Day 28: Bonjour Paris!

The morning started out with a Bang!

We woke up 30 minutes late. Grreeaaattt. Our flight was at 7:50, and we woke up at 5:15. We hustled in the dark of Lizzy's flat and finished cramming everything into our tiny carry on back packs while Angela called us a cab. We booked it outside and were at the airport by 6:30. WHOOSH.

Next was to get our tickets from the kiosk (as we did not need to check bags, we didn't need to wait in line) and then on to security.


I don't know if I have told this story before, maybe on my New Zealand blog, but I'm going to tell it again anyways.

In New Zealand, security is kind of a joke. You go up to the kiosk, put your information in, answer a few security questions (a.k.a. Are you carrying any liquids? Are you a terrorist?) and they print your ticket and you are on your way. I swear, at some airports there, I didn't even have to put my bag through a scanner.

Anyways, Lizzy and I are standing at a kiosk in New Zealand. I have printed my ticket and am waiting patiently while Lizzy curses at the machine and moves onto a different machine.

"Lizzy, what's wrong?"

"Stupid machine won't print my ticket. That's the second one I've gone to! Damnit! This one doesn't work either."

I watch her try again.

"LIZZY! What did you just do?!?"

"What do you mean? I pressed 'Yes' to the question."

"Yeah, I saw that! Did you read the question??"

"No, you don't have to read it Dee, you just press 'Yes' every time."

"Um, no Liz, you definitely don't press 'Yes' when it is asking you if you have ANY FLAMMABLE OR EXPLOSIVE DEVICES TO BRING ON THE PLANE!"

"Oh...So that's why it won't give me my ticket...."

Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, no one from the airport security came over to check out this girl who claims 4 times in a row that she has explosive devices. In any case, we laughed our asses off, and now whenever we go through security, I make sure to ask,

"Now Lizzy, are you carrying any flammable or explosive devices today??"

So we giggled as we went through Spanish security and jammed to some tunes as we waited for our plane. Without a hitch or delay, we were safe and landed at around 9:30am in PARIS!!!!

Rather than deal with the hassle of buses, we decided to take a cab into the city. It was well worth it, not only for the view of the Eiffel Tower as we entered the city, but also because it was pretty cheap!! We figured out where our hostel was- "Aloha Hostel!" which was about a block from the Volontaire metro station. We grabbed breakfast (croissants- what else?!?) and checked into the hostel.

As most hostel, like hotels, need time to clean the rooms before the next arrival, we couldn't check into our room until 2 in the afternoon. So we packed our bags into a locker and headed on our way.

We meandered through the streets of Paris and along the Seine until we found what we were looking for. Our first attraction: Notre Dame. We stopped for some Parisian lunch right on the river with the cathedral in the back ground. It was amazing food and we enjoyed the sunshine before heading into the church.

Of course we took a MILLION pictures and walked around the cathedral for quite a while. We sat down in a pew for a few minutes and surveyed the area. I finally understood what all of the hullaballoo was about. It truly was impressive.

FUN FACT #25: The cathedral began being built in 1163 and was finished by present day standards in the 1800s. Notre Dame de Paris was the first Gothic building ever to use flying buttresses.

When we exited the building, we saw people up above on the balcony on top of Notre Dame. As usual, Lizzy and I MUST climb the tallest peaks- whether they be cathedrals or mountains. So we waited in line for about a half hour before we were able to climb the 387 (yes, we counted) stairs up to the top.

Now, normally, I do not have much patience for things such as lines. But I was with Lizzy. And waiting with Lizzy is always entertaining.

"Hey Dee, wanna play 20 questions?"

"Duh. With only Harry Potter characters?"

"You're on."

We were almost at the door with the giant imposing bouncer (and I don't mean the handsome figure of Patrick Swayze from "Roadhouse") stopped the people ahead of us, so we played one more round of Harry Potter 20 questions when 2 people tried to cut us.  AW HELL NAW! There is nothing that I hate more in life than waiting in line than people who try to cut me while I wait in line. So you can count on the fact that I had a few choice words to say- that is, until the bouncer behind me looked at the cutters and said, "You two- to the end."

I was all swagger after that. Mr. Bouncer-Monster has got my back, aw yeah.

So we huffed and puffed our way to the top of Notre Dame. WORTH THE MONEY AND THE WAIT! The view was staggering- you could see the Eiffel Tower, the Arc du Triomphe, and most noticeably, Sacre-Ceour on its hillside in the middle of the city. We took our pictures and made our way back down.

We continued along the river only to accidentally stumble upon the Love Locks of the Seine.

FUN FACT #26: Starting in 2008, people started attaching locks to the gates of the bridge Pont des Arts that crossed the river Seine. Couples would write their names on the lock, attach it to the gates, and throw the key into the river symbolizing "eternal love". Since then, it has become a phenomenon that people around the world come to Paris to do. Because of this, this bridge and others are becoming over weight with locks attached to locks attached to locks. So much so, that in 2014, part of the bridge collapsed. The government has been trying to save its bridges, and I quote, by "encouraging couples to 'take selfies'" rather than put locks on the bridges. They have begun dismantling the gates on the sides of the bridge and replacing them with glass in order to stop people from attaching locks. It hasn't stopped them yet of course, as more locks are being attached to bridges further down the river. LOL

Anyways, we took some pretty pictures, and as Lizzy and I are not lesbians, (although I swear anyone we meet in Spain thinks we are) we did not attach a love lock.   We continued on our way to take a look at the Louvre Museum.

We were worried about the weather on Sunday, which was when we were planning on visiting the Louvre, so we took pictures today just to make sure we got them. (Yeah, we're nerdy, we know.) We kept walking all the way down Le Champs D'Elysee to the Arc de Triomphe. There was some military parade going on, so we didn't get to be up close and personal with it or climb to the top, but considering the view we had already seen today, we weren't too upset over missing it.

To get back to the hostel, we just walked towards the Eiffel Tower. We were able to see it right at 8:00 as the sun set and the tower lit up with hundreds of lights! It was gorgeous. We continued on our walk back to the hostel, got Italian food (I know what you're thinking- but it was so cheap!!) and hit the hay. It was a long day- More than 10 km of walking!! Oh, and I forgot to mention- I broke my sandals. They survived climbing underneath the Ronda Bridge, but not the rough and tough streets of Paris. RIP my TJMaxx $13 special sandals. You were well worn.

The next entry is written by She-Who-Is-In-Every-Story-I-Tell.....  Lizzy!!!!!!!!

I figured you guys must be sick of my babbling on and might like a new perspective. Enjoy!!