Sunday, December 9, 2012

Paris Palooza - Day 4

4 November 2012


The last day of Paris Palooza =( What a sad day, realizing I will have to leave Paris in the evening, but I certainly was not going to let my last glorious day in Paris escape me! It ended up being just me, Paige, and Natasha, because Katie and Jimmy went their own way after going to the bar the night before, and the three of us started our journey by visiting the famous catacombs. We were very excited, and after taking a few metro rides, we finally arrived, only to find out that the catacombs were closed due to an air conditioning malfunction. Wonderful…failed plan number one, check! But our day was far from a failure! We hurried back to the metro station and made our way to Place de la Bastille, where the famous Bastille in Paris stood that was raided by French revolutionaries. It was interesting being there, and it was really interesting seeing the monument there as well. Just another famous place in Paris that we learned oh-so-much about in our History class! After seeing the monument and stopping by at a local restaurant to pick up a quick bite to eat, we made our way back to the metro station and made our way closer to the center of Paris, and we saw a lot more interesting landmarks on points of interest, all on foot: Pont Neuf (where we also saw a bunch of locks locked to the rails of the bridge with lovers' names written on them, so cute!), Palais de Justice, Hotel de Ville, Notre Dame again… everything was so amazing to see, and the architecture of all of these bridges and buildings was just remarkable and phenomenal! We really got to see up close and personal the ideal French architecture, right in the heart of Paris! From Notre Dame, we took a metro ride to go and see the Grand Opera of Paris (where the Phantom of the Opera lives supposedly…spooky!). While we were there, there was a group of students that made a band of their own, and they were playing music in front of the Opera. It was like a free show in front of the Grand Opera of Paris! How amazing! I really enjoyed my time there, and it's just another box to check off on my amazing-sights-to-see-in-Paris. =) We decided that before ending our glorious trip in Paris, we wanted to head over and see the Pantheon. So, we made our way to the Eiffel Tower to see her glory and beauty just one last time, and then we made our way to the metro and made our way over to the Pantheon. What an amazing piece of architecture! It was much larger than I expected it to be, and it was very impressive. Yet again, Paris threw one of it's many wonders at me, and I received it full force and was floored with amazement. After visiting the Pantheon, Paige, Natasha and I made our way to the closest metro station and made our way back to our hotel to check out, which is where we ran into Katie and Jimmy. Ironically enough, everything they did during the day were the exact same things that we did, just at different times and in a different order. It's a shame we couldn't all see everything together, but at least we can all share the same memories! Once we gathered up all of our bags, we made our way to Gare du Nord, picked up a quick bite to eat for dinner, and then we caught an RER that took us back to Paris Gare de Lyon. Our TGV was there as soon as we arrived, so we hopped on, each with our own fond memories of Paris, and we waved goodbye to the grand city of lights as the train pulled away, ready to take us back to our home - that's right, our little French home - Grenoble. What an amazing weekend in Paris, a weekend that I will never forget, and a weekend that I will forever hold close to my heart. Don't worry, Paris. I'll be back. =) 

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