked to Notre Dame, where I stood in line for a couple hours with a couple from New Jersey so I could go to the top. Got some cool pictures of the Gargoyles- perhaps a few too many. I could do a whole album of gargoyles. I just find them fascinating. Camera died. Walked around trying to find power adapter to charge my camera, also tried to find La Sorbonne so I could guy a hoodie that would make people think I went there as a student and not a tourist. Settled for a Universite de Paris hoodie because it was cheaper and not pink. Went to la Conciergerie, where Marie Antionette and many other famous prisoners were kept before they met la Guillotine. They have a lovely chapel where Marie Antionette's cell was. After that- La Tour Eiffel and a river cruise, where I was too busy eating an ice cream cone to take many pictures. It was a really good ice cream cone, but I did have to wash my hoodie and jeans after I was done with it since I'm a bit of a messy eater. Called it a night after my river cruise, as it was getting dark and cold and I was covered in chocolate ice cream.

Day three started out with L'Arc de Triomphe done very quickly, and then on to La Musee D'Orsay, which is not as big as the Louvre, but just as cool. It's got a bunch of Monets, Renoirs, Van Goghs, and tons of modern art. The building itself is also amazing, I can't remember what it was before it was a museum, but I learned all about it on the river cruise in French, English and then German. So I should have remembered it, but I didn't. Anyhoo, it was amazing and beautiful and just...yeah. After that I dashed over to the Hotel D'Invalids, where they housed veterans of the Napoleonic wars after they got blown to bits. Napolean's tomb is also there, which was cool. Then realizing that my train left in 3 hours, I headed back to Montmarte, where the Moulin Rouge is. Except I went to a museum and a church instead of a brothel. I went to la Musee de Montmarte, which had alot to say about windmills and of course, the Moulin Rouge. Then I headed over to la Sacre Ceour (which I can never spell right) but you can't take pictures in there. It must have been a Catholic holiday on Friday, because they were having a full service with a full choir and a couple hundred tourists walking around the whole thing. Beautiful church. Truly breathtaking.

Dashed back to the hotel, grabbed my bag, and then ran to the train station and was in Cambridge by dinner time with Alex and Marylyn. Life is good.