Fine Settimana (fee-n-A – Set-tee-ma-na) - Weekend

     ....Oh my goodness today has been a whirlwind, Paris is incredible and I still can’t believe I’m here! I have fallen in love with the Eiffel Tower!....so this morning my friend Paolo, and I got up wicked early and took a cab to the airport to get on a plane for Paris France!...after a stop in Frankfurt, Germany we were in the city of the Eiffel Tower and it was absolutely amazing! When we first got in we figured out how to get into the city by train then to the metro….we took it to find our hotel (I know crazy right? I was actually able to find a hotel run by Best Western for just as cheap as a hostel dorm room!) we got here, found we couldn’t check in yet so we were off to explore!...

….we took the metro to Notre Dame and it was simply ASTOUNDING….my breathe was then taken for the next hour or so….we walked around, took our pictures then went inside and actually a daily mass was going so that was kinda cool….

we were still able to look around and it was just gorgeous! We unfortunately were about 2 hours to early (we later found out) from seeing the Crown of Thorns that apparently was acquired by one of the Kings of France and so is now kept at Notre Dame….I had no idea it was even actually found in the modern world!....when we were done inside we headed out to walk around the outside since it was a beautiful day!

…we stopped in a little shop of souvenirs and got our first taste of the Parisian stereotype unfortunately (thankfully most people were not like this)….i said excuse me to get his attention and asked how much something cost…to which he gruffly responded, “open your eyes miss..”….i was SHOCKED….i simply replied “no” and walked out….i wanted to thank him for his generous welcome into his city….but I didn’t…we just left…and headed to our tour….but goodness….im so glad not everyone was like this…

…my friend Natalie, found a free walking tour for us, online….apparently these are in most cities in Europe…I’d never heard of such a thing but it was so wonderful! It was a 3 hour walk of everywhere from Notre Dame to the Louvre…so informative and a great guide & a GREAT way to spend our first afternoon….also helped get our bearings of the city….it was great and since it was free and we just tipped afterwards and went on our way….it was wonderful…

…when we were finished, we went to the hotel to check in and drop off somethings….we hit the jackpot here! Clean, nice room with a nice bathroom J and pretty close to a metro too J…after this we went back to find dinner and go see the Eiffel Tower for the first time, and to see it light up….oh my goodness, it was amazing…we went to the closest metro stop that we knew of and could see it from there and it was just barely sunset, so we just started walkingJ

….after probably 30-45 minutes the sun was out of sight and the skies were a beautiful coloring of orange, pink and yellow….and BAM!




We turned a corner and there was a leg! It was like the wind got knocked out of me@ I fell in love….we took tons of pictures since we got there at the most beautiful timinig….so we ended up getting some great sandwiches there (so good! We got ones that had been suggested to us, the Parisian – butter and ham, soooo good)

and just sat and watched the tower light up and then later the light show when it simply glitters! It was the perfect evening! We ended it with crepes on the walk back to the metro…we headed to the hotel and were completely worn out, so we hit the hay kinda early, for another big day tomorrow