Paris - Day 1

We took an early flight from Nice and landed in Paris at 9:30am Sunday morning.  All of our luggage came through just fine and we grabbed a cab to our hotel.  Having only gotten 5 hrs of sleep in the last 2 days I was exhausted --- and so was Dan.  We decided since we had landed so early we could spare a couple hours to lie in the room and rest before we hit the pavement to explore the city.  Our power nap turned into a long nap, but we felt GREAT when we woke -- ready to get outside with enough energy to appreciate the sights we saw.

Our hotel was a block away from the Vivain metro stop in the Montparnasse area of town.  I knew exactly where to go from here...hop on the metro line and take it straight up 5 stops to St. Michel (my old stomping grounds)!  Emerging from the underground metro we walked up the stairs right out to the front of the St. Michel fountain.

From there we walked across the street toward the River Seine and watched some boats float by below.  I told Dan to turn his head to the right and -boom- there was Notre Dame.  We took some pictures out front then headed for the doors to check out the inside.  Turns out we were right in time for Sunday evening mass, so our tour of the interior was even more beautiful as we were accompanied by the live singing of hymns.  The incense began wafting through the air as we moseyed through the crowds staring up at stained glass windows, chandeliers, and equally as intricate gothic, arched walkways.  I've always loved it in here, but it made it even better hearing Dan say he had never experienced anything like it.  I'm so glad we saw it together.

Leaving Notre Dame we noticed that the rain had turned into a drizzle.  I decided we had to walk back across the Seine over to the best little bookstore in Paris:  Shakespeare & Co. -  a must see!  Love it there and, yes, I bought a book (another one of Stephen Clarke's hilarious British commentaries on the French).

We walked outside this time and noticed that the drizzle had turned into an unexpected moment of dryness with sun poking through the clouds.  I told Dan it was imperative that we run to the metro and go to the Eiffel Tower that second since it was supposed to rain the entirety of our time in Paris and we must take advantage of the weather gods temporarily smiling on us -  so that's what we did.  Even though in my lifetime I have spent a total of nearly 6months in this city, I had NEVER been to the top of the Eiffel Tower.  It was closed in 2002 when I went with my high school class as it was less than a year after 9/11 and when my family tried to go during my study abroad semester in 2005 it started snowing, so they closed it down for fear that the cables would snap from the cold.  So, this was the day I was meant to go to the top!  We stayed there for hours...taking our time strolling along the river from the metro to the monument, grabbing a nutella crepe at the carousel right across the street from the Tower, waiting in line with many an American high school group to go up the elevator, being silly with my camera at the bottom of the Tower before our ascent, keeping Dan calm at the top due to the crazy height which was not helped by the whipping wind, and finally gazing up at the glittering Tower lights that flickered on at 10pm sharp.  (*Note- If my memory serves me correctly then the lights usually twinkle for 10min at the top of every hour beginning at 10:00 each evening...however, this time they only stayed illuminated for 5min.  Result of the economy?  Too high of a power bill?  Just curious.)