The journey began Thursday evening as we all finally arrived and met at the Dublin Airport around midnight. We slept in the airport and considered ourselves lucky as we found a row of benches that were padded outside of McDonalds....this was to be the sleeping area for the night. Our flight was to leave Friday morning at 6:30am so we saw no point in getting a hotel for the few hours we had. We awoke at 5am, a little groggy but definitely excited to be on our way to Paris.
After landing at the Beauvieux Airport we had to take a bus into Paris which took about an hour. The first thing I noticed when we were on the bus was that we were back driving on the right hand side of the road! It felt really strange to me after being so accustomed to being on the left. Whenever I saw a car throughout the weekend I kept pondering why the steering wheel was on the left and not the right side! Funny how it doesn't take long to get accustomed to a new way!
We arrived in Paris hungry so set out to find a cute French cafe to have lunch. We stumbled upon the cutest little French bakery. They had the most amazing bread and their desserts looked fabulous and perfect. After savoring every bite of my bread we decided to start wandering around the city visiting the sights and also keeping our eyes out for a hostel/place to stay. The three of us had decided to just be spontaneous and decide what to do and where to sleep all after arriving in Paris. So off we go with a map in hand....not far from the bakery we came upon the Arc De Triomphe.
We admired it for a time taking photos and posing in front of it. Then we went down the tunnel and walked under it and came out on the other side where we took more pictures. We continued down Avenue Des Champs Elysees where we admired all of the shops. We meandered the streets and got down to the Siene River where we got a view of the Eiffel Tower. At this point we decided to start really looking for a hostel because we were tired and ready to drop off our bags. It took some time and a little more walking but we found the Aloha Hostel. I will admit I was a little apprehensive as this was my first time staying out a hostel. But I am all for trying new things. We got settled into our dorm like room and decided to relax for a little bit before heading back out. As we were having some down time our bunkmates started to arrive. The room was actually two rooms connected so we shared the space with 7 guys. Not all of them we got to know but two of them, Michael and Neil, we got to chat with for a time. It was interesting to hear their story and where they were from. It really shows what a small world it is when I mentioned I was from Illinois and after being asked where I responded around Champaign. Neil started to laugh as this was where he was born and actually still has relatives residing there! Anyways...they are from South Carolina and are part of a work program where they get to travel around to different places and work in exchange for food and a place to stay. I think that is a very cool way to see Europe!
After a bit of a rest and much needed refreshing we decided to go see the Eiffel Tower lit up in the evening time and find a quaint French restaurant for dinner. The Eiffel Tower definitely didn't disappoint...it was just as amazing in person as it appears on TV. In the evenings, not only is it lit up but there is a light show at the top of every hour where it sparkles! Truly fabulous! Standing underneath the tower looking up was very cool. We decided to wait til the next evening to go up in the tower so for now we just stood on the ground admiring its beauty and appearance. After getting our fill for the evening we walked along the river back in the direction of our hostel in search of food. We came across a nice little restaurant. The food was delicious and dessert was amazing!
After a night's rest we got up on Saturday morning at a decent time ready to make the most of our full day in Paris. We started the morning with a stroll through a lively street market, where I think the French culture was more obvious and vibrant than anywhere else we were that weekend. There were booths with fruit, vegetables, art, fish, breads, pastries, and flowers. It was fantastic to just walk through the market browsing at the items and watching the people.
From there, we headed to the Jardin du Luxemborg and the Palace Luxembourg, where we saw the Fontaine des Quatre Parties du Monde (Fountain of the Four Parts of the World), which was gorgeous. And the palace and the grounds were also quite beautiful. 
Next stop was to be Notre Dame but with a few stops along the way. We saw the Sorbonne and the Musee des Cluny and the St. Michels Fountain. We also stopped at a couple tourist shops to browse and do a little touristy shopping! A trip to Paris wouldn't be complete without a few momentos to take home.
We then entered into the Art District and the Theatre District, so it was a beautiful walk up the hill through an adorable few neighborhoods. And when we finally made it to the Sacre du Coeur, it was unquestionably worth the walk up. I really loved going inside and seeing this amazing church. I am completely loving all the old churches and how impressive they are. I really wish more churches still looked this way both inside and out.After taking in the majestic views of the city we started our descent downwards back towards the heart of Paris. We were in search of the metro to take us back towards the Eiffel Tower. Lucky for us before we found the metro we found a street vendor selling crepes....a delicious Nutella crepe definitely hit the spot.
After arriving back down in the Eiffel Tower area we caught a boat down the Seine for a nighttime river tour, which was really nice. The city was beautiful at night, and we were able to see a lot of the sights that we had not had time to visit during the day.
The river tour doubled back down the Seine and dropped us off back at the Eiffel Tower, where we finally went up to the top. It was definitely amazing up there! I think that going to the top of the Eiffel Tower is certainly one of those things everyone should do at least once in their lifetime; it is just unlike anything else and such an indescribable feeling as you look down at Paris. Being at the top is definitely a memorable experience and also during our time up top the tower began to sparkle! Simply fabulous!
Since it was our last night in Paris we wanted a delicious French meal. After trekking around for awhile we found a great restaurant that had a heated outside area. It was definitely the perfect setting for our last meal in Paris. And the food was of course delicious. During our walk we stumbled upon the bridge where Princess Diana was in the car crash and at the top of the bridge many people had written notes to her and there was a monument there in her honor as well. It was a very neat thing to see and reading the notes were quite touching. Thankfully Brittany speaks French so she could translate some of them for us!
We were now exhausted from walking all day and it was getting late so time to head back to the hostel to get some sleep. Being the pros that we are on the metro we were back to the hostel in no time. Time for some sleep as we will be awaking at 4:30am to catch our flight back to Ireland!
Definitely a fantastic weekend in Paris and let me just end with saying that the French definitely know how to do food! And all of the sights of Paris are definitely worth the trip! Until next time Paris.....!!!
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