Paris, France Day 1: Le Champs-Elysee

I have had two life goals for a very long time:
1. See a tornado
2. Go to Paris
(Honorable Mention #3: See Billy Joel in concert)

I can now say that I have successfully completed number two, and it was just as amazing an experience as I ever could have imagined. (I have also completed Honorable Mention #3... but that is another story in itself...) The weather in Paris was perfect; it was mid-60s (Fahrenheit) and sunny all weekend.

Alex, Claire, and I caught a taxi to the airport at 3:30 am on Friday morning. Our flight departed at 7:20, which got us to Paris a little after 9:00 am. After getting Claire on a bus to where her friend lived, Alex and I hopped on the train to our hostel. We arrived around 11:00 and were told that we couldn't check-in yet, so we decided to walk along the Seine toward the Champs-Elysee. Once we realized the walk would probably take an hour or two, we grabbed lunch at a little cafe (where the server didn't speak any English, so I got to bust out my French!), and then hopped on the Metro to Le Louvre.

We arrived at Le Louvre, descended into the Pyramid, got our admission tickets, and then decided that we wanted to wait and go a different day because it was so beautiful out (luckily, we were given free admission since we were students studying in London, so it wasn't a big deal). Random Fact: The architect who designed the Pyramid at Le Louvre also designed the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications building at Syracuse University (where I go to school!)

So anyways, when we came out of Le Louvre, we decided to walk down the Champs-Elysee to L'Arc de Triomphe. This was also a farther walk than we expected, but it was enjoyable because of the scenery. We first walked through Le Louvre's grounds to an arch created by Napoleon. Then, we walked through some gardens and fountains that were really beautiful. Something that they do in Paris is that in these little parks they have chairs that are available for the public to use. They look like chairs you would have on your porch, and you are able to pick them up and move them to wherever you would like to sit. So, there were people sitting, reading, writing, drawing, and enjoying the sunshine all over this portion of the walk. We then reached the halfway point of the Champs-Elysee, where the Obelisque (Obelisk) is located. We continued walking into the shopping district on the Champs-Elysee, where we saw many designer stores including the original Louis-Vuitton store! Finally, after about an hour of walking, we reached L'Arc de Triomphe. It sat in the middle of a major traffic circle, which required an underground tunnel in order to "cross". We climbed to the top in order to enjoy a beautiful view of the Champs-Elysees and the surrounding areas of Paris. This is also when we had our first views of the Eiffel Tower.

After climbing back down L'Arc de Triomphe, we headed in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. It took us about 20-30 minutes to get there, and by the time we arrived, we were starving. We admired its beauty for a little while before finding a nearby restaurant to eat at. We were originally planning on going up the Eiffel Tower once it got dark, however, by the time we finished eating the sun hadn't even set yet, and we were both exhausted from pulling an all-nighter the night before. So, we decided to retire early so that we could have a full day of sight-seeing on Saturday.