A Romantic City...with Nick

France is everything and more I hoped for. Nick and I awoke around 6:30 am Tuesday morning. We ate the same breakfast we had at the previous two English hostels. Cornflakes (with warm milk) and toast seems to be the standard hostel breakfast in England. We caught the tube that went to the station around 7:00 am and eventually got through security and boarded the EuroStar or the high-speed “chunnel” train that connects Paris to London. Nick and I were exhausted so we slept most of the two hours to Paris. A bit of culture shock began to settle in after stepping onto the platform. We didn’t know where anything was and we couldn’t read anything either. Usually when this happens we just start stopping strangers and asking questions. This method has proven to work countless times. We spent about an hour at the train station booking our hostel, buying a 35€ pass that would get us into every museum, and figuring out what we were going to do. We found our hostel in record time—it was gorgeous! We had to ring for the owner to open the door. It was a classy looking building with an ancient staircase leading to the second floor. The owner greeted us with kisses on both cheeks…just kidding. He shook our hands and showed us to our room. We had a large room to ourselves in downtown Paris for only 17€, which has been one of the better deals we’ve found. It was around noon when we eventually headed out to see Paris.




So far my favorite thing about France has been the people—no joke—they are honestly the kindest, most helpful (not to mention most attractive) people I've ever come across! The first stop Nick and I used our new 2 day metro pass on was the Cathedrale Notre Dame. The 10 minute line was worth going inside. We spent about an hour walking around the gigantic cathedral. I loved the paintings and sculptures of the many Catholic saints. But my favorite thing there was a sculpture of Christ standing almost life size. His feet were about eye level and everyone who walked by would reach up and touch his feet in reverence. It turned into a very spiritual experience for me. I'm glad I took a history class during winter semester because I had learned about the architecture of the many building we visited, including the flying buttresses.

Patheon in Paris

After Notre Dame we walked about a mile through the streets of Paris to visit the Patheon, where we saw the tomb of Victor Hugo, who wrote Les Miserables. It was cool but every thing was in French with no English translation. Although frustrated, this did not dampen our spirits. We left the Patheon and literally stumbled across the most beautiful park, which stands in front of the Senate building. We hung around the park for about half an hour watching romantic couples giggle while drinking wine and children playing with miniature sail boats. This was about the time when I realized how romantic the city of Paris is. Nick was thinking the same thing when he made a comment like, "Graden, don't take this the wrong way but I wish Tasha (his sweet girlfriend) were here instead of you right now..." Trust me. I did not take offense. I was wishing he were a girl too.

Delicious pizza that I bought from a small bakery in Paris.

A couple of local French (out of the hundreds) who helped us find our way.

After asking a handful of locals where another great place to visit in Paris was--we found ourselves at the Sacre Coeur Basilica on the tallest hill of Montmartre over looking Paris. This is likely one of the top 3 prettiest places I've ever visited. The Sacre Coeur Basilica is a Catholic church with the most spectacular view of Paris. Although the church was magnificent, Nick and I spent more time on the outside watching the street performers and enjoying good music. By the way, the weather in Paris could not be any more perfect than it has been.

Looking out over Paris.

On the steps of Montmartre.

We were advised by locals to visit the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower at dusk. With good fortune, we did just that. We made it to the Arc de Triomphe with about an hour of sunlight still left. The 164-foot monument was commissioned by Emperor Napoleon I. Our all-inclusive museum passes not only grants us entry through all of these museums/monuments but allows us to skip the majority of lines. I feel like a VIP whenever I walk past all of those poor souls waiting forever in line and I don't feel bad either.. After skipping the line, we walked up a spiral staircase for about 5 minutes. It was almost suffocating to climb the stairs with all of the other tourists but we finally reached the summit despite the dizziness and lack of oxygen. We took a few pics from the top and began making the descent. We wanted to cap off the day with the Eiffel Tower at sunset. It would be an understatement to make the statement that we dominated the metro system in Paris. It was much easier to get around there than it was in London. Enough boasting...sorry.




We took the metro a couple stops southward, surfaced, and stood gazing at the very impressive Eiffel Tower. It's no wonder this piece of architecture attracts millions of people every year. We both bought delicious chocolate banana crepes and sat down listening to the most romantic music in the most romantic city in the world. We made a vow that we would never visit this location again without a girl by our sides. Couples were flirting and kissing while Nick and I sat about 2 feet apart from one another. We didn't want to give anyone the wrong idea..




It was about midnight when we made it back to our hostel on Tuesday night. My feet were killing me after all the walking but we saw a ton of Paris in a short amount of time, so it was well worth it.

Enjoying chocolate, banana crepes at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.