21.06.08

Bryan and Ryan were encouraging me all on Friday to go to Disneyland. I knew it would be really fun to spend a day at Disneyland Paris, but since we had such limited time in the city, it just was not plausible. If we had one more day in Paris, it would have been possible. Actually, there is another park close to Paris that I would enjoy traveling to (Parc Asterix), but, once again, there is simply not enough time. They enjoyed watching me constantly weigh the possibilities of going to the park.

After breakfast, we traveled to Notre Dame. We met up with our friends Steph, Tyler, and Josh in front of the cathedral. The inside of the cathedral was really impressive, especially the stained glass windows. Like the Louvre, this place was saturated with tourists. The flying buttresses on the outside of the cathedral were really cool looking. After touring the inside, we waited 40 minutes to travel to the top of the bell towers. The wait was not too difficult because there was a man with a Quasimodo mask who was running around scaring people. It was all in good fun, and everyone in line got a huge kick out of this guy. The walk to the bell towers was up a spiral staircase, and, at the top, there was a great view of the city of Paris. This level offered a great view of all of Notre Dame’s famous chimeras (not gargoyles). The purpose of a chimera is to ward evil spirits away from the church, and the purpose of a gargoyle is to act as a drainage system (the word “gurgle” is derived from gargoyle). I also went into the bell tower. I mean, Notre Dame was cool and all, but Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is still my favorite, and it is not even finished!

For lunch, I purchased an incredible ciabatta bread panini from a street vendor. As you all know, ArtStreet Café makes the best paninis in the world, but this one rivaled ArtStreet’s deliciousness. For dessert, I had a crepe filled with honey. It was one of the best meals I had abroad.

Today was hot! There were no clouds in the sky at all. I would estimate the temperature to be in the low-to-mid 80s. We retreated to the pathways near the Seine River to escape the heat. While near the river, we took a boat cruise of the city. This hour cruise was relaxing and offered a different view of the city. I enjoyed going under the cities many bridges. After the cruise, we continued to stroll around the beautiful city. There are many huge parks in Paris, and, since it was a Saturday, they were all full of people relaxing, picnicking, or playing soccer. We relaxed in the shade for a while until a security guard kicked us off of it.

For dinner, we went to a supermarket for a picnic on the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower. Per the advice of Paris-expert, Jordan Barth, I bought a block of French cheese, a baguette, and a bottle of red wine. We all found a shady area under the Eiffel Tower and enjoyed our meals. I met a group of engineers (mostly from the states, but a few from Europe), and we talked for a while. Since today was the summer solstice, there was a huge music festival in the city of Paris and all over France. People celebrate by playing music and going to concerts.

Around 9pm, we made our way to the Eiffel Tower. There are two levels to the tower that each require a separate ticket. The first level (about 240 feet) can be reached by stairs. Our group hustled up the stairs to the first level. I ran. The second level (about 1,100 feet) can only be reached from the first level by elevator. Upon arriving to the first level, I instantly got in line to ensure that I would get to the very top before it closed. After waiting in the short line, I entered the glass elevator and started to get nervous. From the ground, the tower did not look that tall, but it was really high once you were on the elevator! I got over my small case of vertigo and walked out of the elevator to the very top of the tower. By the time I got up there, it was dark and the entire city was illuminated. No picture or word can describe the nighttime view from the top of the tower. Simply awesome. I spent close to an hour at the top, observing the view from all of the angles. I cannot remember the context, but an American teenager overheard one of my conversations (perhaps I told someone that I was from Ohio) and sarcastically uttered, “the Eiffel Tower at King’s Island is better than this.” I was pumped that King’s Island got some love at the top of the tower, but the view from the top of the real Eiffel Tower is much better than the one at King’s Island (even though you can see roller coasters from King’s Islands view). I met a bunch of people at the top of the tower, also. I spotted some large fireworks in the horizon, which I believe were Disney’s; however, within 30 minutes, there were fireworks in all directions. I assume they were used to celebrate the solstice. My entire Eiffel Tower experience was brilliant.

After the tower, we walked to the concert going on directly behind the tower. There were thousands of people there. Although we only were at the concert for the last band, it was awesome. I did not recognize any songs, but the last band was great and the crowd was going wild. We then walked to the other side of the tower, upon the completion of the concert, because there was a rave on the Eiffel Tower lawn. This was mostly composed of the locals, but it was fun for a few minutes.

The metros were supposed to run late tonight, since it was the music festival, but there was mass confusion as to which metros were open or closed. Ryan and I had to jump some turnstiles, but we, eventually, made it back to Oops! Today was another fantastic day in Paris!