The title says it all, Paris is one cool place, period! I was certainly WAY impressed. This first thing I noticed was the phenominal fashion sense of the average person you’d see on the street. Like this lady for instance - check out her hair!!!
hahahahhahahaha - ok, no… so not her. But Paris really is a cool, chic place to be. This city really exceeded my expectations. So much, in fact, I think I would like to go back there!! Simone and I wore ourselves ragged for three days running around trying to see everything. Literally. There is just SO MUCH to see there! On top of all the ‘typical stuff’ you’ll see there (the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumph, Notre Dame, Moulan Rouge, Versilles, etc, etc) there is a big big city. There are interesting people, artistists, musicians, fabulous cafes and restaurants and the whole atmosphere is just…. Well… just Paris!! That sounds so dumb but honestly, I don’t know if there is another place in the world that is like it!!
Simone and I had really a very easy trip over. I left work early, which of course turned out to be a nightmare – the system I work on basically took a huge dump just as I was leaving and everyone was freaking out – not fun when you’ve got a plane to catch. So we flew to Brussels first and then took a train to Paris. Thank goodness that Simone has gotten quite efficient at directions as she guided me the whole trip as I had luggage in one had and my cell phone in the other. I only had to hang up on my boss once as I was going through border control and the guy behind me was huffing and puffing ‘cause I was holding up the line. Sheesh – come dude – some patience please! There was just another line on the other side of the door anyhow!! 
Anyway, I wrapped up that whole mess on the train ride to Paris and the weekend began. We made it easily to the metro stop that our hostel was nearest too. As we were walking along the street looking for the place, I looked up and noticed…. The Eiffel tower!! Whoa. There it was. I could just see the top of the tower but it was still cool.
The next morning our first mission was to fiind the tower. That we did. My first glimpse:
Closer:
Still closer:
At the bottom:
It really is amazing. We jumped into line to get to the top. There are three levels of the tower and you can go all the way to the top. The line was worth it (only waited about an hour and a bit). The view was incredible. You could see EVERYTHING from the top. It just really looked surreal.
Pic from the top:
That gold domed building you can see is Napolean’s grave. That was our next top. There is a church, museum and park all clustered together around the grave. One of the weirdest things to think about was that Napolean actually walked on the ground we were walking on. I think that is what is so magical about much of Europe. Everything is so old looking that it takes you back in time. Think about some of the great leaders of the world, some of the royalty and what their lives might have been like and they actually walked on this very ground I was walking on!!
Napolean has always been an interesting little guy to me. I can’t remember why he’s always got his hand in his shirt but I think it’s a cool signature. We should all have our own signature’s like that. I’d say that I took over the good ‘ol peace sign a couple years back at ACL (Austin City Limits Music Festival), but his is just a little bit cooler. heehee
I know it just looks like I’ve got my hand on my chest but I was trying to imitate the statue in the back. 
Nalpolean’s old bones are resting just inside this building!!
And Simone and I kept on walking…. Here’s what a metro stop in Paris looks like. I will say that the metro is REAL handy in Paris. They have 12 lines I think? Not even comparable to Budapest’s whopping three lines!! … or better yet Houston’s fabulous ‘light rail’ - so light you may never even find it!! heehee No but, Paris is definitely a HUGE city. Pretty good
transport though – a bit slow and rickety but it def. got us where we were
going.
Metro:
Btw - check out the girl in the boots in the picture. That is like the hottest thing right now - jeans tucked into the tall boots. I’m pretty sure this had not hit the States yet when I left, but man is it big over here!! I’m seein’ it everywhere! The thing I’m still trying to figure out is if the jeans are actually tapered to get them in the boots… ? You know what this means folks?! Be on the lookout for tapered jeans. Oh yeah, my bet is that they are on their way BACK! Yikes. Ok… that’s just the added bonus fashion tip for y’all.
Next we were headed over the Arc de Triumph.
The only way I knew about this was from the Grisley Family Vacation movies. Remember when Chevy Chase was driving around and around the circle? Haha – that’s all I could think about when I was there. It really is a bit of a mess there with the traffic. I certainly would be nervous to do it!!
Serously… which way is the right way? Who yields to whom in this scenario?
The street that leads to the arc is a big shopping street. Tons and tons of name brand stores like Louis Vutton. I thought that is was funny that they had a bouncer at the store. You can’t see it real well in the picture but there was a looooong line at the store and a huge dude out front ‘screening’ the customers.
***INTERMISSION***
