A Series of Fortunate Events (Minus One)

 It’s been an eventful few days finishing the first full week of this trip! Crazy adventures, I tell ya. We both feel like we’ve already done SO much, and there’s still 7 weeks left! It’s insane! (In a good way, of course.)

The day after watching the sunset at the Sacre Coeur, we woke up relatively early and sat around listening to music and such, while watching the sun rise over Paris from our hostel room!!! So nice! It pays to be on the 6^th floor. Even if the demon elevator that’s too small to swing a cat stops nearly every time on the fourth floor with about a foot gap between the bottom of the elevator and the actual floor when the doors open. Scary. But fully worth it. It was amazing. Certainly not every day you get to watch the sun set AND rise over Paris in the same 24 hours. Incroyable!

So we got a late start that day and then headed to the Notre Dame, where we explored the inside as well as stayed in the freezing cold lineup to walk up the towers to the top! But certainly not before a stop for crepes, which we ate on the bank of the Seine, while my water bottle (cheap bought one. Not the nice one I brought on the trip), unwittingly blown over by the wind, went for a nice swim. Climbing the Notre Dame was very much worth it, though. Amazing view, almost at sunset AGAIN, and cool to be on top of the tower. Just. So we can say that we did it.

Self-explainitory, methinks

That stained glass, though.

Mmmm dang Notre Dame. You lookin' fine.

The view from the towers up top! Très cool.

Next we headed for the Louvre where, thanks to TJ being a minor, and a lovely gentleman outside who gave me a ticket, we thoroughly enjoyed beaucoup des arts, free of charge! And, we got to see the Mona Lisa (which, I know is the cliché thing to do at the Louvre, but still!) without ANY crowds! Much more enjoyable than my visit in March on the Europe trip, where you could hardly move or breathe for the people. Much nicer to be able to take your time admiring the art. So, very very good experience this time. And, when we walked outside to head back to the hostel, there was a guy playing cello outside in one of the courtyards, so we stopped to listen for awhile. He was amazing.

The ceilings of the Louvre are cool.

The grand hall. 

Once we figured we’d frozen to death enough, we headed back to the hostel to have a 0.90€ supper of a baguette, cheese, and jam (jam courtesy of the hostel, cheese bought the day before). Fabulous.

Next up in the adventure was Versailles! I’ve wanted to go to Versailles for a while, so this was great. Plus, TJ got in free, so we just split my price, which was not bad! It is INCREDIBLE there. We spent at least three hours ( maybe more) just INSIDE the palace, walking through the rooms, learning about this history, etc. It’s amazing to imagine that somebody actually lived in such extravagance. And in such a turbulent time for France as well. They really had NO idea what was going on outside in their country, and it’s not hard to see why. If you ever have the chance to go, I highly recommend it. I can guarantee you won’t regret it.

The Royal Chapel inside Versailles.

The Hall of Mirrors!! AMAZING.

Just a nice hallway. Where we took portraits, oh times.

The only thing I would advise is going in the summer, as all of the fountains were off and the statues covered up to protect them from the weather and the cold. But the grounds are still amazing. So amazing indeed, that TJ decided to take a swim in one of the fountains. (No, not voluntarily.) Slipped on the edge and fell through a thin layer of ice.  Thankfully enough it was at the end of the day, so he only had to freeze the walk back to the palace and the train ride back to the hostel where he fully recovered. 

Courtyard in front in which we promptly took a jumping photo. (as per TJ's request.)

That angle. Mmmm.

Marie Antoinette's cottage! Aka that photo that's all over the internet and everyone thinks is beautiful yep we saw that.

That landscape. Part of the gardens of Versailles.

Broken ice on the fountain through which a very cold TJ had just fallen.

And a very very cold TJ. 

Fountain! Still cool even when off.

Just couldn't help it.

The same, however, cannot be said for his camera, unfortunately. It did get a little wet, but he dried it off pretty quickly, and set it in rice overnight, but it still doesn’t turn on. We think it’s because he may have hit it against the concrete as he fell, and now the mirror is stuck in the upright position, causing it to not turn on. So he has contacted Canon and is going to send it somewhere ahead of us for repairs, where we hope we will be able to collect it again when we get there! So, fingers crossed it’s not too bad! Because um, us and no cameras is not a good combination. So for now TJ is using the film camera that he brought, along with 11 rolls of film. Admittedly I am still worried about the camera, but staying optimistic.

Aaaand that brings me to our last day in Paris. We went to the Musée Carnavalet, which is a free museum all about the history of Paris told through art. Very cool. With some très bizarre clocks that we couldn’t quite figure out. Some even showed what phase the moon would have been in! Crazy talk. Then, after a lunch of Nutella banana crêpes(Yes, crêpes again. We might be addicted.-TJ says he definitely is.), we walked towards another cathedral that we remembered seeing from the top of the Notre Dame, which was VERY cool and looked very interesting, but when we walked in the back door to find NOBODY inside, we figured it wasn’t actually open to the public, so we left.

The cathedral outside. 

One of those weird clocks that we wanted to look up but haven't yet. (And maybe never will. Nevertheless, they are interesting.)

Then, because we were in Paris, and really, you have to at least go and see it when you’re in Paris, we went to the Eiffel Tower. We strolled the grounds around it after deciding that there was NO way our legs were going to be able to handle walking UP the tower- not to mention how flipping cold it would have been in the wind up there- and then grabbed some hot chocolate to drink down by the Seine. Aaaaand then TJ pulled speakers out of his pocket and we swing danced a little. Nooo big deal. And by that time it had gotten dark, and we’d seen the tower sparkle and such, so we headed back to the hostel to have supper and then re-pack all of our things into our bags. We even got to meet the other guy in the room, who was from Belgium and VERY nice! Quite cool.

Typical touristy photo.

Aaaand nighttime! I like it better at night. It's preeeeety.

And that brings me to now. Where I am sitting on a high-speed train, almost arrived in Barcelona, where I am eagerly awaiting seeing Julia and Kelsey again, who are staying with us for a week over Christmas! Oh yeah! 6 days till Christmas! That’s exciting.

Speak soon!

(Note that this is being posted a day after it was written. Written on the train to Barcelona, where we are currently.)

And a lovely message to end off with. From the streets of Paris.
"Life is beautiful, and so are you!"