Paris!

Hey Bloggers!

So, I'm not sure if I told you all this or not, but over reading week my mom and I went to Paris! I absolutely LOVED it and I'm so excited to tell you all about it and show you some wonderful pictures. Everyone has to visit Paris at least once in their life. So, I suggest you get on that. I won't tell you what we did day by day, but I'll highlight all of the good, fun, stuff! 

The first thing we did (once we napped and attempted to get rid of our jet lag) was go to the Eiffel Tower! You definitely do not feel like you're in Paris until you have seen it! We went up into the Eiffel Tower as well. We did this twice, once during the day, and once at night. It's so beautiful and it's so different when you see it at different times of the day. I highly suggest going at night so that you can see it all lit up and sparkle! It sparkles every hour, on the hour! Don't miss it because it's beautiful! (Note: don't go to the souvenir shops in the tower, they are over priced! There are many souvenir shops around the city with almost the exact same stuff for half of the price!)

This is pretty much the same picture, as you can probably tell. But, one is taken at night and the other during the day (obviously). This just shows you how beautiful it is at all hours of the day. WAH I miss Paris now :(

Next, was Notre Dame. It was beautiful! It's amazing how many people go and visit this church, and even how many people attend the church. While we were there we got to see part of a mass, it was awesome. They had mass in like six different languages or something like that. I like old places like this because I love to think of all of the history, and all of the people who have been to this place. After Notre Dame we went across the street and had DELICIOUS crepes, they were carmel banana. OMG. SO. GOOD. 

The Louvre. If you haven't noticed, my mom and I did most of the normal touristy things. But, in Paris this is necessary because they are some of the best things. The Louvre was amazing. Again, so much history in a building it was crazy. That place is MASSIVE, let me tell you. We got lost, and went in circles several different times. It was ok though because we always found something different and something that we liked. I think that one of the things that surprised me the most was the size of some of the paintings! Some of them were huge! You can see me standing next to one of the paintings and this wasn't even one of the largest ones. My mom was super excited because she got to see the Mona Lisa! I also took her picture with it which was not a simple task! There were so many people all crammed in around it that it was nearly impossible to move anywhere, let alone take a picture.

There are so many big museums that can take you all day to go through in, Paris. So, mom and I looked, and looked, for small historical things that we could do in a day. We spent one day doing all of these 'little' things. It was fun because a lot of people don't go to these places, even though it is something that is so cool and I would have hated to miss. I know that these places obviously aren't top secret but a lot of people skip over them to do the bigger, more popular things. We went to the oldest church in Paris (which isn't Notre Dame), called St. Germain Des Pres. This church was absolutely beautiful and Rene Descartes tomb is actually here! I, honestly, preferred this church over Notre Dame it was amazing, and also not as crowded! We also went to Arenes de Lutece. This is an arena that they kept, mostly, in tact from back in the day. That was so cool! Mom and I went and sat on the steps where SO many other people have sat and people experienced, and saw so may things there. It was so cool just to be able to sit where these people sat! So much went down in that arena and we got to go there! We also went and took a stroll in the Luxembourg Gardens, which is also so pretty, and I can only imagine it in the Summer! 

Okey, we also did the Arc de Triumphe. While we were there they were doing some kind of memorial service, it looked like. It was really cool!

One day we went to Disneyland in Paris! It is so much smaller than the Disney in Florida but it is still equally as fun. There are only two parks at this one as well. Magic Kingdom was so cute and just made you want to smile. It is an anniversary year for the Disney in Paris so they had way more parades than normal, and lots of wonderful things going on throughout the day! I think it would be so fun to work at Disney and be able to make people smile everyday, that would make me happy! I LOVED the castle because it was PINK!!!! Like, OMG. Apparently, it is Sleeping Beauty's castle. It is definitely my favourite castle out of all of them, and the one I would most want to live in *winkwink* haha! It was really cold the day that we went to Disney so we were kind of freezing. But it was totally worth it!

One of the days mom and I took a trip to Versailles Castle. It was spectacular! I loved that place, it is truly amazing. While we were walking through the castle mom and I couldn't believe that people actually lived there! Like, it's crazy to think about. It would actually take them 20 minutes to get to their bedroom to go to bed! Well, maybe not that long, but close! We were also super excited picking out the servants quarters. They don't lead you in the direction of them, but after seeing so many in house she has shown, we are used to spotting them. Even the servant staircases were stunning. The work on them was simply beautiful and I couldn't, and still can't, get over the fact that people lived there. After the castle we ventured into the gardens! OMG. This was honestly my favourite part of the trip. I can only imagine what it would be like in the Summer. It was a little chilly that day so there was absolutely no one in the actual gardens, they just took the straight paths to the other parts of Versailles. Mom and I felt the need to venture into the gardens a little more. You could get lost in there if you wanted to! I wish I could have stayed out there for ever, and I hate the outdoors! We found a fountain that we thought was pretty cool, but it was all gated up so we couldn't get too close, but we were excited that we got to see things that not many others take the time to do!

Funny side note: Mom and I would see doors that led to places that we weren't allowed to go into and would try and figure out what was in the other side, or where they went. At one point we were trying to figure out what it would take to get an employee to let us see EVERYTHING! hahaha. Ya, right!

Mom and I decided to rent an apartment for the week instead of staying in a hotel. I think this is the best decision that we made! It was awesome to actually be able to experience what life is like in Paris. We got to see and learn so much more. We went out every night for walks in our neighbourhood and found somewhere new to eat, and buy groceries and such. It was awesome. I highly suggest doing this if you are planning a trip to Paris! They apartment was actually less expensive than a hotel anyways! Here are some pictures of little things we found around the neighbourhood and pictures of our actual apartment. I forgot to take pictures of the upstairs but there was a bedroom, and then a room with bunk beds. It's hard to believe that people actually live in an apartment that small with an entire family! OMGSH. Crazy! 

This was one of our favourite places we found! It was, literally, right around the corner (maybe 20 feet) from our apartment. The best pizza and pasta ever! By the time we left we got to know the owner and he continued to bring us free stuff! hahah. I wish I had some of his pizza right now! yumm. If you ever go here, make sure you're hungry. He likes it when you eat all of your food! 

Well, I hope you all enjoyed this little glimpse into my trip to Paris! I want to go back so badly. Next time in the Summer, mom and I have said. It was wonderful during February but we would want to go back in the Summer to see it differently! I hope you all eventually get to go to Paris and see all of the wonderful things that I was fortunate enough to see! Have a great night!

TOODLES

Cate :D