. jacquelyn marie .: Day 3: Paris- Views, Art, and More Views!

I got up early and headed to Notre Dame to see Paris from the towers. I got there a little after 9:30 and the Cathedral opens at 10. There was already a line, and it grew by the minute... If I'd been there 15 minutes later, it probably would have added an hour to my wait in line. Crazy! I met a nice couple from California while I waited, and it was nice to talk to Americans for a little bit. Eventually they decided they didn't to wait in line any longer, so they left. I stuck it out, and it was so worth it...

Notes on Notre Dame: it's a LOT of steps, and flip flops are not a good choice of footwear! The steps are really narrow and slippery, plus I felt like I was disturbing the sanctity of Notre Dame with my flippy floppy noises :) the very top was so beautiful and quiet though, and they only let one group up at a time because there's only one skinny stairwell for getting up and down. I was one of the last people in my group to get to the top, so I stuck around until everyone left so I could have more time. You're not really supposed to do that, but the attendant didn't seem to mind... So for about 10 minutes, there were only about 3 of us up there. I couldn't stop smiling... Probably looked like a grinning idiot... I think I look like that a lot lately! After I made my way back down all the steps, I grabbed a quick lunch and then headed to the Orsay Museum. I mentally prepared myself for another long wait in line, but when I got there... No line! WOOHOOOO! I practically skipped into the museum. It's an old train station/hotel, so even the building itself is really beautiful.

I couldn't take any photos of the art, but it was incredible. Manet, Monet, Cezanne, Degas, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, and so many more that I can't even remember. Renoir has been my favorite since I did a report on him for art class in 5th grade, and it was so great to see his paintings in person. My favorite of all was Monet's Londres. I stood there and stared at it for a long time... I know this might sound cheesy, but I was really amazed at the way Monet used different colors to portray light. In one part of the painting it literally looked like a spotlight was shining directly on it. Sigh... Beautiful! In the back of the museum there were a lot of unique types of art- these shadow box/diorama things, and a 3D model of Paris that you viewed by looking through a glass floor. There was also a gorgeous room on display that looked like it belonged in Versailles; it had previously been the reception hall for the hotel- huge mirrored walls, crystal chandeliers, gold floral trim everywhere. There was an entire ROOM dedicated to the works of Toulouse-Lautrec, which I loved because I'm a big fan of all things Montmartre and Moulin Rouge. He grew up in Montmartre (the area of Paris I visited on my first day here), and rented an apartment in a brothel. Most of his paintings' subjects were prostitutes or dancers- very different from a lot of the other paintings you see in museums. The Orsay was SO great, it's one museum I would definitely go back to. Next I walked to the Eiffel tower and just sat and journaled for awhile. It was fun to people watch, especially the teenagers who go around pretending to be mute and walking up to tourists and begging for money, but then 10 minutes later they're gathered in a group behind me and having a heated conversation. Ha! I wonder about those kids though, they're all pretty young and I'm sure they're not begging by choice. After awhile I decided to go check out the line for getting up to the Eiffel Tower. It was INSANELY long. Then I saw another line, MUCH shorter...to take the stairs, and at half the price of the elevator. Sign me up! I bought a crepe for dinner (with egg, ham, cheese, and FRENCH FRIES inside) and hopped in line. Soon enough I was on my way up the steps of the Eiffel; very excited, but again wishing that I hadn't worn flip flops! I forgot about my aching feet as soon as I got to the first level, though. A little bit of wandering around, then a lot more steps, and I was on the second level... Major wow factor.

At the 2nd level, you can either go back down or pay an additional 5 € to take the elevator all the way to the top. My guidebook said that the 2nd level is the best and that going all to the top might not be worth the time or money... But I didn't come all the way to Paris to only go halfway to the top of the Eiffel Tower! So up I went. It was about a half an hour wait, but I had stellar views of Paris for the entire time, so the wait didn't bother me at all. Once I got to the top I stayed for a long time and watched the sunset. There was a little stand where you could buy a glass of champagne, which I seriously considered, but it was a tinyyy glass and super expensive so I stuck with my water bottle. Check out these views though!
Orsay Museum

Notre Dame Cathedral

Arc de Triomphe

The Louvre

The Sacre Coeur

Sunset!

Rainbow!

I stuck around up there until it got dark, then went back down to the first level to watch the light show.

Then I made my way back to my hotel, stopping at the Trocadero on my way to snap a few more pics.

This was a wonderful day. I was busy, and of course I enjoyed all of the landmarks, but some of my favorite parts of the day were just walking through the streets and looking at little shops and cafes, or people watching everywhere I went. Here are some random photos from the day:

From a little street, Rue Cler, on my way from the Orsay to the Eiffel