Paris day 1

Summary version:

-Norte Dame

-pizza kebab with Nolan 

-Musee D'Orsay

-Louvre

Life story version: 

Once we got into Paris by bullett train we found our hotel and left for the city. Our first stop was Notre Dame, which I think might be my favorite stop in Paris. Something about it is so beautiful, and there are so many things that happened there that are interesting to imagine. We climbed up to the the very top of the bell tower and saw the city.

**4/15/2019
Today I am coming back to this post all these years later because today Notre Dame is burning down in Paris. I am so sad to see such a beautiful piece of history gone. After this trip I went home and read the Hunchback of Notre Dame to see if I could imagine the story in the original building, and it was a moving read. A lot of books take place in places that seem glorified in the book, yet in real life the original setting seems inadequate when I see it.. (Chateau D'if for example) but Notre Dame seemed to fit the drama and depth of the book, and I could see it being the setting of great things that happened throughout history, although I know that particular book is fictional. I feel a small bit of comfort to think that I saw this landmark before it burned down in it's original glory from 800 years ago. Below I will post additional pictures that I left out for the sake of space in the original post, but now want to include because the views don't exist anymore.

Garrett snapping pics from the outside.

The side of the building from the line waiting to get in.

We walked around the interior but pictures were limited cause there was a choir singing and it seemed a little irreverent to take pics.

My door pic vs. Garrett's door pic

 I look terrible but this pic shows the view from the bell tower.

 I watched footage of this center spire falling down today.

 View of the Seine from the bell tower.

 We were both taken with this little gargoyle and the view it perpetually saw.

 The view looking back on the chapel from the back of the bell tower.

**back to original post

 Garrett wanted to visit his favorite pizza kebab shop from his mission so we met up with one of his old mission buddies, Nolan, to eat there. It was great to hear their stories, and like every cute friend of Garrett's, I wanted to set him up with my little sister Mindy. I refrained. You're welcome. 

   After we headed off to Musee D'Orsay, and stopped to take some pictures along the Seine. The old clock in the train station was grand, but the numbers couldn't pop out like they did in Hugo. We went right behind it and I checked haha. I suppose they've probably done some updates since then.

  After crossing the Seine we took a brief stroll through the Tuleries garden, and entered the Louvre. I must admit it was so overwhelming I kind of had a fit trying to figure out the Rick Steve's audio guide. It was terribly confusing and I was immediately lost. Eventually I let go of my stubbornness and let Garrett be my guide, since he seems to know everything Rick Steves does anyways. My favorite piece in the Louvre was probably the building itself. I wish I could see what it looked like back when it was filled with royals. It went on forever and I felt like my legs would break off by the end. We did just about the whole thing in one swoop and all the dinner restaurants seemed to be closed by the time we got out.

Rainbow over the Louvre

  When we got back to our hotel I was brilliant enough to plug my hair dryer into the adapter without a voltage converter and blew the electricity. I was up till 1 am trying to communicate with the front desk guy who only spoke French, but eventually I remembered my basic French skills (which I am very proud of) and managed a "(point to the wall and do a sign for outlet) il ne marche pas. Le television ne marche pas. Les lumieres marche bien." He came right up and flipped the breaker. Look at me all speaking French and such.