Paris 2

June 10, 2011

Today we got up bright and early to start our day off at the Eiffel Tower!!!! We navigated the Metro successfully once again and got in line for tickets. Once we purchased our tickets, we got straight in line for the elevator. The ride up is almost even prettier than the view at the top. It is so neat to see the city at that view! To be constantly rising above it and see the whole city is unbelievable! Once we got to the top neither of us said a word. We just looked out onto the gorgeous city of Paris. After spending a lot of time enjoying the amazing views and taking lots of pictures we ventured down to the 2nd level to eat breakfast at the cafe. Now, I can say that I have not only seen the Eiffel Tower, but also eaten there! What an amazing view to have while enjoying breakfast! After eating, we took the elevator back down and enjoyed taking many more pictures of the tower once we were in the garden area in front of the tower. I took many pictures of the Eiffel tower, probably way more than needed, but I was just so pretty and an amazing site that I wanted to make sure I kept those images forever. 

The ride up

Gorgeous View

After seeing the tower, we went to an area of town called Rue Cler. This area is known for its nice, calm atmosphere with many markets and amazing places to eat! Even though we had to ask many people how to find it, it was definitely worth the journey! The area was filled with gorgeous flower shops, some of the prettiest fruit and vegetables I have ever seen, tons of cheese stores and the cutest homemade/handmade shops (jewelry, honey and bath products!) After looking at all of the cute shops we enjoyed lunch at Cafe de Marche. We had great champagne and salad! While we were eating a little rain shower came along, but it was nice sitting on the street under the canopy watching the people run by. 

On the street - Rue Cler

CHEESE!!!!!

After Rue Cler, we went to the Musee d'Orsay. 

Now I loved this museum much better than the Louvre! We saw some of my absolutely favorite paintings!!!! I really enjoyed our time at this museum! It was an honor to get to see some of these paintings face to face. Here are some my favorites that we saw!

Van Gogh

Henri-Edmond Cross

Millet

Degas

Monet

Renoir

Whistler 

After the museum, we went out to eat for our official last dinner in Paris! We decided on Le Bousquet in Rue Cler. It was amazing!!! We had Coeur de Rumsteak a la bordelaise gratin dauphinois & Moelleux au chocolat, vanille a part for dessert!

Then we enjoyed a stroll through the garden surrounding the Eiffel Tower and waited for sunset to see the tower when all the lights were on! The view was well worth the wait!!! Then we headed back to the hotel for the night!

June 11, 2011

When I woke up that morning I was very depressed!!! I was so sad to be leaving the city that I had fallen in love with! But, I looked at the positive and realized that I would be starting a new and exciting adventure in Spain! We started off our day with a tour of the Opera House! I was really excited about this because of my obsession with The Phantom of the Opera. I was not let down! The opera house is so elaborate and stunning! There were so many details from everything to the ceilings, floor, statues and even stairways. It was just gorgeous!!!

View from the balcony of the Opera House

Outside the Opera House

After the Opera House, we took the Metro back to the area of our hotel for lunch. We ended up having lunch at a crepe shop! It was amazing!!!! I had the crepe la Bolognese. 

We then spent the rest of the afternoon shopping in the area called St. Paul Village. We enjoyed the many boutiques and interesting shops. We stopped in this one handmade jewelry store and met a lady name Martine'. She was amazing! We talked forever! She not only discussed Memphis being the capitol of "the blues" and Elvis, the wonders of traveling, life in Pairs but she also helped us with our french! She then told us about a wall located right outside the shop that had been there since the Crusades and how it was built to protect the city! She then told us all about the jewelry and how it was all handmade. She encouraged us to always travel to learn more about ourselves and to contribute to the world. She was such a sweet spirit and I will never forget her! We then finished the afternoon shopping adventure with some ice cream! We then had our own "Breakfast at Tiffany's" moment. We were eating our ice cream while looking at the windows of a realtor's office which listed all of the lovely apartments in Paris!!!

After shopping, we had to go get our bags and head to the train station for out train! I was so sad to leave Paris, but so excited for spain at the same time! I am already making a list of things to do when I am back in Paris one day! :)