Paris Part 1

   Bonjour! We're back with another blog post, and this time it's about Paris. We started our trip to Paris by taking the Eurostar to Paris Gare du Nord, then checking in with our AirB&B. We made ourselves at home, then took a walk to Place de la Concorde, where Marie Antoinette was beheaded. It was at the end of the Champs Elysses, so we walked down that to get a stunning view of the Arc de Triomphe, which was built in honor of the soldiers who died in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. We stopped along the way to eat some excellent French bread from a bakery. After taking loads of pictures, we walked over to the Eiffel Tower, one of Paris' most iconic buildings. The Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 World's Fair, and it's named after the engineer, Gustave Eiffel. We walked along the river Sen, towards the Louvre after getting some pictures. 

   We walked towards the Louvre, which houses many pieces of art. It's actually the 2nd largest museum in the world! To get there, we walked through Tuileries Gardens, the massive gardens in front of the Louvre. The Louvre was originally a castle, then a palace, and now an art museum. After looking at the Louvre, we walked towards another Parisian landmark, the Cathedral of Notre Dame. First finished in 1345, more extensions were added on, such as the spire and the two towers. After admiring the cathedral, we headed to a classic Parisian café for a little snack. (Otherwise known as some bread and French onion soup.) From there, we took a taxi back to our apartment for a good sleep.

   The next day, we got up and went straight to the tourist office, while having a croissant on the way. We got tickets for a tour bus of Paris, and went to the nearest stop. We weren't too impressed with the bus, because a lot of it was music, and it went everywhere we went the day before. We did pass an interesting building called Invalides, which was a hospital for disabled people in many wars. We stayed on the bus until we got to the Pantheon. It was interesting to compare the facade at the front to the Pantheon in Rome. We walked to the top of the Pantheon, where we got amazing views of Paris. We went for a crepe, then walked to an old bookstore called Shakespeare and Co. Funny thing is, all the books they sell are in English! We looked around, then took a taxi to the apartment, relaxed, then went to an amazing dinner on the Eiffel Tower. We couldn't go up to the top, because it was too late. We then walked home, going to sleep at 1:00.

   This is where we leave off, and we'd say Paris is EXCELLENT!

-Matthew