Day 8 & 9- Museums and Mastering the Metro

Day 8- Valerie and I had the lovely task of trying to find out where we could buy a museum pass. Paris sells them and gives you access to over 80 museums and monuments in the Paris area. We started off at Notre Dame, realized we may not be able to get our tickets there, so we walked to a bookstore to buy them. Well, the bookstore only had six day passes (we wanted four). So, I was slightly frustrated and irritated but told Valerie I wanted to look around for an adapter for my computer. After some searching I found one!!! Yay!!!! So the trip wasn't completely worthless as Val pointed out. We decided to buy our passes at Sainte- Chapelle, so we wandered over to the church. The stained glass in that church was simply BREATHTAKING. The windows on the second story depict over 1,113 scenes from the Bible. Some renovation is going on, but it was still amazing how much history is involved.

We then officially went inside Notre Dame. The organ was playing and it was simply the most wonderful sound I have ever heard in my life. They do hold masses inside still, and although that would be cool, we just did not (or do) have the time for that. We also came during the 850th anniversary of Notre Dame which is actually pretty fantastic. On Thursday, we plan to climb the towers of Notre Dame and visit the Crypte.

Finally, we ended the day with walking to the Eiffel Tower (about a 30 minute walk from where we staying) and then climbed alllllllll the way up. Via the stairs. To the second story. This is about 500 steps. It was awesome. Thank goodness we've been training via stairmaster, because the city at dusk is simply breathtaking. I'll be honest, I don't think Paris is the most beautiful city from the ground, but from the Eiffel Tower, your perspective changes. We met up with the guys at Le Piano Vanche to listen to some gypsy jazz in a random bar. I took video Eddie, because I think you'd really enjoy them.

And what have we learned from all of this besides all of the history involved? We've learned (and in my opinion) mastered the metro and the stupid ticket thing.


Day 9- It's been raining. All day. I'm on vacation. It shouldn't be raining. But Matt took us to Le Cordon Bleu where one of the chefs did a demonstration. Ohmyheavens. It was the most beautiful food I've ever seen in my life. And the most delicious. I have pictures on my phone but I guess that doesn't really help you as a reader huh? So we hung out at the school for a bit then came back to the apartment. I still wanted to do something since you know, I'm in Paris so we took the Metro to Musee Rodin. We mostly mocked statues, pretended we were statues, or admired statues. I mean that's all you can really do right? It was fun despite the mud, granted I was exhausted (and still am). But we tried to hit up Muse d'Orly. The line was way too long for my liking as I was about ready to pass out so we just headed home. I made what was supposed to be dinner, but it ended up being dunch/linner. So far I'm enjoying my trip, but I miss my bed. And the sun. A lot.

The Thinker (le Pensevr)

Me and Valerie at the Eiffel Tower

Stained glass windows in Sainte-Chapelle



The outside of Notre Dame