~The Sites of Paris~

The next day Dave woke up bright and early to get on the bullet train and head into Grenoble.  He had meetings there all day.  On the bullet train, Grenoble was a 3 hour ride away.  He was going to be gone all day long, so it was up to me to find what I was going to do.

To be honest, I didn't want to go out exploring.  I was a little afraid to go out into the city alone.  I was afraid I would get mugged, kidnaped, or lost.  And no one would even know where to look for me.  I kept trying to talk myself into just staying at the hotel and go swimming in the pool, but then I'd think that was silly.  I didn't come all this way to sit in the hotel.  I finally talked myself into going out and sightseeing, which I'm so glad I did.  I headed to the Eiffel Tower, which to my surprise was pretty easy to find.

It was poring rain, but that didn't stop me from visiting the city.  And never mind the several pictures of myself you are about to see.  You can't go to Paris and see all the sights and not have pictures to show you were there :)
At the Eiffel Tower, I got on the Hop on Hop off tour bus, which took me to all the major sites of the city.  It was my favorite thing I did while in Paris!
Next I headed to the Louvre.  It was nice to get inside since it was pouring rain.

The Mona Lisa

I walked through the entire museum, which was pretty big.  It was fun to see how the artwork got better over the centuries.  The bodies in the paintings became better proportioned and more lifelike.

After the Louvre, I hopped back on the bus and stopped at Notre-Dame.

It really is the most beautiful church.  I was surprised to find that this is still a active working church.  I guess I just figured it wasn't because of all the tourists that were filling the halls.  There were people in the confession rooms and a choir was performing up by the alter.  It just surprised me :)

Jumped back on the bus to see the Arc De Triomphe.  It was fun to watch all of the cars drive around it.  I learned that this is the area of Paris I would stay in if I ever come back.  There was lots of shopping, you were close to all the touristy sites, lots of little cafe's and restaurants, and most of the places speak English.  After touring the city, I realized to get from our hotel to the city you had to go through some pretty rough neighborhoods, which to be honest scared me.  I felt totally safe in the city.  This is what I thought Paris would be like.  It was clean, the buildings were beautiful, as well as the bridges and parks.  I even felt safe enough to stay and see the Eiffel Tower at night.  Very pretty!

I really didn't want to leave the city and head back to my hotel because I was afraid to ride the metro back, but I survived :)
Not only did I realize Paris has some pretty scary neighborhoods, as does any city, but I realized I love to travel, just not alone.  I had an enjoyable day, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had someone to share it with.  I saw such cool things, and had no one to talk about it with.  I was so lucky to be able to go to Paris, I just think next time, I need a travel buddy :)