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Bonsoir!
Luckily I wrote a diary of the places we visited and took hundreds of photos because already I forget the many buildings and landmarks I saw!
On our (me and steve) first day in paris our first stop was the arc de triomphe, out of the train station exit we turned around and there it was. After walking around for a little while trying to cross the crazy roads surrounding it (even if I could drive I don't think I would chance it - there are barely any road markings and it just seemed to be a free for all with cars going everywhere!) we found a subway entrance and managed to get across the road. The detail in the carvings underneath and around the edges of the arc is pretty impressive, I took lots of photos before heading into the arc and checking out the view from the top, here was my first glimpse of the eiffel tower which was one of my main things 'to do.' From where we were we could only really see the top of it and I was a little disappointed because it looked like a large electricity pylon - when we got a better look and could see a bit more of it I was excited again - its much better close up!
After the arc we walked down the Champs d'Elysées heading towards a monument we could see on our map passing the grande and petite palais on the way. The obelisk as it turned out to be was pretty funky. If I could read hieroglyphics i would have read the inscription but I can't so I didn't and we continued to walk forwards to through the jardin des tuileries towards the louvre. I wish i'd re-read my copy of the da vinci code before going because I knew some of the places I went to were in it but couldn't remember why - like the louvre. It was a funky place - I did love the glass pyramid and we chilled out next to it for a little while until we were harassed by some guy that wanted steve to put his finger in a loop of some string. We got away from him then some other guys really got in our faces asking us to sign a petition for peace somewhere and we did then they told us we had to make a donation of 20euros each - we didn't give it to them but they really annoyed us so it spoilt it for a while. I was suprised how quickly I didn't mind ignoring people that asked us for money in one way or another - perhaps I am just mean.
We started to make our way to notre dame, passing more lovely buildings and the nice view of the river on the way. It wasn't what I expected either - I imagined big nasty gargoyles and stuff but they were quite small! it was still beautiful though and we got to go inside it which was most cool because I love the colours when the light shines through stained glass windows. Next we went to the pantheon - the name was just really familiar and I wanted to check it out - couldn't really work out its purpose because most of the info was in french but it was cool.
ooo - then we went to try find the catacombes, we'd been warned the entrance was hard to find and we did spend a good little while looking for it when we'd reached where it was labelled on the map. found it after a while though and decended into the dark tunnels that lead to hundreds and thousands of bones! I felt a bit uncomfortable being in there and taking photos but I also wanted to remember and show people so i took a few. I still can't believe the skulls are arranged into shapes and patterns though - I don't understand why?!
Our last stop of the day was the eiffel tower! We'd planned to try get there in time to se it in the day and the evening just incase we didn't get to come back. And thats what we did! It was pretty funny watching the dodgey souvenier sellers running away anytime the police came in sight - I would too - they have guns and batons! The lift up the tower was scarier than I thought but it was ok when we got to the top! Took lots of photos - waited a little while for it to get darker and then took photos with all the lights of paris shining bright! I loved the tower lit at night - it just looked awesome - a yellow mass of steel against the blackness of the sky - didn't like the flashing blue lights so much when they came on but i'm glad I saw it!
So overall a pretty busy day one!
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