Exhibit A: Hemorrhoid cream. Brilliant? Yes. Classy? Not exactly.
So, my first big surprise about Paris was that there was more to do than see the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre. Our first stop in the "City of Love" was this big cathedral. It was beautiful--as most cathedrals are--with a stunning view of the city. (See next picture.) The only strange thing was that men in camouflage with machine guns were walking around... I don't remember reading in the bible that Jesus had armed and dangerous body guards!
A view of Paris. It cost thirteen euros to go up in the Eiffel tower, but this view was free. (It only cost about a hundred stairs and some sweat!... Plus the crepe I had to eat afterwards to regain my energy!)
Our first and only Parisian crepe. It was good, but there are much better crepes in Prague! (Who would have guessed?) Also, my less dignified side likes the "crepes" my family makes for breakfast. We call them rollie cakes, but really they're just thin pancakes loaded up with butter and powdered sugar. 99% delicious, 1% fattening.
Did you know that Parisian sculptors have a good sense of humor? It's even funnier that this water is "non potable." Which means you can't drink it.
Patches O'Hoolihan: "But it's sterile and I like the taste!"
Moving on...
The Wall of Love.
Frederic Baron and Claire Kito created this wall by gathering the words "I love you." in over 300 different languages and painting them on the tile. The bits of red are supposed to represent a broken heart that all of the "I love you's" are supposed to be bringing back together. They wanted it to be a meeting place for lovers. So, I guess their wish came true. Two lovers... one with a piece of heart on her head. I'm not sure whether that's poetic or gross...
And finally.... the way to the Eiffel Tower. BUNNIES! And somebunny (haaa rabbit puns!) was very excited to see cute, soft, fuzzy rabbits hopping around. Some guy had tamed them and sat out with them a skip, a hop, and a jump away (I'm at it again!) from the Eiffel Tower to make money.
And now the moment you've all been waiting for... (Drumroll please!)
The Eiffel Tower!
It was excruciatingly hot in Paris, so we copied the rest of the tourists and dipped our toes in the water of a fountain while some creepy bald guy photo-bombed us!
Another popular tourist site: the Arch of Construction! Er, I mean, The Arc de Triomphe!
And, the highlight of Ty's trip: a Ferrari. Men are so easy to impress! It cost eighty euros to drive the car, but Ty thought it was enough to stand by it and take a picture. TTM.
Story time: Because Ty and I are your stereotypical tourists--watch out! We have fanny packs!--and much of our trip is loaded with embarrassing stereotypical tourist acts we made a name for it: Total Tourist Move, AKA TTM. But sometimes, we modify it to "Total Ty Move." Both work in this situation.
With the TTM behind us, we moved on to the Grand Palace. We had to walk behind it through the gardens to get to the Louvre.
Beside the palace we saw the Seine river.
The bridge that went over the Seine was decorated with stunningly accurate statues. (Pegasus was definitely male!)
On a much prettier and more refined note... Flowers! The garden behind the Grand Palace was full of fountains and beautiful flowers. This is one of my favorites.
Ty came down with a disease in Paris. It made his head grow a strange looking triangle! We went to a doctor and he said Ty had caught the "Blessed." Side effects: strange and beautiful objects pop up behind you in pictures, like the Louvre.
...Or the Eiffel Tower lit up somehow magically shrinks so you can carry it around with you. :)
Overall we had a great time in Paris. It was fun to relax and enjoy our hotel while still seeing some wonderful sights. I went into the city expecting everyone to walk around in high heels while eating baguettes and turning their noses up at us from under berets. What really happened was we saw a bunch of tourists and one French lady was really rude to me in a post office and then a nice French man helped me out. People dawned their tennis shoes proudly, and men selling flowers and mini Eiffel Towers assaulted you at every corner. Sometimes people romanticize things and build them into something that isn't real. I'm lucky enough to be able to experience it first hand and see what the world outside of Kansas is really like!
I'm also really lucky to be able to share Ty's and my experiences on this blog for others to read. So, thank you for reading!
Love it your post keep getting better and better every time just when I think that was the best the next is even better love ya. Dad
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