Europe Part 12 - Paris Below are just some of the photos from this part. See all of them with high-res versions at Flickr. 71 Paris photos - CLICK HERE. After Disneyland, I tracked down the apartment of Matthew's sister and brother-in-law. They were kind enough to let me crash there for a couple of days. How's this for a view out your living room window? With just one full day in Paris (for me, at least), an early start was necessary. The first stop was one major tourist attraction that I had no problem visiting... And one that every other tourist in town flocks to. Yes, the famous Tour Eiffel itself. This was the ridiculously long line for the elevators. In addition to being much cheaper, the stairs had no line. You can only go to the second level, but any higher is overkill anyway since the city skyline is so low. After a climb that showed just how out of shape I am, we made it to the first level. Here is a look down the Champ de Mars. It was really windy on the platform. I have to say, I was surprised. The Eiffel Tower wasn't overrated at all to me. It really is fascinating, and it is so huge up close. Maybe I was just used to the 1/3 scale replicas at Kings Dominion and Kings Island. And whaddaya know, another beautiful day. Very relieving after an ugly one the previous day at Disney. The tower is really the perfect place to get a good look at this great city. I came into Paris expecting to not care for it due to the comments of many disappointed friends. That would not be the case. Art, food, business, entertainment... This city has it all. Full-size photo. Aside from the wind, it was a pleasant day on the tower. The people in Paris were all nice, which was contrary to what many people seem to think. Maybe if you aren't an asshole you don't get treated like one? I dunno just a theory. Look at all those suckers down there waiting to ride the elevator up. Surely it says something about society when people would rather wait an hour to ride the elevator than get a little exercise climbing the wait-less stairs. Back down at the bottom, we walked down the Champ de Mars to take the obligatory pictures. I didn't even notice how stupid this picture looks until someone just pointed out to me that my money belt is poking through my shirt there. This just seems like one of those places where you must go at least once in your lifetime if you can manage it. Across town a little bit, we stopped to take a look at the Arc de Triomphe, which sits in the middle of a giant traphic circle at the end of the Champs-Elysees. Lunch was in a little place off the Champs-Elysees. A croque-monsieur is basically a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. A croque-madame is the same thing, but with a fried egg on top. It's a popular and delicious treat. Continuing to hit the obligatory sights, we stopped by Notre Dame. Matthew thinks it is ugly. I actually kind of like it, but as I've said in most of these trip reports, it's really just another cathedral; certainly no Sagrada Familia. The stained glass windows inside are nice. Moving into the hills, we headed for another cathedral. The Basilique du Sacre-Coeur in the Montmarte district overlooks the city high on a hill. The views from up there are nice. Full-size photo. Not too far away was the red light district with this recognizable sight. I managed to miss every art gallery on the trip for one reason or another, but the most important one was not getting skipped. The thing about the Louvre is that if you truly wanted to see everything inside, you would probably need to spend a week there. We had a couple of hours. This place is massive. As ridiculously large as the Louvre is, inside everyone flocks to a couple of works. The Venus de Milo is one. Most of all, though, it's the Mona Lisa. A laid back experience turns hectic when you walk into this room to find a hundred people crowded around the ropes trying to take pictures of the painting. I'm more into modern art myself, so I'd be lying if I said I was that thrilled with the Louvre, but there is definitely something there for everyone. Ah, now here we go. This is more my style. The Louvre somewhat verified a theory of mine that the only subjects anyone had any interest in painting for at least a 500 year span were Jesus and breasts. Outside, the sun was setting over Paris. One final nice meal was in order before I returned to America. We chose a little place called Chez Robert Au Pot De Fer; I didn't have the guts to get steak tartare. We hoped to make it over to the Eiffel Tower to see the hourly light display before the metro closed for the night. We made it with plenty of time to spare. The tower at night is a spectacular sight. The lights come on. I was surprised to see that the lawn was packed with people drinking, hanging out, and just having a good time. It seemed like it was mainly locals, too. I can't think of a better place to spend my final night in Europe. Although I only had a short time there, I thought Paris was a great city. Munich and Barcelona are still my favorites from the trip, but Paris would be right behind them. The final morning came, and some crepes were in order before my return to America. I left Matthew and hit the Metro to return to where the whole thing started at Charles de Galle. The trip ended on an interesting note as I was red flagged by security at Charles de Galle. Why? I have no idea, but it was serious business. This resulted in little red security stickers being placed all over me, my luggage, my passport, my boarding pass, and anything else they could find. I was still finding stickers they had snuck on me even after the flight. My tightly packed carry-on bag, which contained everything I traveled with over nearly three weeks, was completely torn apart twice. I was given everything short of a cavity search twice. My passport was taken for 15 minutes to be checked out, and I was asked a million questions. Eventually, I was actually able to board my plane, albeit after every other passenger. But enough about that. Unlike my flight over, I was out cold for most of the trip back to Philadelphia. Before I knew it, I was back in America, and then back home in Raleigh. It truly was an incredible 18 days. I saw 8 countries (including my own), hung out with friends, met new people, had amazing food and drink, visited some new amusement parks (including my new favorite), and saw some of the great sights of the world. Everything went smoother than I ever would have hoped for. Great weather for the most part, no issues with safety, no issues with getting from place to place, and no issues traveling by myself for half the trip. In fact, I am very glad that I was able to do part of it alone. I guess now it's time to start figuring out where to go next... London? Stockholm? Cape Town? Buenos Aires? So many places, and really not that much time. Return Home Content copyright Jonathan Hawkins