La Tour Eiffel

Today we took the Metro into town, and stopped off at the Eiffel Tower. I was at the Eiffel Tower! I still can't get over that. I've had posters of it and wallpaper for my computer of it, and I was finally standing in front of it. Surreal. After a few photo ops around the Tower, wer got our tickets and made our way up. The very top was closed (due to construction I gathered), but we made it up to the second level. Which is still pretty high up if you ask me. The view was gorgeous! I stood by the ledge and stared out into the city, over the monuments, the Seine River, the Parisians. Not even the freezing cold wind could put a damper on how beautiful that moment was.


From there we made our way to the Champs Elysee. As we strolled down the chic streets, I marveled at all the women in fur coats. PETA could not survive in Paris. All the most expensive stores are located here, made only worse by the strength of the Euro. I guess souvenirs are out of the question here. Sorry all...

L'arc de Triumphe was waiting for us at the end of our long trek, just as majestic as I had seen in all my French books. If I had had more time, I could have spent hours marveling at the delicate details of the Arc, but time passes so quickly when one is on vacation. From there we took the Metro over to the Notre Dame. On our way to Notre Dame, we were stopped by the sweetest British lady who told us about a cute little cafe down the street with a special. (We ended up there after out cathedral tour. Excellent tomato soup!) The Church was (my most over-used but absolutely appropriate word) amazing! The idea that so much history has passed through these walls makes the visit all the more awesome. I walked around the inside struck by the contrast between the sheer beauty of the architecture and the stained glass windows, and the idea that religious pomp and circumstance has created so much drama worldwide. Perhaps to ease my conscience, I paid a euro to light a candle for world peace.