August 29th - Paris, France

August 29, 2006
Paris, France

First of all: Happy Birthday Liam! You are a super cool little brother and I hope you have an awesome day. Sorry I can’t be there buddy…I’ll try to call later if I can figure out how to use the phone card.

Well bloggers, today we got up a little bit late. This hostel is darker than the others we have visited and we all slept in until 11:00! When we finally got outside we were saddened to see that it was a rainy, cold day. We decided we would cruise the city and become acquainted with everything. Just as in London, we used the subway system (the metro) to get around.

Our first stop was Hotel De Ville (I think that means city center?). It was a wide-open square with some cool buildings surrounding it. From there it was only a short walk to Notre Dame. It is an old, cool looking building that I want to revisit when the weather improves. The area around the structure is also neat. There are thousands of small birds that will come eat bread out of your hand.

By the time we left Ile De La Cite (where Notre Dame is located) we were ready to sample some of Paris’s world famous cafes. The food was exquisite. It was our first meal in France and we immediately recognized the improved quality in the food (compared to London – You would like it more here Stu ;)).

We spent over an hour at the café before heading toward the Eiffel Tower. On our way we stopped at an interesting building that has something to do with St-Michel (a little help here, anyone?). The Eiffel Tower was super cool! We are planning on going to the top when the weather improves (which it is supposed to do tomorrow). After taking many more pictures than were necessary and hanging out for a good amount of time, we started looking for a metro station. On our way we stumbled across the Hotel de Invalides. It had a golden dome that caught our eye so we decided to go inside. We learned that the building houses Napoleons Tomb. Inside we purchased a 2-day museum pass, which will allow us to visit all of the famous artwork in the city for fairly cheap. This means that tomorrow we will have to get up early and start the museum tour.


Our next stop was the Arch de Triumph. We only stayed for a short time because the rain had picked up. We decided to call it a day and head back to our hostel. For the rest of the night we are going to plan out which museums to visit over the next few days.

My legs are tired and my stomach is hungry. Tomorrow is a big day so I will talk to you later bloggers!