Day 7: Last day of Eurotrip

Day 7: Last day of Eurotrip

This is from the last day of the trip. We woke up a little bit later since we were planning to be out later at night. We were really wanting to see the Eiffel Tower and the Champs Elysees all lit up. Because you know the Eiffel Tower sparkles at night!

We caught the bus to the other side of the river, and decided to get off and walk around. We found these Christmas Trees in a side alley and decided to take pictures. Once we were back there we noticed it was an entryway to one of the wealthiest shopping districts I've been in. Dior, Chanel, Hermes, you get the point. We decided to walk around for a bit and window shop. Hermes had the best window displays. Here are some pictures of them.

This one is all sweets and flowers. It was really gorgeous!

Once back on the bus we headed up to the highest neighborhood in Paris. This is called Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur. The Sacre Coeur means the Sacred Heart. There is a big huge church on top of the hill that goes by this name. Inside the church there is a beautiful decorated ceiling. The ceiling is covered with a picture of Jesus, with a golden heart in his chest. The ceiling is very ornate and colorful. Since it was a church I don't have a picture of the inside for you. They requested tourists not take photos as there is actual worship going on.

When you first get to the Montmartre, you are dropped off at the bottom in a neighborhood with markets. You also drive through the sex district (as I nicknamed it) tons of sex shops, and strip joints and then all the sudden you turn and you are in the neighborhood connecting you to this. This is the view from the cement patio at the bottom of the hill. You have to walk up all the stairs behind me, then across a patio, up more stairs on the side, to another patio, then one more set of stairs and you're at the church. Lots of stair climbing!

View from the 2nd level patio. Great view of Paris. I'd love to see this at night. From the other side you can see the Eiffel Tower, we had trees blocking our view from where we were though.

Self portrait and the view from the Sacre Coeur upper patio.

Last set of stairs!

Carved into the cobble stone outside the church. I thought it was neat!

Alia left her hat from Italy on the bus.

Neighborhood below the Sacre Coeur.

Look now I'm French with my new beret! Belle!

After the Sacre Couer we got lunch and headed to the Champs Elysees to see it lit up for the holidays. We were also there to explore all the fair booths set up along the street for blocks. It was a Christmas holiday fair. There were so many people you could barely even walk.

Looking down the Champs Elysees toward the Tulieries Gardens and the Louvre where the Ferris Wheel is. It's gorgeous! Alia snapped this from the middle of the crosswalk.

Just hanging out on the Champs Elysees.

Crossing the Seine toward the Eiffel Tower. See the tiny Ferris Wheel in the background? We've walked a long way tonight but we're almost there. We can't wait to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night!

Self-cleaning public bathroom. It locks you out between uses to clean itself. Apparently one of these locked on a guy for 3 days and he was stuck inside!

Hooray! We made it!

What a beautiful sight!

My favorite France picture... I feel like this could be on a post card or a poster. If you want it let me know! haha!

So what if it's freezing... I'm in Paris y'all!

Trying to jump, looking like a fool!

We decided to walk home to our hotel by Notre Dame after the nighttime fun at the Eiffel Tower. We thought it wouldn't take very long because in Rome and Florence everything was much closer than it looked on a map. Paris was not this way. AT ALL. It was as far as it looked. It was halfway across town! And Paris is big...

This is halfway home and we're losing our minds!

We're almost there, we're in the Latin Quartier which is just a couple of blocks away. Our legs are about to fall off at the hinges...

Notre Dame one block away from the hotel, we're losing our minds from walking so far!

We walked so far this night, which made our legs dead. After an entire week of walking and this long walk across Paris (which was fun despite how insanely long it was) we were exhausted. We went and got some dinner, and by the time we were done, we were about to fall asleep. When we tried to stand up I felt like I needed a hip replacement! haha! I am getting old! (It was nearly 8 miles of wandering, plus we'd walked like 40 miles that week and were exhausted!)

We headed back to the hotel after wandering aimlessly through the area and finding out that in Paris on Saturday nights every bakery closes early. So no french pastries for us! Super sad... they sounded so delicious! We went to bed late this night since we had to get up early for the plane.

It was so much fun to be in Europe... exploring other countries is such an amazing thing to do. The cultures were so fun to experience. I got to fall in love with a new place, and I intend to return to Italy some day. I also wouldn't mind visiting Paris again in the Summer. I've heard it's quite a bit more lively! I'm so lucky I got to do this in my life. I have so many places I want to visit in my life, and I intend to make that happen!

Part of this trip was given to me through a gift from a very generous person, and I will always be grateful for someone doing this for me. I have no way of repaying them or ever being able to thank them enough. It was a lifelong goal to visit Europe and now I have. I can't wait to return and see everything I can. There is so much history and I want to see it all!

Here's the last post card journal from the trip... (well the last one is from the plane ride home but it's super short and dumb.)

12/11/10 Paris - LAST DAY :(

It's our last day in Paris. Alia and I definitely made the most of it. We got up a little it later but intended to be up late. We went up to the Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur. Gorgeous cathedral up on a really high hill in Paris. Then we walked through a few neighborhoods and rode the bus down to the Champs Elysees. They had tons of shops lining the street for holiday festivities. We hung around long enough to see the Christmas lights in the trees lining the street all the way to the Arc de Triomphe. Then we walked over to the Eiffel Tower since it lights up and sparkles at night. It was gorgeous! Definitely worth the long walk we decided to walk home to our hotel thinking it looked farther on the map then it is. Notre Dame is far. We were wrong . 2 hours later, worn out and sore we wandered through the Latin Quarter & found our hotel. HAHA! We're not smart but it makes for great experiences, stories and memories! :)