Ahh Paris..

We left Dublin around 7:30 for Paris on Friday. I was very excited. I took french for about 6 years.. not that I was ever really good with speaking the language but I always felt like seeing the Eiffel Tower was on my list of things to do before I died. We arrived in France around 12am and then didn't get into our hotel and eat food until around 1:30am. We were awake and ready to tour Paris by 5:30. Tom had planned out the entire day because he had been in the city before and soo we took off to watch the sun rise over Paris at some church. I know, it would probably be a better reenactment of the day if I remembered what all the buildings were, but I don't and needless to say we walked up a lot of steps and the view was amazing. I guess its the highest point in Paris except for when your on the Eiffel Tower. We stayed for awhile and around 7.. I needed coffee and food. Soo we made our way to the red light district of Paris, where the Moulin Rouge is.. Of course the only songs I sang to myself while walking in Paris were from the movie Moulin Rouge soo it was fitting that I atleast see the place. We got a cafe au lait and a chocolate du pain (sp?) at some side bakery. Steph had the best french out of the group soo I opted for her to order everything for me (or I would just point and say "that one.") The breakfast was amazing but being American it didn't really fill me up. I had decided that if I was going to walk around for another 8 hours I was going to need more then just a pastry. Soo we stopped into the good old mickey d's. I was amused when I walked in to find 4 cross dressers ordering food. To be honest its extremely hard not to stare. Not that I really cared what they were doing but to just look at their clothes and makeup was fascinating to me. I didn't let myself look too long I didnt want to be rude. I was an American in France after all. We then made our way over the Louvre. We mainly used the metro to get around and I'm only going to say this once.. their metro system smells like pee. For all the things France is good at.. you would think that clearing the urine smell problem from their public transportation system would be one of them. Moving on, we got the Louvre and met up with Erica. We didn't go in because we were on a tight schedule and it costs 9 euros. I like art, but not that much, maybe when I go back and can mossy around for hours I will feel that 9 euros is money well spent. I still had to see the Eiffel Tower after all. We wondered around for awhile, got another cafe au lait and found bathrooms. We managed to make our way over Notra Dame. (I'm sure Libby is laughing at my french spelling) It was very pretty but there were a lot of gypsies. I'm not really a huge fan of gypsies or of anyone who asks me for money. I'm a poor college student they should be donating to my fund. We walked around Paris for a bit and found our way to the garden of love. It was gross, old people making out, not something you really need or want to see. But I'm sure if I had had someone to make out with in the garden I wouldn't have took any issue. Tom then wanted to see the Pantheon, where apparently a bunch of dead people are buried. I opted out of that tour. I was really tired at this point and I was getting hungry. So I just sat on the steps. I managed to pick up a few gifts, to later find out I was totally ripped off but I guess its bound to happen when your a tourist. We then had lunch where I ordered a cheeseburger and fries. Total American I know, but the french cuisine always upsets my stomach, and we weren't really walking where toilets were easily accessible. I must say the french made an amazing cheeseburger and fries though. I was impressed. We walked through the garden of Luxembourg. It was pretty and peaceful. After the garden, I was told that we were finally making our way to the Eiffel Tower. :-) Maybe I'm easily pleased, but I didn't really much care about anything else but the Eiffel Tower. It made me happy. We got there and apparently the french think its necessary to walk around with machine guns. I'm not sure why they do, I didn't really see any real threats, but Jesus it kind of takes away from the whole romantic experience when there is a man 4 feet from you with a gun that could kill you. Just saying.. It was about 4 or 5 by the time we got to the Tower and at this point the line was this long snake like thing and to wait in it meant hours of time. We were all tired and hungry and no one wanted to wait.. I wasn't going to stand in line alone not knowing how to get back to the hotel soo I took my pictures and never made it to the top. ::sigh:: We got back to the hotel around 6:30.. we ate a little dinner (sandwiches) and I put my head on my pillow and passed out. Everyone else got themselves up to go drink wine the french while I stayed in bed and outlined a paper. We were up for the flight at 6am and I was sleeping in my bed in Dublin by 12:30 in the afternoon.

Over all Paris was a beautiful city and I plan on going back. I feel like since we only had 4 months in Europe we booked trips that were short and in turn rushed. We basically got the highlights but I feel like there is something always missed when you do that. This just means I'll have to make my future husband take me back. Oh well. Good Afternoon Dublin and Good Morning America.