Catching Up

Thanks for being patient! We've noticed all your comments and truly appreciate them. We know it is definitely our turn to write in this two-way deal. The internet situation has been very tricky. Either it's too expensive, not available in our hostels/hotel, or the Cyber Cafes (as they call them in France) are closed. So here we are, days later, finally getting around to writing you. I'm warning you now, it will be a LONG post...there's lots to tell, so make sure you have the time to read it!

We left off at our first day in Paris, so logically, we'll start with Day 2 in this city of romance. We woke up extremely excited, ready to go site-seeing. We had it all planned out...we'd pop into Gare de Norde (the major train station close by) to get our EuRail pass validated, stop by the battery store to pick up a camera charger for Ashley, then be on our way. Great plan...poor execution. We had the EuRail experience from hell. To make a very loooooooooong story short, we waited in every ticket line in the station before finding the right one, which ended up by the way being very helpful. Three hours later, we had our pass stamped, and tickets to Mont St. Michel as well as San Sebastian.

We thought since we had an exact address to the battery store, it would be a 20-minute excursion then off to the Louvre. We took the Metro a few stops down...walked down the wrong side street...and ended up in Little India. Not a really...umm..."nice" place. DON'T GO THERE! So we finally got going in the right direction and 20 minutes later, we looked up at the street signs only to notice we were right back where we started. Gare de Nord station was directly in front of us...AND the battery store was, I don't know, five stores down. Mainly, we just decided to waste time that day, I guess.

We were expecting to get our site-seeing started at around 11, and come 4 o'clock, we actually made it to the Louvre. The only way to describe the way we felt when we came upon this timeless museum was overwhelmed. The pictures we've posted on here might be beautiful, but we can't possibly explain or even show you through pictures the unbelievable feeling of just standing in the courtyard, the sides of the building wrapping around you and going on for what seem like miles, the pyramids towering and sparkling in the sunlight, dipping our tired feet into the cool water of the fountain, and looking down the Champs Elysses toward the Arc de Triumph.

Then Ashley says in a tone of disgust: "Why would someone make something that looks like the Eiffel Tower? That would be a pathetic excuse for the Eiffel Tower. Liana, that's not the Eiffel Tower, right?"

Liana: "Ashley...I think that might be the Eiffel Tower. "

Ashley: "It's too small to be the Eiffel Tower. I thought it was supposed to be really big."

Liana: "I really think that's it. Do you think maybe we'll be disappointed?"

Ashley: "No, that can't be it."

(FYI - It was the Eiffel Tower. But to Ashley's credit, it did seem pretty pathetic, due to the fact it was so far away and just the top popped up above the trees.)

After a much needed rest by the fountain, we ventured on to see the church of Notre Dame. En route, we passed over the River Seine and ran into countless architecturally gorgeous buildings, every direction we looked was a postcard. Walking into the church leaves you breathless. Though simple wooden benches lined the church, and the stained glass windows no longer held the bright color they must have once had, the solid stone architecture minus the flashy decoration of today's churches still left us in awe. With a trace of wetness in our eyes, we said a prayer and lit a candle for a loved one. We silently walked out of the church and back to our hostel.

For dinner that night, we ate at a Portugese place called Gallinas, a recommendation from a bar owner at the corner. We had stepped into Julio's bar to see if they served food, which they didn't, so he walked us down the street to an adorable little chicken place and invited us to come by his bar later for drinks (after he spoke with the owner and ordered our food for us, since the language barrier was quite challenging.) We did end up going for a drink, but not until after our next great adventure.

Now, this was the 4th of July. On the way out of our hostel, we stole an American flag that they had in the sugar dishes, ran out the front door, made a minor pit stop at the liquor store, and jumped on the Metro to Trocadero to see the Eiffel Tower.

When you get off the train, you can't see the Tower itself because you're surrounded by tall buildings, but you can see the flashing cameras just 200 feet down. We clenched each others'

hands and rounded the corner. There it was. Lit up by thousands of sparkling lights. Definitely NOT pathetic.

And as we walked towards it, we heard...Turkish music??? We looked over the ledge and saw thousands of people watching we had no idea what. We came to find out that on the 4th of July, in Paris, in front of the Eiffel Tower, was a Turkish dance festival. We made our way around the fountain and sat in the grass to watch the show. Homemade vodka drinks in hand and our bags full of Smirnoff ice, we stuck our American flag into the ground and just tried to take it all in. It was quite an overwhelming experience. And boy can those Turkish people dance!!

Back at Julio's bar, we met up with some Portugese locals (oxymoron though it is). One in particular, an avid fan of Michael Jackson, bought us a drink and gave us a personal Thriller demonstration. (Video to come soon.) He also gave us some Spanish lessons...Portugese lessons...and French lessons...of course he speaks four languages as his English was decent too.

Who knew that we'd end up back at the Eiffel Tower four hours later doing cartwheels in the grass as the sun was rising?? Other than some random groups of people, we had the place all to ourselves...peaceful.

The next morning, overly exhausted, hungover and grumpy, we knew we still had some site-seeing to do. By the time we got going and made it back to the Eiffel Tower (yes, for the third time) it was close to four. We grabbed a baguette for lunch and made our way to the massive line underneath the Eiffel Tower. You know the ball at the top of the Eiffel Tower? Yeah, well, apparently there's an elevator to the top...and we did it! We thought we would be nervous at how high we would be, but we were glad we swallowed our fears. The height wasn't bad...and it's tough to beat a 360-degree view of Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Onto the next Parisian landscape!! The Arc de Triumph. It actually turned out that our late timing worked in our favor. We arrived just as the sun was starting to set, and cast a marvelous golden glow over the monument. It was stunning. Oh, by the way, this glowing picture - sky blue, sun still mostly high in the sky - was taken at 9:00 pm. We're not kidding when we say the hours of daylight don't end. Our theory is that this is one of the main reasons for our lack of sleep (and, of course, writing you these blogs in the middle of the night).

From there we looked down the Champs Elysses in the other direction and again, saw the Eiffel Tower peaking over the trees. It's kind of amazing the way it works. The Eiffel Tower always seems to be just around the corner, but if you tried to walk to it, you'd keep going and going...almost like trying to find the end of a rainbow.

Stay tuned, folks! We love you xoxo