Minus my drink tripping while I was dozing on the grumpy man across the table from me. Not too uncomfortable.... Oops... Train bends and no cup holders. Can't be faulted. Fortunately we got there about an hr after that so it wasn't too awkward for long.
Once we departed the train and did the requisite pee stop. We set about getting metro cards.
I've come to an interesting conclusion over the last few days. I'm actually a laid back traveler. I used to think I would always be high strung but traveling with someone, S, that is extremely high strung and basically goes against the flow whenever he doesn't follow something or understand completely even if I do... Makes me realize hey I'm mellow and actually very laissez faire, as the French would say. It makes me sort of miss when I visited a different S in Amsterdam. It was an awesome yet extremely chill trip. And that is what I need even while sightseeing.. Which isn't exactly the rest on the beach sort of vacation.
Anyways back to the adventure.
Once train tickets were procured we made our way to the metro to go to Norte dame. Always a favorite and always awesome. And it did not disappoint. Apparently it's celebrating its 685, or something , year which is pretty amazing. The rose window was gorgeous and I definitely felt good about going there. And with my new camera I may even have frame-able pictures... Shocker right... If you know me well you know I'm not the best photographer. I didn't light a candle this time because I didn't see st Therese. But I did internally offer some prayers up.
After that we tried to go to St chapelle. I say tried because we got all the way to the front and then found out we had to pay. Which was a downer and decided not to do it. Because we'd just come from a church. And the main reason to go is to see the sun through the stained glass. And it was definitely raining. So we pushed on.
To the Eiffel Tower... Woohoo. This was another must. And of course I've seen it every time I've gone to Paris. But i still wanted to go up. We went up to the tippy top. Which actually involves an elevator change. And we're able to get the amazing view of Paris. I can't wait to download my pictures. Now that I have the mega zoom camera I hope so of the potentially cool shots were actually cool.
We stayed up there for about a half an hr and got really cold. Then it was time for lunch. Of course by the time we found a cafe our brains were significantly hungrier then our stomachs. I got onion soup... You know what we call French onion... And it was very awesome eating onion soup in a cafe in Paris near the Eiffel Tower. Then I got a croque Madame. Basically a glorified grilled cheese with meat, it may have been rabbit but I'm not really sure. I didn't remember exactly what they tasted like but I remember it was good. So I got it but I was a lot of food. So eating again any time soon was out of the question.
After lunch we went down to the arc de triumph. Another good one. I still remember that our hotel the first time I went to Paris was right around the corner. So that area holds a special place for me. It also has the true tomb of the unknown soldier. Or well the first one I ever saw. So I think of it as the first, even though I would guess that most countries that participate in WWI have one. But who cares about the details :p
When we did that I'd sort of run out of a plan but S suggested that we go to basilica sacre coeur. Which we did. The stairs up to the top still such, because of course Montmartre is on a hill, and a big one. But it is completely worth it. Sacre coeur is really pretty and had a completely different feel then Notre Dame. So they are my favorites in Paris but for different reasons. And I saw a real nun:) I mean I've seen them before but it's always cool to see the real habits and stuff :)
After we'd seen that we didn't really have time to do much else but we walked a little and S got another coffee. Then we got a snack... Nutella crepe. YES!!!! And walked to the train station.
We got to the train station ridiculously early so I ended up doing laps around the neighborhood, essentially. Cause the idea of sitting in a train station was completely gross to me. So I didn't. And the neighborhood around Gare Du Nord... Kind of shady. But I made it work.
And now I'm reporting for the train on the way back. It was a long day with some transit foibles but nothing too bad and
We're going home to get some rest and sleep.
Tata for now... Enjoy an assortment of pictures... In no particular order... FYI. I'm officially bad at taking self portraits with a background. It's tricky
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