Double Green Walkers in Paris

Ah!

I've let myself fall behind on this baby.

I was in Paris though...

so I think it's okay :)

It all started back on May 9

a las cinco y media

(5:30 am)

to catch the chunnel at 6:15 am.

Which was rough

and yet oh so okay

since it was taking us all to Paris.

And we got to spend

three

lovely days there.

(and a whole lotta' money buying delicious food)

My thoughts...

Day 1: "I'm the stair master."

Day 2: "I'm de-feet-ed."

Day 3: "This place is amazing."

Day 1: May 9
We arrived at our hotel,
checked into our room
and went straight to hittin up the city of love.
We just took a nice little stroll
down the
Champs Elysees
which took us straight to the
Arc de Triomphe.
Did we climb the stairs to the top of that nice lil' arch?
Best believe we did.
Here's Erin and I at the top!

 Looking around, we felt like we were
on top of the world.
And yes, arc de triomphe,
I did feel triumphant up there,
but we had no idea how we'd feel
once we reached
the top of the eiffel tower!
I don't just mean the top.
I mean the tippiest,
toppiest
top
you can get
on the eiffel tower.
We got a little lost on the way over there.
Weird, since it's a
GIANT
tower sticking out in the middle of the sky,
I know :)
But we found it and went right to hiking.
Check out that view!
You hear the angels singing, Mom?

MaCall and I were roommates for the Paris trip...
so here we are checkin out the view!
We had some good fun, I just love her.

Here I am in front of the eiffel tower...crazy cool!

We enjoyed some delicious gelato at a nice little cafe outside.

So surreal.

I had the yellow one...it's mango.

The "M" in mango stands for "Mmmm"

This picture just makes me all around happy.

Here's MaCall and I againnnn.

That night, we hopped aboard the nice version of

The Black Pearl.

A.K.A.

we got on a beautiful boat (pearls are beautiful...)

 and it took us through the

dark

black-y

night.

Instead of looking for pirates we just got to sit,

wave to the nice people on the banks of the river,

listen to fun French music

and soak it all in.

The grand finale was

the eiffel tower sparkling.

That's what a real paparazi looks like.

And oh boy oberto beef jerkey,

the eiffel tower itself has quite the paparazi.

Day 2: May 10

Breakfast at our hotel was a starry eyed surprise.

I've decided that it made up

for all the other weird different things about the place.

Like...no outlets in the bathrooms,

no shower curtains,

and weird elevators.

Today I

"sailed through time, back to yester-years."

(yes, i just quoted The Parent Trap)
I came to Paris almost 3 years ago with

my Mom, cousin Anna and Aunt Carol

and today,

I went back to all the fun places we visited together.

- Sainte-Chapelle

- La Conceirgerie

- Notre Dame

- Latin Quarter

-Musee d'Orsay

- The bakery I always enjoyed a chocolate chip muffin at

- Our hotel

...And even stood outside...

-the weird night club across the way who's selling pitch is

"Sexy club for crazy night."

I also got to visit some other places that I quite enjoyed.

- Luxembourg Gardens

- The Pantheon

...and...

- Hotel de les Invaledes

(Napoleon's tomb is here...it is massive)

After visiting the Notre Dame...

I ate the best crepe of my entire life.

It was nutella, bananas and coconut.

And I ate the whole thing.

I don't know who this bike belongs to...

but I would like to thank them

for letting me lean against it for but a moment.

Next it was off to the Latin Quarter.

Ohh so many memories all came back at once.

I loved seeing the places I visited once before

and couldn't' help but think of my Mom.

We had the best time together.

We ate at this bakery every morning.

I always got the chocolate-chip muffin.

So of course I had to get one again...

even though this was minutes after finishing my

massive crepe.

This little baby gave me the energy to then continue the walk

to the

Luxembourg Gardens.

That place is nice.

I especially enjoyed seeing some baby duckies there.

We all just sat next to this fountain for a good 45 minutes

soaking up the sunshine.

I had almost forgot what the sun felt like

after all this blasted rain here.

Let me tell you,

sitting those 45 minutes

may have save us from completely falling over

the rest of the day.

Don't worry, we all stumbled

from being weary

and feeling like we had stubs for feet.

At cross walks when the

"green walker man" would flash,

signaling us to cross the street,

we were all pumped, ready to get to the other side,

ready to press forward.

We loved the green walker at the beginning of the day.

Especially the double green walkers

where we could cross the whole street

in one smooth swoop!

By the end however,

ooooh Mistah Green Walker Man,

I highly disliked him.

And so did my feet.

The Double Green Walker was a

definer

of my Paris experience.

The Musee d'Orsay

certainly did not receive our best foot forward.

We were all crashing into walls,

tripping up stairs,

laying on exhibit floors

and sitting on every bench we could find.

I felt very clever at one point because

I said I was defeated...de-feet-ed.

That was one of the longest,

funniest,

most exhausting,

best

days of my life.

I wouldn't change anything about it

but my feet may disagree with me on this one.

Day 3: May 11

This was our last day in Paris.

MaCall and I had a bit of a hectic start.

What did I learn?

Maybe only that you shouldn't rely on the hotel

to give you a wake up call.

Especially on the day

your whole group is checking out.

Just a suggestion.

We had called to have a wake up call at 7:45

to be ready to leave with our group by 9.

No such call ever came.

Luckily, MaCall saved the day

and somehow woke up at 8:52.

I don't think anyone in the history of the world

has ever looked so scattered

as we did that morning.

But we made it just in time,

and had quite the splendid day.

First, 

we were off to explore the Louvre!

We saw some pretty nifty things in there.

The Mona Lisa...she is one popular lady.

I've never experienced a mosh pit quite like that before.

Today certainly was a day of art.

These people are talented.

There is a reason they're in such incredible places.

Even the museums themselves

are a work of art.

Next it was off to L'Orangerie

where Monet's waterlillies

are on display.

We paid a nice little visit to Rodin.

He has a museum all to himself.

We had some fun there.

We especially liked posing with the statues.

Here we are in front of The Thinker.

 I've decided to call this

Rodin's "Single Ladies" statue.

I may or may not have done

the stanky leg

with one later on...

There is video proof I tell you,

so I may share that later.

We finished off our

time in Paris 

with a hello to the cathedral Sacre-Coeur

at Montmarte.

This place will now forever remind me of

- macaroons

- chocolate eclairs

- beautiful views

- churros made in front of my very eyes

- margharita pizza

- toblerone gelato..it was too expensive so i just looked...and drooled a bit

...and finally...

- snails

Yes,

Kate, Macall, Madeleine and I all decided to get

"Stuck in" France

and try out some escargot.

Really, not too bad.

Kinda good actually.

Maybe it's the fact that it's

soaked

in butter, garlic and other savory treats.

My mind did flash back a bit

to the first time Simba tried to eat bugs with his new pals.

Here's Kate and I before diving into escargot!

That last day in Paris

really was picture-perfect.

Our feet were numb by this point,

which I'm not really sure that's a good thing,

but we were able to keep going.

I mean, we were in Paris.

who were we

to let a few blisters and angry feet stop us

from seeing some of the most incredible things in the world?

And after everything we did,

everything we saw

and

everything we ate...

it's swell to be back home

in London.