Ze city of Love...

LUNDI: 23 Juin

Well my flight was nice and long. I slept some and ate some. Once we were on the out skirts of France I just couldn't sleep. I couldn't believe that I was actually about to land in France! Anyways, as I was frantically scratching at the window to see down below, I took some pictures. I got the pictures of the shore and pictures as we landed. I couldn't help it!

Sean and I watched a football match in a Dallas Cowboys' bar while waiting for our flight

This is a picture of the moon as it rises from the horizon. You can kind of see the
light shine on the clouds right underneath it.

We have arrived!

As we walked through the gates, Clarisse was rushing towards me to give me hugs and kisses to welcome me back to France. I was very happy to see her. Immediately after the big welcome she asks us, "You don't have any bags?". We were confused because we didn't know that we had to get the bags back before the gate entrance! OOPS! So anyways we got our bags and headed off for Rome, which was the suburb of France in which Clarisse lives in.

Once we arrived to Clarisse's place she showed us our rooms and welcomed us to her home. It was small like I expected but a very comfortable place to be. What I loved the most was the fact you could see the tip of la Tour Eiffel from her balcony. How much better can you get?

I see la Tour Eiffel!

Once we settled in her little cozy place, Sean and I were out the door to go see Paris! The metro was easily manageable (with the help of the maps). Our first stop was l'Arc de Triomphe.
















It was absolutely amazing! I couldn't believe how large it was! (that's what she said!) While we were under l'Arc de Triomphe, these Arabian women asked if we spoke english and if we said yes they would show us a sign asking for money. I called them the "zombies" because they were EVERYWHERE! We went across town and there were some there too!

After l'Arc de Triomphe, Sean and I went up and down the Avenue de Champs Elysées. We went to some shops and looked at stuff that was cool.






Once we were done with all that we walked to la Tour Eiffel. Once we got there I couldn't believe it!















I had been waiting 17 years to go see la Tour Eiffel and my dream finally came true. I couldn't keep a grin from growing on my face! It was a beauty!

Once we were ready to go eat, Sean and I headed back to the metro station. When I was ready to pull my ticket out to get in, I realized it fell out of my pocket during one of the times I took my camera out to take a photo. D'OH! So what Sean and I did was we just jumped through the gate together off of one ticket to get to the metro. We paid the price though because we constantly got off too far away from our desired destination so we walked a very long way.

While we walked around Paris we saw certain things that looked nice so I snapped them.










We finally found where Clarisse worked so we knew where to go when it was time. We went out to eat and when we were done we went back to the Champs Elysées so I could buy myself a France jersey. It cost me 70£ = $109. Just a little expensive, non? As we headed back we lost our way and had a tough time finding where she worked. We traveled through a beautiful garden and passed near la Tour Eiffel. When we finally got to the correct corner we were 45 minutes late! YIKES! Thankfully Clarisse is an awesome cousin and she stayed and waited patiently. We went home all together and got me another ticket for the metro. We got home, ate, said hello to Mathilde and then Sean and I passed out.



MARDI: 24 Juin

Are plan of mission for the day was to go to the Louvre Musée and then go to the Catacombes. So we headed off for the Louvre Musée first. We took pictures of the glass pyramids which really cool.


























When Sean and I were ready to go in, the lady at the front door said it was closed! DANG IT! So we shall go tomorrow!

We then headed East to Notre-Dame. On the way there we got some postcards to send to family. After that, we stopped quickly at a little crepe stand to get some jambon et fromage crepes. It was delicious! When we arrived at Notre-Dame, we couldn't believe how beautiful and gorgeous it all was.

My jaw was grinding against the ground. But I didn't expect the inside to be even better with its amazing windows and nice furniture. Once we were done we headed South to go the Catacombes. We were looking for a sign and when we did I read that it closed at 4:00. It was 4:25! SO CLOSE!

So tomorrow we are going to the Louvre Musée and the Catacombes. When we got back home, we rested a little while and then we were up and about in a jiffy. Clarisse took us to go see Sacre-Couer on the hill near her house. On the way there Sean and I were astonished to the number of sex shops and random sex related things there were. DIDN'T EXPECT THAT! But we did get to see Moulin Rouge which was pretty cool. Once we climbed the stairs to get to the chapel, we were rewarded with a beautiful view of Paris (and I also got an Origina. Oh how I miss those!).


















We went back home and just laid there for a while. We ate and I called Maman. I found out Sean snores sometimes during his sleep, and I don't know how I sleep through it!



MERCREDI: 25 Juin

Today was Sean's birthday. Luckily for him, he gets to spend it in Paris! Sean got a baguette and we made sandwiches. We the left to go to the Louvre Musée. When we got there we got in for free because we were under the age of 18. SWEET!








































I got to see some really cool stuff. For example, I got to see the Monna Lisa (that's you spell it in French)! The only thing I didn't expect is that it was tiny!

After 2 1/2 hours of the Louvre Musée, we realized it was too late for the Catacombes. Instead, we went to go get some water and ice cream at this little café. We then left and we were about to go down the stairs to the metro station when Sean spotted an Adidas store! We went in and saw everything on sale! I got myself some France soccer shorts and France soccer socks. Even though the currency rate is bad, it still cost me less than it would of in the states so I'm glad. We went home and rested. We both had un petit pain au chocolat avec du Nutella. It was very good! We then left to go meet up with Clarisse to go see one of her friend's friends' band play. We got there at 7:30 and it ended up beginning at 9:30.

Before meeting up with her friends, Sean and I went to the Nike store near by to see what was there. We saw tons of stuff on sale and we both wondered why it was like that! Clarisse then told us everything goes on sale in all the stores for 3 weeks! CHA-CHING! (overall, the sale makes it the same price as buying it in the states). But because I found out about the sale, I'm going to return my jersey that cost me 70£ so I can get another one for 55£! After all of that, Sean and I met up with Clarisse and her friends. We got to meet her boyfriend Emeric. He is very nice! Once it was time, we all went to go see the band play. They were actually very good!

Around 10:30, Sean and I left to go home. My favorite part of the night was when Sean and I were going home. We were on the platform waiting for the train to get there. The other train going the other way had just arrived and had openned its doors. Thats when I realized THAT was the train we had to get on! So Sean and I raced up the stairs, around the corner, ran down the hall way, turned another corner, jumped down the stairs, and hopped on just as the doors were closing. NICE!

We got home and had some crumble that sweet Clarisse had made for Sean's birthday. After the crumble we both laid in bed and fell asleep. We were ready for the day ahead.



JEUDI: 26 Juin

We first went to the Catacombes so we were sure to get there on time. First we went down 130 steps to began the hour long journey. We went through and it was very chilly. The bones were stacked up everywhere and it was neat to see what each stack of bones came from. One came from 2 riots in the 1780s! Sean took pictures of me and near one of the stacks of bones and I accidently touched a skull. BLEH.





















We went up the 83 steps back to ground level an hour later just as the person told us. Sean and I had another crepe au jambon et fromage. It was very good, again!

It was the wrong stop to go to the Adidas store, but a nice picture.

We then decided to go back to Champs Elysées to return my jersey. I got 70£ back in cash. Sean and I then sent to the other Adidas store to buy myself the jersey I wanted for cheaper. It was the France jersey with the #22 on it with Ribery on the back. Not as cool as the one Kevin gave me but still pretty cool.

After we got back home from all that, Sean took a nap while I watched TV. When he woke up we went outside to juggle the football a little. Then Clarisse came home and we all went to go see Benoit and Clarisse's other friends that live with Benoit. It was very fun! We watched the Euro 2008 game between Russia & Spain (Spain 3-0 Russia). We had spaghetti and pizza. It was very good! We said our good-byes and went back home. On the way back we got to see la Tour Eiffel glowing white. But tomorrow we are planning on seeing it at night and maybe even climbing it!

While we were on the train back there were about 6 american guys around my age that were drunk and cheering for their friend that was chugging a beer. Then there were their 2 girl friends that were making sure they weren't going to break into the Louvre Musée or something. The drunk guys were funny so it was a good way to end the night. (For example, one guy was talking about how his index finger tips had calasis on them because of "clicking the snap button on the camera too many times like this!" and showed the motion of clicking) Well it was a good day. Tomorrow, Versailles and la Tour Eiffel at night!