Rewind: Paris

So, Lisbon plans fell through (the train was fully booked), so we gave up and went back to our apartment in Barcelona.  Anyway, since I FINALLY have time and high-speed internet at our new apartment, I can go back and finish blogging about our time backpacking through Europe.  Join me as I go back to Paris.

DAY 1

We arrived in Paris in the afternoon and decided to walk (with all our stuff!) to the hostel.  It didn't look far on the map (I have been using an app called City Maps 2 Go and it's fantastic because once you download the map for your particular city, you don't need internet to use it AND it shows you where you are on the map, so you can't really get lost!

It's so essential for someone bad with directions like me, it literally points you in the right direction!).  However, dragging your luggage through cobble-stoned streets, while wearing a heavy backpack in crazy humidity isn't on the list of fun stuff to do in Paris.  Pretty though:

Oh well, we made it to the hostel!

We ditched our stuff in the room and showered the sweat off our bodies.  We were in the 9th Arrondissement (Paris is separated into 20 different neighborhoods) and we happened to be close to Montmartre (think Moulin Rouge), so we thought we'd check out La Basilique du Sacre Coeur (it's a gorgeous church on a hill about 5 minutes from our hostel).  Super touristy, but beautiful!

View from the hilltop:

We went inside and weren't allowed to take pictures, but it was one of the most amazing churches I'd seen thus far.  It was breathtaking.  I found some pictures on Google, so you could get an idea of what I'm talking about (plus, let's face it, these pictures are WAY better than any I could've taken):

Then we walked around the neighborhood (keep in mind, we're still in a touristy area).  We saw a guy cutting silhouettes of faces:

 Aaron thought it was so weird that I took this kid's picture and am now posting it online.  Nothing personal kid, but it was just so interesting!  I've never seen anything like it!

Crepes!

Now we're getting hungry.  We didn't want to eat in the super touristy area, so we walked awhile, found a quiet spot and sat outside:

They had a special where you get an app, entree and dessert for 11 Euro.  Not shabby at all!  Plus, we decided to share, so we scored big time!  Our app was French onion soup:

Yes, I get the irony I'm eating French onion soup in France, but the real reason was because every other option was made of cheese (if you remember, Aaron hates cheese).  The soup was tasty, but I'm never a fan of soggy foods, so the mush bread wasn't my thing. 

We got boeuf bourguignon for our entree (basically a beef stew made with red wine...OMG it's one of my all-time favs):

Ignore my horrible picture taking (I was hungry!), it was fantastic!

We had chocolate mousse for dessert:

We wandered a bit more, then went back to the hostel and hung out awhile.  That night, we got crepes at a stand:

Jambon et fromage (ham and cheese).  Can you believe this is late night street food?  Yum!

We went to a local karaoke bar, where they sung lots of American songs (and obviously some French):

DAY 2

We woke up late after being out all night, so we got a pretty late start.  We took the subway, which is very efficient and goes all over the city, to see Notre Dame.

A lot bigger than I thought it would be, for some reason.  It was huge!  We were unable to go inside because it had just closed (I told you we got up late), but the outside was really incredible.

Then we walked towards The Louve and happened upon The Love Lock Bridge right across the street:

I read online that they had to take all the locks off the actual bridge because they were compromising the structural integrity of the bridge.  Basically, the locks are super heavy and there were SO many that they got scared the bridge would eventually collapse.  Some of the locks were used in art installations around the city and the rest are next to the bridge, which is where we saw these.

Now on the bridge, they have a bunch of weird art:

I liked this though:

That guy standing there is KILLING me!  Get out of the way, you idiot!

There was a guy selling locks, so we bought one and added our own love lock!

A piece of us will always be in Paris!

Then we went across the street to The Louve:

Again, it's so much bigger than I thought.  Crazy huge!  Someone told us if you looked at each painting in The Louve for 3 seconds, it would take you 3 months to see them all!

It reminds me of The DaVinci Code.  We were late and it was closed, so we didn't go inside.  I was kinda bummed, but it really wasn't the end of the world.

There was a garden across the street, so we wandered over:

NOT Arc de Triomphe, just FYI.

There was a fair going on in the distance, calling our names!

We had yummy fair food:

We hung around awhile, played games and sat in the park.  

On the way home, we saw a funny souvenir shop:

LOL!  Then off to bed because the next day was a national holiday, Bastille Day (like 4th of July) and there was going to be a show and fireworks at Le Tour Eiffel (The Eiffel Tower) and we wanted to get there early.  

Stay tuned!  You don't want to miss Bastille Day!!