Paris

We arrived in Paris late Friday night around 10pm. We stayed in this international hostel that was a little bit of a train ride but after a sketchy walk to the hostel we made it in safely. As we checked in this drunk chick that was alone in Paris wanted us to go out with her but we politely declined and went to bed because we had a long day of museums ahead of us! We woke up really early in the morning and headed to the Louvre. On our way something historic happened. Bethany and Katy were in the front and crossed a street before the guys and left them stranded on the other side. This never happened again, the rest of the time they were the ones stranded by the ruthless leader Timmy.

We all came prepared with a Rick Steves walking tour on our iPods so we all kind of dispersed throughout the museum and tried to make our way through the massive museum.

During our tour we of course saw the mona lisa which was surrounded by a ton of  people all trying to take pictures through the thick glass room built around the painting, which is a lot smaller than we expected. We also saw a lot of cool paintings and rooms furnished the way they were when the royalty still occupied the castle. The Hammurabi code was a highlight, it was the very first written code of law. It was really interesting reading the translation of it.

Someone who remembers all about the cool things at the louvre should put some here for fun because I don't remember any more (Emilio cough cough Emilio)

After spending about 4 hours in the Louvre we all met up and were starving so we grabbed a baguette sandwich and ate lunch by the river.

After lunch we started a Rick Steves walking tour narrated by Timmy. We walked by the Saint- Chapelle which is this very pretty church that has panels and panels of stain glass that were so beautiful. Then we walked to a holocaust memorial and had a nice conversation with an old man in line about the U.S involvement in the war. Then we headed to Notre Dame and waited in a really long line, but it was worth it to see the inside. We also stood on the center of Paris which is in the courtyard right outside Notre Dame.

Then we walked around the church and Bethany learned that Flying Buttresses are not the gargoyles with wings but important structural supports.

 It was then time for a gelato break and Shashank had his favorite gelato of the trip-mango flavored that he literally licked his cup for.

After that we were energized to walk down the Champs Elysees and made it to the Arc de Triomphe where Shashank did the infamous plank photo bomb.

It was then time to meet up with Dan at the Eiffel Tower which proved to be a little more difficult than we thought. On the way we came across this crazy building that had plants covering its walls!

Once we made it to the Eiffel tower we were greeted by Dan holding this box of delicious Macaroons from
the famous shop Laduree

 We then waited in line to take the elevator up the Eiffel Tower. We made it up just at sunset and it was beautiful. We stayed up there for a while going to the multiple levels that you have access to. The Elevator was pretty nerve racking. It goes up at an angle along the curve of the tower and it goes REALLY high and you are packed in with a ton of people! The boys proceeded to plank on everything they could lay on.

We made it back down just in time to see the light show on the Eiffel Tower.

Then we headed back to the hostel getting some Crepes along the way. Walking back to our hostel that night we passed some sketchy cars with a bunch of people surrounding it doing something really sketchy. We just kept walking and pretended not to notice! Eek!

Sunday- The Palace of Versaille

Palace of versaille, really long lines, really lavish decorations, hall of mirrors- dan planked. Gardens were beautiful. Lots of really cool fountains. Orange Tree grove.

The dude had a canal in his backyard to hold his warships...like I said-Lavish

Audio Tour! FTW!