We had a hard time finding a place to have dinner since it was Sunday and almost everything close by was closed. No one could give us directions/information in the few places that were open because no one spoke English. It would have been really funny if we weren't almost starving, heh.
During our entire stay in Paris it was overcast and it rained a bit during a couple of days. One of the first things we noticed was the horrid state of the metro. It's filthy, stinky, and with lots of people asking for money.
On the first day we had a semi-difficult time getting around just because everything was in French (naturally). It took a short while to figure things out, but once we did, we got around just fine. I preferred the food in London and the people as well, they're so much more polite. Also, there are HUGE lines for all the main tourist sites.
We didn't see all that much of Paris because it was the last stretch of our trip and my friend was already pretty tired. On the first day we went to Disneyland Paris. That was fun because it's oh-so-magical, heh. Did some shopping for my monkeys and went on a couple of rides.
On the second day we went to the Eiffel Tower. AMAZING structure and obviously a great view of the city. From there we walked to the Arc de Triomphe and got caught in a downpour. The eternal flame went out with the rain, heh.
On the third day we went to the Louvre Museum. I think that was the longest line we got! Needless to say, we didn't get around to seeing even a third of the museum, but what we did see was awesome. Just sooooo much history and beauty in one place!
On the fourth day we went to the Château de Versailles. It's one thing to see it in movies and photos, but seeing the luxurious details in real life is almost breathtaking! And the gardens! Just wow! It was a horridly windy, drizziling day, and we only saw about a sixth of the gardens, not to mention that the part right in front of the palace was undergoing rennovations, but they're a work of art in themselves.
On the fifth and last day we went to Notre Dame, Champs-Élysées, and the Musée de l'Armée. We didn't go up the tower of Notre Dame because there was a long line and my friend didn't want to wait in line once again.
Being that it was summer, it would get dark around 10 p.m. and by that time we were on our way to bed, so we hadn't seen the "city of lights" version of Paris. I couldn't leave Paris without seeing at least the Eiffel Tower lit up. So on the last night I went to the charming Montmartre and to the Trocadéro. I got to see the Sacré-Coeur Basillica, Place de Tertres, a lovely view of Paris with the Eiffel Tower in the distance, and of course, the lighted Eiffel Tower. Yay!
We got the train back to London the next day and from there our flight back to Brazil. All in all, this trip was more wonderful than I imagined it would be and I'm ever-so-thankful to my friend, Aparecida, for making it possible.
Disneyland Paris:
Pirates-of-the-Caribbean:
One of the bases:
Waiting for the elevator:
The Sacré-Coeur Basillica in the distance:
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier:
Waiting in line to enter the Louvre:
The Mona Lisa ... crazy! It was the most crowded painting with a ton of people trying to take selfies and after they succeeded, instead of moving for someone else to get up close, they'd just stay there occupying space.
Gold and jewel-encrusted snuffboxes:
Arriving at the Château de Versailles:
Inside the Hall of Mirrors:
Notre Dame:
The gargoyles of one of the towers:
The Grand Palais:
The Petit Palais:
The Musée de l'Armée:
The Seine:
Sacré-Coeur:
So pritpree!
