Paris - Part 1

21 September 

This was my fourth trip to Paris in the past two years, so I tried to split my time between showing friends around and wandering off on my own to see my favorite spots.

We took the Eurostar from St. Pancras International -

my first trip through the Chunnel - early friday morning. After leaving our baggage at the hotel (in the Latin Quarter) we set off for crêpes and a stroll through the Jardins Luxembourg. We then had a four hour walking tour from St. Michel, to the Pont Neuf, through the Louvre and the Jardins Tuileries, down the Champs Elysées, and ended up outside the Invalides. It was quite a long walk, especially since we were given the true Parisian welcome of rain.
That evening we all went out to a traditional French dinner together. The food and wine were delicious, and we all talk about that night as a great group memory.

22 September 

The next morning I went off on my own to enjoy some peace and quiet at Pere Lachaise Cemetery. I know, a cemetery might seem like a strange place to wander, but I think its one of Paris' most beautiful areas. The Parisians call it the "city of the dead" because the ornate mausoleums look like little houses. It's the resting place of Chopin, Delacroix, Haussmann, Molière, Proust, Apollinaire, Balzac, Wilde, Stein, and Piaf (to name a few). I lucked out with beautiful weather, and spent a few hours meandering and photographing.

View from the top of the hill of Père Lachaise 

Around 1 I went to meet up with Jordan, Lia, Jacie, and Hayley at the Opera Garnier steps. While I was waiting I people watched and enjoyed the beautiful sky.

We went and found a café off a side street, where I introduced them to the Croque Madame. Then I took them to the top of the Galeries Lafayettes, so they could get a good view of Paris. 

We walked back down to the Tuileries and took the metro to the Trocadero to get some Eiffel Tower, but when we emerged from the metro, we were only given one exit option, since the rest were blockaded, and the station was swarming with police armed with semi-automatics. As we walked out of the station and towards the Tower, we realized that the entire area was covered in the Paris equivalent of the swat team. Needless to say, we decided to take our pictures another day, and went on to a different metro stop. 

We went to Montmartre: Sacré Coeur and the Place du Tertre. 

We finished the night off back at the Eiffel Tower to see it twinkle, then headed back to the hotel.