Vive Le France - Paris rules!

European Trip - May 21, 22, & 23, 2002

So we finally made it out of Spain - don't get me wrong, I loved Spain, but I was ready for a change. And what a change! So you know everything was going well when we already had a hotel room reserved for both nights we would be here - so I was all chill on the train here. The train was the fanciest we'd been on, as it was a Talgo Hotel Train - and you pay for the difference. Unfortunately it's the only option overnight. So we wake up and think it's only a little while longer till Paris. Wrong. Sometime during the night, the train had stopped and now we were about 3 hours behind schedule. This delay really didn't affect much, and allowed us to see the beautiful French countryside we'd been training through. Finally, we entered Paris' Gare d'Austerlitz station, got our subway passes, and made our way to the amazing area known as Rue Cler, which is right in between the Champs de Mars and the Invalides. Tre Sweet! Our hotel, Hotel Leveque, was situated on a small walking street full of vendors, fruit shops, boulangeries, etc. Very Paris, when you think of Paris. We managed to check right in (thanks to the delay), and after getting settled (and a much needed shower), got our museum passes (thanks Rick Steves!) and explored the Musee d'Orsay, walked on up to the Champs Elysees, walked that monster all the way up to the Arc d'Triumphe (but not before stopping by Virgin Megastore - so amazing), having the top of the Arc all to ourselves for about 10 minutes due to great timing and our museum passes, discovered that Star Wars Episode II was playing V.O. (meaning we could see it in the original language with French subtitles), went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and then went back to the Champs Elysees movie theatre which kicked ASS and saw Star Wars in English. The French loved it! And the theatre was unbelievable - amazing seats, awesome auditorium - WOW! So needless, to say, it was a good first day!

Who loves ya, Eiffel Tower?

Day 2 of Paris we had planned to make a day trip out to Versailles, the world's greatest palace, or so it is said to be. We found our way to the right train station, and took the 45-minute long train ride to Versailles-town, or whatever the hell it's called. It's basically a city built for the tourists. It was kind of a gloomy day, with lots of overcast, so I know my mood was in the pits. We got to the palace, and the place is huge!!!!!!!! It's very ornate and good God Louis XIV must have spent bajillions of dollars/francs on this thing. Now don't get me wrong, I am very impressed with Versailles, but the presentation was very lacking. All the rooms were empty, and the Hall of Mirrors, while it should have been overwhelmingly impressive, was almost dingy. The dreary weather didn't help things, but it was a small let down. I'm sure when the sun is out, the Hall and Palace take on a life of their own. We walked through the gardens, and I don't think you could ever see the whole area. The gardens go on forever. Unfortunately for us, we came a time when they don't run the fountains every day - you have to wait till summer for that. Bah! So another letdown. But I still can say I've seen Versailles. I may have to go back on a sunny day though for it to redeem itself.
Upon returning to Paris, our second destination of the day was the Louvre, which Jason had never been to. It was cool to see all the art that is so incredibly famous, like the Mona Lisa or the Venus de Milo. Of course we only saw a small portion of the Louvre, but we managed to see most of the 'famous' pieces of art.
After going numb from the museum overload, we made our way to something I had to see up close this time. Last time I was in Paris, I didn't go all the way down to the Moulin Rouge, but of course, being a fan of the movie now, I had to see it a tad closer. So we did. Then it was time to let something else do the work, so we hiked over to the Seine and boarded a river cruise for the must-do-it-while-you're-in-Paris cruise on the river Seine. What was nice was that the weather actually got nice just in time for the sunset. My mood lifted at this time as well. I'm very in tune with nature!!! Ha hahahahahahahahhaaha.

Click here to go the pictures of the river cruise and the rest of the Paris adventure!

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