Paris

So, we arrived in Pari! I have to say, my first impression wasn't amazing: there was a LOT of graffiti and a lot of rubbish in the streets... also quite a lot of rude people, haha. But, we went on a night tour and saw some of the sights, and then had an entire day to ourselves to explore! The breakfast was funny: cold meats, cheese, and breads (croissants and baguettes). It was a funny change from eggs and baked beans! 

We started our day in Paris at the Louvre! That was pretty intense - some of these paintings are seriously detailed and enormous. It was very busy, but well worth visiting. We saw the Mona Lisa, which was a lot smaller than I expected, and we ventured around looking at different styles of work. It is so hard to image a person actually painting some of these things; some of them are so photo realistic I could hardly believe it! 

After the Louvre, we made a plan to go visit the catacombs. I was pretty excited about that, but we had to figure out the train system to get there which was a bit of an adventure, and then by the time we actually found the catacombs we discovered that they were closed. *sad face* so instead we caught the train back and went to Notre Dame. 

This cathedral was stunning - the windows and carvings all depict some intense stories. It seems that they still conduct services there too, which is pretty amazing. They even had "tombs" with actual bodies inside, which I found to be a little bit creepy, but I suppose it's no more creepy than a cemetery. 

After that we went to buy some drinks and cheese platter and had a little picnic under the Eiffel Tower! We took our friend Archie with us too, hehe. 

After a well earned rest (so much walking around Paris!!!) we had a dinner picnic with the rest of our group, and then all the girls jumped on the bus to get changed and then the boys did the same to get ready for a cabaret show. Definitely had too many drinks, haha, but WHEN IN PARIS!!?? The show had some amazing dancers, jugglers, and singers! Much laughter and fun times and too many drinks ;-) 

At some point we walked past the "lock bridge" but this is all that is left. There were so many locks that the fence fell down and it's all be taken down other than this part here, which sits on the road rather than over the river. I have to say, Paris, you looked better in the movies. I wasn't too sad to say goodbye ;-)